Car Hauler

Rory McNeil · 03-16-2014, 02:18 AM

I`ve been hauling my cars around on a 1974 Ford F350 ramp truck/car hauler since 1988, and its been a reliable and economical way to to get to the races. My truck has a gas 390 FE, with a NP435 "granny low" truck 4 speed and a Dana 70 with 4.10s. With tall 7.50R16 Michelins, it tachs 2600 RPM at 60 MPH, and on my 2200 mile round trip to California a few years ago, averaged 10.2 MPG, which included some pretty big hills in the Southern Oregon/Northern California Siskiyou mountains. My truck retains its factory 161" wheelbase, with a 16 foot deck, and and the factory GVW is 10,000 lbs, but depending how much crap I bring along, its usually between 10,500 & 11,000 lbs loaded. Suspension wise, the truck doesn`t seem to mind, although as mentioned, braking isn`t great, with all that weight on just 2 axles.Like anything, there are pros and cons.
On the Pro side:
Easy to drive.park, and back up. No trailer sway, overall length of 26 feet, albeit a fair bit of rear overhang.
At 26 feet, it is almost 1/2 as long as a typical 1 ton PU and 24' trailer. Leaves room in the driveway for other vehicles.
Decent amount of storage space. At least with mine. I have 2 4 foot long, 28" tall, 20" deep side boxes, plus a large 6 foot long, 24" wide, 2 foot deep (at the front)"cubby hole" in the deck, under the car.
Biggest Pro is COST! I doubt that I have spent over $10,000 over the past 25 years on this truck, including the truck chassis and deck, and every repair that I have done. I have put 60,000 miles on the truck in that time, only for race travelling,
There are a few Cons:
Obviously, your car is exposed to the weather and peoples eyes. The car gets wet and dusty, but to date, no bad guys have touched anything.
With quite a bit of storage, you need to dig for stuff, so the trucks deck tends to wind up with stuff spread out over it at the track.
As mentioned before, with all the weight on 2 axles, braking is weak compared to a truck and trailer, with brakes on 4 (or 5) axles. So you need to pay attention to traffic and following distances.
But it is a viable option if you are looking at costs, and don`t worry about "keeping up with the Jones."

03-16-2014, 02:18 AM	#10
Rory McNeil VIP Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: from Vancouver BC Canada, now in Nova Scotia Posts: 1,312 Likes: 323 Liked 1,113 Times in 304 Posts	Re: Car Hauler I`ve been hauling my cars around on a 1974 Ford F350 ramp truck/car hauler since 1988, and its been a reliable and economical way to to get to the races. My truck has a gas 390 FE, with a NP435 "granny low" truck 4 speed and a Dana 70 with 4.10s. With tall 7.50R16 Michelins, it tachs 2600 RPM at 60 MPH, and on my 2200 mile round trip to California a few years ago, averaged 10.2 MPG, which included some pretty big hills in the Southern Oregon/Northern California Siskiyou mountains. My truck retains its factory 161" wheelbase, with a 16 foot deck, and and the factory GVW is 10,000 lbs, but depending how much crap I bring along, its usually between 10,500 & 11,000 lbs loaded. Suspension wise, the truck doesn`t seem to mind, although as mentioned, braking isn`t great, with all that weight on just 2 axles.Like anything, there are pros and cons. On the Pro side: Easy to drive.park, and back up. No trailer sway, overall length of 26 feet, albeit a fair bit of rear overhang. At 26 feet, it is almost 1/2 as long as a typical 1 ton PU and 24' trailer. Leaves room in the driveway for other vehicles. Decent amount of storage space. At least with mine. I have 2 4 foot long, 28" tall, 20" deep side boxes, plus a large 6 foot long, 24" wide, 2 foot deep (at the front)"cubby hole" in the deck, under the car. Biggest Pro is COST! I doubt that I have spent over $10,000 over the past 25 years on this truck, including the truck chassis and deck, and every repair that I have done. I have put 60,000 miles on the truck in that time, only for race travelling, There are a few Cons: Obviously, your car is exposed to the weather and peoples eyes. The car gets wet and dusty, but to date, no bad guys have touched anything. With quite a bit of storage, you need to dig for stuff, so the trucks deck tends to wind up with stuff spread out over it at the track. As mentioned before, with all the weight on 2 axles, braking is weak compared to a truck and trailer, with brakes on 4 (or 5) axles. So you need to pay attention to traffic and following distances. But it is a viable option if you are looking at costs, and don`t worry about "keeping up with the Jones." __________________ NHRA 6390 STK M/S 85 Mustang