My eventful towing excursion

I would like you all know that my towing excursion last night was a great success. All 5 hours through the mountains of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The Roadmaster is a straight beast.

Two days before I went on my trip I blew a brake line in my Roadmaster. I was very grateful for this lucky coincidence. It could have happened while towing!!! I had it repaired by a professional and also had him thoroughly inspect my car to make sure it was in good shape for towing. He gave it the go ahead.

I started off in my home town of Pawtucket, RI. I had a few stops to make along the way to my final destination. A few fellow club members of mine needed some parts from me. First stop, Stoughton, MA. Half way there I realized I forgot my wallet. Need that to get the Uhaul trailer! SO, I went back home and couldn't find my wallet. After calling everyone calling off the trip and a few hours later, I found it. Right in my bedroom under my hat. DAMN!!

So I skipped the Stoughton stop and headed to the next in Reading, MA. I sold some Bonneville seats to a member in need and also sold some corner lights to another club member. Me and my friend Tyler had a quick bite to eat at the BK and continued on our way. Next stop, the Portsmouth, NH Uhaul.

The kid behind the counter at Uhaul made a comment that he had never hooked one of those trailers to a car before but also said, "these Roadmasters are great cars and it should do fine!".



You can see my friend Tyler laughing about the sheer length of "the rig" as we dubbed it.

We left Uhaul and started heading up to Woolwich, ME to grab the B-body. This was my first time towing anything so I was super paranoid. I accelerated very slow and used great care. I did not exceed 60 mph with the empty trailer on the back. It went great! No issues at all on the way to get the car.

A few hours later, just as the sun was going down, we arrived in Woolwich, ME. Here we are filling up before going to get the car.





I don't have any pics of the car loaded on the trailer at this point because it was so dark. Glen, forum member No Moa is a very good guy. He took care of me and sent me on my way. Thanks Glen!

After we got the car we stopped to have a bite to eat at a Thai resturant. It was good but the portions were small and really expensive. Even though Glen pumped up my shocks I thought it was sitting a little low so I decided to put some more air in them.



The Buick was sitting pretty level at this point.

Along the way I stopped a few times, checking everything to make sure it was tight.

Now for the most eventful part of the trip. Since there is no straight route through to VT from ME, especially an interstate, it was all mountain roads. Up and down and crazy curves on 9% grades. Most of the way I was driving 50-55 MPH. Once we hit RT 112 in NH, that came to an agonizing 25-35MPH. The hills and curves of the White Mountain National forest are something I will never forget. It was downright scary on it's own, never mind the trailer and car I was pulling behind me. At some points, I had the pedal to the floor up hills and the car was loosing speed. I did not think I was going to make it up some of those hills. When I hit the downhill curves at first I approached them too fast and felt the trailer trying to pull the rear of the car sideways. So from then on, I was at a crawling speed. The weakest point in my rig was the brakes. The were getting very hot trying to keep the rig from getting pushed around by the trailer. So hot, they were working very poorly and started SMOKING. At this point, I pulled off to the side of the road and let everything cool down. Scary stuff. After cooling I continued on and kept the speed very slow so I did not loose control. I thought that 54 mile mountain road would never end. I was running low on fuel and there was nothing in sight. Luckily, at the end of the road was a gas station that was actually open! That was an experience I will always remember. It was a lot of fun even though scary at times and it was a great learning experience for me.

The rest of the way to my Dad's in VT was smooth. The next day I unloaded the car and returned the trailer.

Here is my LAB 1996 9c1. It was worth the trip.



Thanks for your tips and help guys, we made it in one piece and I know I was lucky I did!! Thankfully, the weather was good because if it was raining, I would have probably ended up going off the road. Today it is pouring.

I guess when I tow the other two door from the body shop to my dads I need a thread too lol. Good luck with the new B-Body

What are your plans?

You can't tow a b-body on a uhaul trailer.

Your back window is missing.

I bet you drove right by me.

you own to many cars.

Tim

What Class hitch do you have? 2" or 1 1/4?

Where in VT does your father live


Tom

You did what now???

Wow, that's quite a first towing experience! Why'd you take it to VT and not RI? Why didn't ya tell any of us you were going?

I saw that car at Glen's place. Looks to be a pretty solid foundation. Good luck with it!

And.... How are you buying all this shit with no job?

silverfox103 wrote:

Tim

What Class hitch do you have? 2" or 1 1/4?

Where in VT does your father live


Tom

I would not believe they would let him hook up without a 2" class 3 hitch...

I believe I remember his father or uncle living in Randolf?

Doug

Thanks Pooge

TIMMY CHANGE YOUR your screen name to toomanycars

toomanytoyz wrote:

And.... How are you buying all this shit with no job?

It was FREE. That's how he bought it with no job.

Glad it went good Tim, I was Leary about your hauling that thing. Should be a good project or parts car.

Pooge wrote:

silverfox103 wrote:

Tim

What Class hitch do you have? 2" or 1 1/4?

Where in VT does your father live


Tom

I would not believe they would let him hook up without a 2" class 3 hitch...

I believe I remember his father or uncle living in Randolf?

Doug

He was only picking up a chevy cavalier though...

My dad lives in East Orange, VT. The hitch on my car is a class 3.
I picked up an '87 Honda CRX btw.

LOL Rich, toomanycars. Bill, that's why it went to VT, I've got toomanycars. LOL My dad said I could put it there. I am only allowed 2 cars in my yard at home. I have 2 in the yard and 2 in the street and one in storage already! It's a PITA when we have "street sweeping" days because there is a parking ban every thursday. Now winter is here there will be snow bans.

The car was FREE! Thank you Glen! I owe you. Trust me guys, I questioned my towing ability too. I may be young but, I am a really smart kid and I've got some skills behind the wheel so I did pretty good.

The car is a bit rusty underneath but it runs excellent! The posi works too! LOL



I love that color! Same as my Olds 88.





There are 7 cars in this picture lol. The 87 Caprice is my dads friends. My dad also has 2 other cars in storage. Now you see where I get it from.

https://www.youtube.com/v/R6XbQel352Y?fs=1&hl=en_US

Thats a good car, other than the rust. I paid alot of $ for that years ago. But i need to downsize.

Glad it went to a good owner. Make a great race car!!! lol

Tell your dads friend i want that 87.

The guy who owns it is a crazy red neck missing half his teeth. He just kept saying "that there the brougham, that grannys car, i only drive her on sunday!!" and "for the right numbers she could be yours!". I was like nah man I've got too many already.

WOW, an International edition caprice classic
Probably competes with the Grand National
BTW did you really think you had to tell us it belonged to a redneck?

That is some sweet ass 87 right there! MMMMM HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

International Ford Jeep edition.

That's a pretty nice car for free, glad Saturday worked out and also glad to hear the trip was a success!

You can't beat free! Glad to see I am not the only one with way too many cars. Ever get to the point where you can't remember where they are stored

Tim, just be glad Lorne is not here.

95brmw wrote:

Ever get to the point where you can't remember where they are stored

After number 15 at once, you just don't care anymore.

GasTT wrote:

My dad lives in East Orange, VT. The hitch on my car is a class 3.
I picked up an '87 Honda CRX btw.

lol nice

GasTT wrote:

The guy who owns it is a crazy red neck missing half his teeth. He just kept saying "that there the brougham, that grannys car, i only drive her on sunday!!" and "for the right numbers she could be yours!". I was like nah man I've got too many already.

...Remind me not to do that...

1984twodoor wrote:

GasTT wrote:

My dad lives in East Orange, VT. The hitch on my car is a class 3.
I picked up an '87 Honda CRX btw.

lol nice

GasTT wrote:

The guy who owns it is a crazy red neck missing half his teeth. He just kept saying "that there the brougham, that grannys car, i only drive her on sunday!!" and "for the right numbers she could be yours!". I was like nah man I've got too many already.

...Remind me not to do that...

I love the fact the guy actually tried to use the tow hooks. I bet he only used them once after the bumper started to bend.

GasTT wrote:

That's a pretty sweet Jeep.

I don't get why he put the Ford/Chevy/International badges on it though.

IMPALADAKID wrote:

1984twodoor wrote:

GasTT wrote:

My dad lives in East Orange, VT. The hitch on my car is a class 3.
I picked up an '87 Honda CRX btw.

lol nice

GasTT wrote:

The guy who owns it is a crazy red neck missing half his teeth. He just kept saying "that there the brougham, that grannys car, i only drive her on sunday!!" and "for the right numbers she could be yours!". I was like nah man I've got too many already.

...Remind me not to do that...

I love the fact the guy actually tried to use the tow hooks. I bet he only used them once after the bumper started to bend.

He ran his truck into a ditch one night and had to pull it out. DUH redneck drunken towing 101