AlkyIROC

OK, not really third gen related but it hauls my third gen race car.

Since I started racing many, many years ago, I've been using a lowered 91 454SS as a tow vehicle with a 16' open trailer. It's served me well for many years.

I finally broke down and bought something better. Today I picked up a 2004 F350 diesel as a tow vehicle and tomorrow I'm picking up a 2005 20' Pace Shadow GT enclosed car trailer.

No pics yet

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

pics or it didn't happen...

TB2

iTrader: (1)

Very nice. I know I just used the 20' US cargo enclosed that I bought last winter for the first time at the track yesterday. So much better than an open trailer. Now I can get out of the sun and weather, I have toolbox's and a work bench. And a lot easier to load/unload, and extra storage. You are going to really enjoy it. Is the truck a SRW, or DRW?

AlkyIROC

2004 F350 Superduty XLT Sport
Extended cab
Long box
SRW
2WD
Diesel

It was hard to find a full size truck with a diesel and 2WD but I managed to finally find one. I've driven my lowered 454SS 12 months of the year so I don't need a 4x4 in the winter.

car_fixer

20 footer is okay....if you dont put much else besides car in it. unless its a v nose.

AlkyIROC

That's all I need it for. I'd love a 24' footer but getting a 20' into my back yard will be difficult enough.

Shagwell

Good stuff.

I've got a 24' and can't wait to swap up to a 28'. Tow bike, tools, and wheenie bars make for a tight fit.

AlkyIROC

Just got home with the trailer. It's too late to switch things around in the backyard so I left it on the street and will take it into work tomorrow to show it off. At least I got a pic now. I wish the truck was black

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

looks nice, i'd like to get a trailer and stuff, be nice for making those hauls to the tracks that are 3+ hours away so you have a "camper" lol

Tony V

iTrader: (5)

Very nice. I just bought an F250 SD crewcab for the very same reason. The open trailer will have to work for me at least a couple more years, though.

zraffz

what are your plans with the 454 ss? and Im jealous of the enclosed trailer, shoulda bought a duramax though

AlkyIROC

Now I got the job of outfitting it. I need some storage shelves and probably a small workbench at the front. Doing some calculations, I'll have about 3 feet in front of the car if it's loaded as close to the back door as I can get it and leaving the parachute on. At least I don't have wheelie bars in the way.

A 2 foot deep bench is more than enough room plus I could also put a locker at the front to store stuff. Some cabinets along the roof line could add more storage. Luckily I don't have a removable hood so I don't need a place to hang the hood but I may fabricate some way to hang a door. Taking a door off before driving the car in makes getting out of the car a lot easier especially when I have to climb over a cage. Even taking a T-top out doesn't give a whole lot more room but it would really help.

Then there's other stuff like fuel jug holders etc that need to go in.

That picture is with an empty trailer. It's using a normal class 5 hitch with a 6000 pound drawbar. I don't have a weight distributing hitch yet and right now, when empty, it sits perfectly. I don't even feel the trailer when I'm driving around.

Haven't decided what to do with the 454SS yet. It's showing it's age and needs lots of body work. If I redid the body, I could get a lot more money for it. If I get the right offer, I won't hesitate to sell it.

AlkyIROC

The Duramax is nice but I have no knowledge about working on the Izuzu engine. The Dodge with the Cummins 5.9B engine is easy to work on but I don't like the look of the Dodges. I see lots of these Ford trucks and the engine is made by International. Working at an International dealership, I have access to manuals and tools and can get parts at cost so to me, this was an easy choice.

I already did a repair to the engine. I had 3 EGR codes that kept coming back. Yesterday before I went to pick up the trailer, I took out the EGR and cleaned all the carbon out if it then cleared the codes. I rechecked the codes this afternoon and none returned. One cleaned EGR is better than a $250 (at cost) replacement. You don't want to know what the list price is that the average consumer who walked through the door would have to pay.

Truck and trailer, my cost to buy was $20,000. I feel I got a great deal on both. I think together they should have been around $30,000. The truck was $11,000 and the trailer $9000. I think my car is worth more than the truck and trailer.

car_fixer

thats exactly what i was talking about, it will suck trying to tie the car down with that stuff in front, I have been borrowing a 20 footer (car trailer stolen again )that has a 24 inch bench and a tool box under (cheap 24 inch kind) and its pretty tight. the bench folds but the tool box...well it doesnt so why bother.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

i was thinking the same thing, i'd hate to have to tie my junk down with only 1 ft between the car and the bench. rich has met me and raced with me before, he can tell you, i'd never fit in that spot, lol! i'd have to send my little bro in the front to tie the car down!

AlkyIROC

I was thinking of a bench, not a cabinet at the front. As long as nothing is really stored under the bench, getting to the tie down rings isn't hard.

If there's enough room, a trick I saw someone do once was to figure out exactly how far back you want the car. Drive into the trailer far enough so that precut chains could be attached to the car then let the car move backwards to tighten the chains. Then you just need to use the ratchet straps at the rear to pull it tight. That way you don't need to struggle at the front tightening the ratchet straps.

I need to really experiment with the tiedowns before the next race. If only this rain would stop!

One thing I will do the same as I did on the open trailer. When I know where I want the car to stop, I nailed a block of wood in front of the front tire. Driving up onto the trailer, as soon as the tire hit the wood, I knew my spoiler was just about touching the front of the trailer. The garage trick of a tennis ball hanging from the ceiling would work if you knew the trailer was exactly level each time you parked.

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

that's a good idea, i may have to use that if i ever tow my car to the track regularly

danandamy

Nice rig, when I saw you got a 6.0 psd first thing I thought of was EGR codes. Glad to see you were able to clean it up and get them cleared out. The 6.0 was the engine that made Ford and International go through their ugly divorce but there's folks who've gotten good service out of them and you have an inside line on parts. Congrats on the new set up, looks good.

Dan

AlkyIROC

Even the new 6.4L Powerstroke is still an International engine. It's the new International Maxforce 7 engine. Ford is claiming that it's their "new Ford designed engine" Ford did some minor changes but it's still just an International engine.

I already had one person do the "eww you bought a Ford?" I say "No, I bought an International engine with a Ford body wrapped around it.

I've had the truck for 2 weeks now. I've done more driving than my typical driving with the 454SS including 2 out of town trips. The 454SS took about 80L of fuel to fill and on average I would go 300-350 kms between fills. I just clocked over 700 kms with the new truck and the fuel gauge is just below the 1/4 tank mark. I should be able to easily make 800 kms before needing fuel and can probably push it more. The empty tank holds around 140L but I doubt I'll take it that low. That's not a huge increase in mileage. It's not even double the mileage but diesel is slightly cheaper and the new truck is a much better tow vehicle. The 454SS is more of a hotrod. I could afford to drive the 454SS. The diesel will be even easier.

Blue383

i got an 07. just dont add a tuner you'll fry the gaskets an egr cooler. u should flush the cooling, add ford gold coolant only and a bypass coolant filter from diesel site. com. the coolant in these trucks in time clogs the coolers with gunk, screwing up the oil an egr cooler an thats when the hg goes south. also the factory air filter is known to be more sufficient than most aftermarket ones. last but not least delete the cat and straight pipe the exhaust. you'll keep the egt's down a lot especially when towing. plus your truck will sound like an f-16...
btw a lot of 6.0 guys run amsoil synthetic diesel oil.

danandamy

My understanding is this is supposed to be the last year for the 6.4. Next run will be a (6.7 I believe?) ford built engine. It will be interesting to see how that turns out.

Dan

Blue383

aside from the dpf crap the 6.4 is pretty decent. guys are running 500hp on stock motor n trans with just a tune n exhaust. the 6.7 has reverse style alum heads with the turbo between the valley, i heard it was copied off the d max???