IML: Towing travel trailer with 1968 Crown Convertible...

["Javier, Bay Adventures" <javier@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Everyone!

The 1968 IMP Imperial is going in for engine and transmission rebuild in
a week or so and I'm starting the planning work for a 6-12 month cross
country road trip to begin in June.  I hope to see a good many Imperial
folks on my (mid-life crisis) adventure!

The situation:

The 1968 owner's manual says *loaded trailer weight must not exceed
4,000 lbs* and that just feels way too low to me.  Is that tow weight
rating because of the unit body construction? 

My initial thought is to pull an Airstream travel trailer and the one I
am considering is 19' with a *dry* weight of 3,575lbs+/- including a
*hitch* weight of 510lbs.  If the 4,000lbs is a hard limit, I would have
to completely empty holding tanks, etc. every time I moved the rig or
consider going the tent route.  Or worse yet, I'd have to consider
changing tow vehicles.

Has anyone with a 67-68 set it up to pull a travel trailer of any size?
If so, to what result?  I'm afraid of putting too much stress on the
unit body and don't want to do something inherently unsafe on mountain
roads.

Are there viable alternatives/adjustments I can make to either vehicle
(without damaging the Imperial's collectibility) or the trailer (weight
distribution hitches) that would make pulling a small travel trailer
safe?

I just find it odd that a six cylinder suv can pull a 6,000 trailer but
my Imperial can't.

Warm regards,

(A very perplexed) Javier Reynaldos, Miami Shores, FL.




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