Towing my 93 C with my 03 L

[JoeRacer]

So I've been stuck out in DFW trying to get this 93 Cobra project car of mine started (it has been one thing after another ... ). I need to get home to TN by this next weekend, and a clean 03 DSG L showed up for sale on Autotrader. It has 37k miles, original owner, and is 100% stock. I picked it up for $15k, and I'm going to use it to tow the Cobra back home in a couple of days. It has the towing package, and I've read a little already about towing with the Lightning. The Cobra + tow dolly is only going to weigh in at ~4000lbs, and I plan to keep speeds in the 50-60mph range depending on conditions. I know that the drive from DFW to Nashville is about 650miles, but I've read a few testimonies of people towing stuff with their Lightnings and I'm confident that if I treat it right I shouldn't have any problems. I've read to just take it slow, adjust for longer braking distances, and if it is shifting in and out of OD to just leave it in 3rd. Does anyone have any more advice on this? The tires are brand new (Goodyear F1? whatever the stock tires are), the oil is clean and fresh, engine runs real well, and it has had the recall done on the CC switch that starts fires.

Just cruising around in the L is nice, for a truck . I can definitely get used to it as a daily driver. But ... it needs just a little more power .... and the downward spiral begins ....

 

[SADF]

Piece of cake. I towed a bagged Tacoma S-Runner when I was slammed on a static drop on 22's all the way from ATL to Greenville, Miss....an 8 hour drive on rough, shitty, Mississippi road. Its not any different from towing with another truck except it can get out of its way as good as a diesel

 

[chip moore]

LMAO. Only problem I've ever had was the MPG LOL. I tow a 3130 Kubota 4x4 tractor, Enclosed trailer, I can't even begin to count the cars I have hauled (way over 100), my 18ft loaded with 4wheelers and every thing else you could imagine. I have had my truck for 4 years. Mods are CAI, 4#, ported blower, and Diablo Sport. And have something behind it at least 2 times a week. PS use the search button.

 

[JoeRacer]

I used the search button. That's where I found the tips about towing with it. Just wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything.

This is just my first time towing anything like this. I've towed a small single axle equipment trailer before. I've already noticed that this dolly does not back up for shit.

Thanks for the reassurances. :beer:

Big SVT Brother towing his little SVT Brother :-D

 

[bird_jenkins8]

What wheels do you have on that Cobra??? I'd be crazy worried about rock chips on the Cobra hauling it that way, but that's just me

Edit: Nevermind, saw the FR500's in you sig

 

[chip moore]

Is the Cobra auto??? Just asking because that is a long haul for an auto tranny in N. But like I said, don't worry about the truck It'll tow whatever you can fit on that dolly and take it as far as you need LOL. Especially a bone stock truck. Mine has almost 118,000 miles on it, still going strong.

 

[ACSVT]

Is the Cobra auto??? Just asking because that is a long haul for an auto tranny in N. But like I said, don't worry about the truck It'll tow whatever you can fit on that dolly and take it as far as you need LOL. Especially a bone stock truck. Mine has almost 118,000 miles on it, still going strong.

To my knowledge, they are all 5speeds.

 

[BLWN DSG]

Is the Cobra auto??? Just asking because that is a long haul for an auto tranny in N. But like I said, don't worry about the truck It'll tow whatever you can fit on that dolly and take it as far as you need LOL. Especially a bone stock truck. Mine has almost 118,000 miles on it, still going strong.

To my knowledge, they are all 5speeds.

no cobra was made an auto.....if it is an auto that is 100% a aftermarket tranny.

 

[prez1967]

i wouldnt tow my project on a dolly... but you will not have any issues.

 

[SADF]

Is the Cobra auto??? Just asking because that is a long haul for an auto tranny in N. But like I said, don't worry about the truck It'll tow whatever you can fit on that dolly and take it as far as you need LOL. Especially a bone stock truck. Mine has almost 118,000 miles on it, still going strong.

All cobras manual

 

[chip moore]

ok I got it. Just checking.

 

[JoeRacer]

The body/paint is in good condition except for a few blimishes (86k miles). The previous owner had ran up over a curb and already messed up the paint on the bumper so it is being redone anyways. The hood is aftermarket, and the paint on the underside is peeling off so I am going to have that fixed as well.

I'd love to have towed the car on a real trailer but UHAUL wanted $500 to rent their POS that weighs 2000lbs, and I couldn't find a decent trailer for sale locally for a price I could live with. I was definitely worried about towing with the dolly. It is most definitely worthless for backing up with, and it makes some nasty sounds over bumps (at least at speeds slow enough to hear it lol ... out of sight/sound out of mind?). While I did make it the 670miles without any incident I am never using a dolly again.

Oddly enough the car had a built engine (600rwhp) through an auto before it was dissassembled and left sitting in a garage for 10 years (eh, for the record leave a car sitting for 10 years and every nut/bolt on it will be rusted/frozen, the entire SS fuel system will be dry rotted, the fuel tank will be ruined, etc ... but keep it in a garage under a cover and the body and interior will still be perfect heh). I had the pleasure of replacing the auto pedal assembly back to the original pedals that came on the car (the owner still had them after 10 years of storage).

... now I just have to repair the wiring that was ****ed by an alarm install :bash:

For the record I got 15 MPG :rockon: The truck had 0 problems, and everything felt solid the entire trip.

Here are a few pics of it though.

The Cobra is my 'project,' but I love my lightning. I don't think there is another truck out there that I would be as happy with as I am with this one. These trucks are awesome :beer:

 

[chip moore]

So it was auto?

 

[JoeRacer]

Factory all Cobras are 5spd (well ... the newer ones are 6spd heh). He had installed an auto himself. Instead of just leaving the clutch pedal in there (some people simply tie it up so it is out of the way ... ), he put in an automatic pedal assembly. I put a factory Cobra T5 back in, and installed the factory 5spd pedal assembly from a Cobra. So now it is back to the way SVT intended it to be ....

lol, this thread is going to get moved to another forum (I don't know how Nazi the moderators are about that stuff around here ... I just joined this forum, and NO I did not just call the moderators Nazis ... ) .... way way off topic @ this point.

 

[chip moore]

I knew that on the auto. But people change them a lot on those cars. I was just checking for my sake because people on here are quick to jump the gun on making someone look bad.

 

[SADF]

I knew that on the auto. But people change them a lot on those cars. I was just checking for my sake because people on here are quick to jump the gun on making someone look bad.

:shrug: more like guys are just tring to be informative the same way in all my post. Know way you knew that because there is a handful of peeps only that have replaced a Cobra to auto...and I doubt hardly any are street cars.

 

[bird_jenkins8]

:shrug: more like guys are just tring to be informative the same way in all my post. Know way you knew that because there is a handful of peeps only that have replaced a Cobra to auto...and I doubt hardly any are street cars.

+1.......I read nothing that was out of line. People are just trying to be informative about the subject. I personally have never seen an auto Cobra....

 

[gen2lightning]

OMG THats a BEAUTIFUL COBRA!!!!

 

[SADF]

Car looks good, are those the factory Cobra tailamps?

 

[JoeRacer]

Yup, they are the factory tail lights. It sucks that one is cracked. I'm going to replace them with OEM Ford parts, and then just hold onto the originals. The car was pretty heavily modified before, then the engine was swapped to a normal h/c/i combo like I am running now, then the owner drove for a few years as a daily driver, graduated college, parked it and ripped out the drivetrain in preperation for a 408+Vortech. Along came a wife, then a kid, and another kid ... 10 years later the car was still sitting in his garage with no drivetrain, and I bought it off him. He had about 90% of the parts in his garage to complete the car with the engine combo he had planned on, but never finalized due to life taking over... Now it's my project hehe I'm pretty excited about it. I've already swapped all the brakes/suspension/engine in, and now I have to repair the wiring where he had wired in a car alarm that kind of messed a lot of stuff up. I hate dealing with other people's wiring messes