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Reading all these transmission posts just makes me love the 6 speed manual in my F350 even more. Carry on lol.
The only time I have not like the 6 speed manual in my F350 was sitting in Orlando traffic. I would have disliked any manual in that traffic, nothing specific about the truck.
...in a state where the highest point above sea level is 345 feet.
--Ian
Good point. I'm sure it does it but I don't know how well or for how long. I would definitely add a transmission cooler if forced to tow with one.
I borrowed my father's Honda Ridgeline "pickup" to tow a 16ft aluminum boat much lighter than a Miata and can say the powerband of the 3.5 v6 was terrible for it. The power and torque was way up in the rpms so it was constantly downshifting on level interstates. It would be worse with a Miata, I'm sure. But I guess it would get me there if I had to use it.
Finally got to use my tow rig over the weekend. 2012 BMW X5 35i. Towed great, plenty of power and brakes. The 8 speed didn't hunt gears much, only grabbed lower gears for big hills. Got 15mpg loaded at 80mph too. So much nicer driving to the track with AC, would have been a miserable weekend to drive that far in the race car.
Paint has seen better days, but he bought the truck new in 1993, and it's been maintained by Ford since new.
So my main question for these thread is, what's the minimum trailer length you would use for 2 Miatas. This would be open trailer HPDE things, so not much gear, I just want to be able to toss my car and a friend's on a trailer and head to the track.
...in a state where the highest point above sea level is 345 feet.
--Ian
that is also true, my post was more about my jealousy of all these bad *** trucks that you guys have....
Originally Posted by sixshooter
Good point. I'm sure it does it but I don't know how well or for how long. I would definitely add a transmission cooler if forced to tow with one.
I borrowed my father's Honda Ridgeline "pickup" to tow a 16ft aluminum boat much lighter than a Miata and can say the powerband of the 3.5 v6 was terrible for it. The power and torque was way up in the rpms so it was constantly downshifting on level interstates. It would be worse with a Miata, I'm sure. But I guess it would get me there if I had to use it.
I had the Honda tow package added by a dealer, so it does have a trans cooler now.
but the odyssey is a terrible tow rig, the engine has power, but it's all in the upper rpm range, so at every overpass I have to shut off cruise control and baby the throttle, otherwise it will drop not one but TWO gears and scream at 5k rpm until over the Crest. Which I'm sure is not healthy for these glass transmissions.
I mean it does get me and a miata on a uhaul dolly from point a to point b, but I have to baby the throttle and prevent hard downshifts the whole way.
fiy I drive my miata to track and autox events, I only tow when the occasional good deal craigslist miata comes up that i feel like fixing up.
Paint has seen better days, but he bought the truck new in 1993, and it's been maintained by Ford since new.
Those Fords are great trucks. Parts are cheap, and everywhere 'cause they're the same over F150, 250, 350 and Bronco over ~1988-1997. The old IDI diesel isn't a huge powerhouse, but is nice and simple. And mostly mechanical, so it can double as a great zombie apocalypse ride.
So my main question for these thread is, what's the minimum trailer length you would use for 2 Miatas. This would be open trailer HPDE things, so not much gear, I just want to be able to toss my car and a friend's on a trailer and head to the track.
Could a 24ft 10k trailer do it? Seems tight.
Stock NA and NB both spec at 13ft overall length, so I think you're right about a 24 being tight. I saw a guy a couple of years ago who managed to get two NBs in a 28' enclosed. It was very tight, and he didn't have a lot of room for anything else. Don't forget about weight distribution. At least Miatas are pretty even front to rear so direction doesn't matter too much, but you'll have to load one way forward so watch the tongue weight. The back car should balance it, but I'd want to get actual numbers on a scale rather than just napkin math.
I know andrew had a triple axle 2 car at one point, but i think that was much longer.
My old triple-axle was 32ft on the deck. Miatas are 13ft long, so you could squeeze two of them onto a 24ft with the cars hanging over on both ends. I got a 32ft because I wanted a triple-axle setup and didn't want to be squeezing cars on with awkward strap points. Two Miatas with 2ft of buffer front, back, and between = 32ft.
I wouldn't do anything shorter than a 28. A 28ft tandem-axle bumper pull is also not a lot of fun to tow in the mountains or in any sort of crosswind, whereas a triple is far more stable.
Haven't seen any triple axles 32 footers anywhere near my ballpark price range (or for what you sold yours for). 24s are more readily available too. And easier to store. Wonder if I could find someone who could do a shorter triple axle trailer.
Any chance the guy who bought your trailer is looking to get out of it?
10-04-2018, 10:07 AM
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