Non tow-pack car, will this kill it? Plus a hitch question

Hey guys:

My wagon is a '91 RMW, non tow-pack with 2.73 rear gear ratio. I hadn't planned to do any towing with this car, but I have a couple "finds" that I REALLY could use the wagon to go retrieve.

My first question is:

Is towing a total weight of about 2800 going to overtax the transmission?(I'm prepared to overtax my wallet and right foot). I have a new Maxi-Cool plate type cooler to use on it and I always practice trans-saving habits such as NO overdrive and shifting manually when needed to avoid heavy-load shifts.

Also, this car doesn't have a hitch installed. I know several of you guys tow things, so where is a good source for a frame hitch?

Thanks!

Well, apparently the wagons are good to tow 3000 pounds.

So in theory, you should be fine.

I got the same car you do and other than not breaking any land speed records I had no issues towing from Delray beach to London Ontario, or when I towed from virginia to michigan. Both times I was flat towing another B body wagon. the wagon is still going strong. I don't think you'll have any issues.

Thanks for the advice...I didn't feel it would, but I like sounding ideas off other people.

Pat, that's close to 1500 miles one way on the FL trip...how long did it take to drive it?

normally that would have been two days, but the weather got crappy in southern ohio so it took us three due to the weather and the boarder crossing....

Tyler:

I use the Drawtite 41509 hitch on mine. Think they are the only ones still making one for our cars. You should be able to get it for about $250.00 or less if you shop it. Has worked out fine for me and can handle anything the car is capable of. It is a class IV and is rated for up to 3,500 lbs for straight towing or can handle up to the cars max of 5,000 lbs with a load eqaulizing hitch (not suggested with the L03 engine unless you are veeeery patient).

Bill

Thanks for the info on a hitch.

So far I've called 3 places about one and the quickest it could get here would be 2 weeks

Speaking solely from a transmission perspective, if you don't overheat the transmission, it doesn't slip under steady-state operation, and you don't shift under a lot of load, you could tow a 747 from NY to California and the transmission would never break. You can take that to the bank.

keep it out of overdrive too!!! I learned that from a 92 Toyota and a U-haul trailer

my L93 Caprice has a 2.73 open ,class II hitch on it and air shocks, but I haven't towed anything with it......yet. Mostly as I don't have a class II ball thingy to stick into the receiver and have a tow pack RMW on hand to do the work.