M38A1 Towing Capacity

cabinfever · Post by **cabinfever** » Tue Jul 31, 2018 12:34 pm

I know that the highway towing capacity of an A1 is 2000 pounds.

My question is what do you think its towing capacity would be in low range, first gear, and 2 to 3 mph?

I have been asked by a local VFW if I would be interested in towing their member float in parades. Their trailer is a heavy-duty construction equipment trailer with a pintle hitch. I am assuming the trailer weighs around 4000# (+/-). Add to that, the weight of around 10 (+/-) members on the float which would add another 2000 pounds.

Am I asking for trouble?

For what it's worth, here are a couple photos of the float.

mdainsd · Post by **mdainsd** » Tue Jul 31, 2018 1:05 pm

Is the parade route all level? And do you have locking hubs on the front?

If its level and you can unlock the front hubs, the biggest concern (to me) would be starting off. No jack rabbit starts for sure. Depending on what you have in your Jeep wheel spin might be the limiting factor. Air the trailer tires all the way up and you should be fine. Ive pulled much heavier things short distances up a pretty good incline with no apparent issues.

Ray101 · Post by **Ray101** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 7:42 am

I wouldn't think twice about pulling that trailer on mostly level paved roads
in low range as long as your not in 4wd, which as you probably know you can do by having lockouts, pull your front driveshaft, or remove the interlock from your transfer case.

cabinfever · Post by **cabinfever** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:17 am

I drive veterans in at least 5 different parades a summer. I found out long ago the value of lock-out hubs and lo-range when driving in parades. So, YES my A1 does have lock-out hubs.

MarkR1951M38 · Post by **MarkR1951M38** » Thu Aug 02, 2018 11:11 am

cabinfever wrote:I drive veterans in at least 5 different parades a summer. I found out long ago the value of lock-out hubs and lo-range when driving in parades. So, YES my A1 does have lock-out hubs.

Can you explain why the lockout hubs give an advantage. If the front axle is not engaged with the levers, then why the advantage since they are not providing power to the differential/axles? Asking because I don't know and I plan to drive in a few future parades.

cabinfever · Post by **cabinfever** » Thu Aug 02, 2018 11:42 am

MarkR1951M38 wrote:Can you explain why the lockout hubs give an advantage. If the front axle is not engaged with the levers, then why the advantage since they are not providing power to the differential/axles? Asking because I don't know and I plan to drive in a few future parades.

A parade is slow. The speed of the parade is usually set by the marching Color Guard, which is about 1 to 2 mph. A jeep in Hi-range, 1st gear, with its engine speed at idle, will move at about 3 to 4 mph. So, if you drive your jeep in Hi-range at this speed you will be constantly pushing the clutch in and out to slow down or stop during the parade. You don't want to run into the Color Guard or the float that is ahead of you.

A solution is to drive your jeep in Lo-range. It will drive along at a perfect parade speed. However, to be in Lo-range your jeep will also have to be in 4WD. Turning corners on dry pavement in 4WD will put a lot of stress on your transfer. So, many have installed lock-out hubs on their jeeps if they do parade duty. This way, one can drive in Lo-range, 1st gear, 4WD and put undue stress on the transfer.

MarkR1951M38 · Post by **MarkR1951M38** » Thu Aug 02, 2018 12:08 pm

Uh...so you drive them with the lockouts un-locked in 4WD and Lo-gear? Makes sense now. Thanks.

cabinfever · Post by **cabinfever** » Thu Aug 02, 2018 6:58 pm

MarkR1951M38 wrote:Uh...so you drive them with the lockouts un-locked in 4WD and Lo-gear? Makes sense now. Thanks.

You got it!

Mike_B · Post by **Mike_B** » Sun Aug 05, 2018 9:59 am

Does the trailer have brakes?

Mike B

cabinfever · Post by **cabinfever** » Mon Aug 06, 2018 1:15 pm

Mike_B wrote:Does the trailer have brakes?

Mike B

I'm not sure. I do not plan on towing it faster than 1 to 2 mph.

rgmutchler · Post by **rgmutchler** » Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:33 pm

I would think that under the conditions of a parade the wt. would not be as much of a problem as tongue wt. I would be more concerned with what wt. the hitch can take and next to that if it would pull the hitch out due to total wt.

mdainsd · Post by **mdainsd** » Mon Aug 06, 2018 4:33 pm

it appears to be a double axle trailer, which is easy to keep tongue weight low.

cabinfever · Post by **cabinfever** » Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:15 pm

My M38A1 had no difficulty towing the VFW float on Saturday. Other than settling down a few inches from tongue weight, the A1 didn't even know there was any extra weight being towed (i.e., it moved along at the same rpm as it would have not towing anything). I am escorting a triple Purple Heart recipient riding shotgun.

Post by **wesk** » Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:52 pm

Nice work Steve!