Kinda reinforces what I tried to say with my initial response, as up until that time no one had brought it up.
D100 pull my Duster?
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on level ground and at 45mph max. lol
diymirage
HP@idle > hondaHP@redline
Heard a story once, in the hayday of drag racing, where a particular guy would rent a hemi (the 426 kind) and tow his rolling chassis of a race car to the trackPBR used to pull his Duster to the track with a car.....
Once there, he would pull the 426 out of the rental, drop it in the roller and go racing
Oldiron440
Big blocks rule small blocks drool!
It will pull the trailer and car just make sure you have the brakes working on the trailer.
It doesn’t take much power to roll down the highway until you get to hills or need to accelerate from the stop sign. Take extra coolant and be patient you’ll get there.
It doesn’t take much power to roll down the highway until you get to hills or need to accelerate from the stop sign. Take extra coolant and be patient you’ll get there.
most of the water in this area is at the bottom of some hill or a hill getting thereWhy was you pulling a boat down a hill?? Don't they go in water????
Oldiron440
Big blocks rule small blocks drool!
Water must be at the top of the hill in his area..
MMissile
Well-Known Member
I came back from LA [late 80's] with a 66 Bel-II [383/4-speed], pulling a 20ft open trailer with no brakes, loaded with a 65 Dart GT and about 2-3 thousand pounds of Ford FE parts[long story].
The car was manual steering and drum brakes. We were coming east out of the mountains from Kally to Utah. I smoked the brakes, over-revved the piss outta the 383-down shifting, and could smell lots of clutch. There were a dozen turns I was sure we were gonna die on. We finally got to pretty level earth, and laughed our scared-to-death asses off. The whole rig looked like something from Sanford and Son. Now, I've pulled with my 22 year-old Cummins dually [bought new], proper hitch equipment, and my 28ft trailer with real tires and brakes on it.
It's towed larger trailers, of mine....
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I'm curious, who was renting 426 Hemi's back in the day????
I'm almost 80, been a car nut my whole life. never have I heard of Rent-a-Hemi.
diymirage
HP@idle > hondaHP@redline
I wish I knew
I know I didn't make this memory up, but when I tried to Google it a while ago I can up empty
I might ask one of the AIs to Snoop it out
Oldiron440
Big blocks rule small blocks drool!
It’s a story….. geez
So, I wanted to know the story!!!!!
Paul Harvey is no longer around for the rest of the story
An Oldsmobile, at that!PBR used to pull his Duster to the track with a car.....
It seems I remember Don Garlits telling a story about renting a Hemi but I could be wrong. I do remember the story, I just cannot remember for sure where I heard it came from.
Hurst rent a car for all your hemi needs.
MobileCustoms
You can twist perceptions, reality won't budge
My cousin used to tow his B029 Barracuda to the race track with... another Barracuda.
i had i 79 ford f100 300/6 auto towed a lot of junk around (when i was flipping cars )
had to tow my suburban home ,got home tried going up my drive-way had it to the floor it got 1/3 the way up and wouldn't move
never had that ever happen in anything like that ,she just didn't have enough giddy,unloaded and drove them both up
my dakota 3.9 2wd towed a lot too a few time at 80% of red line for 10min in second pulling the hills ...not a good feeling
now my 12 ram 1500 hemi never felt under powered
had to tow my suburban home ,got home tried going up my drive-way had it to the floor it got 1/3 the way up and wouldn't move
never had that ever happen in anything like that ,she just didn't have enough giddy,unloaded and drove them both up
my dakota 3.9 2wd towed a lot too a few time at 80% of red line for 10min in second pulling the hills ...not a good feeling
now my 12 ram 1500 hemi never felt under powered
Oldiron440
Big blocks rule small blocks drool!
When Hurts was renting the Shelby GT 350 more than one came back with a two v 289 in the engine compartment…
Good point!
I will say it again. The '88 1/2 T /6 truck I had was a good one! I had it back around early 2000's for a while. It was NOT wore out! Towed a full size A or B down the rolling hills of Missouri NO issue once rolling!b 4 speed OD or in other words its a 3 speed with an OD> Geared like a 3 speed in the first 3 gears!v Only issue I had was getting it rolling. I was always it would be way hard on the clutch. Probably so. IF it had a real 4 speed with the low first gear, it would not have been an issue.
It was a great truck but not great for pulling a loaded car trailer. Did I get by for awhile? yea.
Pulling such with no brakes with a 1/2 t. ??? You better be able to keep your distance and know how to get it stopped.
My currect car trailer was bought new about 25 years ago, never have used the brakes on it but it was pulled 95% of the time with a 1 t pickup. The brakes rusted shut probably 20 years ago!
It was a great truck but not great for pulling a loaded car trailer. Did I get by for awhile? yea.
Pulling such with no brakes with a 1/2 t. ??? You better be able to keep your distance and know how to get it stopped.
My currect car trailer was bought new about 25 years ago, never have used the brakes on it but it was pulled 95% of the time with a 1 t pickup. The brakes rusted shut probably 20 years ago!
diymirage
HP@idle > hondaHP@redline
I asked 2 "sources", Google and chatGPT
Google said:
AI Overview
+2
It sounds like you're referring to the stories and legends surrounding the Shelby GT350H "Rent-A-Racer" program.
While there's a myth that people would rent these cars and swap out the high-performance engines for use in their own race cars before returning them with less powerful engines, a former owner of a rental GT350H stated that the real story involved a wrecked car that was purchased after being taken out of service, not an active rental being stripped for parts.
However, the Shelby GT350H was indeed rented out, and stories of people renting them specifically to race them are well-known. The Hertz "Rent-A-Racer" program was a way to make these powerful Mustangs accessible to more people, and some undoubtedly took full advantage of the opportunity to take them on the track.
ChatGPT said:
You're thinking of "Dandy" Dick Landy, a legendary drag racer from the 1960s and 1970s.However, the specific story you're referring to—renting cars with 426 HEMIs and swapping the engines into race cars—is most commonly associated with early drag racers exploiting Chrysler’s street HEMI program in the mid-'60s. While it may not be attributed to just one racer, several racers were known to rent or buy 426 HEMI-equipped cars, particularly Dodge Coronets and Plymouth Belvederes, and pull the engines for racing purposes.
One racer often mentioned in these tales is Don "Big Daddy" Garlits, another iconic figure in drag racing, though there's no firm documentation tying him directly to that specific rental-car-swap trick.
Here’s what really happened:
- In 1966–67, Chrysler released street cars with the 426 HEMI to meet NASCAR and NHRA homologation rules.
- Some clever racers figured out they could rent a HEMI car from Hertz or another company, pull the motor to race with, and then return the car (sometimes with a lesser engine, sometimes not at all).
- This was possible because in those days rental companies didn’t always inspect cars closely, and these racers were looking for cheap ways to get HEMI power without buying a full car.
Is this conversation helpful so far?
This is quickly becoming a thread even DTM would be proud of.. Steeped in facts, fiction and tales in-between. All we're missing is the Ford ranger towing stories. Or the S10 that towed across the Saharan desert at 130 degrees.
My truck is pretty much a twin to the OP's. 82 D150, slant and 833OD. I agree with what others have posted, when pulling a loaded trailer getting going is a clutch-slipping affair. Once moving, it does "OK" in 2nd and 3rd. I wouldn't try it in OD unless on the flats or going downhill. My slant is moderately upgraded but no kind of a beast. For as little as I'm likely to need to pull a fully loaded trailer I can live with its lack of muscle - besides, it's otherwise a hoot to drive.
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