Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

When examing the 55 today I noticed the remains of a weld at the rear of the Packard looks like where a tow ball would have once been. Would this have been a common things to do with these cars. Also, my transmission was replaced in 1988 with a manual trans would towing put too much strain on the gearbox and possibly be the reason behind the swap?

Would this have been a common things to do with these cars

Some Americans have been enamored of pulling recreational vehicles behind their cars for as long as cars have existed, others didn't. So I don't know that I'd say it was COMMON, but not uncommon either. Probably about the same as where you are.

It wouldn't be my preference to tow with any automatic transmission, and of those probably and Ultramatic, Dynaflow or early PowerGlide least of all. But Packard did publish service information on approved towing installations so obviously at the time they didn't consider it unwise, within limits of course.

How many miles are on the car????? How many miles were on the car when the trans was replaced?????? Mileage seem accurate???? Or let me guess, the trans was replaced at about 40K miles???

Also, u indicate a 'trailor ball". Not sure what that means. Do u mean a heavy duty receiver hitch that5 bolts to the frame or just a bumper type hitch with a ball???

My friend Albert tows a trailer with his 54 Patrician. At a venture, possibly one out of every 5 to 10 cars had trailer hitches at that time. Mostly for towing small trailers. One thing I have found, is a vacuum reservoir added to the car for the vacuum brakes used on house trailers in the 40s and early 50s. Or, an electric brake control or wiring for same.

Look in the trunk for a wiring pigtail meant to plug into the trailer wiring. A 4 wire connector indicates a light trailer, a 7 wire indicates a larger trailer with electric brakes and self contained 6 or 12 volt interior lights.

One of the hazards of towing a trailer was premature transmission failure. That is why they installed transmission coolers.

A good cooler, regular fluid changes and sensible driving would stave off premature wear.

i know i wouldnt mind towing a nice 50s boat, maybe a little wooden rowboat or something. something to add a little extra at a car show.

plus, i use all my antiques, and i wouldnt mind a little 50s boat someday.

It seems to me that my own 1955 Caribbean had a bumper mounted hitch on it when I first got it back in 1973, but there was no pigtail for attaching lights so I'm not sure it was ever really used for anything. My engine and transmission are not original to the car either, but were replaced due to the dual carb set up being stolen in the 60's, and water getting inside the engine and ruining it. The powertrain swap was not necessitated by catastrophic failure due to towing.

So, will you be retaining the manual transmission or going back to a Twin Ultra-tragic?

One the frame of my 53 Packard there looked like at onetime the prior owner might had had a towing welded to the frame.
The were also two extra short leaf springs as helps. I bent new u bolts and did away with the helper springs.

I know that the 53's with ultramatic are slow off the line
and lack straight line performance. I would sure as heck wouldn't want to have been pulling any kind of camping trailer.


John F. Shireman

Quote:

The car currently has just under 78,000 original miles which seems accurate, and considering that the manual transmission was installed in 1988 it could have posssibly been replaced around 40,000 miles but will never know.

The car seems to have a heavy duty receiver hitch as it has seemed to have been welded onto the chassis & the rear bumper.

Currently in the process which has taken some time. The transmission is now being replaced I opted for the 727 torqueflite option. This should be completed in a week or so and I guess only time will tell if i chose the right option

Can u give us some details on the 727 conversion and maybe pics of the adapter at the engine and for the torque converter???? I've never seen the innards of the conversion.

During the 50's thru early 70's AIrstream house/camping trailers were popular. Airstream was the high end towable camping trailer and would most likely be the choice of anyone who could afford Packard or Cadillac of that era.

Your original question about the ability of the T'Ultra to tow a trailer depends on expectations. Certainly the T'Ultra would tow the bigger trailors but at what expense???? If the T'Ultra was good for 50-80K miles (as were most automatices ca 1950-1980) under normal operation, THEN the heavy trailor towing would probably reduce the life of the trans by about 50%. This 50% reduction in life of the trans would be typical of other mafg'ers of automatic trans too with possible exception of MoPar TorqueFlite..

Most everyone will agree i'm sure that the MoPar TorqueFlite of the 50's - 70's was superior to just about all other mfg'ers of automatic transmissions of that era. But the MoPar T'Flite was heavy, difficult to rebuild and costly too.