'07 Lincoln Town Car Towing

Had: 86 Town car, '95 & '97 TC's. Absolutely loved the '95 while the DW loved the '97. Best car I ever rode in and still got decent mpg's 18/25-27.

DesertRatz wrote:
Thanks for the good comments folks!

I have a lot of experience towing with 'Burbs, and big vans, but the laat time I tried a sedan I got my arse whooped. A guy in Canada advise I could tow my Airstream Flying CLoud 25 with a Chrysler 300 V6. Spent a bucket load of money on a custom hitch, and the rig almost killed me on our first outing when it over heated up a 4% grade and then the brakes wouldn't stop the whole rig on the way down. My wife brained me over that fiasco.

Being careful this time.

fool me once, shame on you.
fool me twice,................
bumpy

philh wrote:
transmission was set up on that pig to maximize fuel economy. Lock up torque convertor will quickly heat the trans up while towing. your best option is to find out if a predator is available for the vehicle and find someone to do a custom tune for you to tow with. I would also make sure you get the wt distribution well set up.

What is a predator?

When I was a kid, my dad towed our 30 foot bunkhouse Shasta with WD all over with a 1972 Buick Electra -- 455 V8 (that's 7.5 liters). Full body on frame. Towing capacity of that car? No idea. But you could not run the AC in the car because she'd overheat pulling the Shasta.

But, with a Panther platform car, the last body on frame American car that ended life in '11 or '12, was restricted by the transmission, brakes, and suspension. Will it tow the trailer? Sure. Safely? Not so sure.

I drive a 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis, 80k miles. Towing capacity is 2k. I have a hitch and have towed utility trailer but not much else. With a 6x10 utility trailer and a Polaris ATV, I can tell it's back there...rear end sags, takes longer to brake.

To sum it up: please be careful. WD hitch is a must. Trailer brakes/controller a must. Trans coolers a must. Just be careful !!!!

carringb wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:

dodge guy wrote:
The 07 has a different rear suspension than the earlier town cars. They lowered the rating then, prior to that it was 5000lbs.

I highly doubt that any Panther ever had a 5000 lb tow rating !

They were rated for 5,000 pounds through the 1995 model year. Besides the lowered tow rating, the only changes were a new steering wheel and the aforementioned spare tire change. But you are correct that an external transmission cooler was recommended for towing.

Yep the later ones were rated at only 2k lbs. but you can't use a WD hitch with that light of a trailer. And like I said the earlier ones were rated at 5k, I belive the cutoff was around 98. And yes you needed a few addons. But a Panther platform is a very comfy highway cruiser, even towing.

But when you say “up to” 2500lbs, you mean literally a tiny teardrop trailer or similar.
The old town car shouldn’t have much issue in general, but it is a very anemic power train in the world of rwd V8 vehicles.

Or don’t waste your money and sell it for a full size pickup or SUV.
It ain’t 1967 or 1977. Pickups and suvs outnumber V8 sedans by about 1000 to 1.
And doesn’t the town car have air ride? You’re repeating your own history...again with a new experiment.

With a truck or suv you won’t have to upgrade anything. It’ll have a hitch, brake controller hookup, decent trans cooler and gearing if you pick the right one. Which for your situation is virtually any pickup or suv for that size trailer.

transmission was set up on that pig to maximize fuel economy. Lock up torque convertor will quickly heat the trans up while towing. your best option is to find out if a predator is available for the vehicle and find someone to do a custom tune for you to tow with. I would also make sure you get the wt distribution well set up.

RJS TRactor - -

Yup. You nailed it! The entire experiment lasted about 45 miles, and cost me about $4 grand.