First off, thanks for all of the replies! I'm reading and considering everything that has been said.
I don't know the guy, but if I see him I can ask about the trailer hitch for you.
That would be great! I'd love to hear from someone with actual towing experience. Maybe, like the majority of people here say, it's not worth it. If that's the case, then it's on to plan "C". (Plan "B" was towing with the wife's 325i...but that would be worse than the LS)
There was a guy...I think he has an Mark VIII, and he cut out for his exhaust tips, and lined the cut edge with some sort of trim, and it looked real good. If you cut carefully, and trim out the cut area with this trim bead(I think it was some door edge gaurd, in black), it can look very nice. I think the key is to make it as factory looking as possible.
Some questions to ask though, are the 140 miles fairly flat, or is it up, and down?
Is there enough rear suspension for the tungue weight? This could be as much as 150-200#. Or, will you creat a bottoming situation? Will you be hauling other people? This would increase the likelihood of bottoming.
I kept my truck, because I tow a boat some 2500 miles per year, and even in my f150, I have had to watch how I load it, to keep everything as balanced as possible.
Also, you better plan on servicing the trans at least once a year, and with the LS, I think that can get into some $erious Doughnut$.
That door trim stuff you're talking about is what I had in my head, too. Sitting in traffic I've had the opportunity to check out other vehicle's towing setup. Yeah, it wouldn't look as nice as it does now, but it doesn't have to be ugly either. As for the 140 miles, yeah, it's pretty flat. I live in MN, afterall! And once I get out of the city (20 miles) it's pretty much 4 lane highway the rest of the way. For the rear suspension, I admit that I don't know the specific tongue weight. I do have the sport suspension which is stiffer. Also, I'd be flying solo when trailering the bike to the track. Tranny: the car that I bought is actually a Ford Buyback car. Ford bought it back from the owner, rebuilt the tranny and I bought it. Knowing that, I bought the extended warranty to get me through 75,000 miles.
I have never seen a published towing limit for the LS. All reviews I have read will either leave that blank or put in "N/A" or "no data" for the value. Are you refering to the GVWR? If so I assume you realize that includes all cargo and passengers as well.
I'm not sure where I found that number, either. I found it when I was looking specifically for a car capable of towing, though. I was originally looking at a newer Maxima. We had one in the past with good results. However, they have a limit of 1000 lbs. Then I saw 2000 lbs for the LS and never looked back. Now I'm starting to wonder if I made the wrong choice...
I've looked through a couple of the tech articles, but like you said, there's a vast amount of info on this site. It seems like a really great place with people who know what they're talking about. Also, I haven't detected much of the "internet attitude" that can quickly ruin a good forum! Thanks for the welcome!
i think you should just take a sawzall to your back bumper. its only plastic. make sure to do it freehand because measuring and templates are for women. i think youll get surprising results.
:bowrofl: I'll use a realy coarse blade, too. That way the job will get done more quickly!
So I would get an auxilliary cooler in the hopes it keeps temperatures down enough to prevent damage.
Also the 3.9 is not much of a torque engine so don't expect take off to be good and you will generate a fair amount of heat in the tranny if you do a lot of stop and go. Also watch for the tranny hunting gears, ie shifting back and forth from one gear to the next say more often than a couple times a minute for exctended periods, this also generates a lot of heat. Downshift if that happens.
Man, maybe it would have been cheaper to keep the truck and pay for the 12 MPG than it would be to buy a hitch, trailer, tranny cooler, tranny repair, etc...I know that some of these scenarios are worst case, but you never know. I'd rather spend the cash upfront than be stranded alongside the road. Like I said above, the road is fairly flat. So I don't think there will be a lot of gear hunting once I'm up to speed. But I'll watch for it. hey, I can tell all my coworkers, who are dumbfounded by the manual capability of my automatic, that it's for towing!!
(just east of St Paul)