Has anyone ever converted a coil spring (rear end) elky to a leaf spring rear?

The interest is in towing....

Or would air bags in the coils do me better? (It already has coils from a 79 malibu wagon and it sits 5" higher with that and the towing and hauling shocks installed at the same time).

The thought is towing a 16-20 ft speed boat.

Or should I go 5th wheel? (OverKILL!?)

The rear is still not solid enough to handle a serious load from a trailer hitch. I understand I'll need frame re-enforcements (or cross members) for the class 2 (or 3?) hitch.

It can haul... it has a 350cid v8 and holley 750cfm 4bbl in front of a THM350-R3 (4 core rad and tranny cooler).

Thanks for the comments...

Air bags, HD rear sway bar, coilover rear shocks, and a class 3 hitch would give you the best setup for hauling a boat. However hauling is only half of it. You'll need to stop too. I'd be worried more about the brakes.

Ernie is right. Stopping will be a problem. Also, performance on a steep ramp at the lake will be a problem if the boat is heavy enough. A heavy boat will cause an elkie to slip & slide backwards toward the water even when all four wheels are locked up by the brakes. It is an unnerving feeling. I know because it happens to me once in a while on wet, steep ramps.

I tow a medium size, open hull style fishing boat that weighs approximately 800 pounds when fully loaded. On crooked roads, especially in the mountains and when going downhill, I am very, very careful. When the roads are wet, even my small boat pushes the truck around too easily. You must be careful. It's that lightweight rearend that causes the problems. One might think that the tongue weight from the trailer would help, but it does not. Instead, it definitely has a lifting effect on the rearend when braking. If you decide to tow the boat, I suggest you increase the recommended tongue weight by 10% to 15%. That will assure you do not have less than the recommended tongue weight for your circumstances which would make the situation much worse.

Best of luck.

you can go with stock coils in the back and the stock air shocks would do just fine. with the air shocks you can adjust the pressure for a stiffer or softer ride.

Or would I be better off to not use the El Camino and setup my 87 GMC S15 Jimmy to tow? (2.8L v6, 700R4, TBI, 4WD).

The 2.8L v6 is known to be a weak engine and I don't expect it would do much hauling (?), but it too has a 4 core radiator and dual(!) transmission coolers (I use it off-road; it's got 31"x10.5" 15" tires). I already have additional leaf springs for the rear, they just need to be installed.

My El Camino getting dragged into the water is not something I wish to experience (as spoonplugger mentioned), and the S15/Jimmy in 4H would have a lot more traction... I'm just wondering how a little 2.8L v6 would respond to the load of a 15 foot speed boat (or so).

Thanks again for your comments.

Air bags in the springs work great! By far superior to air shocks in every way.

go with the s15. don't ruin the elky.

I tow with my 2.8 all the time. It's not fast, but it does the trick! Depends mostly on your gearing though. I've towed 5th gen Elkys on a tow dolley with it, does fine. Plan ahead when it comes to stopping though :mrgreen: The 2.8 is in my Jeep (same engine as S-15), it also has 4.10 gears and trac-loc which helps alot. 8)

Well I guess that settles it... I won't torture my El Camino... I'll use the S15 Jimmy. I was just thinking the 2.8L v6 wouldn't haul anything significant, but I'd rather blow out the v6/700R4 than beat the stuffing out of my Elky. Besides, S15's and v6's are a dime a dozen and a 4L gear is probably a good thing on the ramps when dumping the boat in the water.

Besides, there's no lakes here, so I'd be playing in salt water if I towed with the Elky... that thought alone makes me quiver.

Thanks for your comments... you guys are a wealth of information.