Hello, my name is Mike and i'm new to your excellent forum. I came across it tonight as I was looking for info on mid 90s Caddys.

I have been looking at used trucks and the price is just insane for what they bring.

I just found a '96 Fleetwood with a 5.7 engine, 80+ on the odo, original owners, almost everything works 100%. $2,700. Needs tires, radio, new power antenna, and a couple front end steering parts + shocks to be perfect.

The car is all-but-mint. Needs dumb stuff here and there, but it still handles nice and shows REAL well with shiny paint and plenty of power.

Seemed kinda foolish (to me) at first, but the more I thaught about it, the Fleetwood really is as long as a truck, if not longer, and has the same engine/trans + a real frame and RWD, just like GM's trucks. ummm... The Caddy would be sooo much more comfy on the long hauls to events all over the country than a pick-up, especially for the money i'd have to lay out.. Probably like $3,500 to make it perfect, including the price of the car.

One other thing, the driver's seat is cloth where the rest are all leather.. Is that correct, or did they put a cloth seat where a worn-out seat was originally? They told me thats how the car came?!

Racecar and trailer to be towed are about 5,000#.

Thanks in advance for your help.

-Mike

Beef up the rear suspension and put a beefier tranny and you should be good to go. There is a reason why the Suburban and Escalade are now made at the plant where the Fleetwoods were churned out :thumbsup:

FYI, some of the Fleetwoods of this era came with a towing package.

Yep, towing is no issue with these cars. The cloth seat thing sounds weird--they were either all cloth or all leather, so someone changed something along the way.

Actually, as far as towing, a typical stock Brougham is rated at 5000 lbs, but the suspension may be a little soft for that (not sure), and there's also the insane 7000 lb rated Tow Pack Fleetwoods, which are rare, but nice to find, with stiffer suspensions and lower rear gears.

You should have any problem towing with a regular one, though, as long as the suspension is strong enough. At the end of this summer I was out to the store for a bit in mine, and waiting at a red light to cross a main highway, I saw a white Fleetwood coming (believe it was a '93), with a trailor hooked up and a race car on that. Car was sitting level and passing everyone else, so it was a very cool site:thumbsup:

Here's a good link for just about any kind of technical info on these things:
http://myweb.accessus.net/~090/cfb.html

Welcome aboard.
I believe the basic Fleetwood Brougham is rated to tow 5,000 pounds.
If you have the V4P option (look at the build sheet in the trunk or elsewhere) it's rated to tow 7,000 lbs.
I have that basic 95 with just over 90k miles and pull a 1,700 pound PopUp camper. What I did, however, is install a Carolina Performance Transmissions Stage II (4L60E) HydraMatic with hi-rev stall converter. So, when she's not towing, this barge goes like stink, surprising ricers no end.
If you're able, get the Factory Service Manual as well as the Owner's manual. That will get you all the sneaky things you should do when towing, such as fiddling with the leveling device when you have the trailer on the tongue.
(The manual says to let the auto level do its thing and when everything is level on the car, pull the fuse that activates the auto level thingy. Then tow that way. This keeps the auto level from going nuts with every change of load on the tongue.)
So far, I've dumped nearly $2k for the transmission and a few hundred for the hitch and other stuff, along with new tires and - just for the hell of it - new brakes, all the way around.
Outside of that, we're really pleased with the car. It doesn't know the camper is behind us.
Your situation will be different, I guess, and you may want to go with electric or surge brakes on the trailer.
But if you take the time to snoop through all the posts on this site - including those funny numbers at the very bottom of the site - you'll get a damn good idea of what your Cadillac will do for you.
Don't forget to run a search on oils. It 's a real interesting subject. (!)
And there are a great bunch of guys on this site who can tell you about all the odd things about your Cadillac, good AND bad. (N0DIH is the one who clued me in to flushing all sorts of crap out of the heater core when I got no heat, for example.)
Good luck

This also reminds me of the '93 Fleetwood marketing videos I have with a dark blue '93 Brougham driving up a curvy mountain road in the pouring rain with a large boat hooked on out back...just too fun to watch!

Underneath, they're essentially the same deal as your typical Tahoe or Suburban that everyone tows with, just with a more svelte and luxurious car body on top.

Thanks soo much for all of your help. I'm glad I found this website.

Amazing. The cloth driver's side looks sooo factory compared to the leather everywhere else. Ummm. Something to ponder. I just got off the phone with the owners and she swears it is original that way, she bought the car new.

96, I had already planned to add aftermarket air shocks that allow me to bypass the factory system. Although the factory set-up still works, i'd want the permanant (off/on, as I need, so to speak) adjustability for towing a 5k trailer.

Mike

Sorta like my avatar? :)

The V4P car has a modified 4L60E (larger accumulators), special PCM/Transmission tuning, mechanical fan, larger cooling system (RPO V08) Impala SS spring rates (6TP/7TP and 8HF/9HF part of FE2), only taller and 3.42 gears (GU6). Do some searching for V4P or tow package, there is a lot of detail I did on it there.

The 93 V4P is a 3.73 geared car. LT1 cars got 3.42's.

Towing is limted to 7000# ("not to exceed 7000#"), and 840 lb tonque weight. If the car has the FE2 suspension, you have the same suspension as the V4P. So you then just need the gearing and tuning.

Welcome, I don't know what year Caddi the Beach Boys had but they pulled the Cobra with no problem. Or was that Jan and Dean?

Amazing. The cloth driver's side looks sooo factory compared to the leather everywhere else. Ummm. Something to ponder. I just got off the phone with the owners and she swears it is original that way, she bought the car new.

She might have got it new this way. But only after the dealer changed it out.

A lot of old people complain they can't slide out of a car with leather as easy as cloth. So the dealer might have accomodated her to make the sale.

She might have got it new this way. But only after the dealer changed it out.

A lot of old people complain they can't slide out of a car with leather as easy as cloth. So the dealer might have accomodated her to make the sale.

That's about the only thing that would make sense, since they made both cloth and leather cars, but it was one or the other--and must just have been changed for some reason.

If you bought that Fleetwood I would pay particular attention to the rear gearing. Make sure it is at least a Brougham model if you will be pulling that much weight. That will give you 2.93 rear end gears.
Best case scenario is the car is a V4P Brougham and has the goodies NODIH mentioned for 7K lbs of towing!

The base model Fleetwood had 2.56 gears. I don't think it would be up to the challenge of 5K pounds.

If I was in your shoes and had 2.93 gears:
Buy the car
Install class III hitch and wiring, maybe brake controller, too.
Get it a tuneup.
Replace rear shocks with standard gas shocks and add Airlift 1000 bags ($65 through Jegs.com). These bags install in the coil springs and allow you to add air depending on load.
Go to www.pcmforless.com or www.madz28.com and get the fan turn-on temps lowered which will consequently lower operating temps of tranny, coolant system, everything under the hood, etc.
PCM reprogramming can also firm up the shifts better suited to towing as well as for higher octane fuel (i.e., more power).

Drive the wheels off that sucker! In style and comfort.

Thanks for the info/advice, everyone.

I looked at the car more closely today in daylight and the driver's seat is leather after all... I couldent see it in the dusk, but there is actually a really good fitting cover on top of the factory leather seat (just like HotRod suggested). It was dealer-installed, and its been in place since the car was brand new.. Sorry for the confusion. :)

It is a Brougham, so it probably has the good gear in it.

The current owner is dropping it off on Monday, I can't wait to start cruising this jewel !!!

Mike

Look for RPO GU3 for 2.93's
Look for RPO GM8 for 2.56's (someone check me on this one, it doesn't feel right)
Look for RPO GU6 for 3.42's
Look for RPO V08 for HD Cooling (Mech Fan is giveaway)
Look for RPO V4P for HD Tow Package (Not to Exceed 7000#)
Look for RPO V4R for Security Package (giveaway is lock for license plate in trunk and flashing SECURITY light on dash when door is open)
Look for RPO V4S for Brougham Package
Look for RPO FE2 for HD "Firm Ride" suspension
Look for RPO FE1 for mush ride suspension "Soft Ride"
Look for RPO V92 for 5000# Tow Package *RARE*

Any other good ones to look for?

SPID has these codes on the underside of the trunk lid.

What kind of loads can the '70s cars tow? I don't plan to do much, but I might put a hitch on the '79 deVille for an occasional pull since I don't keep trucks around.

Same limitations. Even the 71-76 B/C/D cars can only tow 7000#. I suspect it is brake limitations or wheelbase limitations. The 77-96 B/D can only tow 7000#, again IF equipped right. 71-76 (Oldsmobile D/C cars, aka, 88 and 98 and FS Wagon) was Y72 cooling (larger rad, 22-24 qt, 7 blade mech fan, coolant return to rad tank not to water pump), 3.23 gears, 455, THM400, and J55 brakes (I think std on Cad, 12in front rotors, 12x2in rear drums). I didn't ever see breakout on suspension. But likely some sort of FE2 flavor.

There is a forumla to calc length of trailer for wheelbase of tow rig. Like a Suburban with a 131 in wheelbase should only tow a 29 foot trailer no matter the weight. Is it official? Not that I know of, but very good recommendations.

With a 79 Cad, get and 8.5" axle with 3.42's and a solid THM400 and if you have the 12in front brakes you should be pretty solid for 5000#, maybe even 7000#.

7000# is a LOT of weight, don't try to be cheap and do it unsafe. Not worth the injuries...

7000# is a LOT of weight, don't try to be cheap and do it unsafe. Not worth the injuries...

I heard that. Thanks for the specs.

With a 79 Cad, get and 8.5" axle with 3.42's and a solid THM400 and if you have the 12in front brakes you should be pretty solid for 5000#, maybe even 7000#.

Any axle manufacturers in particular that you're fond of? I'm looking at a myriad of options with little in the way of knowledge.

While I'm at it, should I beef up the rear suspension? This is a non-load leveler car.

Thanks again.

Chevy 8.5", used on all 77-96 B cars and all 84-96 B/D cars. The original 77-83(84?) FW used the 8.875 (8 7/8") Pontiac axle, which was carryover from the 71-76 B/C/D cars (need to confirm Cadillac carline to be 100%).

Definately add some decent rear springs if you are gonna carry much tonque weight. Check the rate that the Suburbans used, they are similar weight (a little heavier, but shouldn't be too far off) in a C1500 flavor. Subs were leaf, but the rate is what you are looking for.

I would avoid the 77-83(84?) D axle (8.875"), as there are no performance gearsets avail, heck, any gearsets are tough. And the best gear ever from the factory was a 3.23 anyway. And posi's are almost non-existant.