My Parents had a 1984 Pontiac Firebird with the 4Cyl Iron Duke.

They pulled a 19ft bass boat with no problems.. Maybe it was because it was rear wheel drive.

 

FWD + Already heavy car + Not the STRONGEST transmission (for abuse) = I wouldn't tow.

 

This thread has one guy towing boats with his impala and Another guy is raving about the tranny(4t60e) used in the impala.. Isn't it the same as the Monte?

The guy towing old collector boats claims that a car beats the boat up less than a truck.

http://boards.trailerboats.com/cgi-b...c;f=7;t=001483

 

he probably did alot of things to it not mentioning it my advise try to avoid towing any thing with it. do to the trans history with our generations pluse our cars look good my opinion is adding a trailer hitch will probably drop the value of your car drastically even more if your going to use it as a trade in.

 

I defintly will not tow.

Do these cars have a transmission that is weak and prone to problems?

 

there are proned to break do to hevey exelleration towing and lack of mantenence. if you dont do towing and dont drive like your in indy 500 the trans is pretty good if you keep up the mantence

 

These transmissions aren't horrible, but they aren't the best. If you do constant strain on the transmission (manually shifting it, hard launches, downshifts constantly, never checking fluids, etc.) Then there is a chance that you will ruin a part of the transmission. They aren't bulletproof, but they aren't horrible. My first one lasted a good 145,000 miles before it started to go bad. Some people can get them up to 300k and some can only get them to 50K. It's luck, maintenance, and how you drive.

 

well mike i think we said pretty much the same thing but different wording

 

I never saw your response before I typed mine haha. I usually have a lot of tabs open before I reply so I'm usually 20 minutes behind :P

But yes, we basically did say all the same stuff haha

 

I would not recommend towing, but that said, it could be done. A dirt bike and small trailer should be less than 1,000 LBS, which should not be any problem for the Monte. Personally, I would not do it, and it is certainly better for your transmission not to tow.

Like Mike and others have said, the tranny in our cars is not the greatest, but light years better than the tranny's in Dodge Caravans. LOL. I have 91,000 miles on mine, and maintain it (change the fluid), plus I bought a finned tranny pan for extra cooling (which I highly recommend if you do plan on towing). But I've had zero tranny problems.

IDK how true this is, but i've read that in 2006 they did some changes to the 4T65E transmission, and fixed some of the weak spots...Like I said, who knows how true this is, but i've read that in more than one spot.