Son Will on the day we “towed” four houses in 1997
(Update: this was first written in 2011. Not long after I became aware of the key reasons why towing capacities are significantly lower in the US than in Europe.)
“Scion does not recommend towing a trailer… your vehicle was not designed for towing.” Welcome to the great American anti-towing conspiracy. Manufacturers of anything less than a big SUV or pick-up are trying to take away our God-given right to tow with our cars. For a guy who’s towed everything from a Radio Flyer wagon behind a pedal-powered John Deere sidewalk tractor to a three-bedroom house, I feel like I’m being singled out. Of course, there’s a possibility that I’m the cause as well as the target of this jihad. A lot of lawyers do drive the Ventura Freeway, and one of them may well have seen my spectacular stunt with a trailer.
Before I recount the creative maneuver with which I simultaneously occupied all four lanes of “the world’s busiest freeway” at sixty-five mph, let’s look at the prejudice American would-be towers are up against …
in Europe, Yaris’ are magically able to tow
On Toyota’s UK website, the Yaris is credited with a towing capacity of 1050kg/2315lbs. That’s right in line with the old rule of thumb that a car can safely tow an amount equal to its own weight.
But here in the land of the (not so) free, the Yaris’ owner’s manual admonishes: “Toyota does not recommend towing a trailer with your vehicle.” The unnamed author goes on to give a partial pass to our northern neighbors: “In Canada only, total weight of cargo and trailer not to exceed 700lbs.” Please leave your trailers at the border? Perhaps this partial exemption reflects Canada’s status as being somewhere between English and American. But the logic is lost on me.
Rated to tow 4400lbs, but only in Europe
Maybe it’s a blatant tactic by Toyota to meet Tundra sales goals, by forcing us tow-heads into buying that over-achieving tug (rated for 10,000+lbs). But Honda is in on the conspiracy too. The CRV weighs 3600lbs and offers 166hp, about the same as an old gen Explorer. In Europe, where folks often buy CUV’s specifically for their towing capacity, the CRV is rated to tow 2000kg/4400lbs. And in the tow-aphobic US? A measly 1500lbs!
Update: the reason towing capacities are so much higher in Europe is because they have a much more restricted speed limit for any vehicle towing a trailer. For instance, in Germany the maximum for vehicles towing is 80 kmh (50 mph) on highways and a maximum of 100 kmh (62 mph) on freeways. That’s because in Europe it is permissible and common to only have 3% of the trailer’s weight on the tongue. Having that little on the tongue makes a trailer more susceptible to fishtailing at higher speeds. This explains why the towing weight amounts are higher, since so much less of the trailer’s weight is on the hitch. Also, in Europe there are stricter laws regarding mandatory trailer brakes.
In the US, we allow much higher speeds when towing, often 80 mph (10 over the 70 mph sped limit in Texas, for example), but require that 10% of the trailer’s weight is on the hitch. This increases stability very substantially at higher speeds. So in the US, towing capacity is based on a vehicle’s maximum hitch (tongue) weight than its ability to pull a trailer.
It wasn’t always like this. In the sixties, you’d commonly see 40hp VW Beetles pulling a trailer. In 1976, my VW Beetle died in Ohio heading back to Iowa, so we left it and hitch-hiked the rest of the way. My girlfriend’s Mom was driving a 70hp Corolla, which was rated to tow 1800lbs, exactly the weight of my VW. She generously offered it. Towing the Bug home, the Corolla never broke a sweat.
And during my multiple Peugeot 404 days, I had a tow bar all set to go in order to rescue other 404s, and drove the tandem Peugeots all over the LA freeway network. They never broke a sweat either.
The Long Trailer
Which I can’t say for myself when I nearly shut down the 101.
It was 1986. We had just bought our first house, in Woodland Hills. I rented a big double-axle twelve-foot trailer to haul debris and junk to the dump. My Mexican helper was a zealous worker, loading lots of broken concrete into the back end of the trailer. I remember glancing at the warning sign about having 60 percent of the weight ahead of the axles. But any fleeting thought of relevancy or concern was quickly overpowered by the testosterone-fueled urge to PULL!
That trailer must have weighed about three times as much as the Jeep Cherokee tug. I managed to squeeze into the perpetually crowded Ventura freeway.
how it could have ended
When our rig (finally) hit 65 in the right lane, the trailer began oscillating and fishtailing, which escalated exponentially. The next thing I knew, the Jeep was being swung wildly from side to side, like the tail on a dog. One moment, we were facing towards the shoulder, then across all the lanes facing the center divider. The Jeep was utterly out of control; there was nothing to do but hang on for dear life, waiting for the fishtailing trailer to roll and/or get creamed by the four lanes of traffic behind us.
Fortunately, the other drivers (and that corporate attorney) were on the ball and held back, in awe of our mad gyrations. When enough speed was scrubbed off and stability resumed, we found ourselves four lanes over, in the narrow left shoulder up against the center divider, where we sat bathed in sweat.
I had no choice but to steel myself, get back in the traffic, and fight my way across four lanes while keeping the speed below fifty. When we finally pulled off on the right shoulder, my ashen-faced helper tumbled out, got on his knees and crossed himself, before we started re-arranging the trailer’s load.
Having learned that cardinal lesson of towing, I’m more cautious now. But I still believe that cars, by their nature, are “designed for towing.” So I always carry a tow rope in the old Ford pick-up instead of an AAA card. More than once, Stephanie has schlepped me home with the Forester. I don’t even want to know what its tow rating is; it’s survived just fine. And I’ve found an after-market hitch for the xB, rated for 2000lbs.
Update/conclusion: the cardinal lesson is hitch weight percentage vs. maximum top speed, and this explains “The Great American Anti-Towing Conspiracy”. It exists for a great reason. It just took me a while to learn why.
Thats something Im looking for a towbar for my Citroen apparently its little 90hp turbo diesel mill makes it a favourite with caravaners in the UK, all I want is to be able to tow my trailer to the dump and over to the bin hire yard for firewood. The other choice is to register the Hillman and build a towbar for that I used to launch and retrieve a 15foot fibreglass boat with a Humber80 and have towed a 48 Chevy on a rope with one so that would do the trick too, underpowered of course it is, capable yep.
I’ve found the same thing with my Mazda5. Towing is allowed elsewhere, but not in the US. I’ve still mounted a hitch on it, but I don’t have a light controller yet. I use it for a carrier. I wouldn’t tow anything with an automatic 5, I’ve got the 5-speed.
Might part of this come from the seeming desire to accelerate and brake as you’ve not got any extra weight on the back? It seems like going slower (or getting to speed slower) and increased following distance is not in our vocabulary.
Thanks for the info. Now I know our CR-V can tow 4400lbs
Looking at that picture though either towball/drawbar weight and/or coupling height could do with some adjustment…
I’m happy to see this. My crv CAN tow my pontoon boat that is a little less than 3k pounds. I thought I’d have to get a Pilot or Ridgeline.
Back when I used to buy 10 year old Darts and Valiants in low-rust areas to resell in my high-rust area, I would buy two or three of them at a time. This meant that on one of the trips home I would use one of the new purchases to tow another one of them (with a stiff hitch, abut 350 miles).
It did take some toll on the automatic (if so equipped). But I always made it.
Tow ratings for trucks vary considerably. Some are rated to tow more with automatic. Others are rated to tow more with stick. (Probably a good indicator of which of that particular model’s transmission was under designed).
Valiants were a great towing car their only downfall in Aussie was the BorgWarner tranny in some later models it was crap as long as you had a torqueflite you were good to go
This is completely about lawsuits. Here in America, where people are both lawsuit happy and untrained in how to actually drive with a trailer, manufacturers do not want to take the chance that someone towing a trailer will kill themselves and then get sued for it. Also, warranty claims… towing will obviously reduce the life of a tranmission, and very few people will do the extra maintenance needed to keep it serviced properly.
And if you’ve ever looked at the fenders of a U-Haul trailer, they say “maximum speed 45mph”. When did you ever see one pulled that slow. Liability however . . . .
I think our country’s hairtrigger legal system and the inability of doofusses to tow a trailer responsibly leads manufacturers to forbid towing more than any variation in the vehicles themselves. If they get sued, they can just point to the owner’s manual and say ‘we toldja not to do it’. It might be worth it to get an overseas issue hitch and wiring from the manufacturer if you’re so inclined.
I hauled my off road motorcycle on a flat trailer and everything including the heavy aftermarket hitch had to weigh at least 1/2 the weight of my Tracker pulling it. I had no trouble like that in the story at all. I don’t know how many times I got flipped the bird, check braked, and near-miss swerved for driving 60-65 (depending on the wind direction) in the right lane on the Interstate. People are assholes.
I saw that the Forester manual talks about a hitch, but I didn’t look at the “capacity”. According to “howstuffworks.com” older models of Forester (woody?) are rated at 2400 pounds. With about 3800 curb weight, that’s going to be conservative.
I’ll stick with the Silverado for most of my little on-road towing. If I need better mileage, I’ll break out the accessory mirrors and the Ranger. Off road, I have a ball hitch on the tractor’s drawbar. Far easier to back a trailer when the hitch point is a foot behind the rear axle, too. (Actually, the tractor did a single trip on road to get rid of a load of pulled up thistles. A mile at 10MPH on a compact tractor without suspension was enough for me, thanks.)
Actually a first-gen Forester only weighs in at 3140 with the manual, so 2400 is getting reasonably close to the curb weight. I’m actually surprised Subaru rated it that high in the US, it would seem that most unit body cars are rated at 1500 or less.
The 3800 figure is for the current generation. I’ll have to look up towing tomorrow.
Really? That seems high, even for model bloat. Edmunds lists a curb weight for the 2012 at 3250, with towing at 2400.
As my wife assures me, I’m often wrong, and this looks like one of those times. Subaru treats curb weight as a deep mystery (have to go to the roadside scale sometime to finalize the number), but TrueDelta agrees on 3250. The manual says 1000 lbs for a non-braked trailer, and 2400 pounds with brakes. They also say not to exceed combined gross rating of 4480, so I’m not sure what they really mean. (I’ll probably always have a pickup on hand, so it should be a moot point.)
Come to think of it, my 84 Ranger was also pretty tightlipped about the curb weight. Gross limit was available, but you had to find out for yourself what you started at.
I usually have to rely on an internet source for these things, I find most manufacturers don’t list it on chassis plates. Odd, considering they list the Gross weight as you mentioned. I’ve figured out the weight of my old F100 before by looking at the tare weight printout at the dump, but can’t remember what it is now.
I am almost certain I know the owner of that twin Beetle rig if the one in primer is a ’52 split window. I’ve driven that car, and it was….an experience. If you read this, Bill, I think of you often!
Love trailers. Have three of them and all can be towed by a small pickup or car. When we bought the Nissan cube the salesman played dumb about tow payload. I don’t think it was a stretch.
Uhaul sells a 2000 lb (IIRC) tow hitch for it and I expect I will eventually get it. This is the first car I’ve owned that spent any time without one. The only caveat that I’ve learned that I keep written in stone is that I won’t tow using the overdrive gear in an automatic.
When I sold firewood in the early eighties I had a Datsun pickup and a Datsun trailer (made from back half of junked datsun pickup). A cord of oak firewood made that a sight to behold. This cube is a six speed manual. There is no way that it will escape.
A little more searching shows the cube to weigh just under 2800 lbs or 200 less than a Toyota scion xb. At least two hitch companies are willing to sell a hitch for 2000 lbs and a 200 pound bumper weight. Not surprising since the 1.8 engine is almost as big as the 79 Datsun pickup I owned and the first gear of the six speed manual seems low enough to walk my dog if I chose.
That means to me that the between the tractor and the car I can even tote round bales of hay. Maybe the s10 gathering dust in my driveway can gather dust somewhere else. Just thinking.
Thanks for a provocative article that really said stuff I have been thinking for some spell now.
Over the years I learned a few things about towing.
1) Same as you, Paul, I learned not to bias the trailer load behind the trailer axles. I was hauling a load of pipe and fire hydrants on a tilt-bed trailer, the safety latch bent, and the trailer tilted. I did manage to get it off the road; then had to unhitch and leave it, haul the load in the truck to the destination, unload it, then go back, transfer the trailer load to the truck, rehitch the trailer, and jury-rig the tilt latch. Not a fun day.
2) Tilt-bed trailers that have an inside wheel and an outside wheel on each side will always blow the inside tire.
3) The kind of tow clamps that were available from rental outfits in the 1970’s do not work well for towing a 1953 Mercury – they work loose and have to be re-tightened every four or five miles.
4) On the other hand, I did successfully tow a Crosley station wagon from Corvallis to Puyallup.
It’s a good many years since I’ve used a trailer for any purpose.
I love that movie. The long trailer.. The big, big trailer, can’t recall the name. Classic.
I love The Long, Long Trailer, too. The trailer is a New Moon, probably a 1953, which is the year the movie was made.
But look closely in some of the long shots, where the car is pulling the trailer with mountain vistas in the background…it’s not the Mercury convertible used in the close ups, but a Lincoln disguised to look like a Mercury!
You can’t mention Beetles and towing without this video!
http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=vw%20360%20degree%20camper&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CD0QtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D56XL0TysIn0&ei=aWhmT4L1D6b6mAWSzLCZCA&usg=AFQjCNErnUKq95tvmdrTG4xZ0lGD9EWMOQ&cad=rja
That’s fantastic!
Here is a top gear comparison tow:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNzybMU8Mbs
One day I came back from a retreat to learn that my wife had purchased a Volvo p444. Sounds like a great car huh? Well it was way up in Lyons on a farm and she had already paid the man for it with no thought of how to transport it. I went out there to see if I could drive it back. I certainly could not. No one could drive it, ever. It was rusted out completely in the trunk and much of the floor. The engine was filled with water, and it was in the mud. But it was already paid for.
I rented a double axle trailer at U-Haul to pull with my 1973 International Travelall 1210 4×4. It had a tongue mounted inertia break even though my truck had an electric brake controller.
So I got it up there and got the car winched out of the mud with a Come-A -Long and secured unto the trailer. Our way back took us over some windy and hilly bits of highway. I was coming down a big hill and the highway developed into a double S bend. Into the first bend I realized my speed was a little too high for my load so I began to brake moderately. But because we were going downhill the tongue mounted inertia brake came on very heavily and locked up the trailer wheels.
I saw the Volvo in my side mirror swinging into the opposing lane. The apex of the first bend was dead ahead. On our left was a steep hill and a ditch, on our right was a guard rail and a cliff. I though to myself that I probably had just enough power in that 392 V8 and four barrel carb to pull it straight by accelerating briskly in a straight line through the S bend. But I did not know what would happen when we hit the next bend at our new increased speed, still traveling down hill.
I put the pedal to the metal and aimed for the opposing lane in order to make a strait path thru the curve. But just as I did, a Chevy truck traveling in the opposite direction came around the curve! “Damn” I thought, and I really believed that was going to be my last thought.
I could only imagine the look on his face as we were traveling on a direct collision course. I could not alter my path now. I pointed the hood toward the left shoulder hoping that I could shoot between the Chevy and the ditch/hill on his right. For a split second I closed my eyes, the headlights of the Chevy aiming straight for us, the 392 groaning in faith that the trailer behind us was now straightened out.
Nothing went bang or screech. I opened my eyes to find us lined up perfectly with the next bend and the Chevy in our mirror. That’s the last time I used a trailer with inertia breaks.
I’m real glad I wasn’t in that Chevy truck. Yikes! I have nightmares about that sort of thing.
Hey, we never heard about that P444! Or doesn’t it qualify? Or are the memories too repressed?
That was pretty much all of it. It went to the crusher sadly.
Real men will risk their lives for junk!
Complete strangers’ lives too.
Your story reminds me of the time I had to tow a 63 Cadillac Deville that was given to me as a parts car. My Dad had a 78 Town Coupe with a hitch, but apparently didn’t like the idea of trusting it to his 18 year old kid to tow a car with. So, he lent me my stepmother’s 74 Cutlass Supreme. Towing a 5,000 pound car with a 4,000 pound car was one of the most exciting things I have ever done in my life. And not in a good way. I never had the guts to get it over 35, which made my 30 mile tow about an hour-long ride, with the tail indeed wagging the dog the whole way.
The only other lesson I learned about towing trailers came from my car-mentor Howard. Howard’s advice: When you are driving and get near anybody with a U-Haul trailer, get the hell away from it as fast as you can, because if the guy knew anything about towing a trailer he would have his own.”
+1
As a professional driver I always stay the heck away from Rental Trucks and RVs. You have all sorts of fools treating large and heavy vehicles like they are a 4k lbs. car and not the 10-20k trucks that they are.
A significant amount of U-Haul equipment will fail a through Pre-Trip Inspection. Penske and Ryder do a much better job of keeping up their equipment. In a pinch I would take a U-Haul trailer though..as long as the tires and bearings are good there is not too much else that can fail on one.
Ive been sentenced to some rental tractor units with major faults a couple of times intermttent lights was probably the worst great fun at night and probably only a bad main earth but when you are charging like truck rentals do here not good enough but allowing car steerers loose in trucks is madness anything here over 3,500kg GVM requires a class2 truck licence anything smaller is only a ute and can be driven on a car licence
In Oregon they let us unwashed drive up to 16000 lbs gross. I’ve done a bit with a cab-forward structure type fire engine and it’s pretty jarring to go from a pickup to that beast. (Didn’t help that the last time the rig had been properly serviced was when Gerald Ford was President.)
26500 GVWR with hydraulic brakes is the limit for non-CDL in Oregon.
U-Haul… bad service and shoddy equipment.
About 6 years ago we were moving the suburbs to a house about 25 minutes drive away in the country. I figured, what do we need to hire a mover for? I have a pickup truck with a hitch, and friends that will work for food. I reserved a big U-haul covered trailer for the weekend.
First, U-haul lost my reservation in their computer system. The guy at the counter said I could only have the trailer for the day Saturday, because it was rented out on Sunday. Grrr….
The surge brake mechanism on the tongue was jammed-up so there was no way it would’ve worked. Didn’t bother me in this case since the road with the highest speed limit I’d be taking was posted 50MPH, and I’d only be going up one long, straight hill with the trailer loaded.
Thankfully, it was uneventful but tiring, moving almost the entire contents of our house in one day.
My experiences with U-Haul equipment mirror yours. The U-Haul truck that we rented about 10 years ago to move my mother about 60 miles to another city was a worn-out pos that had multple problems, some of them safety-related. My brother in law (a farmer used to driving big trucks and other equipment) was livid about what U-Haul rented us.
Not sure if still true, but their system used to have built-in disincentives to fix problems. If a location got a vehicle with a problem, it was supposed to send it off to be fixed. But then the shop had to use manpower to transport it and also be without a vehicle to rent out, so it lost out two ways. The incentive was to rent it out anyway and pass the problem off to the next guy, like a big game of hot-potato.
+2 on the U-Haul experience. I’ve used them three times. The first was uneventful, MI to NYC in a 16 ft truck. When I moved back 4 years later, I towed a double axle trailer with my Crown Vic. Upon arrival in MI, I found that the door seals had leaked and soaked everything on the floor of the trailer. At least I was able to file a claim with them and get reimbursed for the damage.
The third and worst experience was 4 years ago when moving locally. I needed it on a Saturday and had limited pickup options. I ended up making the reservation with one of the small businesses that also happens to have a couple of trucks, Quick Made Trophy in Warren, MI (avoid if you don’t like being berated and sworn at). They had my truck but none of the dollies, furniture pads and straps that I had reserved. The old coot behind the counter told me I’d have to drive 10 miles out of my way to another store if I wanted them, and when I asked if those miles would be subtracted from the total mileage he complained that everyone was trying to get something for free these days and said I could get the f*ck out of his store if I didn’t like it. He also threatened to give my truck to someone else.
When I called Uhaul to complain about the treatment, they told me they had never had complaints about him (hard to believe) and that sometimes people get stressed out. Well, your stressed out franchisee managed to simultaneously lose you a customer and give me the worst customer service experience of my life.
jpc: Was your U-Haul truck a “one-way” or “local” (round-trip) rental? Not to be a U-Haul apologist, but those are two different fleets, at least in many or most locations. The one-way trucks are usually newer, and keep floating around the country. But the local trucks can be ancient, as they’re not expected to go far. I’ve seen some local U-Haul trucks from the seventies. Is suspect that they’re actually owned by the local franchisee, which means there may be a huge variation in their condition and maintenance.
My experience matches Paul’s on UH trucks. As a secondary note, if you go to a UH depot that normally does one-ways, the fleet trucks are a bit better even for local. We had a scramble when we moved from San Jose to Klamath County in 2003, since we ended having to be out in 2 weeks (super fast sale). Got experience with the U-store places (look for short-term deals on storage units) and the rental truck firms.
UH had a decent but small van (US-made full-sized, set up for cargo), while Hertz/Penske offers nice trucks for local rental, and for a couple of weeks at a time. We used movers for the household stuff, but my shop stuff was a DIY effort, and I used a Budget truck. A woefully underpowered Isuzu diesel–I got passed by big rigs on the hills on I-5 near Weed. Not sure of my weight, but I was legal. (I would have stayed with Penske for the one-way, but no Klamath depot, and I would have had to go to Eugene for the dropoff. Not my idea of fun.)
yup, stay away from rentals on the road!
U-Haul sux. This photo from the web is posted purely as comment bait. (Good lord no, that’s certainly not my Prius.)
Not only is the artificially low towing capacity of U.S. cars frustrating, it’s almost as though late-model cars are purposely designed to make installing a receiver difficult (read: expensive).
Both of the Nissans in my household require removal of one or both mufflers to install a receiver. I wanted to install one to carry a bike so I could ride for exercise during road trips for business; it ended up costing less to buy an additional, folding bike. And that price didn’t even include trailer wiring, which would have brought the total cost over $1,100.
And don’t get me started on U-Haul. Even though I have never owned an Explorer, after reading about their idiotic “no Ford Explorers” policy, I seriously question the intelligence of that company’s leadership, and/or that of its attorneys. What makes it even more ridiculous is that it doesn’t apply to Mercury Mountaineers or Lincoln Aviators…
Could either the Lincoln or the Mercury come standard with an electronic Anti-Skid control that the Explorer lacks?
Perhaps the Lincoln, but not the Mercury. It’s related to the tire issues – back in 2000 – which has little to do with the ability to tow (particularly since all of the offending tires have long since been replaced).
No matter how many or how heavy only one rule applies to trailer problems ACCELERATE to pull it straight NEVER brake especially if the trailer outweighs the tow vehicle. Michael is right power on will get you out of trouble, brake and all you do is make it worse.
Unfortunately, I am forced to lie when I rent a Uhaul car carrier – I always tow a ’92 Geo Metro whether I am or not.
I used to tow WITH a ’92 Metro!
Done that one , same car, hmm..
I can still remember walking into Richmond BMW with the European part number for the BMW approved receiver for my ’90 E30 325is . . . . . . to be told by the parts guy that the number did NOT exist in the US; American BMW’s were incapable of towing, period; and under no conditions would he even consider trying to get the European part for me. At which point he also did his best to make me feel like some kind of low life schmuck that I would even denig “The World Finest Driving Machine” by putting a trailer behind it. Even though I wanted to haul my K75C on it.
As to being able to tow anything: Daytona Bike Week 2001, and the wife is going with me, so I’m (for the first time) trailering to Bike Week. To attempt to alleviate the ignominy that year, I took both my Ducati 906 Paso and my ’69 Bonneville. As we’re crossing the GA/FL border on I-95 I pass what had to be the rattiest looking BMW R60/2 with sidecar I’ve ever seen . . . . . pulling a trailer with a rolling basket case /2 strapped down on it. And a spare /2 engine in the sidecar. And we (S-10 V-6 powered) were doing 75 when we passed him, slowly, so he had to be doing 70.
I was so embarrassed.
I’ve often used the ’69 F-100 to haul hay (1 ton in the bed and 2-3 on the hayrack), but then you’d expect that from an old-school pickup.
One of our most epic family adventures involved driving from Atlanta to the Boston area in my ’71 VW van (see the writeup on “The Mayfield Belle” elsewhere on this site), towing a small enclosed u-haul trailer with one of those clamp-on bumper mounted hitch rigs. The constant flexing and jarring weakened and then broke the bumper mounts (the 3-4 hours before it let go, I had three tie-down straps wrapped around the bumper in an attempt to keep things connected). Needless to say, we had to leave the trailer on the side of the road (just north of the Bronx, too) and rent a second car for the family to return home in so had room in the van to carry a load of furniture and other items from the wife’s grandfather’s estate.
More recently, I’ve used my ’00 TDI New Beetle to pull a small utility trailer (usually to the landfill), which it does without breaking a sweat. “Herbie” has also pulled:
– A Fully Loaded hayrack (2-3 tons of hay, just pulling out of the field)
– Manure spreader (taking home from an auction – that got some laughs!)
– 300 bushel grain wagon loaded with oats (to the grain elevator)
– Various other farm implements to and from neighbor’s farms, etc.
Other than taking it slow and easy, it did fine with all of those. Of course, they also mostly have dual axles, so there’s not much weight on the hitch.
The scariest trailer moment I’ve had was using our church van and a borrowed car trailer to bring home a ’68 F-250 parts truck. Even with the truck against the front of the trailer, it still had too much weight behind the axle, and we did one of those amusement part oscillation deals at anything over about 35mph. The first time was definitely a “pucker factor 11” moment.
Is it possible that the last passenger cars that were sold as capable of doing serious towing were the 1991-96 GM full size wagons? For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmy9XeyPU3g&feature=related
The B-bodies were the last cars that were rated to tow at least 5000lbs in the US.
The Magnum had an optional tow package that gave it a rating of 3800lbs. A few Charger owners have installed the parts on their vehicles.
The S60, XC70, and S80 have a capacity of 3300lbs.
The really interesting one is Saab. From 2003-2010, the 9-3 and the 9-5 had a 3500lb rating. However, The final 9-3s had a standard tow rating of 3527lbs, and the Epsilon-based 9-5 had a rating of 3968lbs with the 2.0T and a 4409lbs tow rating with the V6.
With those high and non-rounded numbers, it seems possible that Saab never bothered to change their tow rating between the US and the rest of the world.
For comparison, GM rates the Lacrosse V6 at 1000lbs.
Incidentally, this 3300 lb rating on the Volvo S60 includes everything from the base European 140 HP naturally-aspirated version to the 2004-2007 turbocharged R model with 300 HP and huge 4-pison Brembo brake calipers and 13″ brake rotors.
Does the 2011+ S60 (second generation) still have this rating?
Anyone else notice the Depends ad right before the Olds ad? Target demographic indeed!
Interesting how the X3 (which is a 3 series wagon on stilts) is rated to tow 4400 pounds, but the regular 3 series in North America can’t tow anything, according to BMW North America.
http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/suvs/0401_bmw_x3/index.html
It’s almost compulsory to have a towbar and tow things for the heck of it here in New Zealand. Even my first car, a 1971 Mk1 Ford Escort back in ’92, had a towbar (that I used on numerous occasions). But, I am the shame of my family for not having a towbar on my current car… And I realised how annoying it is last weekend when I was shopping for a new bathroom suite. Sure, the store had a loan-trailer, but it was pointless without anything to tow it with. So a towbar is on the short-list.
you and I must be the only 2 kiwis without one
And with me having a rear-drive diesel Nissan, with factory mounting points for a towbar, I have no excuse, none whatsoever. I’m so ashamed…
Ended up with towbars on both and both C5s after that even my new to me Superminx estate retains its towbar
2 reasons,
EPA gas mileage ratings, and product liability. i.e. Avoid lawsuits of “I tried to tow in 40 mph winds and trailer flipped. Car is defective!”
Gee, gravity must pull harder in Canada than the US. As far as liability, I’m not sure how the manufacturers would avoid claims when it was discovered the very same cars are actually rated to tow things in Canada, Europe and elsewhere. They’d be forced to say “We think Americans are litigious idiots.” While that may be true in some (or many!) cases, it’s not really a defense.
My dad regularly used his ’99 Volvo V70R wagon to pull our ski boat in and out of the water. He never had a problem.
I’m not sure what his caravan weighed, but my uncle had trouble towing his 30′ caravan behind his Ford LTD (76-78 model) around 30 years ago – the rear axle bearings kept overheating. That car had a 351C, FMX trans and 9″ diff with a 120″ wheelbase so the car was perfect for towing, the van was just too heavy. As well as all the usual effects for a 12 month trip around Australia, they had also taken their two rocker-recliners so probably 500lb just there. He traded it on a Jeep Cherokee (aka Grand Wagoneer), and there are some pretty impressive stories about the hard work that rig endured too.
I have done a bit of towing, the least impressive tow car I’ve used was a 2001 Holden Commodore wagon, it was the model before they added toe-control links to the semi-trailing arm IRS so it was susceptible to trailer sway with movement of the rear suspension arms. The other poor aspect was the weak 3.8 V6 that would unlock the torque converter at any gradient and shoot up to 3000rpm while the fuel gauge plummeted.
The last major tow I was involved in was when my now former 92 Ford Ranger’s master clutch cylinder went out one cold, December evening and had to call to have it towed to the nearest garage found through my insurance company, and it turned out to be 2 neighborhoods over from where I was (in my ‘hood, trying to find parking after getting home from work late, it WAS 9:30pm or so) and ended up on Queen Anne Hill, on top of the hill itself. The next day, found out some bogus stuff from the garage so called my best friend and we ended up, the following morning taking it to his school to get it officially fixed.
That meant borrowing his oldest brother’s large, late model Silverado truck and renting a tow dolly and towing the truck all the way to Bremerton, via the Narrows Bridge. Fortunately,. my truck was a 5spd so no issues there. We went up to the garage on top of Queen Anne hill, hitched up the truck and drove the back roads down the north side and eventually to I-5 south to highway 16 across the bridge to Olympic College where he worked and that’s when they found out the master clutch was bad.
$600+ bucks and 2 weeks later, just before school let out for Christmas break, I got my truck back, running as good as new.
The last tow period was when this same friend borrowed my truck as it has a towing package on it to hook up his double axle utility trailer and we stuffed it, and the bed of the truck with yard debris and he drove it to the dump, amazed that the old 4.0L V6 still had decent power despite being somewhere over 200K miles on it.
As for U-Haul, have had my dealings with them and that was when i tried to rent a trailer for my move to my current apartment, the online system said a particular dealer had the trailer we needed, but when I called, they claimed they didn’t have it and I had a near shouting match with the sales clerk.
Finally, I managed to find a place, out in Spanaway i think that had what we needed, but the only way to rent it was to have either a larger truck or one that’s a 4×4, and we ended up using his brother’s 87 Nissan pathfinder and we got my stuff moved as the truck they WERE going to use was I think a 92 Toyota 2WD truck and this was in late 2003.
I have an image of my oldest sister, her first husband and their 6 month old or so daughter pulling up in front of my childhood home in their ’74 Chevy Nova with a clamp on hitch, a small covered U-Haul trailer with all their worldly goods as they’d moved back after graduating from Nashota House Seminary, tired, dirty and full of Mt St Helen’s Ash as they’d driven through Eastern Washington a month after the mountain exploded back in 1980.
Some of you might recall that I purchased a new ’12 Ford Escape a few months ago. I’ve been toying with the idea of having a hitch installed. It’s a four cylinder four wheel drive model. It absolutely will not squeal the tires but it does very well on gas. I can’t imagine having a problem towing with it, as I would never pull anything larger than a simple utility trailer.
I towed a 4×6 U-Haul from NJ to Minneapolis with my 1985 Honda Prelude back in 1989, when I moved out there for a new job. Driving across I-80, I discovered that the fastest I could go was 60mph. I would catch drafts of every semi that passed me to get my top speed up. Fortunately, my next few moves were paid for by the company.
I towed a 5×9 (a much better trailer) with the same ’85 Prelude to bring a table saw, a radial arm saw and some other woodworking gear from NJ to MA in 1996 by that time, I had almost 200,000mi on the Prelude’s and it’s clutch would slip annoyingly if I gave it too much power in to high a gear. I had to be real careful in the hills of CT with that combo.
My one big complaint about U-Haul trailers is the low quality tires they put on the things. They are bias-ply, I’ll bet they are retreads, and they get very hot compared to the radial tires I had on my car.
I’ve got a hitch on my ’04 xb and it has done a bang up job towing stuff all over the Northeast.
The ’62 Scotty trailer was probably the biggest strain, but mostly because it was pulling 1000lbs+ over the tallest part of I-90. I did get down to 45mph on the worst uphills, but other than that it did great.
I have a 3×4′ utility trailer that I bought because most of my belongings were going into storage 45minutes away and I wanted to limit the trips. It has turned out to be surprisingly useful and has hauled an incredible variety of random stuff.
I have a ’83 Chevy C-10 that I have modified over the years for fairly heavy towing. I upgraded the entire suspension front & rear to 3/4 ton, added a full floating 3/4 ton rear axle, 1,500lb overload springs to the rear, a 4 core radiator from a 1 ton Suburban,aux trans and oil cooler, and an electric fan assembly from an old Honda Accord (fits perfectly in front of the trans & oil coolers). It also has an electric brake controller and a V-5 rated frame hitch. I built the 383 stroker engine for it myself, and it has had quite a bit of internal machining mods done for better flow thru the heads,better oiling,and full balancing. The trans is a turbo 400 that’s had the clutch packs swapped for HD ones, and a modified valve body. We’ve towed our 36′ bumper pull travel trailer that weighs about 11,000lbs loaded probably 40-60k miles since I built the truck in 1999 and so far the engine has never had the valve covers back off it.
I used to have a 1983 Honda Accord 4dr sedan with a 5 speed, and I had added a simple tow hitch to it that I built from scratch. I used it to tow a small utility trailer around, and occasionally our 15′ Glastron ski boat. One day, a friend of mine called saying he had broke down and needed help. He was on the side of the Interstate, about 1/2 mile from the exit, and was in his F-100 towing a 16′ flatbead trailer loaded with furniture. The truck had a fridge, washer and dryer, and a few other things in the bed. (they were moving.). He was shocked when I hooked a log chain up to the Honda, then his truck, and proceeded to tow both truck & trailer up the side of the Interstate and off the offramp to the repair shop located at the exit. Mind you, it was level ground, there was no tounge weight, and I never got out of first gear… but that Honda pulled it like it wasn’t even back there!
I hauled my Lil’ Guy tear drop camper from Long Beach CA to St Johns Newfoundland, Minnesota to Miami and then some. I figure about 30,000 of my Yaris’ 160,000 miles. It did knock my gas mileage down to about 34 mpg, but no other ill effects. In Canada the same car had a 1,000 pound recommended limit to towing capacity. In the States ‘though shall not tow’. Now I’m pulling the same trailer with a Prius C. Only ill effect so far is mileage drops down to 48 mpg. I must confess I’m not the fastest car on the road. Honk as you go by!
I think the biggest issue with reduced/ not recommended towing by small vehicles in the US is the average US driving style. It’s probably best for auto manufacturers to discourage towing with their products when they know that many of those drivers will be holding a Big Gulp in one hand, texting with the other hand and steering with their knees.
I’ve wondered a lot about this as well. I live in Europe (Norway), and over here, pretty much any car can tow. Also, nearly all new cars are sold with a hitch, as it’s so common to tow a trailer here that reselling a car without a hitch can become harder.
Part of the reason is because cars are very expensive in Norway, so is fuel. Cars are taxed based on engine power and emissions, and big trucks like those used in the US simply are not sold here. The biggest you can go are stuff like Hilux class trucks. If you want a big F- series or such, they have to be imported individually.
Also, to tow anything over 750kg you need a seperate license, with tutoring and a practical exam. Even these tests use basic Passat or Mondeo (Ford Fusion) estates as their tow car.
Personally I have the towing license, and I’ve towed a lot of different stuff with small cars. I currently have a tiny Lancer ’96 with a 1.3 75hp engine (I’m 21 and need to save up for a house, so it’s an economical choice). It weighs just under a ton, but can still legally tow 950 kg. I’ve pulled several trailers with it, even a larger box trailer.
One thing I’ve noticed is that American made trailers seem very heavy to begin with. In Europe trailers look totally different, constructed of light- weight metals to provide as small a dry weight as possible.
Oh and to make an example of the high tax in Norway; the Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0 CRD is available to buy new in Norway. It costs 146.000 US dollars. It’s probably a lot cheaper than that in the US?
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Wondering if anyone has experience in towing with a cvt? My Sentra is a 2.0 with CVT. It’s rated to tow 1500. I’m sure a trans cooler would be good. All I wanna tow is my small box trailer when I relocate. I’m thinking if I go slow on hills like any trailer and pack it correctly I should be fine.
Tow ratings are very conservative now. I wouldn’t worry about your plan at all, as it’s obviously well below the rating. And I don’t even know if CVTs have any use for a cooler.
The stress you’re going to put on it is going to be less than what a vigorous drive through some mountains would be, without a trailer.
At least those who want to tow with a car can still buy a used police cruiser. Trucks and SUVs aren’t the only options, not yet anyway.
Saludos desde Argentina!!!
Acá en mi país todos los vehículos se usan para remolcar, he visto hasta motos haciendolo.
Un abrazo desde Lima, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Fernando Gabriel Rey
I towed my trailer and race car many thousands of miles with my 86 Toyota PU with the 4 cyl engine. The car and trailer weighed about 5200 lbs. Never had a problem. Electric brakes and kept the speed at about 60-65 mph. The biggest problem I had was other drivers not letting me keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front of me. If I left some room, some idiot would jump into the hole and then hit their brakes.
I couldn’t believe that speed limit for Texas, so I looked it up. I sure was surprised! Still, nowhere does the law state that that it’s okay to drive 10 mph. over that limit. I suppose because there are wide open spaces in Texas, and less traffic in rural areas, they let the driver use their own judgement. Every U Haul trailer that I’ve rented always has a big 45 mph, maximum sticker on the fender, so I suppose that they are putting all the onus on the renter. Calif. law states that the trailer limit is 55 mph. So you are guilty of defying that admonition just following the legal limit! A general rule like (55 mph) encourages drivers towing with vehicles not specifically built for towing, to keep the speeds manageable. The stopping distance is the big thing, even if your trailer has it’s own brakes.
I’ve towed loaded car trailers with my long bed F150 and my Navigator and these were built for towing. I’ve also towed those trailers behind a U Haul truck with no problems. Smaller utility trailers are not a problem for cars and other cross overs to tow, but just keep the speeds down, it’s not just your life, it’s other people on the highway. Tow responsibly.
Having driven trailers all over the USA of various weights, and with various tow vehicles, I think this comes down to two things in the USA: the litigious nature of our society, and/or the incredible stupidity of the average driver in the USA. It’s very common here on the East Coast for F350’s hauling a trailer of some sort (usually an RV) to blow past you like you are standing still on I-95, I-77, I-26, et al., when you are already going 85mph yourself. God only knows how fast they are going. A Corolla could probably pull most of these trailers at a more modest speed, as you see in Europe. When I have driven around Europe, it is common to see C-Classes or 3 Series pulling some very large RV’s, albeit very slowly. And the other drivers there respect their space.
Another issue is the SAE J2807 towing standard; it wasn’t finalized when Paul wrote this but the idea of it being well beyond the needs of a homeowner planning to pull a utility trailer a few miles to the dump a couple times a year had to already have been percolating around the auto industry for several years for the Society of Automotive Embellishers to agree on a standard aimed more to people looking to make their living as a hotshotter.
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1502-sae-j2807-tow-tests-the-standard/
Just as important I believe in most parts of Europe (certainly the western-ish parts), enforcement is usually rigid, personal responsibility is a real concept, and if something happens the offender is likely to have the book thrown at them and suffer the consequences. This has nothing to do with “freedom” or any lack thereof, but simple respect for the law, others, and plain common sense mixed with a good dab of often expensive education before simply mounting up and driving off. There, as here but here mainly in theory, driving really is a privilege, not a right.
i’ve towed U-Haul trailers on long trips a number of times, generally with no problems. Most of the time it was a 5×8 trailer behind a first-generation Grand Cherokee or a 6×12 behind a GMC Sierra 1500. What I did learn, however, is to check the tire pressures before leaving the yard. I had a 6×12 trailer to move my son from Florida to Virginia. We loaded it up and around town it was fine. As soon as I got on I-95 at highway speeds it started fishtailing all over the road and just about wrecked me. Found out the only one of the tires was at the required 80 psi; two were at 40 psi and on was at 25 psi. Inflated them all to 80 psi and it pulled fine the rest of the trip.
My most memorable towing experience was courtesy of my older brother. After finishing my last two years of college in Seattle with just bus passes for transportation (selling my old Mazda was part of my effort to minimize student debt), he sold me a 1975 RX-4 for $500 that he had ‘rebuilt’. Newly married and looking for my first ‘after college’ job, it was all I could afford.
He neglected to mention that the gas gauge needle wandered back and forth with no connection to fuel level, and that his engine repairs resulted in appalling (even for a rotary) fuel economy. 90 miles (?!) on the trip odo after my last fill-up, the car died in a major intersection during Anchorage’s brief rush hour one 0 degree evening in December. I called him to berate him and demand he come to my aid.
He helped me push it to the gas station on the next block, insisting it just needed gas. I was appalled and annoyed to find out my ‘new’ ride got barely 5 mpg.
When the car died again the next evening, I had to walk 1/2 a mile to a gas station that would sell me a gas can go with the gallon of gas I figured it needed. After an hour of pain and a pair of gloves soaked with gasoline, I proved that fuel was not the problem. Another outraged phone call later, he was on the way.
He showed up in my parent’s Suburban, so I asked for a tow to my nearby apartment. Thinking he agreed, I got into my dead car after helping him connect the cars with a 12 foot nylon tow strap. Keep in mind that this was 1982, long before cell phones existed, or at least were available to starving recent college graduates.
I new I was in trouble when he pulled a U-turn and went in the opposite direction of my apartment, nearly smacking the cars together in the process. I laid on the horn, but he ignored the feeble peep it made (and I got my first hint what the car’s problem really was). He set out towards a destination unknown to me, while I frantically steered and worked the brakes to keep from smashing into the Suburban at corners and stoplights.
Have you spent any time sitting in a 0 DegF car that has no heater and a barely wheezing defogger fan? Within a couple of minutes, I was frantically scraping the INSIDE of the windshield in an attempt to see out. While I steadily froze, my hands and feet getting more and more numb.
The longer we successfully navigated the dark winter streets, the more confidently my brother drove and the more terrified I became. I was reminded of what I’d read about ‘Nantucket sleighrides’ where a whaleboat was dragged across the ocean by an irate and desperate whale.
Every time the tail lights less than a car length in front of me flashed bright red, I had milliseconds to apply the correct amount of braking. Too much and the strap pulled taught, yanking me forward and threatening to break the tow strap and leaving me stranded in the road. Too little and I would smash into my parent’s car, not to mention crunching up my far from pristine Mazda.
For the first few miles I had no idea where he was headed, so I couldn’t predict which way to steer at each intersection. I finally realized he was taking me to our parent’s house, a mere 12 miles from my apartment. By the end of that half hour ride I was so stiff he had to help me out of the car. That’s the only thing that kept me from punching him out.
It turns out the nut that clamped the alternator on its bracket had stripped, taking the tension off the belt and letting the battery discharge to the point that it wouldn’t fire the plugs any more. At some point on my terrifying ride the emergency flashers and brake lights had quit working, and it was a miracle that no one plowed into me from behind.
Ah, to be that young and stupid again.
It’s important to remember that in most of Europe a standard drivers license is good for a maximum gross weight of 3.5 tons including car and trailer. For example to tow maximum allowed weight with a C-RV you need the additional trailer license that increases total gross weight to a total of 7 tons depending on the car and trailer.
The trailer license requires additional coursework on securing loads, pre drive inspection, etc. and a driving test with a trailer.
Most trailers can be driven a maximum of 80km/h. Trailers that can be towed 100km/h have unique requirements including annual inspections and tyres are not more than 6 years old.
I just finished a 1600 mile trip towing my RV trailer with my 2018 F150. I have a ProPride hitch that is the cats meow for towing. No sway, ever. Day three was Tucumcari, New Mexico to just north of Wichita Kansas, tail wind better then 10 mpg running 65-75 mph. The next day was Wichita to Minneapolis.MN. Blustery cross winds and heavy head winds. One tank was under 5 mpg at 60-65 mph. Burned a ton of fuel that day, 600 miles. I did get home before the snow storm hit. The 3.5L EcoBoost pulls like a freight train, just make sure you have 2 or 3 credit cards handy for gas. This rounds out about 14,000 miles pulling the RV since Oct 2019. No scary instances to report. Main thing is take your time coming down mountain passes or driving down into canyons. Anybody here gone thru the Salt River Canyon in Arizona on Highway 60? This trip home it was pouring rain all the way thru. Kept the brakes cool and also slowed down the cars.
I’ve done lots of towing in BMWs, they’re good tow vehicles, good power, good clutches, good suspension and great brakes. They do well.
But yeah, rental yards are crazy conservative. I take a different tack, I blame insurance companies and beancounters who probably never took a physics class nor got their hands dirty doing things. I’ll admit some of the RVs and even pickups I see towing huge things behind them make me cringe, especially at 75+ but considering how many of them do that and how few I see in accidents or by the side of the road, they must not be that dangerous to tow with, even sometimes with massive loads.
But that’s commercial. I don’t know that the tow limits, or lack thereof, even apply to private transit, at least I’ve never heard of it. Most states don’t seem to even want Pickups, even towing, in weigh stations, and if so I suspect it would only be if the entire load, truck and trailer, was too heavy.
I’m loving all the stories here .
Mr. Klein is dead bang on here .
I remember getting forced into tow jobs with chains or ropes, never again .
I’ve managed a few long tows with trailers bigger than my 3/4 ton GMC but I made sure to use side roads / older low traffic highways and NOT SPEED .
Apart from being filthy 1/2 the time I’ve had good luck with the occasional U-Haul two axle trailers, one got a flat whilst parked (!?) and when I called a nice young man showed up with a brandy new spare tire and wheel in 4/5 minuets .
Speed will kill you *if* _you_ let it .
-Nate
When I first read the heading of this post I thought it was about getting your car towed! I have stories of getting my car towed from legal parking spaces in NYC.
To address this post, I have had my experiences towing U-Haul trailers. It was 1981, I was moving from Houston to NYC, driving my 1976 Eldo conv. One cat, one dog, one serious overloaded of the largest U-Haul trailers. Going up mountains had to move to the truck lanes because I slowed so much. Spent one over-night with an old friend in the Virginia mountains. The Eldo had air shocks, temp. dropped that night, in the morning the rear of the Eldo bumper was close to the ground due to weight of the trailer. Had to call AAA to come up the mountain and pump up the rear shocks.
Many years later (2003) my move from Dallas to Ottawa Ontario. I thought I learned my lessen with the Eldo back in 1981. Smaller U-Haul trailer hitched to my 1996 Sebring LXI. However, less powerful than the Eldo, and smaller trailer did not make going up mountains less embarrassing in the truck lanes. I missed crossing into Canada one hour too late of the East Coast blackout. This time had five cats in my 2-door coupe with a U-Haul towed. Turned around at the border, back to mid Michigan and spent a wonderful week with an old friend I had not seen for ten years. Once the lights came on and my documents reached the Canada border crossing, good to cross into Canada. U-Haul had my computer, TV, clothes, house plants (all documented for import). Five pissed off cats in my Sebring. A big burly Canada customs agent came to inspect my ride, saw five fuzzy cat faces in my car, turned around and cleared me to enter Canada. Think he had a fear of cats (LOL).
That’s my story with towing U-Hauls. Will never do it again. Note: All the time I was stranded in Michigan during the 2003 blackout, U-Haul never charged me extra days.
Ah yes I realise this post is a retread but, I bought a caravan to wander about with it weighs max 1.4 tonnes, my car is rated to tow its own weight 1.7 approx,
GTW(gross train weight) must not exceed 3.3 tonnes, that is the important figure, assuming some bored CVST employee can be bothered, with self leveling suspension its not obvious my car has a light or properly loaded heavy trailer in tow, it just cruises along at the towing speed limit 370 nm of torque @1350 rpm is real handy.
I’m not sure of Texas, but to my knowledge most US states have a maximum speed limit of 65 mph. California’s maximum speed limit is 55 mph. Also most trailer tires are rated for a maximum sustained high speed of 65 mph. There are a few that are rated higher, but they are not common.
There are a number of demonstrations on Youtube showing weight distribution and trailer sway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06_lbECEqSg