Towing with sedans

[thatkidhugo]

So I have a 14ft semi v which is really light, I can easily move the trailer around with no problems at all.

I checked out the owners manual for my 2004 Mitsubishi lancer ralliart 2.4ltr (165hp/165tq) and it says no towing allowed :|

I called u-haul and got a quote for a hitch and wire harness and I thought it would be a lot more expensive. So U-haul DOES make hitches for my car.

Now onto the question, is it safe to tow with my car?

 

[RiverBottomOutdoors]

Probably play hell on your tranny.

 

[gillhunter]

So I have a 14ft semi v which is really light, I can easily move the trailer around with no problems at all.

I checked out the owners manual for my 2004 Mitsubishi lancer ralliart 2.4ltr (165hp/165tq) and it says no towing allowed :|

I called u-haul and got a quote for a hitch and wire harness and I thought it would be a lot more expensive. So U-haul DOES make hitches for my car.

Now onto the question, is it safe to tow with my car?

Is the engined turbo charged?

 

[thatkidhugo]

Probably play hell on your tranny.

That's expected with any car or truck tho.. isnt it? A friend of mine has a 2010 f150 harley davidson edition.. he tows his seadoo and says that his tranny isnt the same with the seadoo on.

Is the engined turbo charged?

No, the engine isnt turbo charged.

 

[Jdholmes]

I have seen plenty of sedans hauling light boats....usually bigger cars like a taurus, crown Vic or a station wagon...tin boats are pretty light.

The hard part is that most sedans are front wheel drive and ideally you should have 4 wheel drive or rear wheel drive.

 

[TNtroller]

30 years ago I towed a 15' glass boat with a 50 rudie with a Toyota Corolla 4 banger 5sp, was always an interesting trip to say the least. At least the Corolla was RWD back then, but I DEFINATELY knew the boat was back there when I was needing to stop or slow down. Took a while to get up some speed as well, was a funny sight for sure.

 

[Jay D]

I did similarly with a 1990 corolla station wagon and my 14' Richline V hull. 105 hp I believe and front wheel drive. If you are pulling it less than 20-25miles and you drive it like a little old lady you will be fine. Slow and slow down before you get there to a stop. a 14 ft weighs usually 160lbs, motor 80, troller30,battery 45 etc. you are talking less than 800 lbs unless your carrying 4 or 5 cases of beer with ice. [-X :wink:

 

[Jay D]

I did similarly with a 1990 corolla station wagon and my 14' Richline V hull. 105 hp I believe and front wheel drive. If you are pulling it less than 20-25miles and you drive it like a little old lady you will be fine. Slow and slow down before you get there to a stop. a 14 ft weighs usually 160lbs, motor 80, troller30,battery 45 etc. you are talking less than 800 lbs unless your carrying 4 or 5 cases of beer with ice. [-X :wink:

 

[JMichael]

Probably play hell on your tranny.

That's expected with any car or truck tho.. isnt it? A friend of mine has a 2010 f150 harley davidson edition.. he tows his seadoo and says that his tranny isnt the same with the seadoo on.

No. I've got a 97 F150 4x4 with towing package. I can load my ATV, generator and all my camping/hunting supplies on my trailer and the only time I notice it being back there is going up a long incline. The only thing I notice about that is I have to give it more gas to maintain speed.

I think the 2 things you might need to be concerned about would be transmission wear (most likely a light duty trans) and hitch attachment. Some cars don't have a frame that extends back far enough to attach the hitch to and I've seen some where the bumpers were pulled off because the bumper and it's mounting weren't designed with towing in mind.

 

[skysail]

I'm gonna tow my boat with a wrx, I've seen people tow way bigger boats than mine with small cars. As long as your brakes are ok and can handle it I don't see why not

 

[LCfishing]

I have seen people doing it here in Louisiana but I would not do it personlally lol. I would be scared pulling it off the ramp lol. Especially when it gets wet and the ramp is steep.

 

[JMichael]

I have seen people doing it here in Louisiana but I would not do it personlally lol. I would be scared pulling it off the ramp lol. Especially when it gets wet and the ramp is steep.

Yea, I've seen that a few times also. In one case, the car started spinning badly and the driver started to panic. I thought the car was going to end up in the water. Ended up with the car having to be towed up the ramp by another vehicle. :lol:

 

[Butthead]

I'm gonna tow my boat with a wrx, I've seen people tow way bigger boats than mine with small cars. As long as your brakes are ok and can handle it I don't see why not

A WRX would be a decent car to do it with. I've seen a bunch of them around MD/DC with hitches, both sedan and sw, and have personally seen them pulling canoes and kayaks on trailers as well as tins as big as 14'.

I would feel comfortable pulling my tin with my wife's FWD CRV, and that's essentially an Accord with a body kit. :lol:

 

[Jdholmes]

I think the above posters said something you should take heed of, though. Yes you can haul, but be careful at the ramps. Check out the ramps you will be using, if they are very steep I would steer clear. Not all ramps are created equal.

 

[wihil]

I tow my 12'er with a first gen 1.8lr Honda CRV (which might as well be a Civic with a detuned Integra motor). Pulls it along just fine, and with the pseudo 4 wheel I haven't had an issue at ramps. I'd feel okay pulling up to a light 16' with it, but nothing heavy that's for sure. I'd probably not stick it quite so deep in the ramp either.

The only thing I can't stand about it is how often if shifts around when going into the wind/up/down hills, but to be fair that stupid car is always shifting (thanks in part to poor gearing and a high reving motor, way to go Honda).

 

[BtsNhoS]

im a mechanic and you should have no problem towing with that car. As long as the trailer+boat does not weigh more than 1000lbs there shouldnt be a problem. The problem you might have is clearance on ramps and if it sits extremely low in the back end, speed bumps, driveways etc. could cause some trouble plus there is more where and tear on your brakes. Drive it slow and steady and if its a standard make sure you have lower rpm shifts

 

[JamesM56alum]

This is a pretty touchy subject with some people, iv worked in shops most of my life im a mechanic by trade and pulling boats with cars is not a good idea. One reason is stopping, just because you can pull it with no problem doesnt mean you should because you also have to worry about stopping it, front disc rear drum brake systems are horrid on cars and small vans, the brakes are already maxed out just from the weight of the car and the passengers in it, i cant tell you how many brake jobs iv done on front disc rear drum when either the pads glaze over because they over heat or the rotors are a very pretty shade of blue/black because the persons calipers sized up an they warped the rotors.

Tranny problems are an issue also, take the ford windstar for an example, the 3.0 ford engine and transmission that are in the van is the same exact engine and tranny thats in the ford taurus, the van weighs about 1200lbs more, so pulling with the van to begin with is a bad idea because the trannys are already stressed because they werent designed to put up with that much load and added heat.

And last but not least, trailer sway.. light cars and vans cannot handle the trailers when they dogtrack down the road "Sway back an forth" the assend of the vans and cars will start swaying with the trailer and boom you're out of control and if your lucky in the ditch.

This video is a great example why u shouldnt pull with anything less than a SUV or smaller pickup
https://youtu.be/mfLnLwFcSBc

Im not trying to piss any one off that does, just trying to shed some educated light on the issue at hand.

 

[BtsNhoS]

This is a pretty touchy subject with some people, iv worked in shops most of my life im a mechanic by trade and pulling boats with cars is not a good idea. One reason is stopping, just because you can pull it with no problem doesnt mean you should because you also have to worry about stopping it, front disc rear drum brake systems are horrid on cars and small vans, the brakes are already maxed out just from the weight of the car and the passengers in it, i cant tell you how many brake jobs iv done on front disc rear drum when either the pads glaze over because they over heat or the rotors are a very pretty shade of blue/black because the persons calipers sized up an they warped the rotors.

Tranny problems are an issue also, take the ford windstar for an example, the 3.0 ford engine and transmission that are in the van is the same exact engine and tranny thats in the ford taurus, the van weighs about 1200lbs more, so pulling with the van to begin with is a bad idea because the trannys are already stressed because they werent designed to put up with that much load and added heat.

And last but not least, trailer sway.. light cars and vans cannot handle the trailers when they dogtrack down the road "Sway back an forth" the assend of the vans and cars will start swaying with the trailer and boom you're out of control and if your lucky in the ditch.

This video is a great example why u shouldnt pull with anything less than a SUV or smaller pickup
https://youtu.be/mfLnLwFcSBc

Im not trying to piss any one off that does, just trying to shed some educated light on the issue at hand.

exactly. i personally believe that if it is a small boat/trailer such as a 10-12ft job boat with trailer, there shouldnt be any trouble. but dont do like the guy in the video did and pull something that heavy [-X haha

 

[bassboy1]

...and if its a standard make sure you have lower rpm shifts

What is the rationale behind that?

 

[Jdholmes]

...and if its a standard make sure you have lower rpm shifts

What is the rationale behind that?

I wondered the same thing, but was afraid I might be the only one...