Hello everyone,
I saw quite a few posts about towing a MC trailer with Honda Civic or some similar car. I would like to share my experience.
Recently I was moving from Alabama to California and I had to tow a 5'x8' U-haul trailer, which had all the stuff I wanted to take with me as well as my motorcycle. It was pretty heavy. The trailer alone is 900 pounds, the motorcycle is almost 400, plus some tools (around 200 pounds), furniture, boxes, etc. The car was full itself (big TV, home theater, etc, etc).
The towing was not really bad everywhere except for some overpasses in Texas and California (LA area), where I had to drive 40 mph. Of course you can feel the weight of the trailer, the car is sluggish and takes longer to stop. However it was not as bad as I thought. The engine worked perfectly. The car has some mods but they do not do any difference below 4500 RPM. Before doing this 2500-mile trip I was discussing this with some auto-gurus from our club and most of guys said "no" but a couple of guys from Europe told me that they tow a caravan with a Probe several times a year and this influenced my decision to try it on my own. Of course this trailer does not have brakes as caravans do.
I have manual transaxle, so I do not think automatic one will hold. Probes have notoriously bad automatic transaxles. Mine went bad after 75,000 and I changed it to manual (yes, it is possible).
Below are some pictures. I bet you do not see Ford Probe with a trailer too often :)
(http://bama.ua.edu/~apalk001/Design/Assets/IMAGES/Album/movingToCA_3.jpg)
(http://bama.ua.edu/~apalk001/Design/Assets/IMAGES/Album/movingToCA_2.jpg)
(http://bama.ua.edu/~apalk001/Design/Assets/IMAGES/Album/movingToCA_1.jpg)
Great job! That's good info to have.
And congratulations for going out on a limb ... and making it work. :thumb:
When I went to pick up my gs500 I had to borrow a friends cadillac (LONG story..) uhaul didn't have it in their system or anything.. ended up wiring it myself for lights... got TONS of wierd looks from people
You would be surprised what people in Europe tow with their cars.
I saw a guy pulling a small trailer home with a Fiat 126. That's a 600cc
two cylinder car.
i have towed with my ford focus.. 2.0L 110HP 125ft/lb. I had no problems towing. By virtue of being a manual tranny made life a lot easier..
for a small car towing, a manual is absolutely necessary.
how did you get uhaul to rent you that trailer? my friend just tried to rent one for his manual ford explorer, and they wouldnt let him...he had to rent their normal truck, then a trailer for his explorer!! he drove down from sac to la in like 11 hrs, the truck overheated, it was hell for him...so uhaul is looking into reimbursing him...but how did y'all get uhaul to rent a trailer to you with a small car, when they wouldnt let my friend with the explorer do it? i'm worried now that when i move they wont let me rent a trailer, i drive a jeep...
- alex
I'm looking into thi s myself. UHaul will not rent to Explorers because of the rollover issue they had. Its company policy.
The Uhaul trailer is a heavy trailer. The probe might have been overloaded with all that stuff on it. Most cars are only rated for a Class 1 hitch (2,000 max).
I found a trailer at www.harborfreight.com selling for only $219. My friends have it and its awesome. Only 4x8 I think, no floor but they added a plywood floor. Perfect for one motorcycle and our two seemed to work fine. He towed it with his 96 Volvo wagon. This is a lightweight trailer that folds away too. I'm going to buy a hitch (www.hiddenhitch.com) for my acura integra which will only cost me $140 including wiring harness and borrow my friends trailers.
A Miata can pull a motorcycle.
http://www.seriousauto.com/hitch/hitch.htm
(http://mail.roadfly.com/wclhc/miatabike1.jpg)
Yeah, it's possible.
(http://www.eurotoyshop.com/Images/Product/SK-1629-H.jpg)
Hey, I saw the real-life version of that one at a BMW event... :)
http://www.bimmerfest.com/photos/data/500/22333905.jpg
http://www.bimmerfest.com/photos/data/500/22333906.jpg
harbor frieght also carries a 3'x4' that is ok for small motorcycles. I have a single rail "dirt bike" trailer that I used to pull with my tercel it is a converted govt. general purpose generator trailer. I got it for free and put a rail on it at work. it works great. the only drawback I found was the tires they are a 9" rim, kind of hard to find. if there is some intrest I know whare there is about 20 more that can be leagly purchased and titled. the only problem is that they are in NC.
I use that same harbor freight trailer with my Celica. Works great and yes, it folds up nicely too.
Quote from: alexXxhow did you get uhaul to rent you that trailer? my friend just tried to rent one for his manual ford explorer, and they wouldnt let him...he had to rent their normal truck, then a trailer for his explorer!! he drove down from sac to la in like 11 hrs, the truck overheated, it was hell for him...so uhaul is looking into reimbursing him...but how did y'all get uhaul to rent a trailer to you with a small car, when they wouldnt let my friend with the explorer do it? i'm worried now that when i move they wont let me rent a trailer, i drive a jeep...
- alex
i got my trailer from the Uhaul on 65th and Hwy 50. I cant remember the guy who set me up, but his name started with an H.. henry or something. Mexican guy..
It was 25/day but you got to make sure they let you do that. that's for bringing it back to the same location as rented.
they had no probs renting me that. But i must say the unit is heavy. I had a car full of stuff + trailer + motorcycle and i did fine. Pulled up the grave vine at 45-50mph in 3rd.. and it wasnt lugging.
Small cars can tow trailers np , i must admit a manual box does help , only having past my car test recently and the staggering cost of insurance premiums in the UK the cheapest option i had was a 1.3 escort :lol: :lol:
Still its warm and dry :)
(http://www.gs500e.co.uk/car.jpg)
(http://www.gs500e.co.uk/car1.jpg)
Cars considered big in Europe are probably considered small in US. :)
In Europe, it's quite common for a 'small' car (like my Subaru Legacy 2.0, 115HP) to tow a big trailer (a horse transporter along with two horses). Of course, all trailers with over 750kg max. mass (that's trailer+max. allowed load) have to be equiped with it's own brake system.
You have to check your cars towing specifications - my car for example is spec'd for towing up to 1800kg braked trailers while my brothers Kia Sorento can tow up to 2800kg.
D.
most (all?) passenger cars in the US are rated to pull a Class I hitch (2000# capacity, 200# tongue capacity, max).