Topic: Towing capacity questions

[Scott S]

 I'm thinking about vehicle shopping next year. While I'd love a dedicated Adventure Van, the truth is I really need to sell a few vehicles and get something a little more "do it all".
 I thought about a truck (still a possibility), but what I'd like to have quickly gets stupid expensive. Now I'm leaning towards an SUV/Crossover of some sorts (can't believe I just said that) that has some decent towing capacity.

 I have almost zero experience pulling a trailer, but I'll learn. The best thing I can do is get something that's more "car like" for my regular usage and commute and still have the capacity to pull a light trailer and one or two bikes.
 I'm not brand loyal at all. My commute is short so, while I'd like something that gets decent mileage, it's not necessarily a deal breaker, either.

 Let's say I get a nice, small, "right sized" open trailer....or possibly a small enclosed trailer....capable of pulling a couple of CL350's or the occasional Craigslist find. How much towing capacity should I be looking at when vehicle shopping?
 
 Can you think of anything that fits that description? I'll only use it a few times a year for towing, so the day-to-day stuff is actually more important: dependability, "not horrible" gas mileage, comfort features, etc. And I have to like the way it looks!
 

[BomberMann650]

You should be able to tow a couple bikes on an open trailer with something like jeep cherokee, toyota 4runner, hell, chevy trailblazer

I personally am quite happy with my Ram 1500 5.9L magnum.  It's a compact 4x4 that can happily pull about 4,000#

[eigenvector]

What you'll run into is the hitch capacity.

My Ranger - pretty lightweight, has a max hitch weight of 500 lbs but as long as the load is over the trailer's axle, I can haul 1000 lbs.  Doesn't mean it won't grunt and groan up a steep hill, but so long as I don't do this every day it's fine.

I pretty new to trailer'ing myself.  Hauling isn't a problem, even a (big) passenger car can haul a couple 350's, for me it's backing up and otherwise maneuvering the trailer into position.  It takes a lot of practice - I'm still not comfortable.

[Scott S]

  Hauling isn't a problem, even a (big) passenger car can haul a couple 350's, for me it's backing up and otherwise maneuvering the trailer into position.  It takes a lot of practice - I'm still not comfortable.

 This.
 But when I first got the Creepy Van, it felt like a behemoth to me. Can't see $h!t out the back, it's big, taller than I'm used to, etc. But I quickly got used to it. I think I can learn to pull a trailer.

 I'd LOVE a more modern van. I'd be able to book it down the highway without having to worry about what's behind me. We go to Barber every year. I'll tell you right now: There's no way in hell I'll pull a trailer through Atlanta. I'll be detouring that. But, with a van....maybe.
 But I need to replace a few vehicles/bikes with just ONE vehicle.

[BIKE]

I've pulled my 4x8 trailer with two motorcycles on it with everything from a 2009 Subaru to my 2015 Golf and my 1986 Sunbird.
No issue at all.

[Jwexperience]

Most vehicles based on a car platform, whether it's a sedan or Jeep Patriot type vehicle, are going to be rated around 1500#'s, sometimes a little more. Vans and most suv's are around 3500-5000#'s. And pickups, starting with the compacts can tow about 5000#'s with a tow package up to 20,000#'s for heavy duty pickups.
In my opinion, based on years of car sales and towing experience, brakes and wheelbase are key to handling loads. I currently have a 3000# boat which I have towed with a ranger, frontier and tundra.
If you're towing under 2000#'s and not traveling great distances, a van is a great choice. They typically have a long wheelbase and get better mileage than a typical suv. Braking is also adequate while having a lot of seating cap. I like overkill when towing and mpg is not a deal breaker, so I prefer the pickups but close friends have used dodge caravans for the last 20yrs to tow a 2000# boat and swear by them. When not towing they get 20mpg and they usually purchase them 1-2 yrs old so the initial cost to buy the vehicle is also very reasonable.
Most sedans will tow about 1500#'s with no issues also. personally I would get a vehicle with 4 wheel discs to handle the weight better.
Definitely pay more attention to the vehicle rather than the hitch and tow packages are nice to get if offered on a vehicle because the hitch and wiring will be taken care of and the transmission will usually have extra cooling added.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Stev-o]

I use my Tacoma for hauling bikes regularly.  If I need to haul 2 bikes,  use my lightweight 5x7' open trailer.   Towing is simple, backing up a small trailer just takes practice. 

When I had a smaller boat, I had a 4Runner that was a great tow vehicle. Highly recommend it. Bought a bigger boat, no more towing, the boat stays  on a hoist on the dock.

[nomad]

get something a little more "do it all".

I love mine...

3.6 flat six... can tow somewhere in the neighborhood of 2700-ish lbs iirc ("properly equipped" as they always say).  When I'm abusing the right pedal, I get around 21mpg.  On road trips, I see ~27mpg.  The cvt took a little getting use to, even though they programmed "shift points" into it to make it feel a little more like a traditional auto.  Now I don't notice it anymore.  The "shift" paddles are fun if you want to play a little bit.  Also, the seating position feels more sedan like (and not so much like an upright bench seat like you find in most crossovers).  It has a lot of rear leg room and will carry 8ft boards if you have a small weekend project.  The cargo area with the rear seats up is also quite spacious.  Go aftermarket with the hitch.  The factory Subie hitch is the little 1 1/4".  I installed a 2" EcoHitch and a Curt flat 4 pin harness.  It took the better part of a Saturday morning and was fairly simple to do.  If you test drive one, make sure it's the 3.6L and not the 2.5.  The six is just so much smoother and refined...

http://www.edmunds.com/subaru/outback/2016/st-200738664/features-specs/

[74cb750]

I used to own a Dodge Caravan, 5 speed to haul bikes. I would not recommend it as the little 4 cyclinder died an early death. This was probably due to being overworked hauling bikes around. I really  should have had the 6 banger.

Next vehicle was a Ford F150, V8, but the gas milage was horrible.

Then a Honda Civic, no problems in 15 years.
 as was said above, keep the trailer level, don't haul long distances
and have the proper hitch.
have hauled HOnda Goldwings, or 2 cb750's at a time w/o problems.
Hauling a few little CL350's hardly affects the car with an open trailer.

Having a closed trailer is another story , as the wind resistance was too much for the Civic.
Sold that trailer.

michel

PS. need some CL350 parts? ;-)

[nomad]

Btw, if you plan to haul light loads just a few times a year, I'd highly recommend getting a 4×8' folding Harbor Freight trailer (find and use the coupon).  Fold it and stuff it away in the back of your garage the 99% of the year you won't be using it.  It comes with a 1200lb axle (upgraded mine to 1800 for a little extra piece of mind).  I also upgraded the tires to 6 ply... again, to make me feel a little safer.These things more than pay for themselves over a very short time

Build some sides for the trailer and they're the perfect mulch hauler/ home improvement store material getter for the average home owner.  Take them off and haul your mower/ bikes.  They're also fairly light weight and easy to roll around when folded up.  And if you wanted to, you could even turn it into a little tear drop camper.  These things have what I'd almost consider to be a cult following.

*Edit: These things come in boxes.  You have to assemble it yourself... a good weekend project.  The bare trailer is all you get, the plywood for the deck/ sides is supplied by you.

[Scott S]

 I've been reading about those trailers. I wouldn't use it but a few times, but some of those trips might be long ones.

[Scott S]

 How did you upgrade the axle? Where'd you get the new one?

[nomad]

Etrailer... https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Axles/CE-Smith/CE33201GA.html  This is a direct bolt on replacement... no mods needed. 

You'd also need new bearing/ hubs.  The bearings/ spindles that come with the HF trailer are a weird (Chinese) size and hard to find new bearings for.  When you get the beefier axle above, it allows you to use standard size bearings that can be found nearly anywhere.  I also got the wiring harness from etrailer... awesome customer service. 

[nomad]

With the HF trailer, I wouldn't bother welding it.  1) It's a cheap trailer; 2) The nuts/ bolts that come with it with it are more than enough to hold it together for what it's designed to haul.  If you wanted, you could go buy some grade 8 nuts/ bolts, throw in some thread locker, and you're good to go.

If you're going to go through the trouble of welding a HF trailer to make it stronger, you're buying the wrong trailer to start with.  At that point you'd be better off buying a proper factory built (professionally welded) trailer... something like a Texas Bragg... and I've been that route too.  At that point you're kind of defeating the purpose of buying a cheap, rarely used, easy to store trailer.  I guess it all depends on what you really need.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

By spending the extra $$ how does it compare price-wise to other higher capacity trailers??

[nomad]

Price wise, it's probably about the same... maybe a tad less.  The big difference for me was the ability to fold it up and stick it in an unused corner in the garage.  I'm kind of like the OP.  I only need it a few times a year, but when you need it, you really need it.  The rest of the time it's out of the way.  I've had a couple of other trailers in the past (solid frame) that sat outside because they took up too much room in the garage.  End result, after a couple of years... they were either rusted or on their way.

The last trailer I had was a 6x10 Texas Bragg with the round tube rails and fold down ramp.  Very nice trailer, but overkill for me.  I basically haul (rarely) a bike, zero turn mower, yard stuff, etc.  That's about it.  The HF hauls that kind of stuff all day long... and for it's price/ functionality, I couldn't have bought a better trailer.  Folded up, it's footprint is 32"×66".

[Bankerdanny]

What you'll run into is the hitch capacity.

My Ranger - pretty lightweight, has a max hitch weight of 500 lbs but as long as the load is over the trailer's axle, I can haul 1000 lbs.  Doesn't mean it won't grunt and groan up a steep hill, but so long as I don't do this every day it's fine.

I pretty new to trailer'ing myself.  Hauling isn't a problem, even a (big) passenger car can haul a couple 350's, for me it's backing up and otherwise maneuvering the trailer into position.  It takes a lot of practice - I'm still not comfortable.

That's tongue weight (the weight pressing down on the hitch). 500#'s is a lot. A properly balanced trailer should only place a very small percentage of the load weight on the tongue. You should be able to have a couple thousand combined pounds of trailer and load without exceeding 500# on the tongue.

My BIL is a big rig mechanic and also drives a tow truck for big rigs on the side. He can back his suburban with the 20ft double axle loaded with my car down his narrow driveway using just his mirrors almost as fast as I can do it pulling in normally.

[Stev-o]

Why buy a cheap ass trailer that needs upgrades?   I only paid $600 for a brand new nice trailer....last thing I want to worry about is having a trailer failure while towing my bikes!


http://austin.craigslist.org/trb/5745144844.html

[nomad]

Why buy a cheap ass trailer that needs upgrades?   I only paid $600 for a brand new nice trailer....last thing I want to worry about is having a trailer failure while towing my bikes!


http://austin.craigslist.org/trb/5745144844.html

Looks like you kind of missed the whole "storage" thing.  Anyway, GREAT job finding a brand new nice trailer for just $600... sounds like you got an awesome deal!  Now I'm feeling kind of bad that I bought such a cheap ass trailer that needed upgrades...   

[Stev-o]

Why buy a cheap ass trailer that needs upgrades?   I only paid $600 for a brand new nice trailer....last thing I want to worry about is having a trailer failure while towing my bikes!


http://austin.craigslist.org/trb/5745144844.html

Looks like you kind of missed the whole "storage" thing.  Good job finding a brand new nice trailer for just $600... sounds like you got an awesome deal!

I don't see Scott posts state anything about having limited storage? I agree, that could be a nice feature for some, but with six bikes currently in my garage, I don't have room. 

[eigenvector]

I have the Harbor Freight trailer - non-folding model but it's basically the same trailer, just no hinge!

It's fine for what it is - although in hindsight for what I spent on it, exterior plywood deck, decent harness, decent wiring - a comparable sized aluminum trailer from a local dealer would have been a better deal.

Eh - it works and hauls bikes just fine.

[seanbarney41]

Scott, have you seen the new nissan full sized vans?  They are somewhere between a mini van and a sprinter.  I think they look geat, as another van fan.  No idea what they cost cuz I wont be getting one for many years.

[kpier883]

Toyota sienna is a great vehicle and works well for towing.  You can take all the seats out and haul 4x8 sheets of plywood or sheetrock.  Seats in you can haul around 6 or 7 people in comfort.  My 2012 will easily top 95 MPH on a trip and hold it for extended periods when heading out West in wide open areas.  Even at those speeds I have gotten 20 + MPG.  My brother has one slightly older, maybe 2008 that gets close to 30 mpg, but he drives slow.  The ones from late 90's / early 2000 era with the 3.0 liter engine struggle to get 20 MPG.  The 3.5 has a lot more power and gets the good MPG.