I'm new. I'm obsessed. And I got questions

[Metaxa]

The brake pad suggestion is brilliant and one many of us won't have thought off.
The black brake dust issue is almost negated if you wax your wheels and hose them off once a week.
Use real wheel wax not regular automotive body wax.

further, to make a smaller vehicle more tow friendly you can (over time and one by one if budget necessitates) have a shop add both a stand alone transmission and oil cooler to your vehicle.
Both increase your fluid capacity a bit and definitely increase your ability to shed heat on those long pulls.

I'd also ask you to ponder on replacing your brake fluid with silicone fluid. definitely more expensive but any normal driver in a non track prepped vehicle is not going to be able to boil it.

We camp/tear drop because we don't want to go 500 mph in an airplane or even 60 mph in an RV. I want to putter along, seeing things, stopping at neat stuff. So simply make sure that thought goes to your driving style. You aren't a zippy little in town vehicle any more, you are a tow unit and pulling at near manufacturer's limits.

Make sure your tires are properly inflated, make sure your struts/shocks are working properly, make sure your coolant is fresh and up to snuff, make sure every single thing you pack into the vehicle or tow behind it is needed, not just wanted. Every pound costs you either in fuel mileage or in wear and tear on stuff.

[gudmund]

I have never done the silicone change over and have heard a lot of pro's and con's in doing it being regular brake fluid and silicone are NOT mixable. I was warned that there is no room for error in that there cannot be ANY brake fluid residue left and the best way is to just buy new wheel cylinders and lines for doing it. I have been fine with the DOT 3/4 brake fluids and will be staying with them BUT I am very diligent in bleeding them and refreshing the fluids every few years or so nowadays - the stuff needs to changed every so often to stay on the safe side!! It does get contaminated and wears out, which is one of the advantages of silicone in that is doesn't. Brake fluid along with automatic transmission fluid are probably of the most over looked items that never get changed on vehicles when they need to be done!! Well, this was my two cents worth on this subject. Take care and have fun with your new purchase!! May see you on down the road one of these days!!

[Pixie Susan]

One question I do not see here has to do with a Honda Fit towing a 5x8 sized trailer. A Fit is smaller than a Civic but bigger than say my Geo Metro/Suzuki Swift, but not by much. After towing my 4x8 well over 15000++ miles with my mid-sized PU and no trailer brakes, would I ever try to tow it with my Geo/Suzuki Swift?? NO !! and it has great brakes!! (couldn't care less what others thing of them, am on #7 after 300thou miles of use out most of the others!!) First off it is not even rated to be able to tow anything along I don't even think a hitch is even made for one. My point here is, if I was to even think about towing with a car this small, the first thing I would be concerned with was finding a trailer with trailer brakes (electric brakes). The trailer will weight what is empty but than weighted down with A/C etc. along with whatever you are planning on carrying when traveling, how much weight are we talking about?? Mine starts at about 900 lbs. and ends up at about 1250 to 1400 lbs. loaded along with whatever other weight is added to the car/truck itself when traveling. The trailer-world along with a lot of states say that trailers over 1500 lbs. need trailer brakes (my owners manual for my last 3 PU's states that any trailer over 1000 lbs. should have trailer brakes which is probably written in there to protect the vehicle manufacturer probably just to say - we told you so!). Mine does fine without them but I can tell you, there are times when I could have used them when going some down hills I've been on being I do feel the weight back there!!!! And now to finish, if I can remember these words that someone has written on this website that I have read here before goes something like ....You can go down a hill over a thousand times slow, but the first time fast - could be your last!!... take care and stay safe

So, I don't know what the little guy is rated for weight, but my 5x8 benroy that I built to be light weighs in at 860lbs loaded for war. (quick google check says 1060lbs for the 5x10 ss)

I tow just fine on a 1.8l Scion XD (rated for 2000lbs in the UK, not rated in the US) as long as I am reasonable with it. You don't need a gigantic rig to pull a teardrop. Now I know people go back and forth on this, but the Honda Jazz (same car as the fit overseas) is rated to over 2000lbs as well.

Drive slow, be careful and know you're making your own choices and taking your own chances, and you will probably be just fine.

Have you installed a tranny cooler? I'm making a 2k mile trip towing my teardrop with a 1st gen xB and looking for insight regarding Scions/towing and and effects on the transmission.

[booyah]

5 speed manual

no tranny cooler, sorry I cant be more help.

[yrock87]

A lot of after-market brake manufactures offer many different variations of brake pad versions and there probably is someone out there that makes pads for you car that could give better brake response for towing. Just a suggestion. Take care and enjoy the new trailer!!!!

This is a fantastic suggestion (possible compromise on the trailer brakes?). I already had on my to-do list to proactively put new brake pads on the Fit and I didn't consider the possibility of beefing up with something aftermarket. Thanks!

I towed a (300 LB?) utility trailer with an '07 mazda 3 with the 2.0 4cyl and auto. once I had her loaded up with 800 lbs of pellet stove, pellets and hearth pad. drover her 100 miles in interior Alaska over some (short) hills that were pretty steep. I had no issues stopping, i could feel the trailer back there but never felt pushed. i will say that i had issues hitting 65 mph with the metal ramp/grate up. aerodynamics, not weight was my primary concern. the Mazda 3 is not rated for towing in the US, but is rated for i think 2100 lbs in Canada and the UK. now i did have aftermarket front brakes installed. they were i think $130 for both pads and disks compared to $100 for the OEM replacments. the stopping difference was HUGE. i cant comment on what the stock brakes would have been like towing. I also towed about 2500lbs from Alaska down to Seattle with a stock Subaru outback 2.5 ltr (rated for 2700lbs). once again i could tell the trailer was back there as i drove down the spine of the rocky mountains, but never felt out of control or like i was being pushed.

having said all of that i am hoping to get my teardrop to 1100 ready to camp. if i end up adding amenities and get above 1400 i will be adding brakes to the trailer because i want to be able to drive the trailer without wearing out the Subaru's brakes.

I also grew up towing all the time...

be smart, drive for the conditions and stay up on your maintenance. enjoy!