Towing my tear with a small car ??

[JohnnyG]

Got back from Grand Marais on the north shore of Superior. My Kia Rio gave me 25 and 27 mpg on the two tanks I checked. By the way... my etrailer wiring kit has a module but no special wire to the battery- works great!

[Forrest747]

Lookong at JohnnyG and his set up made think wow some of our trailers are bigger than the tow vehicle. Than it hit me a Smart car towing a trailer.

[CarlLaFong]

On my quest to put a hitch on my Corolla this is what I learned.
Some wiring kits have a module that regulates the electricity. I looked on etrailer and they only sell the one with the module. That means a wire to the battery. I then called the local experts around here and that guy said this.
You need the module because the trailer draws electricity from the battery. The module needs a battery connection.
True or not I don't know. I put a hitch on mine and towed it without lights and didn't like it at all. The trailer hitch will be part of my bike rack and I will tow with my truck. Wish the Corolla worked for me because the gas mileage is way better than on my truck.
My tear is 800 pounds if that matters.

Dano

The reason for the module is to correct the difference between American lighting and International lighting systems. American cars use the brake light filament as the turn signal, while foreign cars use separate bulbs for the turn signals

[rowerwet]

beat me to it. I had to have a wiring harness with a module on my focus, as it is a European designed car. Otherwise the turn signals and brake would have been wrong.

[ArtG5]

We just bought a 5 wide custom build (no trailer brakes) and we are pulling it with a 2003 Pontiac Grand Am. If I were to guess it weighs anywhere between 800 and 1000 lbs, but I could be wrong. We towed it home last night and while you can feel that it is back there when hitting bumps in the road or going up hill...it doesn't feel scary. Just a little tugging on the bumper every so often.

I know this is completely subjective, but is there a way of judging by feel what level of tugging or bucking is acceptable? We are noobs! I know it largely depends on driving style too, but we got it up to 55mph on the highway without issue (the max speed advised in the owner's manual), and we were able to make a few quick stops without the brakes screaming or dying on us.

We are going to weigh the trailer soon to get an exact weight. We guessed the tongue weight by me lifting the tongue and then trying to dead lift my wife from the ground. My wife is only 115lbs and I'm guessing the tongue is about 150.

[dano]

Artg5,
The tugging is what I felt when I pulled my trailer with my Corrolla. It kinds scard me. Made me feel like the rear end would rip off. I know it wont but man it wasnt a good feeling. Im using my truck this weekend to go to the IRG. It gets bad gas miles but I dont even know the trailer is in back.
When I get back I may try the Corrolla again.

Dano

[ArtG5]

It makes sense that you'll feel something...there is an 500+ lb something being pulled by your 3000 lb car at 50 mph. My question is how much should you feel? Ideally that would be nothing at all, but I'm sure that even pulling a tear drop with a pickup truck you'll feel something.

[indycamper]

My first trip out I felt as if the teardrop would rip the hitch off the van. When I got back home and checked the tongue weight I found that she was extremely tongue-heavy and very unbalanced. Once I got that problem fixed, she has towed fine. Perhaps a weight imbalance has something to do with what you are feeling.

[Lgboro]

I have towed with a '93 Celcia and a '05 Corolla for years. Most of the drag you feel may due to your Corolla having only 140 fp of torque. My main reason for trading for a Jetta diesel with 239 lbs of torque. A major improvement in towing ability. All my cars were straight drive which helped pull the hills although I would have to drop down several gears. I could forget my tear is behind my Jetta it handles the tow so well.

[GerryS]

Diesel ROCKS for pulling! The torque is unbeatable! Watch though, 'dubs aren't known for really good transmissions. also, timing belts are a critical maintenance item....

My previous car was a Jetta TDI, current is a jeep Liberty CRD...

[GerryS]

Diesel ROCKS for pulling! The torque is unbeatable! Watch though, 'dubs aren't known for really good transmissions. also, timing belts are a critical maintenance item....

My previous car was a Jetta TDI, current is a jeep Liberty CRD...

I did forget the trailer was there on the last trip....I about made a mess of myself when the trailer surprised me when I looked in the mirror....

[Shadow Catcher]

With additional experience.
Our experience towing Compass Rose was vastly different out west, and getting to it. The 3L H6 in our Subaru puts out a rated 212 HP, at sea level. There are a BUNCH of passes between Ohio and California that in one case, Tioga pass, reaches 10,000 feet. Many of those passes were HOT as in more than 100 degrees. There were a number of instances where the coolant temperature 60/40 Propylene glycol reached 240+ degrees. I have the biggest transmission cooler I could find. We will not be headed west again any time soon and I don't expect too many problems but the 90W gear oil in the front differential got hot enough to vent and I had to add twice.

[rowerwet]

my Ranger didn't really notice the trailer was there, other than climbing hills on the highway, of course that 2.5L 4 cyl never was known for it's extra power anyway. my Focus got tugged around a little bit, but mostly I only noticed the extra weight when panic stopping. It will be interesting to see how it feels after all the mods I am adding right now. Part of my recent work was getting rid of all the underfloor framing which was very heavy, (close to 100 lbs I am guessing) now it will just have one lengthwise sheet of 3/8" Marine Mahogany ply glued under the existing floor 3/8" floor, and one layer of 2X2" to fill the frame on the trailer as it is made of angle iron with the edge up.
Towing it behind my Grand Caravan I don't expect any issues at all.

[JenH]

We just got back from a 2200 mile trip with our 2010 To"Yoda" Corolla pulling a Little Guy Rascal (480 lbs dry..765 camp ready) and we didn't have any problem except for one small patch getting to Austin Lake @ Emma Long Park. There were VERY steep hills, the Yoda pulled it up but we just went a little slower. (12mpg & 15mph.. Wow!)

The majority of the trip, we got 26-29 mpg while driving 65-70 mph.
There was a stretch between New Branfels, Tx and Port Aransas, Tx that was about 19 mpg due to a strong head wind.
We didn't have any problems pulling, and I barely knew it was back there. Good luck on your next try.
You can check out our trip at agirlsgottago.net.

[webbaldo]

Im planning on towing mine with a 2012 Fiat 500 1.2litre. They can tow 400kg unbraked so im aiming for about 250-300kg unlaiden.

Eriba pucks are 500kg and are being towed by fiats
http://www.fiatforum.com/500/303504-bab ... -fiat.html