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Anyone tow with their car

C

chucked

Member
Im on the verge of selling my f150. This will leave me with only my 1996 honda civic. I was looking at cheaper replacements, colorado, tacoma, frontier, etc. but I think Id rather not have any payments for awhile. Ive been paycheck to paycheck since I changed jobs 2 years ago, being without a payment for a few months will allow me to pay some bills off and get ahead.

Im guessing the seadoo full of fuel and trailer weigh about 1100 lbs total. Keeping in mind only a few lbs are on the rear suspension of the car. Technically thats 4 fat people, theres nothing in the owners manual that says not to haul 4 fat people. Anyone have any experience with this? I probably only have a 15-20 mile round trip to the ramp and back.
 
You're pushing your brakes a bit, weren't designed to stop that much weight quickly in "safe" distance so be careful but I think you're okay assuming you're not crazy or something. No mountains, steep boat ramps road rallying or anything like that?

Had a small car once trying to pull a full size 18' boat & heavy trailer up a "normal" boat ramp for a 50' trip to the garage and couldn't do it without a couple fat people pushing up the ramp, rev her up and dump the clutch wouldn't try it again.

4 fat people can shift weight around, in emergency can easily get unsafe. Places more weight on suspension as well. They can get out and push if the grade is steep enough.
 
I agree. Over all the vehicle will do fine as long as you don't hurry. You are at the threshold in my opinion, but it will work.

Leave PLENTY of space from the vehicle in front of you.

At the ramp, as long as it is not too steep you should be ok.
 
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for years I towed single, double skis, and small boats with a 94 Lexus Es300... probably 250 trips to the ramp' and some cross state trips as well...

one of the guys I've ridden with on the K river drives a newer civic, pulls a big 4 stroke yami across the state all the time.. no worries.

but don't tailgate lol... and maybe check your brake pads , and replace them if there is any doubt.... make sure rotors are in good shape, etc...


enjoy life w/o payments, I haven't had a vehicle/toy payment since I spent 5 years paying off a honda accord back in the early 90's and I love it !!!! The day I paid that sucker off I swore I'd never make a car payment again... (some days it sucks,) family and friends who make a LOT less than me all drive nicer vehicles, but my $2500 99 Durango is a nice truck, i like it, and it was a whopping $500 upgrade over my old lexus... cheap is good !

a friend of mine just leased a SUV, only $259 a month he says.. then bragged that the downpayment was ONLY $2500...

I responded with ,, "so, my durango was your down payment, wow"

(he does get much better gas mileage tho lol)
 
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Ive actually just replaced my front pads, rear shoes and drums. The park where I put in has a nice ramp, slow incline. Between my payment and insurance it's $600 a month, my paychecks now are only $900 every 2 weeks. That $600 will come in really handy...
 
Pretty funny spim, ive bought a new or almost new vehicle every few years since 2005 or so. I usually pay the negative equity down then trade it in lol. I used to not mind the payments, something clicked one day about a year ago and I got rid of everything I made payments on except the seadoo and truck. I kept the truck because I do alot of side work on the road. But not enough to justify a $600 payment.
 
If it's an auto, you might want to throw a $25 transmission cooler on it, just to be safe. The auto trans is the only thing I'd worry about (as long as you follow other's advice of no mountains, keep large distances, brake early, etc). Manual cars are good to go. If you think you'll start towing regularly, you might also look into higher performance brake pads, not just new oem ones. There's a whole world of performance parts for Civics, you can really take advantage of that.
 
The car isn't going to like it... and it will (probably) be illegal. SO... if there is a problem... your insurance may drop you, and not pay out. My opinion is... it's not safe, and I wouldn't do it.

But... As above... if you are going to try... you should add a transmission cooler, if it's an auto. Also... I would put electric brakes on the trailer. That will take the stopping load off the car. (it can be rigged for under $300)


FYI... you forgot about the 300 Lbs for the trailer. And... if you factor in the rolling drag, and air resistance... it's not really 4 fat people.
 
How is it illegal? Says in owners manual it can tow 1000 lbs. seadoo dry weighs 745, plus 15 gal of gas = 125 lbs, plus 200 lbs weight of trailer= 1070 lbs. we'll see negative nancy
 
An automatic has the advantage of torque multiplication as well, so you can pull steeper grades than a manual transmission.

Keep a watch on the color of your transmission fluid(good fluid is cherry red and doesn't smell burnt), if overheated it will begin to darken and smell burned. Doesn't sound like you're towing long distance at high speed either, so it's not as likely the tranny will overheat but a steep ramp can spike the fluid temp especially if you have difficulty getting the rig to roll up hill.

Might try it before selling the pickup. I still think you won't have any problems, I see plenty of Toyota's pulling jet skis around on weekends.
 
chucked said:
How is it illegal? Says in owners manual it can tow 1000 lbs. seadoo dry weighs 745, plus 15 gal of gas = 125 lbs, plus 200 lbs weight of trailer= 1070 lbs. we'll see negative nancy
Click to expand...

Hey... I'm not saying that I've never done dumb things, or towing over weight.... but you came here, and asked. SO... I gave you the "Real World" answer.


And... as far as "how is it illegal"... you answered it yourself. Even with your numbers, you are 70 Lbs over. besides... you also forgot the weight of the oil, and the coolant, since seadoo uses a closed loop. And... unless you have an aluminum trailer... it's closer to 300 Lbs. Not to mention... I'm sure you have a cooler for some drinks, life jacket, and some other gear or tools, that add weight. How about a spare tire for the trailer?? AND finally... seadoo isn't real accurate about the dry weight. There are a few threads where we find the 4-tec skis, on a single trailer floating around the 1300 lb mark.

Also... remember... if you put your 1000 Lbs on the back... you can't have any passengers in the car. (check the book)


Now... if you want one of my dumb towing stories.... I towed my Islanida home (500 miles) when I bought it, without functioning trailer brakes. If I would have gotten into a bind... it would have been UGLY !!! But... I was towing it will a full sized truck, and the service brakes could handle the weight. Also... I was far from home, and I just bought it. I had to make a judgment call. But you better believe the trailer brakes were all replaced, and functioning before I fixed the engine, and took it out for it's first ride.

IF... someone came here and asked if it they should do that... I would say HECK NO !!! It's not safe.



Anyway... do what you want. But you obviously only wanted to hear... "Sure... you will be fine". So... if you don't want a REAL answer, that may be in conflict to what you want to hear... then don't bother asking.:facepalm:
 
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just adding fuel to the fire, i decided to look up the capacity of the car I used, my lexus... (2500) vs the civic, (not recommended for towing) and I was a bit surprised... i'll be honest, i never even looked up the limits on my car, always felt i was going to be ok... and have never even glanced at my durango's limits, never felt I was going to exceed it...

doc does have a point, your definitely on/over the threshold, although myself I like to think that the manufacturer tends to put the capacity on the low side not the high side to avoid potential litigation....

I might suggest this....assuming the civic has a hitch already....first, try it once, determine how well you think the car handles the tow package, then try to calculate the estimated use over the summer, how many trips, how far you'll tow, etc, and if the number is more than just a few trips, consider replacing the civic with a slightly larger sedan that is in the same ball park price...

if it was me, and this was just a short term issue, and your plans were to replace the truck in the next few months or so, i'd probably not hesitate to use the civic, however if its possible that its going to be a long term thing, then i'd be shopping around for something reasonably priced to replace the civic with double the tow capacity, then all worries are gone. There are a LOT of nice used vehicles out there... surprisingly cheap.
 
It is hard to argue with the logic of Dr. Honda.

I think my ski is listed at 880 pounds dry. If you put that in the trunk and add passengers you are at the limit of the Subaru.
 
Im still going to try it. Im not going to buy a truck to tow my seadoo maybe 15 times to the ramp 9 miles away this sunmer.
 
Even if I was going to buy something, I hate dealers, I HATE salesman even more, I know their tactics then when I screw with them they get mad and wont deal with me. If they offered a fair price for the truck im selling and would sell me the truck at a fair price Id buy it. But they always advertise a price then say when you get there "that's after all rebates and incentives which you dont qualify for". So they want to sell me a truck, im probably not that excited about, for higher then its retail value, plus some stupid fee they can manage to make up.
 
You should find something with a frame under it if you're gonna tow boats around, an old full size chevy from the 80's(my rolling couch) is what I use for towing my Sportster.
 
funny , your comments about dealers, the last vehicle I purchased from a dealer, was the last vehicle I had payments on lol

3 drivers in my household... 4 of the last 5 vehicles came off craigslist.. the two before that came off Ebay (yip, ebay) my dodge was driving down the road with a for sale sign on it. i've avoided dealers for 15 years and unless I hit the lottery i'll avoid them for 15 more.

dealers will make money off you every time...

find a car on CL, take it to your mechanic to put on a lift and give it a once over, pay for the car, end of story. same goes for selling it, why let a 3rd party make a $1000 off of you ?
 
Dealers are in the business to make money. Their expenses are HUGE.

It's funny how much of life is a vicious circle.

You want a job, need a car to get tithe job, need the job to pay for an maintain the car. It goes on and on like that.

Also funny how most with enough money to be comfortable are able to buy and sell on their own without the need of a dealer. Those with limited funds are obligated to buy a cheaper car or go to the dealer as it is anime stop shopping experience. They have the vehicle and a means for you to buy said vehicle.

It is one if the very few places on earth you can be upside down (owe more than its wort) and still trade it in and walk away with a new ride....
 
F### it *sigh*


I went to a few dealers to see what I could get for my F150... They had just got this Ranger in Saturday. I asked about it and it was priced $1700 below kbb. They gave me almost what I wanted to sell my truck for, but in MD you don't pay tax on the value of your trade in, so that saved me $750. Payment is $200 less. I feel ok about it. I'd rather not have a payment, but I need a reliable truck and don't have the cash for one. My loan was only 6.5% too, which I think is excellent for a used vehicle. My F150 was 5.5% and I bought it new.
 
Another problem with buying from a private party, unless you have the cash, you have to negotiate the price, then go to the bank, get the check and give it to the person. Then, if it has a lien, you have to wait for the title to come in. Dealers are easy. Also, a lot of the vehicles I was looking at were an hour or more away. So I was not very willing to have to drive an hour or more, not knowing the condition of the car, because people always hide problems, or any other kind of problems, or someone else buying it out from under you. Just end up with a wasted trip, which happens to me too often and I'm really sick of it. Should be allowed to sucker punch someone who falsely advertises.
 
It's a very nice truck, and it will be very capable to tow your toys.

I feel your pain with the truck thing. I like my Diesel engines... but when I bought my last truck... I just couldn't bring myself to buy a $50,000 truck !!!!!!!! Not to mention... I really didn't need a 3/4 or 1 ton. So... I bought my 1/2 ton with a gas.
 
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