Trailering with your car ?

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Obviously towing with your Car is a non issue as plenty of hitches are availiable, my question goes a bit deeper.

Ive always towed with my 1500 pickup truck and had no issues , plenty of power, no worries over overweighting, etc.

So im hit with the idea of saving some $$ over the next few years and maybe adding some comfort to my vacation to the mountains by taking a car instead of the truck, However ive never towed a trailer with a car.

Car 2006 Mercury milan premier. 6cyl 220+ Hp rated at 2,000 lbs of towing capacity.
my lightest trailer.. 5x10 ft dovetail weighing 500lbs with a 1,700 lb weight capacity.

Cargo: one sportbike, maybe a cooler and family luggage for vacation probably 700lbs of total cargo not including passengers passengers are around 500lbs so 1,200 in all.

(for the record this utility trailer is light enough to pick up with one arm and drag around with ease)

my concerns: most of this 500 mile trip is in hill country or in the mountains, with the listed weight of the the trailer, bike, luggage, and passengers i know im getting close to that 2,000lb towing weight.. or am i not understanding this right ? ive seen cars pulling 6ft and 8ft trailers, however am i looking for trouble pulling a 10 foot trailer ?

how will this act going down the road v.s. my truck ?

The silverado usually gets this vacation/bike hauling duty however even with the 3-4 mph hit i will take from 32 average hwy mpg in the Milan its still a more comfortable car and id be gaining 8-10 mpg.

thoughts/discuss/thank you.
 
That's 2000 max, level, not hills even,nevermind real mountains .Cooling in all respects will be the biggest problem (EDIT: at least it would be for me)...brakes, radiator and trans.
 
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When I tow 1800 pounds with my crv(2 ATV's side by side + all gear), which is only a little b20, I took my time, left plenty of room to stop and watch my engine temp with my torque app. Mines a stick so I left it in 4th and hummed down the road at 4500 rpms, 350 miles round trip to the atv trails.
 
I completely disagree with all of the above. The truck is made to tow. So use it. You don't have to compromise, so don't.
 
Originally Posted By: Bryankkkk
When I tow 1800 pounds with my crv(2 ATV's side by side + all gear), which is only a little b20, I took my time, left plenty of room to stop and watch my engine temp with my torque app. Mines a stick so I left it in 4th and hummed down the road at 4500 rpms, 350 miles round trip to the atv trails.


When I tow with my Accord (stick as well) I keep the same in mind. I have never had a problem and have towed in some pretty hilly areas. Just be smart about it.

I do not thing you're overloading it. I would agree with GreeCguy and get a tranny cooler on 'er. Use your head (which I'd assume you already do since you're asking this question) and you'll be fine and enjoy towing with your car.

Ignore all the people that say "OMG you can't tow with a car, blah blah blah blah blah". It isn't like cars are made out of paper mache.
 
should be fine, towing capacity is separate from cargo capacity

you have to add the tongue weight to the car's cargo capacity

as long as its not a high profile trailer with a big gate (wind resistance)
Should be easily doable.

might need to lock out overdrive if its shifting alot.
does the trailer have brakes? unbraked capacity is probably less than 2000lb for car.

you will most likely only see 25mpg or so towing.
 
You should be fine seeing how you're already planning on keeping the weight down under the car's cargo capacity. Maybe add a transmission cooler, and take your time/distance.

The biggest thing is braking, as quite a few passeinger cars don't have the strongest brakes. Keeping a good following distance is necessary.

Lastly, expect a 5-7 mpg hit, or about 23-25 mpg. Not that good, but still saving a noticeable amount of fuel over the truck.
 
I appreciate the feedback, friend has a 6 cyl VW he tows two sportbikes on a 5x6 foot utility trailer.. he got me thinking about this.. he claims no issues and about 26 mpg.

The trailer does not have brakes, it has a 4 foot wire mesh drop down (drive up) dovetail tailgate the deck is the same (wire mesh).. as i mentioned its a very light trailer, its a ATV/lawnmower trailer..

anyways, appreciate all the feedback, its another one of my save a $ ideas.. who knows if ill even try it..
 
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You should be fine.

The only thing I don't like about your tow rig, and I could be wrong because I'm basing this on more recent versions of the car, but there's no way to control what gear the transmission is in when you do get into those hilly areas. From what I remember about the Milan/Fusion, there's no OD-off button and all you have on the shift selector is D(rive) and L(ow), right? Is L supposed to lock out over drive at speed?
 
I have towed my bikes (typically two) to and through the mountains many many times with cars. I did many trips using a '97 maxima towing two sport bikes, many more with my G35 - even a few times with a '91 escort GT - but that was pushing it.

I don't know much about your car, all of mine have been manual transmissions. The only issue I ran into was a power steering line breaking in the escort (probably related more to deals gap than the trailer), and weak brakes in general.


That being said, I did have to do an emergency ABS stop coming through Atlanta from about 80mph with two bikes on the trailer, and stopped in time to avoid the accident that blocked the road just ahead of me with no damage to my car, bikes or trailer. That was in the Maxima.

I much prefer towing the trailers and bikes with my Tundra, but many modern cars should be able to do it.

If you have any doubts about your cars ability, I would take the truck. If something breaks on the car, it will cost more than the gas.

I am going to the deals gap area for July 4th and have been having the same dilemma. I can save $150 in gas, and have a fun car when I arrive, or drive the proper tow vehicle. I'll be taking 3 people plus gear, I think I will take the truck and not take any chances.
 
That should be under 1500lb since its unbraked,
mesh gate.. 25mpg max if you keep it below 65mph
otherwise its a giant aerodynamic drag sail.

Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
I appreciate the feedback, friend has a 6 cyl VW he tows two sportbikes on a 5x6 foot utility trailer.. he got me thinking about this.. he claims no issues and about 26 mpg.

The trailer does not have brakes, it has a 4 foot wire mesh drop down (drive up) dovetail tailgate the deck is the same (wire mesh).. as i mentioned its a very light trailer, its a ATV/lawnmower trailer..

anyways, appreciate all the feedback, its another one of my save a $ ideas.. who knows if ill even try it..
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
You should be fine.

The only thing I don't like about your tow rig, and I could be wrong because I'm basing this on more recent versions of the car, but there's no way to control what gear the transmission is in when you do get into those hilly areas. From what I remember about the Milan/Fusion, there's no OD-off button and all you have on the shift selector is D(rive) and L(ow), right? Is L supposed to lock out over drive at speed?


this is a great question, and frankly im not sure.. My wife drives the Milan as her D.D. and i was considering it as the test mule as my 07 Accord has more miliage (98,000) v.s. the Milans 38,000 Im sure your right, ill look into it.
 
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
There is no frigging way to get 25-27 mpg while towing like some people say here. I don't believe it.


29 mpg towing my 4x8 utility trailer with my Cruze on a 180 mile round trip that included some large hills. That was keeping it out of 6th gear except on the downhills to keep the engine in its torque band, running premium gas to reduce knock since it's turbocharged, and speeds from 65-70 mph with some A/C use. Having a manual transmission helped, too. It's possible under the right conditions.
 
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Originally Posted By: sciphi
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
There is no frigging way to get 25-27 mpg while towing like some people say here. I don't believe it.


29 mpg towing my 4x8 utility trailer with my Cruze on a 180 mile round trip that included some large hills.


Was the trailer empty? I rented Cruze once (2013; 1.8L AT) and got only 30 mpg on hwy driving 70-80 mpg. I even opened a thread about it here.
 
My SIL, has a 4x5 trailer that he tows behind his diesel Passat. His younger brother has an F150 he can borrow. I have the Rat for my hauler and 4wd. Its dilapidated condition reminds me of my '47 GMC pickup,
grin2.gif
 
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Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: sciphi
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
There is no frigging way to get 25-27 mpg while towing like some people say here. I don't believe it.


29 mpg towing my 4x8 utility trailer with my Cruze on a 180 mile round trip that included some large hills.


Was the trailer empty? I rented Cruze once (2013; 1.8L AT) and got only 30 mpg on hwy driving 70-80 mpg. I even opened a thread about it here.


Nope, had about 200 lbs of stuff in it, and the car had another 150 lbs of stuff in it, plus me and the Mrs.

The difference is the 1.8 liter Cruze LS isn't particularly efficient to start. Even with a manual transmission getting 40 mpg highway out of it is rare. About 36-38 mpg highway when driven carefully is typical for a LS manual, while the LS automatic in careful driving will be about 34-36 mpg highway. My fuel-economy-special (tall-geared manual transmission, lots more aerodynamic optimization, and lower curb weight) Cruze Eco handily gets 45-46 mpg on highway trips. Starting with a more-efficient car helped.
 
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