Can i tow with civic?

[LTC8K6]

In Amerika you need a 4x4 Dodge F950 Dually with 6 litre turbo diesel to tow a gnat's egg.

Stop talking about me...

 

[LTC8K6]

It's well over the Civic's capabilities, imo. Once you add the weight of the trailer, figure tongue weight and GVWR...

Of course it might work anyway.

 

[AlienCraft]

In Amerika you need a 4x4 Dodge F950 Dually with 6 litre turbo diesel to tow a gnat's egg.

That would be a Texass gnat,. right? Everything is bigger in ....

 

[fleabag]

I'm sure you could but I strongly recommend against it. You're just asking for too many things to go wrong if you do it. Also the american civics could possibly have softer springs which would mean they have less towing capacity than their Japanese counterparts.

 

[alfa147x]

Sell the civic by a small truck / suv?

 

[eldorado99]

If you're only going 3-4 miles with no real hills to climb then I don't see an issue. No way I'd do that around here though. And yes, Ruby is right about the boat launch; your tiny FWD civic might not like it very much.

 

[foghorn67]

It's not so much of the power needed to tow. It's your cooling of the engine and transmission, or in your FWD case, transaxle.
If you brave it, keep an eye on your coolant temp. Not sure how you can monitor transmission temps without installing a sensor and gauge for that.

But I don't think it will kill it. How many times have you seen 4 fat people going to Vegas from socal in an econobox? Enough to make me think 900 lbs won't sweat your drivetrain. Unless you have 4 fatasses plus the Seadoos. That could be trouble.
And launching. That could be hard in a Civic, especially if you haven't done it before.

 

[DrPizza]

Wrong forum... I'll move it to the garage forum in a moment. 1. Rear suspension beefy enough? We have two grand caravans. One can haul our boat like a champ, the other sucks to haul our boat. 2. Launching? That's a silly concern. Launching them is easy! It's pulling the trailer + two seadoos back out of the water at the end of the day which is going to be a major challenge. Those ramps can get a little bit slippery when wet & there's a lot of seaweed that's been dragged out & smashed into the concrete by all the 4x4's driving up and down over it.

Alternative: Use your vehicle to haul back and forth & to launch. But, if you can't get it back out of the water at the end of the day, offer someone with a truck $20 to pull it up for you.

 

[Lithium381]

If you're just going 3 or 4 miles, is this just the initial purchase, or is this the distance to the lake that you're going to? If it's just a one time thing, or a once in a while thing, consider renting a uhaul pickup truck for the day, i think it starts at $19.99 + miles, but 10 miles round trip isn't anything to worry about. Probably less hassle than equipping your civic with a tow bar and then praying that nothing goes wrong.

 

[thescreensavers]

What doctor Pizza said. I think it will be ok. But getting out will be hard, just make sure to come back when other people are there too and give em some cash to help you take it out.

 

[sdifox]

2 Seadoos =1800, trailer 200, 2000lb?

Is there a steep grade between you and the beach?

If you are only 3-4 miles away, I would do 2 trips.

 

[Mark R]

You have got a manual transmission, right?

Auto transmissions are not recommended for towing, unless they are designed for it, as in a commercial vehicle, or as part of a towing upgrade pack - which would include an upgraded AT - e.g. Jeep used to do an upgrade which gave you 6 planets per annulus instead of the normal 4 + some better bands).

 

[Rubycon]

Why don't you ask Dave of David's Farm - http://www.youtube.com/davidsfarm



Apparently school buses are good pullers:

http://www.youtube.com/davidsfarm#p/u/390/uUvLGjRbhDM

Plenty of room for friends and other stuff for your trip too! :biggrin:

 

[alphatarget1]

I was reading something about crown victoria's tow rating. Crown Vics are body-on-frame cars with a live rear axle and a v8. The towing capacity was 5000 lbs back in the day but they lowered it to 1500 without too many major changes to the car.

Someone mentioned putting a class III hitch on their newer crown vics that are only rated for 1500 lbs. One person mentioned that if you get in an accident towing with a vehicle that has a less posted tow rating, the lawyers will have a field day with it...

Just another concern. You should not tow with a 4 banger...

 

[StageLeft]

I say you can do it. It's rated at 1000 lbs, so a fully laden civic pulling that (granted, I bet it's slow as crap) won't be vastly lighter than an emptied civic pulling two of them, and if you go easy over just a few miles I would not worry about it. It COULD be problematic pulling them out of the water up a steep ramp, though.

 

[jlee]

I say you can do it. It's rated at 1000 lbs, so a fully laden civic pulling that (granted, I bet it's slow as crap) won't be vastly lighter than an emptied civic pulling two of them, and if you go easy over just a few miles I would not worry about it. It COULD be problematic pulling them out of the water up a steep ramp, though.

The 1000lb tow rating doesn't necessarily mean that a fully loaded Civic could tow it -- you're still supposed to stay under the GVWR.

 

[digitaldurandal]

If you inflate to sidewall, you should get more traction to launch/recover your seadoo.



Seriously, get a real vehicle to tow this around. I don't see this ending well at the boat launch even if you do make it there.

Getting a big truck is not really an option. I don't have a problem with initially buying a beater truck but I have an issue with: insurance payments, maintenance, the possibilities of unscheduled maintenance. I could upgrade my vehicle to something else (perhaps the turbo Sonata when it comes out if the price is right) but I do not want a truck for a daily driver. I drive 40 miles to and from work each day and really only need a truck for the weekend.

The s2000 towing the boat makes me feel a bit better thanks for that. I will play it smart and try to get a trailer with electronic breaks, so stopping will not be an issue, and the PWC needs far less water to launch than his boat.

Any advice Mariok2006 from your experience? How much does your boat weigh? BTW nice car and nice boat very jealous!

 

[thomsbrain]

3-4 miles at low speeds? It's going to be absolutely fine, don't give it a second thought. There would hardly be time for anything to reach operating temperature, let alone overheat. As someone else said, in America we somehow think we need a dually F-350 to even think of the possibility of attaching a trailer.

If you're going to use it on the tow-ramp, the only concerns I might have would be ground clearance at the rear and traction when you're trying to pull out. The trailer will tend to unload the front tires, you'll be pulling uphill, and it will probably be wet or damp. So that might be something to think about. But I think power won't be an issue.

 

[digitaldurandal]

You have got a manual transmission, right?

Auto transmissions are not recommended for towing, unless they are designed for it, as in a commercial vehicle, or as part of a towing upgrade pack - which would include an upgraded AT - e.g. Jeep used to do an upgrade which gave you 6 planets per annulus instead of the normal 4 + some better bands).

No, I have an automatic.

Should I convince the wife to use the 350z to tow it? It is rwd, manual, with a lot more power, and higher rated tires but the tow rating remains the same as the civic: 1000 without electronic breaks.

Interesting concern with the whole accident deal. There isn't that much space between the water and myself for anything to happen but things do. Makes me think of a third option: both vehicles outfit to tow and both tow one. Then I could use both to launch but use the 350z to pull them out one at a time.

 

[MovingTarget]

Getting a big truck is not really an option. I don't have a problem with initially buying a beater truck but I have an issue with: insurance payments, maintenance, the possibilities of unscheduled maintenance. I could upgrade my vehicle to something else (perhaps the turbo Sonata when it comes out if the price is right) but I do not want a truck for a daily driver. I drive 40 miles to and from work each day and really only need a truck for the weekend.

The s2000 towing the boat makes me feel a bit better thanks for that. I will play it smart and try to get a trailer with electronic breaks, so stopping will not be an issue, and the PWC needs far less water to launch than his boat.

Any advice Mariok2006 from your experience? How much does your boat weigh? BTW nice car and nice boat very jealous!

Even a small truck like an s10 or ranger would do it. You don't even have to use a truck, just a bigger car like a Crown Vic. A midsize car should still be okay, but I'd be sure it had at least a 6 cylinder engine and that the transmission was up to the job.

 

[digitaldurandal]

Even a small truck like an s10 or ranger would do it. You don't even have to use a truck, just a bigger car like a Crown Vic. A midsize car should still be okay, but I'd be sure it had at least a 6 cylinder engine and that the transmission was up to the job.

So the 350z?

It doesn't fix the issue that it is apparently not legal to go over GCVW or tow capacity.

I am beginning to lean towards settling for only one jetski and hooking it to the 350z. Although the wife may not be that happy with a hitch on her car.

 

[Meghan54]

You're much better off towing with a vehicle with an auto instead of a manual. If you search, you'll notice that identical vehicles that have only a transmission difference---auto vs. manual---always have the higher tow rating on the one with the auto.

 

[olds]

I wouldn't even worry about the hitch, just tie it to the bumper with a bungie cord. There's nothing that could go wrong.

Oh please, don't be silly.
OP, bungies stretch, use a rope.

And be sure to back in...

 

[marvdmartian]

Can you? Probably. Should you? That's up to you. Remember that it will take longer to accelerate, and longer to brake, and you'll be putting much more stress on your drive train and brakes while doing so, so drive accordingly.

That being said, I had a neighbor, back in the late 80's, who used to tow a double trailer with jet skis with a Civic. Not sure how he launched them, since even trucks tend to damn near have their rear ends in the water, but at least with a front wheel drive, you'll have traction up higher on the boat ramp!

 

[thescreensavers]

Why don't you ask Dave of David's Farm - http://www.youtube.com/davidsfarm



Apparently school buses are good pullers:

http://www.youtube.com/davidsfarm#p/u/390/uUvLGjRbhDM

Plenty of room for friends and other stuff for your trip too! :biggrin:

I spent hours watching his vids, he is crazy ha.