Trailer?

[Techfizzle]

I wana pull a camper to colorado in a couple years
I have a 4 cylinder with a 3 speed transmission
would it be enough to pull this? the camper wieghs 2400 pounds

[LordDurock]

well you going to have to find a hitch first. the hich has to beable to putt the full wieght and has to beable to tack the tung (were the ball goes) wieght.

[Tuddi]

Theoretically you should have enough to pull it (of course depending on the terrain you have to go through)... but strictly speaking, I wouldn't do it, since you have no stopping power for it.

Fortunately, in 2 years, you will have a bigger and better car, and your plans to tow a camper will be long forgotten :)

[Duke George V]

The car weighs around 2900 pounds, and gross weight is 4300. That's what the vehicle is capable of carrying/hauling total, including its own weight, along with that of any passengers, fuel, cargo inside the vehicle, etc. So with a full tank of fuel and you in the driver's seat, you can effectively carry around an additional thousand pounds.

That said, you could do it, but you'd be stressing the hell out of the chassis, not to mention that poor little Duke. Transmission probably wouldn't like it too much either. I don't really recommend it. That's what rental trucks are for.

[turbokinetic]

If you tow this, you risk loosing control during downhill travel, and stopping or steering at any appreciable speeds. The trailer will push the car, overheat the brakes, and possibly jack-knife.

having said that; I've towed a 3000 pound boat/ trailer with my Century, for very short distances (less than 10 miles) and at modest speeds (45 to 50 MPH). Gas is much cheaper if you fill the boat at a gas station before putting in the lake than if you buy gas on the water at the rape-me marina....:(

If you have a heavy-duty V6-spec radiator and a transmission oil cooler the powertrain will not be bothered. The brakes and trailer vs. tow vehicle weight would be my main concern.

Just my opinion here!

[dcjredline]

NO you will not find a hitch for an Abody that will tow 2900 lbs. Even if you had a 3800 you cannot tow that much in an abody. If you were thinking reasonably and wanted to tow a little mower around with a little 400# trailer I would sell you the hitch I have in the basement. They are Class I for the A-bodies.

[Techfizzle]

ok my dad old ranger had a bumper hitch and a small 4 cylinder engine. At times he has had the back end packed and a 10x12 trailer packed with it. The engine didnt even act diffrent.

[85 Holiday]

No way. Good luck braking/stopping if you try. I towed a face cord of hardwood once with mine, and I was pressing the brake pedal quite hard trying to stop.

[Techfizzle]

ok looked at my placard. You can SIT 1900 pounds on the car, thats it load cpacity. No where on the car states how much you can pull.
I am good at wriring when it comes to cars, my camper (I plan on getting down the road) has eletric brakes.

[Techfizzle]

and my transmission has a oil cooler, its hooked into the radiator.

[dcjredline]

Be sure to put HUGE NEON SIGNS ON YOUR CAR AND TRAILER PLEASE. SO everyone gets the hell off the road. Why dont you use said Ranger to tow it instead of risking yours and others life doing it with a car it wasnt designed for?

ORRRRRRR maybe spend $20 or $50 to rent a truck from UHAUL and tow it where you gotta go. It is alot cheaper than running into 3 stopped cars at a stop light cause you couldn't stop!

[turbokinetic]

What worries me about this is the distances and road types involved. You will be far from home if something goes wrong; and some of the roads will be major highways with high traffic and high speeds involved.

The choice is yours but if it were me I wouldn't do it. :)

[a1veedubber]

Reminds me of this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilKq7WsuzMU

[Tuddi]

Reminds me of this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilKq7WsuzMU

Fizzle, you never told us you used to own a Renault... or was it a Fiat? ....

This is what happens when people disregard the laws of physics. You can disregard them all you like, but they'll bite you in the butt just the same.

[Jr's3800]

Fizzle..

I don't know how you are reading this sticker... But if you think you can drop 1900 Lbs in the car you are really reading that sticker wrong..

I'll bet Between Occupants and Luggage( trunk matter ) you will max out at roughly 800-900 Lbs..

Now let me compare my Full size car to your... I can carry roughly 900-1000 Lbs in the car, and that depends on weather its a 5 passenger or 6 passenger..

The Owners manual states that the car can safely tow 1000 Lbs... With that said I know the car can and will tow another car( I do not do this with my car ).. But even that is not safe..

I have a 3500 Lb hitch that I want to have installed on the car, Just overkill for me really... But if I ever want to tow 1000-2000 Lbs I am sure I will not have a lot of trouble doing so..

Keep in mind I have a Performance Trans Cooler... 28000 iirc, I also have a Heavy Duty Cooling Radiator with Dual Fans... The car also has the F41 springs, as well I have air shocks in the rear.. If I wanted to tow a small trailer I could do so... But Moving weight and or towing was part of the reason I took the 95 Transport off my friends hands...

Fizzle I would not tow the weight you want to tow with the N Body... It was not and is not designed for it..

[Techfizzle]

its an a body not an n.

The trailer is 400 pounds tong weight.

[Jr's3800]

its an a body not an n.

The trailer is 400 pounds tong weight.

Oops... I made a mistake... Yes its an A body... For some reason I wasn't thinking Ciera

I will tell you that a 2400 Lb trailer will be too heavy to tow with your car... Especially if you will be driving in Colorado.... Have you ever driven through the Rockies?

[Techfizzle]

what about ones that wegihs 2000 pounds 250 toung weight and electric brakes?

[dcjredline]

Tongue weight has NO BEARING ON THE TOWING WEIGHT. If the trailer is 2000lbs YOU CANNOT TOW IT SAFELY WITH AN A BODY. Tongue weight is the amount of weight on the hitch (Down force)

[Techfizzle]

what would happen if i tired? the engine IS big enought. Event with big springs and air shocks?

[LordDurock]

what would happen if i tired? the engine IS big enought. Event with big springs and air shocks?

BRAKES............................................ ................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tech YOU CAR DOES NO HAVE ENOUGH STOPING POWER TO STOP A 3000 pound TRAILER!!!!!!!!! and for good meauser !!!!!!!!!!!!!! and on top ot that !!!!!. geet our drift.

and you might just trash you trany pull that much weight.

if i see noughter person at truck stop with a darngo and full sized camper trailer with there frong suspion fully unloaded. i think i just might kill them...........after all better then some ones else get my drift. and justi n case you dont say you on I-80 going 70mph and some thing happed were you have stop realy fast. you jsut wont trailer brake arint ment ot stop the trailer there ment to help you slow down a little but many ot keep the trailer behind you. given the sernaio i said you would over heat you brakes and crash in to some one............. get it

[Tuddi]

Fizzle, I don't want you to get hurt, or you ending up hurting others.... so drop the idea of towing a trailer that weighs the same as the car (almost).

Some 24 years ago I towed a horse trailer with 2 horses in it. The trailer itself wasn't heavy, but with the horses the total weight was probably around 3500 pounds. The vehicle I used for the towing was a Jeep Grand Wagoneer (the big old ones) 8cyl 360 cu.in TH400 tranny and full time quadra trac box.

The Jeep itself weighed 3600 pounds EMPTY (that is without gasoline, sparetire, engine coolant, engine oil etc.). As I normally had the Jeep loaded with tools and spareparts, it was well over 4000 pounds, At that time I had not changed the tires from the originals or lifted it. It was simply plain original and capable of pulling a lot of weight... but after moving the horse trailer this one time, no more than 80 miles over hills, mountains and gravel roads, I was close to having a nervous breakdown. Keeping the car on the road was a major problem with all that weight pushing from behind while going down hill.... and there were many down hills... It was possible, sure, but it was not advicable, nor would I do it again.... and absolutely NEVER with an a-body.

I have driven big trucks, 18 and 24 wheelers too... and that's not anywhere close to as problematic as it is to drive a passenger car that has a heavy load behind it. As you say... you have had 5 cars and you haven't even got your license yet. Most of us here who chime in with advice for you, have years of experience and none of us would like you to endanger yourself and others... and THAT is why we are telling you to forget this mindgame of yours. It would not be safe. Have another look at the Renault that blew it's engine towing the trailer uphill... the owner of that car has no doubt been told NOT to use the Renault ... but disregarded good advice. Imagine him on a mountain road blowing the engine and rolling down the mountain.

Not a pretty sight.

Once when I was returning from Germany to Denmark, on a German highway, a passenger car... the size of your car, passed by my right side. Not going fast at all... maybe 50 mph. The car was towing a 15ft trailer (typical size in Europe used for camping). 300 ft or so ahead of me, the trailer caught side wind and the car ended on it's roof and the trailer was totalled. This happened in no more than 4 seconds right in front of me. There was nothing the driver of the car could have done to avoid this... other than to have started his vacation with vehicle much heavier than the trailer he was towing.

These are not toys. These are things that can and DO kill, especially when logic is disregarded.

[Techfizzle]

Well I guess a camper is out of the question for my car. But my question is? How much CAN i tow?(safely)

[dcjredline]

My GMC Canyon 4door 4x4 while towing my STE's was BARELY enough truck. It would go just fine but when there was a little side wind the truck felt like it was going to get pushed off the road. When stopping I had to almost double my stopping distances. I went on the thruway which is 65mph but I never had the balls to go over 60 so I sat in the slow lane at 50-60 letting people go around me and NEVER rode anyones butt on the other roads the whole way home. That truck was rated for just over the weight of the trailer and the car but it still had a tough time pulling it safely. I was within 400# of the rated weight YOU ARE OVER DONT DO IT.

[dcjredline]

Well I guess a camper is out of the question for my car. But my question is? How much CAN i tow?(safely)

I wouldnt go much over 1000lbs, thats the rating on my Caliber with a class 1 hitch like the a-body

Secondly the mount for the hitch on an A is pretty much bolted to the FLOOR PAN IN THE TRUNK go ahead and tow 3000 with your 20year old floor pan

[Tuddi]

go ahead and tow 3000 with your 20year old floor pan

:lol:

And when you do... don't forget to have someone to record it on a video so that we can all have a laugh!

[LordDurock]

tech you may not have seen thies befor but yea i jsut wanted to show you
this is a run away truck ramp designed for people ot guid there over speed 18 wheelers to a safe stop.
note i wanted to point out that some hills dont look steep but are rather long possing a great danger when stoping power and ablty to contrial dedcent speed are compormized. so the rule of thoum is never go down any hill faster then you can go up it.

some picks
http://www.gribblenation.com/wvpics/subs/i68w_exit10.jpg

colorado one
http://www.black-schaffer.org/david/scp/goeswest/day4/rockies_truck_ramp.jpg
http://www.roadstothefuture.com/I77_FG_SB_5.jpg

[CieraSL92]

IIRC the owners manual said 1000lbs max, and something alot lighter than that as max tongue weight. But this was for a 3300 4-speed.

Just as a general rule, if the unibody or frame is questionable (I would consider yours questionable being an 88) I would consider the limit a couple of lawnmowers.

[turbokinetic]

A 5 foot by 8 foot single-axle trailer, with a load of 500 to 1000 pounds or so would be reasonable. Basically a trailer for carrying one forklift pallet, one riding mower, washer and dryer, etc.

I tow the above often with my car and have not had any problems. My car is a "Southern car" there is no rust.

------

The following is off-topic but you may find it entertaining. This vehicle was so... um.... unique that I had to video it today...:kekeke: Of all the SERIOUS problems all they wanted fixed was the air conditioner.:dunno:

Watch this first:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPFY37UsO9U

Then watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eSUsU2j5YI

[85 Holiday]

100lbs tongue weight and 1000lbs trailer weight is what it would probably say if you had a drivers manual. I want to see the youtube video of you crashing, because your just fishing around for a yes, when the answer is NO hands down. Is your Ciera wired correctly for trailer brakes?

[Techfizzle]

well when i move to colorado in a few years, i think i will sell the ciera and get a ranger. I dont wont to tow a camper to colorado the size of a shoebox, so with a ranger, and a v6, i oughta be able to tow a 30' camper with e-rbakes?

[Tuddi]

Just take the greyhound bus to colorado and buy a trailer over there... less danger for everyone else. Heck... you can even buy the car you need over there, and you wouldn't have to think about having a car that needs to tow your trailer.

To me, a Ranger towing a 30 ft trailer, just doesn't sound any safer than your Ciera towing a 3000 pound trailer.

I agree with 85 Holiday: No matter what you do, just make sure the camera keeps on rolling. Someone from the clean up team might do us all a favor and upload the video.

[85_Ciera_Rebuild]

..so with a ranger, and a v6, i oughta be able to tow a 30' camper with e-rbakes?

Not quite...need something with power.

http://truckconversion.net/photopost/data/500/51bb41_12.jpg

[Tuddi]

The following is off-topic but you may find it entertaining. This vehicle was so... um.... unique that I had to video it today...:kekeke: Of all the SERIOUS problems all they wanted fixed was the air conditioner.:dunno:

Watch this first:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPFY37UsO9U

Then watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eSUsU2j5YI

Yikes!! .... so... you did get the air conditioner up and running? .....if you managed that, they can now sell it as "modernized machinery" ... throw in a couple of cup holders, and it can be sold as "better than new".

[turbokinetic]

Yep I got the air conditioner fixed! It needed 3 cans of Freon, and the wiring under the dash was butchered up beyond beleif. Had to undo all the shitty previous guesswork repairs, and then located the original problem. It was one melted connection behind the fusebox. Fixed that and the A/C blew out a large cloud of chicken-poop flavored dust and started working fine!

[Techfizzle]

well I think a 24' well be good enough

[LordDurock]

wow...............turbo that terrable. i would undersant if they had a "custom glow plug switch but all that crap yuck.

[Tonglebeak]

Lemme throw something in here for you fizzle.

Today I took a 200+ mile road trip. 150lbs in the trunk, full tank of gas (130lbs I believe is that equates to), myself (200lbs), and 3 other people, totalling 480lbs. That meant, I was dragging around roughly 1000lbs of extra weight. My gross weight is 3750: I have no idea what the curb weight is for my ciera, wish I knew.

In any event, my brakes were absolutely HORRENDOUS today (especially with the rain). I could slam on the damn things and they wouldn't even lock up, much less slow down the car enough to avoid a crash. No way in hell, unless the rear discs are put in, will I ever feel safe driving with these conditions again. I'm fairly certain I exceeded the gross weight today. and i STRONGLY recommend not to dry to tow a huge trailer behind you. Yes I know, my brakes are not in the best shaped (warped drums, warped rotors, mushy pedal), HOWEVER they work just fine when there isn't a heavy load.

Oh a side note, I only averaged 24mpg with city/highway combo. Dammit >:( (O2 sensor's getting replaced tomorrow). I will also admit that while the car didn't get up to speed all that quickly, I was able to keep the car in lockup going up the mountain. I seriously lugged the hell out of the engine, because the heater was on and the heat got scorching hot...but it's better for fuel mileage...anyways. it's not a matter of being able to drag the weight, because we all know these motors can do it, but ithe stopping power is a completely different story, even with the JA2s :(

[Techfizzle]

24 combined for a 2.8 is good

[CieraSL92]

JA2 brakes are actually pretty decent except for the drums randomly thumping or locking with little pressure. I got rid of my mushy feel by bleeding it-then recently I took it to have the master cylinder replaced. Unbeliveable difference after that.

But yeah, I've had passengers in the car (teenagers travel in groups) and it does highlight anything amiss in the brakes and suspension. You thinking of towing a trailer is laughable with a sedan.

[Jr's3800]

I know I am comparing apples to oranges here.... But I have H Bodies, This is GM's Full Size FWD Sedan.. I also have a 3500 Lb tow hitch for it( not installed yet )... The hitch was given to me by a friend as he didn't want it on his car anymore( Bonneville ).... The Hitch is complete Overkill for what I will ever do with it... I may tow 1500 Lbs with it if I get a trailer or maybe a Sea Doo( after all I live in FL )...

But the frame and unibody of the car is somewhat built and solid... The car comes in at roughly 3500 Lbs More depending on options... I feel that the structure of this car is more than enough to tow 2000 Lbs with pretty decent ease..

And the car does have good brakes, But again this is a very fine line.... Get those brakes a little too hot and you might just as well Fred Flintstone the whole thing... This can become very dangerous...

With these H bodies back in the day you could have ordered the car from the factory with a Tow Package, This included a Heavy Duty Cooling Radiator( 1 1/4 - 1 3/8" radiator Core), and by then I think it had 2 fans standard, and an additional Auxiliary Transmission Cooler... And even then it was only rated to tow 2000 Lbs...

And like it has been stated time and time again, its not so much that the car won't move it, but its how are you going to stop it?

In looking at the Transport I have been working on, also with a 3800 V6 and a 4T60-E with a Trans Dual Cooler set up... This van was said to be able to tow a maximum of 3000 Lbs... The Transport almost sits on a Truck frame of sorts...

From what I have come to understand, the 94-96 Transport used the Bonneville Brake Rotors and Camaro / Firebird Calipers and brake pads up front... And let me tell you, for a Van that sucker sure does come to a stop... I would be more trusting to tow 2000 Lbs with the van then I would the car as the Van Had towing in mind when it was designed.. Even this van came with dual fans and a really beefy radiator core as well as tranny coolers cores on both sides of the radiator..

When my Buddy ever had to tow more than a couple thousand pounds we always broke out the 71 Chevy C10( I think it is ) with a 350 V8 and a Turbo 400 Long Bed...


Fizzle, all we are trying to tell you is that what you are thinking of attempting is very unsafe.. I drive through North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and have been through New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Connecticut..... And in some places the Grade is 5-6%.... I would not tow what you are attempting to tow even if it was with the van.. Maybe I would Consider it if I had a Heavy Duty Truck...

[lackneramanda]

JA2 brakes are actually pretty decent except for the drums randomly thumping or locking with little pressure. I got rid of my mushy feel by bleeding it-then recently I took it to have the master cylinder replaced. Unbeliveable difference after that.

But yeah, I've had passengers in the car (teenagers travel in groups) and it does highlight anything amiss in the brakes and suspension. You thinking of towing a trailer blue ox hitch (http://www.carparts.com/Blue-Ox-Hitches-Towing-Trailers/4199999150-600022604.car) is laughable with a sedan.

has anyone seen the new curt 1.25" reciever trailer hitch? is the hitch too low to the ground sincce the reciever is under the back up light? price seems low. installation seems easy with only 2 holes to drill and some of the unseen plastic undertray to cut. will gm void any warranties with this on my 2012?