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I've been hoping to use my small Toyota Echo to haul around my Weekender (when I finally get it finished). It's rated to pull 750lbs and when pulling my utility trailer loaded with junk does fairly well.

Yestderday while out for an "explore" with the family, I tested by backing down an abandoned ramp with 4 people in the car. It was pretty steep with weeds growing on it. The smell of burning rubber from my front tires seemed to indicate that this might not be a good idea. The look of shock from my wife also was quite telling - especially since this test hadn't been pre-announced, it was just part of an extended 3-point-turn.

I suppose that now I'll have to save up for a hitch for my wife's 4-door Chevy Tracker - or would I have the same problems no matter what vehicle I had on such a crappy ramp?

Crappy ramp. Good ramps are dry and free of that slippery stuff except at low tide maybe. Good ramps aren't really steep either. If you have to use that ramp, you can extend the trailer tongue or if it has a wheel/jack you maybe able to winch it up and down to the car/water.

I'm not sure about your country Andrew, but in this country, the state and national parks, plus municipal ramps (if receiving some DOT funding) must comply with standards. Typically this means ramps are around 6 degrees, which doesn't seem like much, but is when they're wet, slimy and you've got a hefty load.

Both of your cars are going to be taxed on hills and at the ramp. Depending on the engine in your Chevy, you may fair slightly better.

Ramps that receive use will usually be wet, often skinned with algae, fish guts and generally testing the traction of tires. Rear wheel drive does have an advantage in these cases, being the additional weight of the trailer tongue, helps "plant" the drive wheels. Front wheel drive is at a disadvantage, for the same reason, the drive wheels have reduced traction, because of the rear load bias, making the drive wheels "light".

One way around this is a trailer tongue extension, which places the drive wheels further up the ramp (keeps you feet dry when loading too), possibly on dry pavement, rather then the wet gooey stuff, close to the water's edge.

Some ramps are built by the lowest bidder, to plans drawn by a non-boater. I've seen some narrow, very steep ramps. This saves considerable expense in concrete, but makes launching many types of boat all but imposable.

Everyone develops a set of personal "favorites" in the local ramps. You can't know which, until you try them out. Look for federal or state funded locations, wide ramp entry, handy docking, sheltered cove locations (so wind and wave aren't as troublesome), smooth and even ramps, so the trailer backs straight and level.

You'll soon find one you like and stick to it like a good wife.

Let us know how it goes if you use the Tracker. I am hoping to tow mine with a '95 Geo Tracker. Rated for 1000lbs, 100lb tounge weight and 4 wheel drive for the ramp. I found a bolt on receiver on eTrailer.com for about $100. Failing this, we have a Chevy Express Van but the gas gauge won't let me pass a fuel point if I'm towing! If nothing else, I think the Tracker will be good for the comic value of seeing the tiny car tow a boat twice its size!

The annoying thing with the '99 Tracker is that unlike in the "old days" you have to get a fancy wiring kit for the trailer lights and that costs more than the hitch. I had that with my Toyota but had it included in the deal when I bought the car.

What a difference a couple of model years can make. I have had no problem finding a supposedly suitable harness, but haven't purchased or installed one, so hopefully I won't run into that issue. On the other hand, I have no problem "hacking" into the wiring to create my own harness with the readily available standard connectors if neccessary, so I may skip the prefab harness altogether.

This is irrelevant until I can rebuild my trailer though. Step one - blast off 40+ years of paint and rust.

Greetings,

My brother-in-law and I were just talking about towing capacities this weekend while fishing on the Wisconsin reaches of the Mississippi. He’s a retired police officer and thirty year veteran of towing camping trailers and bass boats, so he has some experience in such matters, both legal and practical. He is in the process of picking out a new fifth-wheel trailer and is looking to install a hitch – on the trailer – so that he can also pull his 16 ft bass boat. So he will have a Chevy 2500HD pulling a fifth-wheel trailer, which will in turn be pulling the boat. As long as the rig is under 80 ft long, it’s legal. But I digress …

The published towing capacity of a car usually understates the towing capability of the vehicle. The number that you should be most concerned with is the Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR), which will be stamped on a plate inside your driver’s side door frame, or on the door itself. This is the weight of the tow vehicle, the trailer, the boat, gear, passengers, fuel, ice, coolers and the beer … all of it. Think of this number as being the amount of weight that can safely be handled by your vehicle’s frame, suspension, tires, and braking systems. If you don’t like doing the math, you can always load everything up and weigh it all on a truck scale … should cost about $5.

The second most important number is the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR), which is the maximum allowable weight on the tow vehicle itself, including its contents, gas, cargo passengers, and the tongue weight of the trailer.

So if you want to know the absolute maximum weight of the trailer and boat you can tow, subtract GVWR from GCWR, and add back in the tongue weight, and there you are. This should be the Gross Trailer Weight Rating (GTWR) if one is even published for your vehicle.

Of course, you still have to fill the gas tank and get into the tow vehicle yourself (and don’t forget the beer, your friends, and the dog) and not bust GCWR, so that absolute GTWR number might be unattainable in the real world. Other limitations are the actual hitch being used (load distributing or not), and the Gross Axel Weight Rating (GAWR) of the rear axle. Keep the speed under 45 mph and the tow distance short and over relatively flat terrain, and you usually do not have to worry about overheating engines or burning out transmissions. Of course real tow vehicles usually come with extras … like trailer wiring harnesses, larger alternators, bigger batteries, oil coolers, beefier transmissions, transmission coolers, higher ratio differentials, bigger brakes, larger shocks, etc … so you don’t have to worry about such things.

Now for a real world example applying all of the above information. We have a guy named Don who regularly shows up at the local sailing pond towing his 18 ft Hobie-Cat with his twenty year old Honda CRX hatch back. The CRX is a cute little two door sports car and that tiny little car is towing a boat that is twice as tall, twice as long, and quite a bit wider than the car itself. Don welded up the tow hitch that bolts onto the car (bolt-on hitches are better than weld-on, as the welding frequently weakens the metal in the car). His Hobie-Cat, trailer, and all his sailing gear weigh about 750 pounds. All of the gear fits into a box on the trailer between the sponsons, so the weight is all on the trailer axle. His wife of 30 some years is crew and both of them together dripping wet maybe tip the scales at 310 lbs. The trips are day sails, the distance under 25 miles from home to the pond, Chicagoland is very flat, and he never exceeds 55 mph. The CRX is well maintained and has a stronger than average (for its age) engine. The load moved by the car weighs 1160 lbs and Don reports no problems. But he is a very careful and deliberate man and your mileage may vary.

Another example. I have a Crown Victoria. The Owner’s Manual says I can tow 1500 lbs. However, the GCWR (6600) – Curb Weight (4100) = 2500 lbs. If I go by myself, then its 2500 – 200 = 2300 lbs. If I take the wife and mini-me, then it is 2300 – 200 = 2100 lbs. If also take the tent, the beer, some extra clothes, food, rain gear, and the fishing tackle, then its 2100 – 100 = 2000 lbs. Throw in the cat and we are down to 1,992 lbs. Along the way I have to realize that I have just placed 508 + 199 (10% trailer for hitch weight) = 707 lbs into the car so I must be flirting with the rear Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) of 2774 lbs, so somebody has to sit up front and some of the gear should probably be stowed in the boat. The trailer + boat + gear is now over 1,500 lbs, so to be legal in most states I now need brakes on the trailer. Do I really care if I am within a marshmallow or two of maxing out the car’s weight budget? No, not really. Why? Because I’m only driving 6 miles on flat land and not exceeding 40 mph on the way. Heck, at that rate, Bill (270 lbs) from across the street can come too, but he definitely has to sit up front.

You still might not have enough engine and transmission to handle the load. Most trailer towing guides assume 20 square feet of frontal area traveling down the road at 55 mph. If you have a very tall boat, or travel in very hilly country, you should consider subtracting a 15% to 20% safety margin from GTWR. If I remember, the Echo is a very skinny car. The Weekender + trailer is likely to be wider and taller, and that might strain that little four-cylinder engine if you try to go to far, to fast, or up steep hills.

A less scientific approach to this would be to drive down to the local U-Haul dealer to buy a hitch for your Echo. They have some experience bolting up hitches and trailers. Tell them what you want to do. If they just roll on the floor laughing, then you have your answer.

Cheers,
Tom

U-Haul got a good chuckle out of me about 10 years ago. I wanted to rent a small trailer to haul some personal effects from Georgia to Ohio, but they didn't want to play. The given reason was that the Tracker is a convertable. I still don't get what that has to do with it, but they were pretty firm on the subject.

Thanks for the nice write-up, Tom. I always wondered just what exactly the letters stood for. Personally, I'd probably look for more padding on my weight and limits because my clutch is getting up in years and I'd hate to loose that.

Tom:

Thanks for the reply - I've never heard it explained so succintly. I'll have to go out and check those numbers on my car.

I think most people would describe me as a careful and deliberate driver. With 275000km on the 2005 Echo I've only gone through one set of front brakes and still have three out of four original tires (I also use Winter tires) I've often said that if you try to avoid braking and turning unnecessarially you won't wear out the car.

I also have a factory installed hitch and wiring harness on that vehicle so that's not a factor there. I had every hope that I could pull the Weekender with this car, allowing for the fact that I couldn't fill the car with people but must admit that my experience on that ramp with all 4 seats filled causes me to pause. I tried it with a car full of people to try to duplicate the load on the car when towing the boat. The Echo is a fairly tall and wide (but short) car - I also am worried about the "wag the dog" phenomena.


The Tracker is my second choice because I don't really like to drive it (seat isn't comfortable).

Rob - the reason I was given for a similar argument about my former Jeep is that U-Haul has a concern about part of the load coming loose and hitting the tow vehicle. Seems like nonsense to me.

Wow, you got a little more explanation than I did. I was after an enclosed trailer so I still have to wonder what the basis of the policy is. It looks like no matter which vehicle you use it may be a bit exciting the first few times out.