Edward

Hi all,

My brother (in his infinite generosity!) is thinking of taking the lions share of the expense of buying a trailer to tow my SC ( I am a committed run-what-you brung type 'cause I'm poor ). So he's got a Volvo XC90 with 4000lb limit (and no, he's not going to get another vehicle so that's out) so I'm thinking <2600lbs for the SC + 900lbs for a Trailex, and I'm ok. Will I need, or should I get, a weight distribution do-hickey? Or what about anything else you guys can think of that I'll need. I'm getting the electric brakes, BTW ...right move, correct? TIA, all

Edward

Jason R

When I got my Trailex trailer from the mfr., they said not to use a weight distributing hitch b/c it would void the trailer warranty. Something about the aluminum tongue not being designed for those types of hitches.

BTW, I have surge brakes on my trailer, and they work fine so far. I tow with an 05 Explorer.

Jason

kurt M

I pull a trailex with a 3.3 L V6 PU and it works great. Surge brakes no fancy hitch requirements.

Bailey-86-MA

I just got a trailex and will tow with my XC90. The AWD version is rated for 5000#. I pulled the empty trailer 150 miles home and it seemed fine. Have yet to pull it with my 2500# car on it. The seller told me he did not think I would need a weight distribution setup.

Mike K.

http://webzoom.freewebs.com/bikerboy...Renault5_1.wmv

kary993

Willl you be ok? That is a complex question.

First you need to calculate what the actual tongue weight of the trailer will be with the car loaded and anything else you might try and put on the trailer. The tongue weight should be approximately 10% of the total weight of the loaded trailer. Next you need to know what the Gross Vehicle Weight rating (GVWR) is for your tow vehicle. Then you need to know what the rear axle of your tow vehicle is rated to handle. Then you need to calculate how much weight you are putting into the tow vehicle since this is payload. You need to know what the weight of your tow vehcile is. Then you can calculate the total payload of the tow vehicle. Then you need to know what the Grow Combined Weight rating (GCWR) is of the vehicle which is the total weight of the your tow vehicle plus the total weight of your trailer loaded is.

Given all those parameters, you can then answer the question of whether or not you are ok.

The trick is to not exceed the GVWR and the rear axle rating of the tow vehicle with the tongue weight of the loaded trailer and any payload you might put in the tow vehicle. Remember, tow weights for a tow vehicle like 4000# are just a rating that the engine can pull, not the weight they can bear. You should also not exceed the the GCWR either.

As far as trailer brakes, get electric brakes on the trailer and get a Prodigy brake controller, they work very well including backing up, which obvisouly the guy in the video from this thread needed

If you have other questions let me know and I will see if I can help.

RedlineMan

Hey;

This will likely garner me another load of crap, but I have not seen a vehicle mentioned in this thread that I would tow more than my lawn tractor with. They're all an accident waiting to happen. Just because you CAN tow with it does not mean you SHOULD. Brakes, mass, wheelbase. The big three.

Oh, and take those tow ratings and cut them in half for the real world! That is what it will pull (BARELY), not what it will pull well or safely.

kary993

I agree with you. If anyone does the math I roughly outlined in my last post they will find that with limiitations in rear axle load, tongue weights and overall weight between tow vehicle and trailer they will find exactly that, these vehicles mentioned will tow about 1500# maybe 2000#. Not suitable nor safe likely.....

Larry Herman

John, you must have a R E A L L Y big lawn tractor, because any of the big trucks here are fine for an open trailer or a small enclosed one, provided your trailer brakes work properly, AND you keep it to a reasonable speed. I know no one here ever tows faster than 65, right?

Oops, I thought that we were on the other trailer thread. I agree with you, the small SUVs are crap.

Premier Motorsp

I too think John's statement isn't far off.

A Porsche racer on an open trailer with limited tools and spares can be pulled by just about anything. Once you get the enclosed trailer, some tools, and a couple sets of extra wheels. everything changes.

My rule of thumb is that if the trailer weighs more than tow vehicle, and the trailer is not a fifth wheel or gooseneck, you basically have a suicide machine. The one exception to this would be a dually.

In fact, once you have towed with a dually you are unlikely to even want to get in anything else. All the little things that bother you when towing with a lesser rig just go away with a dually, especially with a fifth wheel or gooseneck. If your trailer gets a flat at 80 mph (and it will) and you are driving a dually, you don't know until other drivers start trying to tell you. In a Tahoe, you better be ready to do some driving. Plus, now the big 3 have dually's with insanely powerful and refined diesel engines.

Yes I know dually's are essentially worthless for anything but towing (GF chimes in: 4wd dually is totally unstoppable in the snow, so it is not worthless). But that one time when your Tahoe flips over without provocation makes the compromise seem worthwhile.

Don't even get me started on towing with a unibody SUV.

I have been driving an 18 wheeler quite a bit over the last couple of years. It is huge and it is a pig in corners, but even though the trailer is 3X the weight of the tractor, it is always 100% stable, has plenty of brakes, and will last forever.
There just is no substitute for all those drive wheels.

Chris Cervelli
Premier Motorsports

mrbill_fl

imho,

It really depends on how slow are you willing to tow? if you have the will to only drive at 60mph, brake in a straight line, change the trans fluid on the volvo, no problems.

I pulled this way for 5 yrs.

so on a 2 hour trip, it take another 15-30min.

if you can't stand being passed while towing, get a bigger tow truck.

once you see a few jackknifed trailers, its so much easier to tow slow...

Bull

I agree that 50% of the manf tow rating is a good way to stay within the limitations of the chassis and brakes, no matter how big the motor is claimed to be. My tow vehicle is rated at 8900#. I tow approx. 4400#, and would not exceed 5000#.

Having towed track cars, race cars, and inboard hydroplanes over the past 30+ years, I have learned that "getting by", "being OK", or "good enough" all are not good when applied to towing.

jrgordonsenior

Hi Edward,

You've been fortunate to get some real advise from many experienced haulers on this forum. I think it's pretty obvious that the underlying theme has been to err on the side of caution when hauling. Size does matter, and bigger really is better. I mentioned getting passed coming back from Phoenix in that other thread by small SUV's and that it pissed me off. But I also knew that I was completely safe in the huge headwinds we encountered, that my E rated tires weren't going to pop in the heat on the truck or the trailer, and that coming down long, steep declines my trailer was going to stay perflectly centered behind me. You sacrifice mileage and speed for safety and reliability with a bigger tow vehicle. Yes you can tow behind that Volvo and hopefully never have an issue with it. As stated, many here in So Cal tow all the time in small SUV's. Just keep your speed down, don't take kids with you, and good luck going to Buttonwillow....

KOAN

I don't know how many thousand miles I pulled my 993 with a Trailex, using a 6 cylinder Explorer. I had load leveling shocks. At 105k miles, I traded up for an F150. The truck is MUCH better. But the Explorer, with 2 sets of wheels crammed into the back, tools, etc. never had a problem. I was only able to go about 45mph up hills, and usually cruised at about 65-70 mph otherwise. I have surge brakes on the Trailex, which weighs #850.
Bigger is better, a dually is better yet. If you are careful, a smaller vehicle is do-able, and can be safe.
More safety, more money. Do you use a HANS?

M758

I used to tow my 944 (2400 lbs) on and open trailer. My guess is that the combined race car and trailer were 5000lbs with spare tires, tool etc.

I used to tow it behind my 1998 Jeep Cherokee with th 4.0L. It worked ok around town. I did have to load the car in the right spot to get proper tongue load.

Anyway I would tow it as far as 2hrs away. Never up any mountains and never over 70. It just would not go any faster. Now racing in Phoenix Az means there were two race tracks in town so I did not need two too far. However I never felt comfortable towing out of state.

I moved up to a 99 dodge 2500 with 8.0L V10. Overkill to be sure, but still great. Now there is not concer with towing in anyway. No real need to watch gauges plan for hills, etc. Just drive and almost forget about the trailer completely.

It might be best to use teh Volvo as support car carring tools, spares and just drive the car.