Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Anybody do any towing with a small car?
I need a way to occasionally get small amounts of lumber, including 4' x 8' sheets to my rehab properties, and borrowing my friends' trucks all the time is getting old. I'd also like to have a way to snatch up craigslist deals on appliances and other big stuff.
It seems getting a pickup would cost me around $3k minimum for something in somewhat decent shape. And then I'd have to register and insure it on top of that. Whereas I can put a hitch on my Ford Focus for about $160 and pickup a small, 2nd hand, 4' x 8' utility trailer for less than $500. The Focus is rated at 2,000lb towing capacity and the trailers themselves tend to weigh around 500lb's giving me ~1,500 lbs of cargo capacity. Which would be way more than most of my needs. I'd probably mostly just have a few sheets of plywood or drywall or one or two appliances now and then.
It seems to make so much financial sense compared to a pickup truck, but I never see anybody doing it. So I just wonder why not? Is there some snag I'm not considering?

It might be that people consider that one needs two places for parking: one for the car and one for the trailer.
Plus the inconvenience that going backwards with the trailer involves thinking/practice as the trailer moves opposite to the car, so maybe people think that they go for convenience
And where I come from the trailer and the car need a sort of vignette that needs to be refreshed every two years, to state that car & trailer are in technical safe state, which costs money.

Hi, have you considered roof racks or bars? They'll easily carry a few sheets of plywood or pieces of lumber and will save you the weight and cost of a trailer. I use them all the time for construction material, boats etc and only occasionally rent a trailer for heavier loads.

@henrik I have. But I'd also like to be able to transport a stove or refrigerator too.
I could recoup the cost of the trailer, too, once all my projects are done.

I used to have a little trailer like that. I built a box on it, hooked it to a 1962 Ford Falcon and drove it all over the country. It worked just fine for many years. And it was small enough (without the box) to be easily stored.
You will need to make sure its wired up and properly registered and that your hitch is properly attached, but I would go for it. I also reinforced the rear suspension in the Falcon, which will be another thing you will have to consider.
Now its just a matter of finding one -- the smaller the better for your purposes.

When we towed with a smaller car, we added brakes that were wired through the hitch to the trailer. They were controlled by a small box under the dash of the car. I can't remeber how much they cost. Maybe $100? It couldn't be much more than that or I'd remember. If you're going to tow 2,000 lbs in a Focus (what's their GVWR, maybe only 3500?), you might want to see if you can get those brakes installed on a utility trailer.

A brake package sounds like a lot of trouble. I'd probably just keep the loads small instead. 2k lbs is the max capacity, I'd probably rarely get close to 1k. Plus, it's mostly just about getting stuff 5-20 miles, rarely going over 40 mph.
Though if I were regularly going highway speeds and pushing the vehicle to maximum capacities I'd definitely want some additional braking power.
Apparently, towing with small cars is more popular in Europe than in the US. Searching for "car towing", there's lots of Euro-based content I stumbled on showing tiny cars towing some pretty massive RV trailers, whereas with the US stuff and the same search terms, it's the massive RV that's towing the car. HA!

o

One possible problem is local zoning regs that prohibit parking a tow trailer; boat owners frequently have trouble with this.
There is no technical problem towing if the loaded trailer is below vehicle curb weight, the trailer hitch is rated appropriately and the brake lights work. MA does, however, require safety chains in addition to the hitch.

I had pretty much that same one that JasonR linked to at Harbor Freight, although I did not pay nearly that much for it. What was good about it were a lot of holes in the frame to bolt things to.
But mine lacked the fancy wheel fenders. Must be an upgrade for the 21st Century . . .

Get the quality trailer and hitch (not the harbor freight). They'll hold resale value better. Usually trailer brakes are not called for until the trailer is over 2000 lbs.
Ford Focus is front wheel drive. Try to keep the minimum tongue weight so the front wheels have some traction.

Haha, I guess my need for extra braking power has more to do with the way I drive than the weight of my camper.

Mike,
I trailer locally with 4cyl car and trailer just fine.
My use of vehicles is not much different.

'99 Dodge Caravan, FWD, 4cyl, 3spd tran., 3900 vehicle weight, 2000 trailer payload rating with empty van.
I tow a 5' x 10' utility trailer around town. My biggest load is an an full load of mulch. I would guess 1000 pounds of mulch. A 100 lb appliance would be simple.
Get a plug-in ford focus specific light kit (snaps between vehicle wire harness and vehicle tail light) and use craigslist for hitch and trailer.
Good luck, Blair

A 4x6 trailer could be another option. Cheaper, smaller, and nearly as capable as the 4x8.

I've towed very heavy loads with an 84 volvo 240 wagon-- 4 cyl. imagine around 100hp. With this I've towed a 15 foot boat and trailer, and a small caravan (not at the same time of course). I towed the caravan about 2000 miles in 1 week.
You can easily do it. Find a place that does a lot of hitch work and get them to special order a good hitch for your car, and have it properly installed. The wiring of the harness can be problematic so make sure it works for your trailer.
As stated above, get an idea on tongue weight, which for me generally meant if I could hold the tongue up with my hands, it was a go.
Use common sense: drive slow and carefully, plan out your routes to go on less travelled roads, allow plenty of braking distance, and if you have to park, just park at the far end of a big lot taking up several places. You'll be fine.

> (not at the same time of course).
That's legal in Idaho and I think a couple other states.

I should have mentioned that I did my towing mostly in Florida-- very flat. If you're towing in an area with significant grade, probably want to research it through regarding braking at least.

"It seems to make so much financial sense compared to a pickup truck, but I never see anybody doing it. So I just wonder why not? Is there some snag I'm not considering?"
In Denmark everybody is doing it [because cars are VERY expensive].
Pros: Cheaper than a pickup.

Cons: Harder [than a pickup] to back up.

I have a folding trailer similar to the one Jason linked from Harbor Freight (mine came from Northern Tool) and have found it to be more than adequate. I pull it behind a Honda Accord with no problems and have used it to carry yard waste, loads of lumber including drywall and plywood, and several large appliances.
Although it has a cargo rating of 950 lb, I try to keep loads below 700lb to be on the safe side. Keep in mind that the load rating starts with the bare frame. Add a floor and sidewalls and their weight cuts into the useful cargo load. I particularly like the folding feature. It folds into a 2ft x 5ft footprint so I can store it in the garage in front of the car.
I prefer the Northern Tool version because it has a sturdier tongue design.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200356493
Backing up with a trailer isn't really that hard to master. Just remember to push the bottom of the steering wheel in the direction you want the trailer to go.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
I took the plunge!