Watcha Towing with three or 4 wheels??for older folks

[rv4jimnme]

Going to be trading down to 24 ft Mercerdes Tioga with 3,500 towing capacity, which rules out my Honda CRV. Need to consider very small car or a three wheel electric trike, moped or golf cart. I am seeing all kinds of cute electric cars but I do not think they tow well??? I am thinking maybe cannot do street legal but still go to the store? Too old for motorcycle or two wheel bike...and tonque weight is 350 so have to consider what we can put on there...any good ideas?

[wolfe10]

We flat tow a 2014 Hyundai Elantra manual transmission. 2,661 pounds, lots of interior room, comfortable and good MPG.

https://www.fmca.com/motorhome/towing/204-towing-guides-towing-four-wheels-down.html

[ron_dittmer]

Healeyman wrote:

ron.dittmer wrote:
Since we are sharing pictures of our tow vehicles.........

Here is our first, a 2000 Toyota MR2 Spyder.

Ron,

I agree that your MR2 "MAY" be a CO-Number 1 to to my Miata.

Tim

I have owned both vehicles over the years, but we have towed only the MR2.

My thoughts are.....

At 400 pounds less, the MR2 is the better choice if wanting to get by without secondary braking. The MR2 also offers more room for the occupants.

The Miata is the better choice for convenient and abundant storage. The MR2 has a lockable storage compartment behind the seats, but it's size and accessibility does not compare to the trunk of the Miata. Our day excursions in the MR2 had the day-cooler at my wife's feet. Fortunately for the MR2 she is short requiring less leg room, and the floor pans are decent size being somewhat accommodating.

[D_E_Bishop]

While the mileage really sucks, the Suzuki Sidekick we tow is a really great towed. We like the slick rock areas of the southwest and love the unpaved roads they provide and while it is not a rock hopper, the Sidekick will go just about anywhere else. " -" the curb weight is supposed to be 2700 pounds.

If it weren't for the rear camera, I wouldn't know it is there.

[Healeyman]

ron.dittmer wrote:
Since we are sharing pictures of our tow vehicles.........

Here is our first, a 2000 Toyota MR2 Spyder.

Ron,

I agree that your MR2 "MAY" be a CO-Number 1 to to my Miata.

Tim

[luvlabs]

Cider wrote:

Based on this, how do you tow your Forester??

Can I tow a Subaru Forester?
AWD automatic 4 and 5 speed vehicles should not be towed with any wheels on the ground. The vehicle can only be towed on a trailer with all 4 wheels off the ground and the transmission in park.

Just curios as we have a Forester and are specifically told not to tow - period.

Manual transmission Foresters are towable through model year 2016. While they didn't change anything drive train wise in 2017, Subaru has stopped recommending 4 down towing.

[ron_dittmer]

Since we are sharing pictures of our tow vehicles.........

Here is our first, a 2000 Toyota MR2 Spyder with manual transmission.
Roadmaster tow bar bracket & tow bar, and without secondary braking. The vehicle weighs 2100 pounds.





Here is our second and current, a 2006 Jeep Liberty Sport 4x4 with automatic transmission & manual gear transfer case.
Roadmaster tow bar bracket & tow bar, and with a Unified tow brake system. The vehicle weighs 4050 pounds.

[Healeyman]

I have towed 3 Mazda Miata MANUAL transmission cars over 75,000miles.

This one has a retractable hardtop and weighs 2,500 pounds. I have not seen a better towed.

Tim

[Cider]

loggenrock wrote:
We tow a Subaru Forester with our Prism, which also has a 3500# limit - car comes in about 3200#. Newer (post 2015, I believe), even as manual tranny, are no longer recommended for towing, but ours is a 2009. We opted for the ReadyBrute tow system by NSA - provides surge braking, no brake box on car floor - weighs less, and even less costly! Works very well.

Based on this, how do you tow your Forester??

Can I tow a Subaru Forester?
AWD automatic 4 and 5 speed vehicles should not be towed with any wheels on the ground. The vehicle can only be towed on a trailer with all 4 wheels off the ground and the transmission in park.

Just curios as we have a Forester and are specifically told not to tow - period.

[falconbrother]

My 1999 Honda CRV 4x4 weighs a little over 3200 pounds, dry. I towed it 4 down with a surge braking system. The later models weighed a little more. It towed easy and stopped easy once I got the surge brakes. The two wheel drive CRV is a little lighter. The actual hitch weight is almost nothing. I might see how the CRV does. Just don't have anything in it and keep it as light as possible.

I once towed that thing several hundred miles after my father in law had filled it up with power tools and full size band saw. It was much heavier and whether it was my imagination or true I thought it felt heavier when being towed.

It's hard to beat a Honda CRV. In my opinion it's the best possible toad, all things considered.

[rockhillmanor]

Pick yourself up a used Chevy Tracker. I found one that was a four door 4x4. Seated 5 people with a substantial storage area behind the back seats when up. Seats where very comfortable and roomy.
Put the back seats down and you have an even larger storage area.

Tows four down easily.

Keep in mind just what you want to do with it after you've parked your RV. If you have friends and/or family with you sometimes you need a car that seats more than just 2!

And if you want to tourist shop, hit a couple of sales, or more importantly grocery shop while on the road it sure is nice to have some storage area in the toad you buy.

IMHO the Chevy Tracker fits all these bills and has incredible mpg. AND is about the lightest weight toad you will find that isn't a useless cube on wheels. :C

[Tripalot]

We towed a Fiat Abarth standard for a couple of years. It is light, a fun car to drive and has lots of safety features. It was also very easy to hook up and go.

[CharlesinGA]

I would like to find (or build) a fiberglass body dune buggy (Meyers Manx style) to tow. Should, even with a hardtop, weigh only about 1200 lbs max. My early View has "the worlds weakest transmission" in it, so I don't want to tow much. Second choice would be a Smart 4 Two, about 1900 lbs and probably on an aluminum trailer, for a total of around 2400 lbs. I'm not a fan of flat towing a Smart after some of the tales I've read. (and the aluminum trailer would be handy around the house to replace my old 5x10 lawn service type trailer.



Charles

[loggenrock]

We tow a Subaru Forester with our Prism, which also has a 3500# limit - car comes in about 3200#. Newer (post 2015, I believe), even as manual tranny, are no longer recommended for towing, but ours is a 2009. We opted for the ReadyBrute tow system by NSA - provides surge braking, no brake box on car floor - weighs less, and even less costly! Works very well.

[DrewE]

I don't tow it, but I do have a Honda Fit and it's a great small car. The manual Fits of any year can be flat towed, and the automatics can be prior to the newest rendition of it (when they switched from a conventional automatic to a CVT).

There are a good many smallish cars that are well under 3500 pounds that could be towed with a tow dolly, if not flat towed.