I have a 2009 mazda 3, and while Mazda says you shouldn’t tow anything with the car, there are many places where I could purchase an aftermarket towing hitch, which indicates that some people do tow with the car. I am wondering if there really is any cause for concern if towing a light load (say 500 - 1000 pounds). I know it would void the warranty, so I wouldn’t install it until my warranty runs out later in the year, but I am curious for the future.
MGB with camper. The image is a model, but people did haul small caravans with their roadsters. This, with a 95 hp engine. I’d say that most cars could tow a 500-1,000 pound trailer. The thing to watch out for is the wheelbase. Too short a wheelbase can be trouble. And yet Jeeps (CJ, YJ, GPW, MB) routinely tow trailers. You also need to be sure that your brakes are up to the task.
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Where you’ll run into trouble is if you want to rent a trailer. U-Haul will not rent you a trailer unless their computer says your car can handle it. When I tried to rent a trailer to tow with my Cherokee once, they wouldn’t do it. First, they said I did not have a Class 3 hitch. (I did, and it was factory-installed. But it didn’t say ‘Class 3’ on it.) I knew that my hitch could handle 5,000 pounds, and I rented a trailer from somewhere else. The trailer and the Porsche came just about to the limit, and the Jeep handled it nicely.
I made a trailer that I pulled with lmy 1967 VW buss. Never had a problem. Except even slower up hills.
All I want to haul is some music gear, nothing too heavy.
Understood.
My points were these:
[ul][li]Even cars not usually associated with trailer-hauling have been and are used for that purpose.[/li]If you intend to rent a trailer, rather than own your own, many places will not rent you one unless their computer says your car is suitable.[/ul]
What’s interesting is that many cars that are rated for zero tow capacity in North America have fairly large tow capacities in other regions. For example, if only you lived in the UK, a 2.0L Mazda 3 is rated for 2860 lbs (braked) and 1200 lbs (unbraked). I don’t know if it’s just a less litigious society or there’s more of a car-towing culture over there, but I doubt it reflects any actual mechanical difference. Although it should be noted that Euro towing numbers are usually considered absolute maximums that one should stay well below.
With as powerful as most cars are these days, you’ll usually get to a point that your car simply isn’t heavy enough to safely control the trailer long before you get to a point that the drivetrain can’t handle it. So I might not want to pull a heavy trailer cross-country with that car, but across town mostly on surface streets shouldn’t be a problem at all.
I’ve seen a hitch on a Toyota Yaris and a Geo Metro. I think they make the hitch for ADA purposes, so that you can put a wheelchair carrier on the back and not for actual towing, but that’s my theory.
Whatever you drive make sure, if you’re pulling a trailer, to install overload springs on your back axle. Also, invest in stabilizer bars and sway bars. Well worth the cost.
How much stuff? If it’s a small enough amount of gear, you may be able to use a hitch-mount “shelf” that doesn’t even have wheels.
Music gear can get heavy very fast, at least mine does. I would say to mind the manufacturer’s recommendation. I had a full sized Dodge station wagon back in the day that looked like it should handle just about anything, although is was not rated for towing any trailer. Turns out that it had a down-rated transmission that I managed to ruin on the first trip with a small 15’ travel trailer. It was a very expensive lesson to learn when we didn’t have any extra money.
from u-haul.com: