Thread: Tow vehicles
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Old September 7th, 2018, 07:54 AM   #21
adouglas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Burphel View Post
This is exactly what happens towing with a passenger car. Look at the OP's picture. The rear is damn near bottomed out already, and the front is damn near topped out. That's with a static load. It doesn't even take a bump to finish the job.
Not really. Rear never bottomed, traction and handling not an issue. I wouldn't try to tow more than this, though.

One bit of info that's missing here is that the car has air bag helper springs in the rear, but they were leaking that day and I didn't have time to chase down the cause so they were not inflated.

Lots of the feedback I get is "say goodbye to your transmission/clutch/brakes." All I know is what I've experienced first-hand:

190,000 miles on the car
Zero transmission issues
Zero engine issues
Zero cooling issues (heat index was about 100 the day that pic was taken)
Original clutch
Brakes replaced at normal intervals
Suspension does not bottom (but it's close)
No adverse handling... never a hint of instability
Close to 30mpg while towing.

I should note that I do NOT drive the car as if it were unloaded. I drive it as if it were an 18-wheeler... accelerate slowly, plan deceleration and stops well in advance, speeds kept close to the limit, no unnecessary stress.

The whole point here is not that this is the world's best tow rig. It's to show that you don't need a freakin' monster truck to tow a bike, nothing more.
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