Towing Discussion
sxy_rexi
Band Wagon
anyone know how much the rt4wd wagon can tow?
sxy_rexi
Band Wagon
Comments
I know they can safely hold 400KG in the boot but i'm unsure of the towing capacity.
I called Honda Canada on that one and was told they do not have towing specs for the wagons. In fact, the rep I was speaking with said Honda discourages towing anything with a wagon. He was quite quite curt about it too and did not want to discuss the matter any further.
I then called the local shop that, over the years, has installed all the tow bars for our family vehicles and they did not have anything standard in their inventory that can fit a Honda wagon. However, he did say I should "come on down" and he would figure something out...
well interesting that they have the granny 1st. I've heard people saying that it was for going up big hills and also for towing. weird.
maybe once I get one I'll just have to take it to a local shop and see what they say.
I've seen a couple CRXs with a tow hitch before. one was towing a jet ski (which was nearly the same size)
anyway thanks for the replies.
Well, since you have an rt4wd wagon, isn't that more for starting off slow when you're in 4WD ??
Anyone out there with an rt4wd wagon want to comment ??
At my local boneyard I once saw a 2WD wagon with a homemade tow bar bolted to the eyebolt that's right under the middle of the rear bumper... looked dangerous as all heck...
The Honda rep was obviously giving me the "official line" about towing with a Honda. They don't want anyone doing it so they can't be sued if anything bad happens...
Typical litigation-avoidance mentality... It's the same mentally that led to the installation of "automatic" seatbelts in many cars bound for the US market...
On the old board someone went to a junk yard and grabbed the towbar setup off a civic and it bolted right up to a wagon, so i'm pretty sure it fits but whether or not it should be done is another story alltogether.
With super low 1st i think its designed for starting off on a hill in mud/snow etc.. not really for towing, that i know of. It works bloody well though, if you nail the gas she gets sideways as all hell...
if this is a serious interest i can document this topic
i have had about 700 pounds of weight in and on my car before aswell on a side note
the idea was being able to tow something that was 1800 lbs plus the weight of the trailer, with an 88-89 rt4wd (which another thread said weighs in at 2370-plus the driver, maybe a passenger and misc stuff so like another 300-450 lbs in the car. )
now I know youre not supposed to tow something that weighs close to what the tow vehicle weighs.
I don't know what the safe amount of weight difference between the two needs to be.
and also how much the frame would be able to handle.
and how much do trailers normally weigh? I planned to weld my own and try to make it as light as possible .. maybe get my hands on some aluminum.
I basically want to tow my crx to the track.
if thats not possible im still interested in some more info as even just having a trailer for hauling lighter weight stuff would be useful.
i plan to run a d series and put a turbo or supercharger on it for some more power and torque.
You'd certainly need to upgrade the brakes if the trailer wasn't self-braking.
I'll call Honda NZ and see if they won't weasel out of towing info.
edit: i think maybe ill just have to make it registerable and get a dolly like you (and a few other people that I have talk to today about this) suggested.
would be a lot cheaper that way.
still thinking about getting a small trailer for hauling other stuff though
so any tow info is still appreciated
:arrow: TIP: If you do make a small aluminum trailer.Once in a while check the trailer for signs of stress cracks.
Got permission to install this piece
Went and had it installed
Then went back to make sure the inspectors say it is safe
I will check my title book because it actually says in my title book how much I can tow safely without having additional brakes on the trailer. I believe it is something like 800kg. Most of the wagons I have looked at here have trailer hitches. I will hopefully be picking up wagon number 3 and it also has a trailer hitch.
Without brakes it says NO MORE than 535 KG
With brakes it says NO MORE than 1380 KG
Again this is what the Germans allow on this particular car a 1992 Honda Shuttle (or wagon).
If I was to tow anymore then what is stated brakes/no brakes then I would get a ticket and have to leave the trailer there until I brought a suitable automobile for the trailer. Again they are serious when it comes to these kinds of things.
Also remember that here the LAW is if you have a trailer you can drive no faster than 80kmh so these numbers will also reflect that speed and nothing higher.
Maybe this should be posted somewhere for reference I don't know.
viewtopic.php?p=8808#8808
I'm not worried about actually towing shtuff.
altho' it would be nice.
it welded to the bottom of the bumper and clamped around the rear tire-down loop. it was installed by u-haul immediately after the car was delivered in early 1990, and was in constant use for several years. the second owner of the car didn't use it much, but i used it to move myself a couple times, as well as several friends. more than once we had a utility trailer loaded to the roof level of the car, with the car itself packed full.
regardless of how much horsepower you might have, you kind of want to be on the SAFE side with towing. A general rule to follow is to avoid anything that actually weighs the same or more than the tow vehicle even if it's on wheels. You'd think this would be obvious, but here in Wisconsin it is not all that uncommon for people to use their "full size" trucks to pull loaded trailers or boats on trailers that outweigh the truck. You can get away with it, but your load can also PUSH you anywhere it wants to at anytime if it decides to without you having too much say on the matter.
Obviously, storage racks or bike racks are of no concern but you'd be surprised by how many junky Ford Escorts i've seen in my time towing the old fishing boat .
With brakes it says NO MORE than 1380 KG
This is why I posted the official Euro weights to be pulled by the wagon WITH and WITHOUT brakes.
You can post all this info and tell them not too but they will still do it :?
Another Wagon tows:
viewtopic.php?p=11608#11608
As a follow-up on this, I called my local transmission shop, looking to have a tranny cooler put on my '90 wagon and the owner stated that a standard transmission does not require a tranny cooler (no way to install one) and to NEVER pull a trailer in 5th gear... or that gear will burn out... which kinda supports the 80 km/h limit when towing in the above post.
2wd: 1000 kg
RT4wd: 1400 kg.
And that's an awefull lot for officially approved numbers, I might add...!!
Especially considering the own weight of the car: 1050kg....
http://www.hondacivicwagon.com/bb/viewt ... ght=towing
Maybe this should be posted somewhere for reference I don't know.