anybody put a hitch and pull a jet ski?

Been coverd several times before. :no: The manual says no towing and I don't know if our unibody (non traditional frame) construction can take the tow force exerted on the parts connected to the tow device. I'm sure someone will quote the carrying capacity of the Xb (which is designed for distribution between the axles, not at one point in the rear of the vehicle) and disagree with me. Its your call. It would be interesting to know if someone has done this for a summer.

You could, but you wouldn't want to.

I would think that any damage caused by towing will not be covered under warranty, since it says not to tow in the manual. You're playing with fire...

I would think that any damage caused by towing will not be covered under warranty, since it says not to tow in the manual. You're playing with fire...

You are correct, so disconnect any tow hitch before going in for warranty work.

i hate this topic. :blah: anyone with common since knows we are not going to tow a 30ft trailer, but something small like a jetski which you can pickup and easily pull around by hand can definitly be towed by a scion. i done this same thing with a 240sx for 2 years pulling a jetski with zero damage or problems.

You are correct, so disconnect any tow hitch before going in for warranty work.
I'm sure an experienced tech can determine the cause of a problem caused by this sort of misuse. Not to mention, would you really want to risk burning up your tranny or bending your chassis?
something small like a jetski which you can pickup and easily pull around by hand can definitly be towed by a scion. i done this same thing with a 240sx for 2 years pulling a jetski with zero damage or problems.
A 240 has double the torque of our cars and it is a rear wheel drive car. Also, you don't know for sure if towing with your Nissan didn't cause any damage, unless you took apart and examined the drive train. I owned a Ford Ranger, which the previous owner towed a couple of jet skis. I had to rebuild my tranny twice in a period of a few years and the transmission people said that it was most probably caused by that guy exceeding the tow limit, which for our xBs is 0 lbs (according to the manual).

manual say no. warranty be damned if you do

If i had a jet ski, i'd tow it with the box :)

You are correct, so disconnect any tow hitch before going in for warranty work.
I'm sure an experienced tech can determine the cause of a problem caused by this sort of misuse. Not to mention, would you really want to risk burning up your tranny or bending your chassis?
something small like a jetski which you can pickup and easily pull around by hand can definitly be towed by a scion. i done this same thing with a 240sx for 2 years pulling a jetski with zero damage or problems.
A 240 has double the torque of our cars and it is a rear wheel drive car. Also, you don't know for sure if towing with your Nissan didn't cause any damage, unless you took apart and examined the drive train. I owned a Ford Ranger, which the previous owner towed a couple of jet skis. I had to rebuild my tranny twice in a period of a few years and the transmission people said that it was most probably caused by that guy exceeding the tow limit, which for our xBs is 0 lbs (according to the manual).

OK, how about a Datsun 510? Mine had less power than a xB and still towed a dirt bike and trailer for years without a problem.

The xB's transmission doesn't know whether the 300 pounds is on a trailer or sitting in the seats. The xB's rear suspension is less stressed with 100 pounds on the tongue than it would be with two adults in the back seat. The rear subframe is stressed to handle the transport tie-down brackets that are capable of taking the entire weight of the car. A light trailer wouldn't even faze it.

Where you _will_ run into problems is if you load up the car _and_ tow the trailer. You will also have problems if you drive the car with the trailer the same way you would without.

I'd rather have an xB that has been driven carefully with a trailer than one that has been abused without any load.

You are correct, so disconnect any tow hitch before going in for warranty work.
I'm sure an experienced tech can determine the cause of a problem caused by this sort of misuse. Not to mention, would you really want to risk burning up your tranny or bending your chassis?
something small like a jetski which you can pickup and easily pull around by hand can definitly be towed by a scion. i done this same thing with a 240sx for 2 years pulling a jetski with zero damage or problems.
A 240 has double the torque of our cars and it is a rear wheel drive car. Also, you don't know for sure if towing with your Nissan didn't cause any damage, unless you took apart and examined the drive train. I owned a Ford Ranger, which the previous owner towed a couple of jet skis. I had to rebuild my tranny twice in a period of a few years and the transmission people said that it was most probably caused by that guy exceeding the tow limit, which for our xBs is 0 lbs (according to the manual).

You had to have your tranny rebuilt twice because its a FORD and your tranny guy's did a crap rebuild the first time. :rofl:

i dont know about all that technical stuff...but i had thre fairly large people in my car----uhm---i dont know how to guess how much people wiegh--but fairly large but my car clicked really loudly before take off---if it can't handle three fairly large people...i dont know about all this towing....

I'm sorry but there's plenty of other Unibody vehicles that tow... If a 240 can pull the jet ski in question, I'm sure the scion can, with no problem.

I laugh when I read these threads.

It reminds me of the people who smoke. It says right on the package, that smoking can kill you, but does that stop people from doing it? No, it does not.

And the xB manual says 'no' to towing, yet, does that stop people from trying it? It seems the answer is also no, it does not.

I keep coming back to the simple thought, that if the wise folks who built the xB had made it so it could tow, even a small load, they would have said to do so. Heck, that would have been a selling point for some.

Why would they want to discourage a potential selling point, if they had one to offer? It just does not make sense, to me, to do that.

Go ahead and tow. Just don't gripe to the rest of the world when your Box gets torn in half, or whatever happens when you tow with this.

I keep coming back to the simple thought, that if the wise folks who built the xB had made it so it could tow, even a small load, they would have said to do so. Heck, that would have been a selling point for some.

What you don't realize is that the prohibition on towing didn't come from the "wiose folks" engineers, it came from the lawyers. They know that some idiot will load up the car and try to pull a 5000 pound trailer and then sue Scion for the damage caused by their own stupidity.

In the old days, the manuals often had a statement like "towing is permitted provided that the combined internal and towed load does not exceed XXXX pounds".

Unfortunately, in our sue-happy society, potential litigants aren't held responsible for the ability to add, so a blanket prohibition is a lot easier to write.

I've been towing my MX bike and gear on a trailer for a year now. (about 12,000 of towing) I've had nothing but good times. The people who are too scared to pull a jet ski with their xB are probably also too scared to ride the jet ski in the first place. Use some common sense and have fun!

I tow my boat with my xA all the time. :lalala:

http://www.boat77.com/news/1116_megayacht_benetti/mega-yacht-1.jpg

As a dealership we have installed tow hitches upon special request. I had a 87 ford escort and used to pull my waverunner and had no problem...if that thing did it so can the box

You had to have your tranny rebuilt twice because its a FORD and your tranny guy's did a crap rebuild the first time.

I agree with that first statement, but I have to defend the guys that do my transmission work. I have dealt with them since I've been driving cars and everyone I talk to has nothing but good things to say. They are more expensive than most and they have the longest warranty on their work. Anyway, the point I was trying to make was that a vehicle that you would think is perfect for towing was damaged because the towing limit was exceeded.

As for our country being lawsuit happy (which I agree with), check what owners/dealers of bBs in Japan are saying about towing.

Here's something to think about: rather than risk messing up your xB, why don't you buy a cheap midsize truck for a few grand. If you can afford a Jet Ski, I'm sure you can fork up a little extra for something capable of towing it.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make was that a vehicle that you would think is perfect for towing was damaged because the towing limit was exceeded.

As for our country being lawsuit happy (which I agree with), check what owners/dealers of bBs in Japan are saying about towing.

Here's something to think about: rather than risk messing up your xB, why don't you buy a cheap midsize truck for a few grand. If you can afford a Jet Ski, I'm sure you can fork up a little extra for something capable of towing it.

:clap: :clap: :clap:

I am going to pull my boat with my scion. My trailer is set up so I only have about 60lb tongue weight. It is a 16' blazer sport boat with 90 horse evinrude etec on it. check it out at my car domain site www.cardomain.com/id/lex990. I see escorts and tempos and other little cars around here pulling boats bigger than mine, so I really don't think a waverunner would be problem.

^^^ I was going to say something here about the frames, weight, engine size, brakes...all being different from the xB...but why bother? Those who tow, do so, and take the risk yourself.

I am going to pull my boat with my scion. My trailer is set up so I only have about 60lb tongue weight. It is a 16' blazer sport boat with 90 horse evinrude etec on it. check it out at my car domain site www.cardomain.com/id/lex990. I see escorts and tempos and other little cars around here pulling boats bigger than mine, so I really don't think a waverunner would be problem.Stupidity...hurting...brain.

manual say no. warranty be damned if you do
aint no way in hell im towing anything with my xb and besides it looks very ugly with a hitch on it.

I just got home from an 11 day trip with my 2006 xB and DA SHOO Teardrop trailer.

Some comments:

I originally had the Teardrop built for towing with my MINI Cooper and towed it about 5,500 miles. When I had it built MINI-USA was not recommending that anything be towed so I had it built as light as I could. Latter MINI-USA did establish a tow rating of 1,430# and DA SHOO is about 675# loaded to travel.

This trip was 2,600 miles under tow - I added a few more miles unhitched. Total MPG for the entire trip was 32.5 at speeds of 55 to 60 using cruise control. Any long grade of 6% will require shifting into 4th and speed will drop to around 50 mpg. Grades of 8% may require a shift into 3rd if they are long and speed will drop to around 40. In all of the climbs that I did I never heated up and it was climbing and running great when I toped out at 9,910' in the Cedar Breaks Nat. Mon. I never exceeded 4,000 RPM in any gear at any time to the best of my knowledge. On a nice flat smooth pavement without cruise crontrol set I found that my speed would creep up to 70 mph with ease - however, it is much slower to accelerate.

Most Teardrops will weigh 900-1300# and I would NOT suggest that they be towed with an xB. The TAB (sometimes called a Teardrop) is also above that weight.

I'm sure the DO NOT tow group will repeat their warnings and I want to thank them in advance for caringabout me and my xB. :nails:

For those that do tow, or may wish to, I hope this information is useful.

http://img19.echo.cx/img19/4708/20050510funphotos00163cw.jpg

953,906 bytes and 1280x960 pixels is also a Massive PIC!

Thanks for sharing. :eyebrow:

953,906 bytes and 1280x960 pixels is also a Massive PIC!

Thanks for sharing. :eyebrow:

I agree. Posting huge pictures is a bit silly when the actual image seen on a typical browser screen is 800x600. It kind of screams "I bought this kewl camera but I didn't bother to learn how to use it!"

It is more considerate of readers to turn down the resolution on the camera or to use a photo editor to reduce the photo size when the intent is to post to the web.

Not everyone has the luxury of a fast connection.

953,906 bytes and 1280x960 pixels is also a Massive PIC!

Thanks for sharing. :eyebrow:

I agree. Posting huge pictures is a bit silly when the actual image seen on a typical browser screen is 800x600. It kind of screams "I bought this kewl camera but I didn't bother to learn how to use it!"

It is more considerate of readers to turn down the resolution on the camera or to use a photo editor to reduce the photo size when the intent is to post to the web.

Not everyone has the luxury of a fast connection.

It fits perfectly in my browser on my screen and I am on a university connection so speeds are faaaaaaasssst. :P

I plan on getting a tC but I have not ruled out the xB. Some day down the line I may want a jetski, they are so fun.

Just because someone can buy a jetski doesn't mean they can buy a cheap truck also. A used jetski for a grand or two, add insurance on it, now you want to add another few grand for a truck (that may need to be rebuilt for towing) and the insurance for that too. It comes out to alot more.

It always makes me wonder how come a riding lawn mower with 15hp can tow a 19' boat easily around a house to hook up to a car. I know launching a boat is harder because it is wet and at an angle. Though boating is fun.

I am not a boating enthusiast, I am just a guy who likes to boat.

953,906 bytes and 1280x960 pixels is also a Massive PIC!

Thanks for sharing. :eyebrow:

I agree. Posting huge pictures is a bit silly when the actual image seen on a typical browser screen is 800x600. It kind of screams "I bought this kewl camera but I didn't bother to learn how to use it!"

It is more considerate of readers to turn down the resolution on the camera or to use a photo editor to reduce the photo size when the intent is to post to the web.

Not everyone has the luxury of a fast connection.

It fits perfectly in my browser on my screen and I am on a university connection so speeds are faaaaaaasssst. :P

Some day you will have to pay for your own computer, and you might find yourself not so well connected... :(

Your school must have some biiig monitors to display that image without scrolling.


I plan on getting a tC but I have not ruled out the xB. Some day down the line I may want a jetski, they are so fun.

It always makes me wonder how come a riding lawn mower with 15hp can tow a 19' boat easily around a house to hook up to a car. I know launching a boat is harder because it is wet and at an angle. Though boating is fun.

The garden tractor uses wonderful things called "gears" to move large heavy objects with limited power. Given sufficient gears you can move anything, albeit slowly.

Some day you will have to pay for your own computer, and you might find yourself not so well connected... :(

Your school must have some biiig monitors to display that image without scrolling.

The garden tractor uses wonderful things called "gears" to move large heavy objects with limited power. Given sufficient gears you can move anything, albeit slowly.

Well actually I had/have a summer job that paid for my own computer (and plenty of my own expenses) that I built myself. I have a good enough video card that displays 1280x1024 nicely. Don't assume that because I am young I don't have to do things myself. There is a reason why it does not say I own a Scion under my name. The car, the insurance, the gas will all be payed by me 100%. That is the only way I can get it because my parents can not afford it.

Yes I know what gears are but no need to talk down to me. A simple, high gearing will allow much more torque but with much lower top speed (therefore it can only move slowly).

Some day you will have to pay for your own computer, and you might find yourself not so well connected... :(

Your school must have some biiig monitors to display that image without scrolling.

The garden tractor uses wonderful things called "gears" to move large heavy objects with limited power. Given sufficient gears you can move anything, albeit slowly.

Well actually I had/have a summer job that paid for my own computer (and plenty of my own expenses) that I built myself. I have a good enough video card that displays 1280x1024 nicely. Don't assume that because I am young I don't have to do things myself. There is a reason why it does not say I own a Scion under my name. The car, the insurance, the gas will all be payed by me 100%. That is the only way I can get it because my parents can not afford it.

Yes I know what gears are but no need to talk down to me. A simple, high gearing will allow much more torque but with much lower top speed (therefore it can only move slowly).

You were the one who said:

It always makes me wonder how come a riding lawn mower with 15hp can tow a 19' boat easily around a house to hook up to a car.

If you already understood, then why were you wondering?

It is nice that you can pay for your own car and computer. I get a chuckle out of assertions of "I paid for it myself" on luxury goods when Mom and Dad are paying for many of the mundane expenses. Teens and post-teens seem to be particularly sensitive about this sort of thing.

You did a bit of "talking down" yourself concerning your nifty computer and fast school connection. Doesn't feel as good the other way, does it?

I guess it stems from you missing the smiley sticking his tongue out. That usually signifies joking seeing as how my computer was a budget computer and that there are very few people with 56k anymore. If I wanted to talk tough I would have said how awesome my computer it, which it isn't. It is just MUCH more cost effective to build your own.

FYI, after I get my tC (or xB to save money), the only thing my parents will pay for is school, and I will still have a ton of student loans. Not everyone can work year round. I have been working the past 7 summers full-time. I know about working hard.

As for the other thing, it did not cross my mind gearing. I know about gears, it just did not strike me as being what does it.

Anyways, a few people are/have towed with no consequences. The people saying not to do it have not towed anything, or at least they did not say they did, so it is hard to to know what happens.

Of course, it is always best to stay on the safe side, but we need to find the people who tow and check thier transmissions and frames after a few pulls. That will be the only way to settle this.

... a few people are/have towed with no consequences.... we need to find the people who tow and check thier transmissions and frames after a few pulls....

It comes down to details and common sense. What are the towing conditions? Yes, the xB can tow a jet ski. Yes, it is harder on the car. What will happen is up to you.

Will you occasionally tow it to the lake 30 minutes away over level ground? Will you take it easy and keep the RPMs over 3000? Should be able to do this for years.

Will you take it on long trips, on the Interstate, across mountains, in summer, cruising fast, floored in 5th gear or overdrive? You could soon have problems with engine cooling, valves, automatic transmission, and brakes.

I towed an enclosed 5x8 U-Haul for 600 miles with a VW Beetle having 75 air-cooled HP. It seemed to do it fine at the time. But afterward the engine ran a little rough - because the heat had burned a valve.

I don't see why you can't tow a jet ski with the Xb I towed my brothers neon with my XA and had no problems barely even knew it was back there.

I think Scion has been hiding the true capabiity of our cars ;-)

I don't see why you can't tow a jet ski with the Xb I towed my brothers neon with my XA and had no problems barely even knew it was back there.

um yeah that was a pretty dumb thing to do. u better hope it lasts

I think Scion has been hiding the true capabiity of our cars ;-)the engines/trans are probably way more capable. the weak elongated echo chassis not so much.

I think Scion has been hiding the true capabiity of our cars ;-)the engines/trans are probably way more capable. the weak elongated echo chassis not so much.

That "weak elongaged echo chassis" is capable of taking loads from the tie-down eyes equalling the weight of the car (car tied down on transporter, panic braking situation) without damage. Since most hitches are attached to the same hardpoints on the chassis I doubt that any reaonable trailer will overstress the chassis.

If you drive the thing flat out and slip the clutch all the time you can screw up the car without any trailer. If you drive cautiously and are careful to not ask too much of the engine, clutch, and transmission you could tow a half-ton without any ill effects.

George