After looking the car over and realizing that a roof rack will probably not workout too well without risk of bumping the sunroof, I was curious about building up a small trailer to carry things like mountain bikes, kayaks, etc... I don't need capacity, I just need the space. I'm talking about maybe 500 to 700 lbs of total trailer weight, and the tongue weight will probably be in the 50lb range.

So then I looked in the tC Owner's Manual and the only reference to towing says "Don't Do It", sort of like an anti-NIKE slogan, but I have a hard time believing that this light towing is going to not be possible.

Have any of you guys looked into this setup with your xAs and xBs??

 

Not sure dude but I saw an RSX towing a boat the other day... laughed my ___ off.

 

i wouldn't do it, but it could probably be done with something really, really, really small. it would be a lot of extra wear on the car though.

 

this car is meant for driving, not towing stuff around. i dont understand why people can think every day econoboxes can tow something. this is why they have trucks.

 

I see this in his future.

 

I don't know what world you live in, but almost every car has a towing capacity, which is rated by the vehicle manufacturer, to do one thing: TO TOW STUFF!!! Don't give me this crap about econoboxes and trucks, Toyota wouldn't release a towing capacity on a vehicle if it couldn't tow something - the towing capacity of the freggin' ECHO is 700LBS.

Please don't talk about stuff you know nothing about.

Toyota rates the towing capacity of the Camry with the 4cyl engine at 2000lbs, so it's safe to assume that the tC will have the same capacity.

 

THANK YOU... finally out of the previous posts, a knowlegeable, concise statement with facts to back it up... I didn't ask people's opinions or slander because you don't like my idea (this is referred to as flaming), I asked for people's experience... I was clear on my desires...

food for thought for the doubters... nobody would think twice if they set out on a cross country trip with three bikes strapped to the roof of their car, filled the trunk with as much gear and junk as would fit, stereo equipment, subwoofer boxes and then put three people riding in the car... max out the load capacity of the vehicle and put yourself at risk because brakes and suspension are both maxed out... but if I put a 400lb trailer on the back (no wind resistance as compared to a roof rack) and put two mountain bikes on it (about 60lbs)... total mass will be placed on a separate axle and weight will be well below the 1st example of "stuffing" the car...

 

The European Toyota Avensis sedan (which seems to share its chassis with the tc) lists a towing capacity of 2866 pounds with trailer brakes, 1102 pounds without. This is with the base 1.6 liter engine, so the tc's should be higher. Might be a while before you see a hitch for it.

P.S. I've seen Miatas with trailers. The smaller the car, the more you need one.

 

A friend of mine tows a Mastercraft Pro Star 190 with a mustang..... convertable......fresh....dope...function

 

my friends dad has a chevy express van, sits around 8 people, and has a v8, it can tow anything out there! plus it can haul everyone around... too bad the scion xB cant tow for ____...

how about just throwing a bike rack in the hitch? thats what i have on my celica, for the same reason, of the sun roof hiting the rack bars... its not much of a load, though the bike rack alone weight like 30-60 pounds... (thule) and then my moutain bike is under 40 pounds... and then add possibly all my friends bikes, and we total out at around 200 ish... to see how a load would effect a car, just throw a whole bunch of ____ in the back of the car... aka bags of sand, cement mix, concret blocks, or big rocks, and drive around for one whole tank... find the reduced gas mileage and compare it to your usual... then you can find if it is possible to tow a trailer... just remember ontop of your tc costs you will have not only the tc's insurance and plates, but also the trailers insurance and plates, which if not used often could cost more then just getting on ride - racks

 

I'm gonna check on the insurance angle this week... I was unaware that a utility trailer would need isurance - the car insurance covers any damage that might be caused, so I am not sure what you would need it for...

for costs on registration for the trailer, it should be the $20 minimum charge (I used to pay that on my bug...) I can swing that... :D

we just got back from a morning of mountain bike riding and I absolutely hate the trunk mounted carrier... scratches, too tight to fit the bikes, the bikes can rub each other... I really would like to have a small (250lb) trailer that could hold a few hundred pounds.. so far I have turned up THIS ONE ... I am thinking the total tongue weight will be in the 50-75 lb range and the total rolling weight will be in the 450lb range... and a hitch is an easy thing to fab up... a sheet metal bender, MIG welder and some square tubing... a few hours and a few bucks... if and when I build the hitch, I will put the specs/drawings up online so that people can have a go by...

 

yeah that shoudl be cool
my friend bought a trailer hitch for his 4bangin camry

 

Conciseness does not have to equate to rudeness.

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't you say the tC Owner's Manual say not to tow? rbloedow said almost every car has a towing capacity which is rated by the manufacturer. I would assume (and you know what happens when you assume) that if the Owner's Manual says not to tow that maybe the manufacturer has rated the vehicle as not having a towing capacity. It sounds like you supplied the "facts" to back up the "opionions" while the assumptions of the person you thanked for the "facts" seem to contradict what you quoted from the Owner's Manual.

Also, disagreements and opinions in and of themselves are not considered flaming. The first four replies do not seem like flaming. Maybe the fifth and sixth replies could possibly have a tiny hint of flaming.

How about this for a fact - if anything the statments would be libel not slander. My source is the dictionary.

 

well, when we see the REAL owner's manual... the final cut, the final edition that is included in the car... then we'll have a source...

flaming is defined as provocation of anger, not for purpose... much as your post, no real purpose, no real facts... driven by boredom...

seriously, outside of hybrids and other unusual drivetrains - are there really cars on the road with a ZERO tolerance for towing?? I don't want to be a professional mover, or even a yard service... I want to take two people, two bikes, maybe a suitcase...

if not my 250lb trailer idea, then what do you recommend?? a roof rack?? at 70mph the strain of two bikes on the roof will be much greater than the strain from a 48" wide trailer...

added weight to vehicle's suspension with roof rack and two bikes is probably 150lbs... added weight with trailer is probably 50lbs MAX... probably more like 25lbs...

under driving conditions weight to drivetrain with roofrack would probably equal a 30% increase in drag and the 150lbs... trailer will give a <5% drag increase and 300lbs - the winner on this one is based on speed...

you'd consider a trunk rack a better solution?? backup your "don't do it" comments and bring the solution to the table...

 

A station wagon.

 

There is a hitch you can buy made for the tC. Last year their was a guy that had one and he liked it.
http://www.hitchsource.com/classitra...h-p-27383.html

Here is the old Scionlife post
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...209&highlight=

 

damn, you dug up a two year old post!!!

I ended up taking iZero's suggestion... I traded my '05 xB for a brand spankin' new '05 WRX...... I have flashed the ECU and am making 260hp, 0-60 in just under 5 seconds... strapped a roof rack to it, ended up buying that trailer - the trailer is good for 1100lbs, the car can handle 2000lbs, so I can take me and a crew up to the mountains with no issue...

I had to ditch the xB because you lose about 4% of your horsepower per 1000 feet of elevation... so in Denver I was down about 20% and with my frequent trips up to 10,000 feet (down 40%) I was struggling to keep speed in third... I miss the mileage, but not the lack of power - with a 4x8 trailer I can more than handle the hauling capacity...

my brother still has his and it is working great for him to haul around his music equipment...

 

The tC definately has enough power to tow small utility trailers. It could be that the rear portion of the car's frame is simply not strong enough to attach a hitch to. Maybe its a frame issue and not a power issue. My grandfather used to tow a trailer with a 1991 Escort wagon.

 

that was fun.