I was looking into a towing kit for my Xb2..But the book doesnt recommend towing...can anyone verify this??? I also was looking into the front strut bar for added support and leverage in turning..Its feels kinda floaty...I was also looking at the rear sway bar but I figured that if i get the tow bar I wouldnt need the sway bar..AJ

 

I would definitely recommend upgrading the suspension. You can upgrade both sway bars if you like more performance oriented handling. But if you just want it to handle a bit better, the rear TRD sway is where it's at. I'd recommend doing lowering springs as well. The TRD's are decent, but it seems like everyone's raving about the Tanabe NF210's. They lower the car a bit, but not so much that you'll scrape a bunch. The front strut tower brace is something I'm looking into purchasing. I'm still waiting for other companies to release other product. The TRD piece is nice, but it's a little spendy.

Now, I have the Hotchkis TVS kit. It includes their lowering springs and their front and rear sway bars. My xB2 handles like a dream. Best handling vehicle I've owned, but that's not saying much. The ride is a little rough, but I like to actually feel the road.

Hope all this helps.

 

Almost forgot the towing conundrum...

In the owner's manual it strictly states to NOT tow with the xB. I would advise against it as well. But if it's something small like a bike rack, "yuppie trailer", a little trailer to tow or haul some wood around, I think it would be alright. I could be absolutely 100% wrong, but I don't see what harm it would do.

There are a couple of people who have hitches on their xB2's. I know Jimmbomb has it and bigpapa have a hitch. Hopefully either, or both, chime in and give their 2 cents!

 

...the book tells you it does not reccommend towing...might that book be called the owner's manual? and you want to know if we can verify it? it says do no tow with a scion, any scion, none of them are designed for towing. do not tow with them.

but lots of people do anyway, but seriously, it you were looking for a tow car, you bought the wrong vehicle.

 

YAH!!!!! All I want is to tow my motorcycle or a small trailer.. not a mobile home or anything..OK so Ill still get the rear sway bar too..Im not sure about the lowering springs, for this city and potholes and Ill be driving it i the winter..It will scrape too much.
Im really kinda confused about the towing tho.. The engine can more then handle it and its not like the car will pull apart..

 

This is true, but I'd be iffy about pulling a trailer and a motorcycle. That's just me, though. I'm sure as long as the tongue weight is pretty low, you should be fine. It's worth a shot, ya know.

 

No draxcaliber, I didnt buy the car for that, but just in the case that I might need to for whatever reason. Just like a 1000lbs or less...nothing big...We have a real nice truck for towing bigger things . thanks AJ

 

i know, i just get ticked off that scion, the people who designed, engineered and built your car, explicitly tells you that they do no reccommend towing anything. and your asking a bunch of strangers on the internet if we know better than the people who built your car.

but with that said, your not the first person to ask, and there are lots of people who do tow stuff like a jet ski or small trailer full of something with their xa/xb/tc. so it is done, and so far i haven't seen a post with somebody wrecking because they were towing something, but i am not going to pretend scion was just too lazy to figure out if any of their cars could tow somthing.

but if scion thought it was safe, they would post something like "the scion (whatever) is equipped to tow up to XXX pounds" trust me, they would tell you because would be another small sales point for people who do look for cars with towing capabilities.

 

I'm with drax. You'd have a hard time getting a warranty-sponsored transmission replacement by saying "I KNOW the owner's manual said not to tow, but a bunch of people on the internet said it was okay!" ;)

I'm wondering about the cost-effectiveness of making the minimum modifications. You can't rent a pick-'em-up-truck for what it costs to have a hitch installed AND upgrade the suspension?

...oh, you have a truck.

... WHY are we here, again?

 

If you do decide to tow, keep the tongue weight light, and if you have an automatic, think about upping the transmission cooler for anything more then a couple hundred pounds.

 

OK, Thanks guys for your opinion...Ive read the manual..all i was looking for is an opinion is all.. I didnt come in here to start any trouble or ____ anyone off..I came here because it looked to me there are good people here dedicated to their scions..dedicated, meaning that you know more about your scion then your average car owner...thanks again AJ

 

Raven, don't take it personally, if your comfortable towing with your xB then do it.
Most front-wheel drive cars are not designed for towing and it says so in the owners manual.
So if you do decide to do it, just know that its not recommended, however there are people out there that do it anyway.
Good Luck

 

Call me crazy but not only have I lowered my XB but I also tow with it. You just have to use common sense. Since most people don't have any, I think Scion says no towing so some idiot doesn't try to tow a camper and 50' boat. I have a 5'x8' mesh utility trailer that I haul my ATV around with it my XB does fine. Total weight is about 1000lbs. I pull the transmission down to third gear when I approach a big hill so my tranny doesn't have to lock and unlock the converter and search between third and fourth gear. I also don't wait until the last second to apply my brakes when slowing down. I plan ahead and leave enough gap between me and the guy in front of me to allow for increased braking distances.

 

I was laying on the garage floor last night, installing the new hitch on my xB (which I am planning only to use for a bike rack), and it struck me as a little ironic that Toyota's herd of lawyers who write owner's manuals is so violently opposed to towing of any kind, but somebody at the factory put six nice holes under there with nuts welded inside the frame rails, which sure made it a convenient, 10 minute job, to install the hitch I'm not supposed to have.

 

I do have a hitch on mine, but it is only used for a bike rack or such.

According to a buddy of mine that is a tech for Toyota, the max you would want to tow is under 1000. Like stated earlier this vehicle was not made for towing anything, but he said they try to put a bit of lee way in for people that need to.

Just my .02 cents worth.

 

it takes more than just a six pin adaptor and welded nuts. the suspension, transmission, drivetrain, brake ssytem, chasis integrity.

another very imporant factor is the GVWR. i can't find how much it is, but the gvwr is the gross vehicle weigt rating. it is essentially the maximum amount of weight the vehicle can weight and still drive.

so before you start towing with your box, find the curb weight, which is 3090 i believe (curb weight=weight of car with all the necessary fluids to operate, but no driver) and subtract it from the GVWR, and that is how much additional weight you can travel with.

i beleive the first gen xb was 800 pounds. so people towing a 1000 pound trailer wer taking lots of mileage off their cars lifespan.

i couldn't find the GVWR for the 08 xb,but it should be in your owner's manual or on the front driver side door sill.

 

the six holes are convienant. lol

but having 800lbs. behind an an xb2 i would worry about the brakes.

 

Here is mine.. tows great.


Thats 1000lbs back there very light tongue weight..i bought a manual trans cause i knew i would be towing my ski.

 

The manual states NO TOWING whatsoever. That being said, I installed my hitch for non-trailer related options (ie: bike rack, ski rack, cargo carrier, etc.). I honestly don't see a problem with towing a light weight setup like john08xb has. Just use common sense. If the transmission is wandering through the gears, then downshift. If you have to stop, do it alot earlier than you normally would. I used to tow a small Harbor Freight trailer with a Ford Probe and that car went 225,000 miles on the original motor and trans.