Thanks for your reply and analysis, Kessog. I foolishly traded in that xD, and didn't want the installed hitch to raise any eyebrows... so I took it off. I hope to find someone who can use it, but invariably I'll get the question "Will it fit my (2011 - present) xD"? You nailed down the likely modification to the xD frame after 2010. Thanks again, JD.

 

No problem. When the time comes to trade in, I may do the same. Dealers are kind of funny that way!
Private sale it may be a bonus.

 

For the past year and a half, I have trailered kayaks behind my xD. No issues whatsoever and I was pulling at least 2-3 trips each month, 250mile minimum round trip.


Needless to say, we put a lot of miles on the car in that time and saw mpg disappear faster than a redfish can suck down a shrimp!

 

I used the Drawtite hitch, purchased from Amazon-
along with the CURT wiring harness.


Simple install and rock solid setup. It is a 1.25in hitch, but if you needed to carry 2" accessories, you can always get the adapter.

 

Here are a couple pics of various towing setups. Obviously these were lightweight trailers- I don't think anyone here would want to tow anything heavy on their class I hitch. That's just begging for trouble.



This was when my son and I had a tandem kayak- we car topped it for a long time, but I got the trailer in order to haul more cargo. (When we cartopped, I used the hitch for a hitch mounted cargo carrier- allowed me to carry coolers and various other things and freeing up interior space!

 

We sold the old trailer and picked up a lighter weight aluminum jetski trailer and converted her to hold a couple of kayaks once we sold the tandem kayak and my son had his own.





It's gone through a couple of iterations, but this is the most recent. In order to free up more interior space, I added the cargo carrier up top. With both the trailer and the cargo carrier, I was only averaging 24 mpg on the highway. . .ouch!

 

24 MPG?!? That sounds a lot like a pick em up truck!
I suppose it would depend a lot on the speed you were doing, too. At 55 I get around 40. It drops off as I go faster. At 65 it's about 36.
End of August I find out what it will do with a trailer. Driving daughter and stuff to college.

 

I don't think I ever got 36, even before getting a roof rack.


I think my best mpg was 32ish, all highway. That was what I used to get stock.
Adding the roof rack added more resistance and brought it down a very small bit- probably 30-31. When I cartopped my kayak, I was averaging 28-30 a trip. (mostly highway) Switching from cartopping to just the trailer- no cargo carrier on top- netted roughly the same as cartopping. Maybe a little less at 27-28.


But putting that big cargo carrier on top brought the number down a good bit. I was lucky to get 240-250 miles on a full tank!

 

To be honest, the numbers are from the onboard computer. I don't think I have ever filled a tank and done the math . . . might be a different story.
Northern Ohio is pretty flat and I usually take it easy starting and planning stops.
Brakes are only used if needed.

Just curious, how fast are you pushing that barn door anyway? LOL

 

65mph on the Interstate and most of the highways we travel are 55-65mph.


We fish the marshes here in Louisiana regularly, and its about 2.5-3hrs one way through mostly flat terrain with bridges over swampy areas, of course.


Good thing about the xD is how easy it is to calculate gas mileage- the tank holds 10gallons total. So just reset the trip calculator, divide by 10 and you're done! I would average going around 240miles to a tank on these last few trips, which is where I have gotten the 24mpg figure.

 

I just pulled my trailer with my D from El Paso TX to Charlottesville VA. My D handled well despite the trailer having a blow out (damn construction). I averaged about 27 mpg doing a rough calculation (computer said 2. I was averaging about 70 mph for most of the trip due to the limit on the trailer tires.

 

That's quite a haul, so to speak. And a lot harder than I would push mine.
I will have to see how it pulls a load and adjust from there.
It's amazing what a little wind can do for/to you, also.

 

I posted some pictures of the haul and load on the facebook xd owner group. It's a lot more active than here. And yes, the wind seems to be more of an enemy than an ally especially with the trailers.

 

Didn't see your pics on Facebook. Which group did you post in?

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/6712606082/

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater
Here's of the trailer. I'm trying to find the ones of what was in it.