ShadeOfBlue

Four people, four bikes, and luggage for a family trip? Sounds like it might be a bit cramped but would love to hear about your experience with the Scion's space.

mcbrew

Depending on the size/shape of the people in the back seat, you might make more room by folding down the single seat and putting one of those people in the middle seat. I have done that in my Golf and it worked out fine. Haven't even had anyone in the back seat of the xD yet.

Don't worry about it... it's fun traveling in a small car. Traveling in a big car, truck or SUV is too easy... like cheating!

mmarcuse

Actually, one of the kids is pretty small and will have no trouble, and only two bikes. I'm not terribly concerned about the seating arrangements. I always make it a point of trying the back seat with the driver's seat all the way back when car shopping (I'm 6'2"), and the Scion didn't feel much different than my former Lancer. I think it will do just fine as long as I put the little one behind the driver.

Whether all the luggage will fit is a different story, even with the roof rack. I am planning on installing the hitch receiver and roof rack on Saturday.

If I manage to make it all fit, I'll try to post a pic of the Xd as a family car. I'm sure my gas mileage won't be as good, but is should still be better than my wife's CRV. If I hit 30 mpg fully loaded, I'll be more than happy.

darrem

Hi
A lot of people use their cars for things that they are not designed or approved for. That doesn't mean it won't work. Car and truck manufacturers must make certain choices when they design a car and when they write the manual. They don't want someone towing something and losing control of it then suing them for it. This kind of thing happens all the time in the US, but not often in most European countries because they have legal systems that limits such abuses.



__________________________
Jacksonville limo service

mcbrew

Hmmm.... that sounds familiar darrem. Were you trying to comment on something I wrote?

releaseme

Can't wait to see the pics of the Griswolds new family cruiser!

mmarcuse

I installed the roof rack (Thule) and hitch. I had no problem installing the hitch.

For those interested (I know there are a few), it's UHaul 24789 or Curt 11491 (it's the same hitch). A couple of notes on the installation:

- I did not have to jack the car up. A bit cramped, but still was able to work with the car on the ground
- I followed the instructions, but I did not remove the rubber muffler suspender. All I had to do was push the muffler down (stretching the ring) to get enough clearance to get the hitch into place.
- Read the instructions carefully. Two of the screws used are existing ones and you need to remove those first (they are used to attach the bumper to the frame) before you can get the hitch flush and aligned with the holes.

Once you get the hitch positioned, put those screws in first and screw them in but don't tighten them (leave them loose. This will give you enough support to allow you to get all the other screws in.

Get all the screws in with the nuts loosely fitted, THEN tighten everything.

My hitch-mount bike rack fits nicely (it's the Performance Bike flatbed one), though it is a bit of a pain to fold down to access the hatch.

For the roof rack, I used the Thule one with the XD fit kit. It's a pain in the butt to put in, but it looks good now after a lot of cussing. I noticed quite a bit of wind noise with the roof rack, so I'm going to install a fairing next.

Last thing on my to-do list is I'm going to attach a piece of plywood to the bottom of a flexible roof bag I bought, otherwise it won't fit very well on the roof (plus it would touch and possibly scuff the car paint).

Sorry, no pics yet. I still don't know if all of this will be enough to fit in all people and luggage, but it's been fun to do nonetheless.

Once I get it all done, I'll take a pic and post it.

mmarcuse

As promised: here is the car with roof rack and hitch (plus hitch-mounted bike rack):
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

Detail of the hitch.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

The car loaded and ready to go. 4 occupants with their luggage and two bicycles made it 700 miles in comfort and with no problems. Gas mileage was not great because of the roof-mounter airbrake :-)

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

releaseme

You Did It!!!! It looks better than I anticipated. Job well done. Yea the big air dam doesn't help for mileage but You can remove it at your destination,while another vehicles mileage will remain the same(bad).
Cheers and Happy Holidays to the family.

mcbrew

Love to see people using small cars to their maximum. We can take a lesson from people in European countries... these cars can do a lot!

mcbrew

Woohoo! My parents bought me the Curt receiver hitch for Christmas. I put it on that night since my father has a lift in his garage. It took about 30-40 minutes while taking my time... after having a couple bourbon & cokes, some champagne, and a beer.

A few note for anyone else who is planning on installing one of these hitches:

- A rubber mallet is your best friend.
- Fender washers may need to be modified or omitted.
- You will need a good torque wrench. This particular hitch requires that the large bolts be torques to 150 pounds, which is about twice the torque of a lug nut.

TRDxD

yay for meaty bolts!!! :D

mcbrew

Yeah, and you'll need a 15/16" socket!

I'm so glad there's no drilling... my Golf needed about 8 holes drilled to install a hitch.

TRDxD

thats great that its a direct bolt on. id be realyl hesitant on drilling into my car...but if it were necessary i guess i could get over it.

never thought i would have a use for a 15/16" socket on my xD..haha

mcbrew

Just did the trailer wiring today. I tapped power from the fuse box (the one behind the tip-out cubby hole in the dash). There are two 30 amp square fuses in there and a blank space for another beside them. It seems like a good source of switched 12v power. Anyone know what that space would be used for? The powered Hopkins trailer light converter has its own 20 amp fuse in line. I hooked up a trailer and the lighting worked just fine.

mcbrew

Just though some of you might like to see the cargo carrier I bought/modified to use with my xD.



I bought the rack from Harbor Freight with a coupon for $63. It is aluminum (obviously, right?) and it is made for a 2" receiver hitch. The 2" bar is steel and runs through an aluminum channel from the rear of the rack and protruded forward about 10" where it would have gone into a 2" receiver. I chopped it off flush with the front of the rack and bolted a 1 1/4" ball mount (with 5" rise) through the aluminum channel and the steel and fixed it there with a 3/4" thick grade 8 bolt. I cut a piece of 3/4" iron pipe to act as a spacer inside the steel so that it wouldn't want to collapse when I tightened the bolt.

Anyway, it is really secure now and has plenty of ground clearance. The rack was rated for 500 pounds of cargo with a class III hitch. Obviously I can't put that much weight on a class I hitch. The Curt hitch is rated for 200 pounds on tongue weight. I estimate that the rack weighs about 30 pounds. After installing it, I stood on the rack (30lb + 220lb) an it took the weight with just a little flex in the hitch.

This should be great for camping trips and taking small dirty/oily things to the landfill.

mmarcuse

That cargo carrier looks like a great idea. I may want to getone for my next trip. I removed the roof rack last week and immediately noticed an improvement in mpg. The carrier seems like the way to go if I'm not taking the bikes (my bike rack is hitch-mounted) as it keeps the profile low.

I did the trailer wiring this past weekend so I could move a couch with it. The xD hauls my 4x8 trailer with no problems. I couldn't even feel it. I don't think I would want to try to haul anything too heavy with this car, but for my purposes, it's more than adequate. My MPG towing the trailer with the couch (at moderate speeds) was around 31. Not bad at all!

mcbrew

Hey, 31 MPG is pretty sweet with a 4x8 trailer! I'm building a teardrop camping trailer on a 4x8 frame right now. Hopefully I'll have it finished this spring/summer and I'll let you know how it tows behind the xD.

I'll be renting a uHaul trailer this weekend to pick up a couch, chair, and dresser from my fiancee's house in PA.

mcbrew

I'll be picking up a Uhaul trailer (4x8 enclosed) tomorrow to move some furniture. Only towing it about 100 miles... but I'll let you all know how it goes.

mcbrew

Well, I'm driving around PA with a Uhaul trailer in tow. The trailer's pretty beat up, but it works. I've got a couch, ottoman, dresser, and some other junk in there. Tows like a charm!