Trailer hitch on a Civic

[ChadTower]

Good idea?  Bad idea?

I have a lot of light duty stuff that I do and I'm sick of worrying about renting a pickup.  I can't replace a car any time soon nor buy an old pickup, so I'm thinking if I can rent a utility trailer when necessary that's cheaper and easier than a renting a truck...

Any thoughts?  I got a quote of around $160 to install, including cost of the hitch.

[missioncontrol]

sure it's allright if your going to be hauling mopeds around

[ChadTower]

Heaviest duty I could think of would be a couple pins or cabs, the occasional couch... I have a huge pile of asphalt I need to move but I could do that in multiple trips.

[whammoed]

Do they list any kind of tow rating in the manual or anyplace else?

[Ed_McCarron]

Its probably so small, I bet they recommend not towing a trailer at all with it.

Whats the GVWR?  I can't imagine it being very large, and once you add the tongue weight of the trailer and a few passengers you are probably over the limit.

[ChadTower]

Erf, can't seem to find it online... will have to keep looking.

[Stingray]

You're talking about hauling, what, maybe 500 lb at the very max? You should be fine.

-S

[Havok]

The GVWR should be on the car door - there's usually a sticker...

[Ed_McCarron]

Plus the weight of the trailer.

My 4x8 trailer weighs over 1000 lbs unloaded.

When I let someone else load the trailer once, they put 3 heavy coolers of food/ice at the back, while the rest was fairly evenly loaded - causing a negative tongue weight.  Almost killed myself until I pulled over and redistributed the load.  Thing was whipping around like a live wire.

I can just imagine the same effect in a car thats 1/2-1/3 the weight of my Explorer.

Not saying it can't be done, just saying be -real- careful with trailers and loading.  Its very easy for the trailer to get out of control.

[nostrebor]

You're talking about hauling, what, maybe 500 lb at the very max? You should be fine.

-S

What he said.

 Just try to come up with a light trailer, and drive slow. The Harbor Freight trailers are not bad, cheap, and pretty light. I owned one for a while to pull an ATV... worked just fine.

<sarcasm>They are a lot of fun to put together too</sarcasm>

[ChadTower]

Since I don't have a place to store a trailer, I'd probably be renting one from Uhaul when I needed it.  I don't need it that often, either.

Anyone know how much an average cab actually weighs?  Use a bigger one, say a Dynamo.

[Ed_McCarron]

My Gauntlet machine claims to weigh 350 lbs, but me and another small guy managed to get it up a flight of stairs unassisted, so I think thats over the actual weight.

[Stingray]

I'd say a Dynamo is 300 or less. I can move mine in and out of the house myself, and I'm I'm harldly a big muscular beefcake.

-S

[ChadTower]

Moving something using a decent handtruck isn't much of an indicator of how much it will weigh on a trailer, though.

[ErikRuud]

I'm not sure which Civic you have but this site indicates that it is not rated for towing.

I think my 1988 Prelude was rated for 1000 pounds.

[ChadTower]

I should have noted it's a 4 door 1999 DX.

[Stingray]

Moving something using a decent handtruck isn't much of an indicator of how much it will weigh on a trailer, though.

I don't own a hand truck.

-S

[ChadTower]

Could you describe how you did it, then?  Corner swings?

[Stingray]

Back the truck up to the front door. Drop the tailgate, open the door, drag.

-S

[Witchboard]

Could you put that in Layman's terms? 

[ChadTower]

Step 3:  pick up all the MDF crumblies from the floor.

[Stingray]

Could you put that in Layman's terms? 

Stingray push.

-S

[Witchboard]

... drag.

Stingray push.

Urrr!  You confuse Witchboard... Witchboard smash!

Step 3: pick up all the MDF crumblies from the floor.

I'm sure he uses the casters on the back of most cabs.. shouldn't be too much to pick up.

[ChadTower]

Not one of my cabs has casters on it.

[Stingray]

My Dynamo doesn't have casters. However, my house is tiled throughout. I put an old blanket on the floor and then stand the thing up on it. It slides very easy that way.

The fact remains that I can still get it in & out of the truck myself, and as previously stated, I'm a wimp.

-S

[Witchboard]

Well then, I stand corrected.   

[Stingray]

Well then, I stand corrected.   

Well the other upright that I have does have casters, so you're still battin' .500

-S

[ChadTower]

He's 0-4 with me.

[Luxury]

I'm surprised that you have the engery/motivation to move a Dynamo.

[Stingray]

I'm surprised that you have the engery/motivation to move a Dynamo.

New arcade cab out in the back of the truck. I can't play it until I get in inside, upright, and plugged in. The only thing that would motivate me more would be if it were full of beer and strippers.

-S

[Ed_McCarron]

The only thing that would motivate me more would be if it were full of beer and strippers.

It would weigh more then.  Or, gravity might be stronger.  Ask Bosss7.

[missioncontrol]

The only thing that would motivate me more would be if it were full of beer and strippers.

It would weigh more then.

[Stingray]

The only thing that would motivate me more would be if it were full of beer and strippers.

It would weigh more then.  Or, gravity might be stronger.  Ask Bosss7.

If it were full of strippers, I'd make them get out and carry it for me.

-S

[Ed_McCarron]

ha cross posting makes it funnier

You just know that someone out there is reading it and going "WTF?  Where does he get this from?"

[nostrebor]

Since I don't have a place to store a trailer, I'd probably be renting one from Uhaul when I needed it.  I don't need it that often, either.

Anyone know how much an average cab actually weighs?  Use a bigger one, say a Dynamo.

U-Haul trailers weigh 17 metric tons and tow like --I'm attempting to get by the auto-censor and should be beaten after I re-read the rules--.

 And no! I am not bitter!

[Zakk]

I thought this was going to be a joke thread.  Like "ironing board wing on a civic!"

[DrewKaree]

The only thing that would motivate me more would be if it were full of beer and strippers.

-S

So you lied about your love for bacon then, because any bacon-lover worth a darn would have the strippers outfitted with bacon bikini's.

In a former job-life, I used to rent trailers, and I've got a buddy who happens to own a trailer rental yard.  You probably can't get a temporary hitch for that thing, but you should be okay with U-haul's smallest trailer (which should fit a cab or pin, but DON'T do the ass-fault removal with it).  He said he believes most of their trailers are all-metal, making them heavier than most of his, but with the small amount of weight you're talking about, you should be fine.

[ChadTower]

Eh... with that answer, I think I'll pass on the whole thing.  I'd rather not toe the line when it comes to my transmission.  I'll be done paying for this thing in 4 months and it could last me another 3 years at least.

[DrewKaree]

I think they have vans you can rent for cheap.  If not, just head to Home Depot to rent one of their trucks.  You might have to buy a few 2x4's, but it's cheap

[ChadTower]

What would a Uhaul place do, though, if you rented their truck to haul broken asphalt?  Would there be potential damage issues?

And UHaul is horribly unreliable... every time I try to rent a vehicle from UHaul they don't actually HAVE it when they say it will be there.