which teeny car for toy hauler?

tplife wrote:
Take a look at Consumer Reports ratings before you go "smart". Just sayin'!

We meet other Smart owners all the time. Everywhere we go, other owners stop us and chat. And we stop other owners, too. We still haven't met an unsatisfied owner. The only criticism we've ever heard is from NON-owners.

We bought ours new in Oct 2011 and have zero complaints about it. It is DH's daily driver, and he never gets below 42mpg in it. Usually it gets closer to 47 mpg - and that is hand calculating every tank. I think it has 23K miles on it now???

He's driven it in every condition imaginable, on good roads and bad, and he still loves it. He commutes to Washington DC, and feels completely safe doing so.

Take a look at Consumer Reports ratings before you go "smart". Just sayin'!

SolidAxleDurango wrote:

Oaklevel wrote:

rerod wrote:

Oaklevel wrote:
Just keep in mind when looking at THs most only rate the garage areas at about 2,000 lbs. Good Luck.......

Mine has 5200 lb axles and it weighs 6500 dry.

Does that mean I could carry a 3500 lb car?

Sorry no, mine has a 4500 lb cargo rating but the garage is only rated at 2000 lbs, I have 7000lb axles................. Check the garage rating on what ever you are looking at.......................

Why would there be a "garage rating" that is separate and different from an overall "cargo rating"? That would be the first I've heard of that.

Most of the toy haulers (other than the work & play cargo styles) have garage ratings........... because they don't want too much weight behind the rear axles & make the tongue or pin to be too light. On any trailer RV or cargo 60% of the weight must be in front of the axles or it would be almost impossible to control.........

Want to do the same thing. A lot depends on the capacity of the toyhauling area and exactly where the weight distribution falls. Example: Where and how much weight is going to be behind the wheels of the trailer. Even the shortest of the tiny cars
Smart car is 8'6" long, the Scion IQ is 10' long and the Fiat 500 is 11'9" long. Ranging in weight from about 2100 to 2400#.
The front wheels will be ahead of the axles, but how far behind the axles the rear wheels of the car makes a big difference.
I have a Work and Play 34FK, total cargo capacity is over 7000#, but I still have to figure out how much I will be able to put in the cargo area. The ramp is good for 5000#. The concentrated weight and CG(center of gravity) is the tricky part. Ask any load master who works for the airlines or Air Force...

Jeep Wrangler in ours. With 28' of garage, length isn't a problem with 13' of Jeep.







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Samurai's are fun but you have to do something to the suspension or they will beat you to death. I have hauled one in my big toyhauler and also in our first 21ft Aljo. They are the same size as my Kawasaki Teryx.

A friend of ours hauls a 40's vintage jeep but tight.

This isn't our toy hauler but we put our little smart in one of the toyhaulers at sturgis north....just for fun.

based on smallness alone. smart, fiat 500, whatever that scion micro car is called, chevy spark

it's also going to depend on how long your garage is. miatta will not fit in our 12' garage