proxim2020 wrote:
kmbelt wrote:
You stated "Looking for suggestions and/or concerns with my set up."
Obviously you were not looking for the info as MANY people have told you about their concerns and all you seem to repeat is that you are an engineer and know it will be fine.
Have fun down the road when
1. your hitch rips the rear of your car out
2. you rear-end another vehicle due to not being able to stop
3. you lose control and flip due to your car not having enough mass to control the swaying you will likely receive while towing
4. you burn the tranny out because it is most likely not built to haul the load unless an exterior transmission cooler was added.
Hopefully during all of this, you do not injure/kill any other motorists and by-standards, because you obviously do not take into account their safety around you.
And if none of this "doom and gloom" happens will you gladly eat crow? So far no one has given him any good hard facts on why this can't be done. Most of the advice has been "I wouldn't do it," "It's a unibody car. You can't tow anything with a unibody car," "You'll be over your limits," etc.
I got to say when I first started reading this thread I was highly skeptical that this combo would be possible, but the OP and others make some really good points. Plus a similar combo is alive, well, and operating just fine. While towing with a Charger would make for a very unconventional and maybe less than ideal TV, that doesn't mean that it can't be done. You don't need a truck with 6 wheels for everything.
I have a little econobox with a stick that has a tow rating of 0 lbs. The manufacturer didn't even make a hitch for it. A few days after I bought it new I put an aftermarket hitch on it. I've put so much stuff behind that little car, even a 600lbs gun safe. Over the last 8 years I've never lost control, flipped, or rear ended someone while towing. Never actually put myself in any of those situations really. The hitch has yet to be ripped from the car. After 168,000 miles, I'm still on the original clutch, engine, and transmission without one problem. Pretty good for a car that routinely exceeds its tow rating.
I am not on the bandwagon with what I like to call the "Nattering Nabobs of Towing Negativity"...to paraphrase Patrick Buchanan...Tongue weight is a variable that can be somewhat controlled by how you load the trailer. ALL vehicles have built in safety margins in design. The published figures are a compromise of marketing , Design and the Legal Department.
What matters is real world testing. And there seems to be plenty of that. Most of it (if not all) points to the fact that what you are wanting to do can be done with the right set up. Years ago when the tongue weight was too much for the car (yes CAR) they installed a set of helper wheels at the hitch.
This is passe now but worked fine.
This site is famous for the "towing Police" who demand weighing and re-weighing and a one ton for every job, never exceeding any given number and think that the weight of the TV is always too light in ratio to the trailer.
Many LTL trucking companies use single axle tractors weighing in at about 12 thousand lbs towing 3 trailers weighing as much as 100K in some states. Your TV weight ratio to towed weight will be just fine.
Note to the Naysayers here...the physics don't change from car/trailer to tractor-trailer.
Go for it OP it sounds like you've done your homework and you have thought this out.
It's more about how you load it , set it up and especially drive it.
