Davestoaster

[quote="greenenvy"] The xB just doesn't have enough room for storage when I'm carrying a family of four on a vacation but I love the looks and features enough to not worry about this.

The box is great at towing, IF you use common sense. Remember, 100hp and little brakes.

That said, no problem moving a new couch or fridge, moving along real slow and careful leaving long stopping distances, but to pull a trailer with a "family of four" with luggage......that might be a little much. I'd watch it doing something like that, especially if you had your valuable family with you in the car.

greenenvy

Well, I got my Envy Green yesterday and love it. Had to drive 230 miles to get it but it was worth it. I read the owner's manual and it states that hitches are not approved for the xB for towing a trailer or a hitch mounted bike rack. Plus the load limit on the xB is just 825 pounds so if you have 5 adults you've just about reached your limit. So we'll have to travel light. There's no sense in getting a Yakima box or hitch since the load limit is so low and to attach the hitch runs the risk of voiding the warranty.

vintage42

Imagine driving into the dealer with a warranty problem involving the engine, transmission, clutch, brakes or suspension -- and he sees a hitch installed, or evidence of a hitch having been used.

Driver_Lost

No this would not . But cooking your transmission pulling a pontoon boat. Just might.

It all comes down to stuipid people who screw things up for the rest of the world. We all know and laugh about the Mikkie D's hot coffee case. All it takes is a slick layer.

Scion does not want the liability of brainless people who choose not to tow responsibly.
So the owners manual says do not install a hitch. Simple and easy way to avoid a law suit.

Pulling a 150 pound trailer filled with 75 pounds of teenage girls clothes and make up. Or a bike rack with two mountain bikes installed. Would be considered using a tow hitch responsibly.

If the use of anything that has been added to the vehicle not installed by the manufacturer is a result in the premature failure of a warranted part.
This could be a amplifier and sub, window tint, rims and tires, a hitch, what ever.
Amp fries alternator. Limo tint overstock tint, blow out glass in the Arizona sun. 10 inch wide rims with reverse off set distroys front end, or the transmission drops pulling a cigarette boat or a filled 18 foot U-Haul trailer.

This topic will always be a divided discussion. No gray, just black and white.

If you need to pull a camper, a boat, or a house full of crap. Get a vehicle made for towing.

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Rob

vintage42

In that case, I would just tell the dealer that all I did was pull a 150 pound trailer carrying two mountain bikes ;-)

koalaty2

Using the hitch, and not overdoing with the weight, I think it is a good idea. I will put it on my (xB to do) mod list. I think it is is # 75. I just want to be able to get a piece of 4X8 plywood home from Home Depot.

dittoprinter

Pulling something with a box requires a bit of common sense, unfortunatly it seems to be a commodity in short supply these days.

I had U-Haul do an installation, $350 total parts and labor - did a great job by the way, so I can pull a small utility trailer.

Owning a house requires someway of getting rid of crap on a semi-regular basis. Also, it allows me to pick up more crap that would not fit in the box to be hauled away at a later date.

As mentioned in previous posts, don't try to pull a large boat, camping trailer or even an overloaded trailer and keep the speed down an you'll be ok.

vintage42

Do you know if U-Haul makes their own hitch for the xB, or uses the Curt hitch? This site says the Curt hitch is $140 and installs in 20 mnutes with no drilling.
http://www.hitchsource.com/product_i...44fb3646ba0f12

Did U-Haul also install the wiring for the trailer lights? I did that once on my truck by cutting into the rear harness to install a black box, and it was tricky. For sure the xB will not have a connector on its harness.

dittoprinter

I don't know if it is a "Curt hitch", could be, it looks like the one on the link provided, but then again they all look pretty much the same. I do know that the hitch is rated for up to 2000 pounds well past any reasonable limit of the box. The U-Haul emblems are on it and they did not elude to it being anything other than theirs.

They did the whole job. Exactly how they wired the light I don't know but if it's like any other hitch that I've had them do they fish a line up to the taillights and attach their wiring at that point instead of splicing into the wires leading there. But, since it works I have not looked around to find out what they did.

The plug to the trailer wiring is a neat and tidy flipup connector just underneath the bumper next to the receiver. All in all it is a good job that they warranty for the life of the vehicle.

vintage42

Sounds like U-Haul uses a re-badged Curt hitch. The Curt site also shows harnesses and flip up connectors. It also looks like U-Haul would be using Curt's $40 powered converter:
"This powered converter adapts import and domestic vehicles with separate turn and stop lights (3-wire system) to standard trailer tail light wiring (2-wire system). The unit is powered directly from your battery, elminiating the current draw from your vehicle's stop/turn light circuit. This protects your vehicle's sensitive electronics, ensures that sufficient current is available to the trailer, keeps the trailer lights burning bright, and allows vehicle bulb-out detectors to function properly."

It is tempting to just buy the bolt-on $140 Curt hitch. The harness, converter and connector probably add another $80. But then the devil is in the wiring and who knows what pitfalls lie there for the first-time installer. Makes the U-Haul cost seem reasonable.

dittoprinter

I like to tinker with anything that I can drive. Where I have no problem restoring a car from the ground up I just can't get excited about putting on a trailer hitch.

I figured that the parts I saw for about $240 for hitch and wiring were not bad. But, everytime I've seen something claim a given time to complete the task, i.e. 20 mins, there is always either a logarithmic value that needs to be applied or a law of inverse proportion they are not telling you about.

I just can't see where you can complete a task like that in a reasonable amount of time unless you do it a lot, know what to look for and have the tools readily available. Even with the experience I have working on cars, motorcycles, etc. I figured, realistically, maybe 45 mins to an hour on the hitch and probably 2-3 weeks getting the wiring right.

Yeah.... for me at least, the 2 hours labor time I paid it wasn't a bad deal.

vintage42

I anticipate bolting on the hitch in the 20 minutes claimed, but then getting into a problem with the wiring within the next hour, zapping the car's brain, spending $500 for the dealer to fix it, and ending up paying U-Haul to finish the wiring installation. For which they would charge as much labor as if they did the whole job, with with no warranty.

dittoprinter

Yeah.... that's about right.

StickyHands

I hope to god you got a auto. Cuz you'll kill your clutch.. 1.5L and bikes on a trailer don't mix...

vintage42

Actually, I think manual is better than automatic for pulling trailers with little engines. More gears to better match rpm to driving conditions, lower 5th gear ratio in the xB for abiliity to cruise at higher rpm, no slippage to overheat the fluid.

My 1991 4-cyl 5-speed Mazda truck is rated to pull 2,000 lbs, which is about what my boat and trailer weigh. The truck works hard to pull this heavy load, which also has high wind resistance over 50, but its engine and clutch are fine after 150,000 miles.

When pulling a 250 lb trailer with a 350 lb bike on it, the truck hardly feels it. This load plus a driver would not quite bring an xB to its rated 825 lbs, so the xB would feel it but should not be adversely affected. It does not even have to carry that load, just move it.
http://tinyurl.com/h85jb

Some people's habits give their clutches short lives, and such a person pulling a trailer with a manual xB will give their clutch an even shorter life. Other people try to pull trailers in too high a gear, using low rpms and more pedal, which is hard on the engine and cooling system. The engine will want to ping and run hot. The xB knock sensor will protect the engine, but the radiator isn't designed for such excess heat.

DruBoom

Anybody attempt to remove the rear skirt and mount the hitch flush with it so that when you go on a biking excursion you can take the rear skirt off to expose the hitch, that way it won't be sticking out under the bumper (which looks godawful low to me).