The Honda Dr.

What's up H-T? Looking for some advice.. In the next few months I'm looking to make a move across the country with my ef hatch. The original plan was to take a box truck with a tow dolly and take 2 cars, but after pricing it out a a local U-haul, the cost would be substantial for the truck and tow dolly alone not including fuel! Some of there smaller trailers came to mind. The car I would be towing with is a 91 Honda Civic hatch (EF) with a JDM Hi-Comp B20 swap mated to a GSR cable tranny. Stock suspension is in place with 15'' 99 Civic Si wheels wrapped in yokohama advan rubber. I have also upgraded the master cylinder to the 15/16'' from a 91 civic EX, as well as the EX spindles which come with the 10.3'' rotors compared to the stock 9.4s. Rears still have the stock drums. The car has made 2 trips across the US with no problems being loaded to the gills with tools, clothes, and whatever other goodies I picked up along the way. Made it through the mountains of California, Wyoming, and Utah without hesitation. Towing a trailer full of stuff changes the game somewhat though. The heaviest things I would be carrying in the trailer would be tools and 2 B series trannys. I know efs are light to begin with, but I figure as long as I get a Class 1 hitch that is attached to the frame, load the trailer evenly, avoid sharp manuevers, and maintain a reasonable speed I should be good. The car is all up to date with maintenance (new clutch, all gaskets, tb+wp, valve adjustment, fresh oil, good tires+brakes, etc) The only thing that worries me is if the rear springs can handle it. I read somewhere online that people have used stock front springs in the rear to compensate for the weight. Anyone ever heard of this?? Good or bad. The total distance of the trip is slightly under 3000 miles and would include some long gradual mountainous terrain. I would be making the trip after the last chance of snow (probly early summer) to avoid that variable. Any insight or pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! Much love.. The Honda Dr.

jonGSR

Obvious the b20 swap shouldn't have any problem towing at all. I feel like your concerns for the rear suspension would be my only concern as well. You could always get a set of cheap coilover sleeves, use the coilover perch and sleeve and toss the cheap springs, then buy some upgraded springs from summitracing.com (2.5" ID, 7" tall) at a higher spring rate to offset the weight and leave it at stock height still. Maybe like a 400-500 lb spring instead of the soft oem springs which are like 160-180 lbs if I remember correctly.

I bought a pair of these springs from summit in a 500 lb rate last year for only $70 shipped. Find some cheap used coilovers in town for hopefully like $20-25, or buy a brand new eBay set for like $50ish for the sleeves and it won't hurt your wallet that much.

fcm

Towing capacity of a "stock" 91 Civic is 1000lb with a tongue weight of 100lb, with the bigger engine you can probably add another 500lb to that although I would not add anymore tongue weight to the hitch. 94

Marcos Barrios

i tow cars with ef sedan at least once a month
i aslo have a b20 but with ls cable trans
my set up is front dc integra springs in the rear and stock front ef springs up front
the integra springs are cut to give me the stock height but stiff enough that the car never drops a crap load even with three
poeple in the CAR AND A MOTOR in the trunk
and stock springs can be had at the junkyard for 10 bucks each


one problem i do have when i have to tow a car ALONE
is the lightness of my car
alot of times what im towing has more weight than my car
so when TURNING the rear end will go into a DRIFT if your not careful
just make sure you take your turns very slow and i mean like at 5 mph

i fix that problem by taking friends with me when i go tow cars and i make them all sit in the back for the traction ^_-
about 500 to 600 lbs extra holding those rear tires down

most ive ever drove while towing a car behind me was 600 miles colorado to nebraska
the b20 has no problems going 75 on the interstate with a car straped to the back
its just those corners that you have to master
but ones you get it you can tow crap all day long

JonGP4

The tow rating on a car has very little to do with engine/drive train. They rate them more on braking power and suspension. Since you upgraded the brakes that helps a little. I personally would not tow with that car at highway speeds. If you did have to slam the brakes on it's very likely that the added weight of the trailer would beyond the limits of your braking system at highway speeds. You can avoid the drifting on turning by putting more weight on the front of the trailer, however you then shift weight away from the front of the car. It's really a careful balance.