Vtec04

I will be moving out of state and I need to plan how to get my stuff to my new appartment. I can't afford to rent a truck to move, but my friend has a small trailer that I can use, but I am not sure if my 2005 Civic will pull it. I know that towing a trailer with a Civic is far from ideal, but I need to move and I have no other way to haul my stuff. I am going to baby the car on the way and stay below 55 MPH. I am not asking if this is a good idea, I know it's not, what I am asking is if it will cause an immediate failure. My main concern is the transmission failing on the way to my new appartment. I am not concerned about the engine, it was recently rebuilt and is very healthy. Once I am moved, I do not care if the transmission fails, as I plan to swap the tranny for a manual anyway. I installed a Hayden 679 transmission cooler and a Mishimoto racing radiator, but that is obviously not a cure all, and only addresses the heat concern. It also has an aftermarket high flow intake and exhaust, as well as motor mount inserts if that matters. I am also a little concerned that the brakes may not be up to the task, but it has pretty good brakes, so I am not too worried about that. A friend also said that I can stretch the frame, but that sounds overly dramatic. What do you think?

UPDATE: I ended up towing a 4 x 8 U Haul trailer that was packed with stuff from Columbus, OH to Memphis, TN, so about 9 hours of highway driving through the mountains. By some freaking miracle, it did great and made it with no problem, while getting an average of 26 MPG. The engine never got above 186 degrees on the highway, and the transmission fluid never got above 196 degrees. I had to push the brake pedal a bit harder than normal to make it stop and I had to downshift to 3rd gear to get up steep hills easily, but that's about it. This wasn't a light load either. I didn't realize how much weight I was pulling until I stopped at a weigh station and weighed the setup, and the car and trailer combined was 5,420 LBS! So the trailer literally weighed as much as the car. I'm honestly very impressed with this car. The other good thing is that there was no more metal on the magnetic plugs for oil and ATF than there normally was. I'm not sure if I just got extremely lucky, or if this car is just made well enough to pull twice the weight it was meant to at 230K miles on the original transmission and rear suspension.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

At most (including weight of trailer) you're looking at 1100 lbs of towing capacity, as long as you don't carry more 500lbs of gear inside the car.

Vtec04

Ok, thanks a lot. Quick question- What happens if I tow around 1500 LBS total?

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

You'll destroy the transmission differential, and possibly the rear axles.

Then you have no truck to move, and no car to move it with.

Vtec04

I didn't know that FWD cars had rear axles.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

My apologies. I'm referring to rear suspension. Corrected, retracted, and whatever else goes for a substitution these days with younger people who don't let things go.

Vtec04

Sorry for misunderstanding. But yeah, the rear suspension is another concern.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

I'd advise against doing anything with the car in regards to towing. It's simply not worth killing your only mode of transportation with all your stuff in the car at the side of the road. No friends with Trucks, eh? Just fill the car bit-by-bit, and start making multiple trips. But I wouldn't tow past that capacity.. With the age of the car, I wouldn't even attempt to tow ANYTHING

Caoboy

OP, how much stuff do you really need?

That is the real question!


Renting a truck would be cheaper than buying a new car. While you could tow with your car, you'd need to keep the weight low, under 1k lbs. See if there is even a towing rating in the owners manual.

if you do decide to tow, are you going over mountain passes or are you towing across flat country? ​​​​​

Vtec04

It would be almost all highway at around 50 MPH. I could also run it in 3rd gear if that would help.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

Yeah... You'd be making things worse for your transmission.

If you value you're car, you won't attempt this **** and see if you can borrow a few dollars for a moving truck or something. This is idea for you is definitely a bad one.

Of course it will be just as scary seeing you do this:


So, just remind me of what day you're moving so I can stay home..

prodjay10

What's you end up doing? I'm considering installing a tow hitch so I can haul a small camper trailer. My concern would be the clutch going out up a mountain though I'm sure it'd be fine if I kept it light and went slow like you said.

Vtec04

I'll let you know what I end up doing and how it goes.

MariaWalsh

I agree with @TheShodan, If you do value your car, you can borrow a few dollars for a moving truck or something. There are some companies who transport car at an affordable price. Like, last month I had used We Will Transport It services, where their transporters had shipped my car to New York from California at an affordable price. If you want, you may try their services or you may take some more reference about other shipping company also.

holmesnmanny

You could always just rent a truck to tow the trailer. (try saying this 3 times fast )

I'm curious. How much is "affordable price"? I've always been curious how much things like this cost.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

I've had cars shipped twice when moving. They range from about $500 for the standard service (based upon type of truck& destination, not distance) up to $1200 for the full service, being treated as though your car was a Porche GT3.

Vtec04

Ok, so I ended up ordering a hitch for my Civic. I know that towing with a Civic is not ideal, but I don't have $400 to rent a truck and I don't care if the life of the transmission is shortened since I am going to put a stick shift in it anyway. As long as it gets me and my stuff to my new place I will be happy.

Vtec04

I don't understand why I would be making things worse on my transmission to run it in D3 instead of D4. Should I leave it in D3 or D4? Wouldn't the fluid pump in the transmission spin faster and provide more lubrication and cooling at a slightly higher RPM? Also, the engine wouldn't be stressed so much because it won't be trying to make torque at a low RPM, which these engines are clearly not good at.

Caoboy

Did you ever look into the owners manual and see what it says about towing?

Vtec04

It says to not tow anything, but that is not an option. I want to do the best that I can to do it the least damaging way though since not towing is not an option.

Zedt3

So the manufacturer of the car that spent countless millions on engineers, research and development into your vehicle says not to tow, and you have decided that you're going to anyway?

See you in a few weeks when you start a new thread "How much longer does my transmission have?"

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

Because you'll basically boil the transmission fluid to a point where it will wear the transmission out. This is why you have trucks that have transmission coolers from the factory. People tend to forget that transmission run even hotter than the engine itself it's powering. The more stress you're putting on the transmission, (meaning more load and weight), the more the transmission will be working. Going uphill / downhill will get that transmission to overheat even faster. Going into D3 will just make that worse, even if staying at a lower speed.

But we're going to let life be the better teacher this time around. I wish you the best of luck, and I hope that the lack of $400 is worth your transmission which is worth 3x as much to repair. Your towing weight, engine load, distance, and the number of uphill/downhills will determine if it will last or not. We don't know your path, route, and really, it's too much information to sift through anyway. Who knows? It may turn out fine? If it does, consider yourself fortunate, and try not to brag about it, because we'll just say to you that.. You were fortunate thisi time around..

I suppose I don't understand how you can't afford to get a truck, but you can afford to get a full auto-manual swap. What happens when you need to go to work to save this money in the meantime? Actually, nah.. Don't answer that. In the end, it doesn't matter because it's not my Civic.

Again, truly & sincerely, good luck.

Caoboy

I'm not even worried about the transmission.

I'm worried more about this dude panic braking and just locking up or jack-knifing.


My CR-V has a max tow capacity of 1500lbs. That's a vehicle that has AWD, bigger brakes, bigger tires, and more engine.


I don't even try to go near that capacity because it's a small vehicle for even that much load.

Vtec04

The transmission overheating is a valid concern, but I have a giant Hayden 679 cooler to prevent that. I have heard that running in a lower gear reduces stress on the engine and transmission and helps to keep things cool. But I trust you that it'll make things worse. Thanks for your help.

Vtec04

As I understand, towing capacities are way underrated for liability reasons since vehicle conditions, road conditions, drivers, weather, mountains etc. vary so greatly. So since my car is in great condition with new tires and performance brakes, I will not be going over mountains or in extreme weather or bad roads, I think that makes a big difference. Did I get that totally wrong? Thanks.