Pulling a trailer...

CAMS_02 · Post by **CAMS_02** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:50 am

Hey, gang. I'm getting ready to move to Arizona (from Wisconsin) in a few weeks and unfortunately, the only way (or at least, the cheapest way) to get my motorcycle down there is to trailer it behind my Neon. The tech at the Dodge dealership said "no one tows anything with a Neon," but several others have told me it shouldn't be an issue. I'm having a Draw-Tite Class I hitch professionally installed tomorrow and have been looking at small utility trailers, weighing anywhere from 400 to 500-pounds. My bike weighs roughly 750-pounds. I'm also gonna load the vehicle with a stereo, TV, two basses and two guitars, maybe an amp or two (50 lbs. each), etc. and throw a couple of Rubbermaid totes (full of clothes) on the trailer. I'm confident I can pull the weight of the trailer, I'm not so confident in the tongue weight and if the Class I hitch can handle the trip (roughly 1800 miles) without ripping off the car. Does anyone have anything for me to put my mind at ease? I'm considering loading the bike backwards, so the engine - the majority of the bike's weight - will be just behind the axle of the trailer, which should still leave maybe 400-pounds towards the front of the rig. Thoughts? Help?

BTW, it's a 2002 SE, with about 80,000 on the clock and a 5-speed manual transmission. It's been a little "chuggy" lately, but otherwise, it runs great. Any thoughts on the chugginess? I replaced the plugs last fall, but my MSD wires and ignition coil are at least 3 or 4 years old.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 11:08 am

Is the coil oem or MSD? I doubt the plug wires are bad. The Taylor Spiro Pro wires I installed back in 2004, are still doing fine. I'm sure MSD wires are decent, but their coils are hit and miss. If the original coil was functioning when you replaced it, (and you still have it) put it on and see if it runs better.

Jason (Diablo0) pulls a trailer to Carlisle with no problems, Tho I doubt he has 750 lbs on it. If you can get the weight balanced so there is sufficient weight on the tongue, so the car won't jack knife, but isn't killing your rear springs, you should be fine.

Paul56 · Post by **Paul56** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 12:37 pm

Rent a Uhaul van with a car dolly or trailer for the Neon.

You will have plenty of room inside the van for the bike
and other items and will save the miles on the Neon.

Might even sleep inside the van if you feel adventurous.

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 2:01 pm

A guy in the netherlands towed an SRT with a 2.0L neon without issue:

DetergentCandy · Post by **DetergentCandy** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 2:17 pm

That is soo cool!
Never thought i'd see a Neon towing a Neon.
I approve

iThane · Post by **iThane** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 4:18 pm

i think i've seen those pics on srtforums. iirc, thats a 2.0 pulling an srt

CAMS_02 · Post by **CAMS_02** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 5:24 pm

Thanks for all the responses, gang. I was going to rent a U-Haul truck, stick the bike in it and tow the car behind, but like I said, I'm trying to get this done as cheaply as possible. I think a truck big enough to get my bike in it, plus some furniture, gets about 10 mpg. That's a helluva lotta fuel - not to mention the cost of the truck! I figure it should only cost me $200 in gas to get from WI to AZ, with just the car and the bike (trailer).

Seeing that guy pulling another full-size car with his 2.0 makes me a little more at ease.

Maybe if I feel adventurous, I can sleep on the side of the road, on the trailer!

esteinmaier · Post by **esteinmaier** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 9:48 am

It's not so much the motor that's a big deal. It's that the PL body doesn't have enough suspension to keep the trailer tracking straight if you have to swerve or something unexpected. Then of course, you don't have huge brakes or enough weight to stop the car plus the trailer quickly.

Pulling a bike, go for it. I would feel comfortable towing up to about 2000lbs behind an MTX neon, but I would be taking it very, very easy. Lots of room between you and the guy in front of you, and take your turns like you have a glass of battery acid in your passenger seat.

On a cool as hell note, if i were to find the right parts, I would build a neon tow rig. As in merging a neon and a trailer. The car being pulled would end up nosing in to right about where the back seats are. Find me some parts. Go!

DetergentCandy · Post by **DetergentCandy** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:46 pm

So, where are you moving to in AZ? And whycome?

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 8:31 pm

It's not recommended to tow more weight than the vehicle towing - Ex: 1500lb trailer with a 3000lb car being pulled by a 3000lb car. My Ram Short-box with a 318 this year huffed pulling up the PA hills, my RT to Carlilse. The Max towing capacity was 5000lbs and with a 1500lb trailor and a 3000lb car I was close to the limit. A motorcycle and a trailer should be fine, just make sure you don't exceede the towing capacity of the car which I think is 1500lbs....
If you do push the towing capacity make sure you have a trani cooler for an ATX, granted you have a MTX....

thecause17 · Post by **thecause17** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:42 pm

I've seen tow ratings from 1200lbs to 2000lbs. I think you could do it, but be careful with the tongue weight, your springs really aren't going to take a lot of that. I'd also go real easy pulling out with it, being a manual and not plan to really use 5th gear. Other than that I don't see an issue doing it, like others have said, keep a lot of distance between the cars in front of you, and break way earlier than you normally would. I think the braking system would be my biggest worry if it was me doing it, especially with the rear drums, they'll be pretty much useless once they get hot.

As far as using a truck and getting bad milage, I wouldn't expect your car to be getting very good milage either. I picked up a new Ducati at a dealer for my buddy this year and got 18mpg all the way with it in the back of my V8 Dakota. I bet your car ends up getting only a few mpg better than that...

silentneon01 · Post by **silentneon01** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:52 am

If you can find one there is a trailer (u-haul had them) the trailers have built in braking systems that are connected to the tongue of the trailer. When the car brakes the trailer pushes on a hitch which hits a switch and causes the trailer to break. when the car lets off the brake and pulls away the switch release and releases the brakes on the trailer. Stopping is the only issue I would have towing with a neon.

thecause17 · Post by **thecause17** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 12:24 pm

silentneon01 wrote:If you can find one there is a trailer (u-haul had them) the trailers have built in braking systems that are connected to the tongue of the trailer. When the car brakes the trailer pushes on a hitch which hits a switch and causes the trailer to break. when the car lets off the brake and pulls away the switch release and releases the brakes on the trailer. Stopping is the only issue I would have towing with a neon.

Usually this is only on the larger trailers. The small car dollys and cargo haulers don't generally have brakes. It's when you get up in size that they start putting intertia brakes on. I've used several trailers from U-Haul in the past. The only one I've gotten with brakes was a two axle car trailer that I used last year. The empty trailer itself was 1500lbs.

Mopar_Korean · Post by **Mopar_Korean** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:45 pm

IIRC Towing capacity for MTX is 1500lbs. A friend and I where thinking of towing two motorcycles to the tail of the dragon this summer. Technically we could have done it but we didnt trust the 160,000 mile clutch in the mountains.

doyle09 · Post by **doyle09** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 4:57 pm

silentneon01 wrote:If you can find one there is a trailer (u-haul had them) the trailers have built in braking systems that are connected to the tongue of the trailer. When the car brakes the trailer pushes on a hitch which hits a switch and causes the trailer to break. when the car lets off the brake and pulls away the switch release and releases the brakes on the trailer. Stopping is the only issue I would have towing with a neon.

You won't find one of those anymore, called surge brakes and they are illegal now

thecause17 · Post by **thecause17** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 11:56 am

doyle09 wrote:You won't find one of those anymore, called surge brakes and they are illegal now

They are not illegal everywhere, and not for all uses. I believe they are illegal for commercial use, but not for light and medium duty. As I stated earlier, I used a U-Haul trailer this year that had this type of brakes on it. They work fine, the only problem with them is that you can't independantly control the brakes in an emergency, as they rely on the inertia of a stop to engage the system. I've never had an issue with them, but I can see the possibility of danger with them if you'd lose your brakes in the two vehicle.

The best setup to have is a brake controller and electric or electric over hydraulic brakes. A lot of new trucks are coming with these built into the towing packages. This way you can adjust the bias of the trailer brakes. My controller also has a lever that I can engage and engage only the trailer brakes without touching my own.