What kind of car to trailer a H18?

What kind of car is necessary to trailer a hobie 18 a few times a summer?

I am thinking about putting a hitch on my 2003 Jetta but I don't want to waste the time if I can't take it with me anyway!

thanks

The biggest thing would be if you can mount a hitch on the car. I had a BMW that flat out wouldn't take one. I had a friend that towed a glider in a trailer ( gross trailer weight was about 1600 lbs.) with a 70's vintage SAAB. Guess what I'm saying is that if it's only occasionally and if you can mount a hitch, the car should be able to do it. I'd definately have a look at the owner's manual though.

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Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.
C. S. Lewis (former atheist)

yeah i think the total weight wont be more than about 600 lbs includeing trailer. depending on the year of the cat. i would be more concerned to about weather your car can have a hitch. you may not get the best gas miileage, and will get looks towing something bigger than your car, heheheh.

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paul
1981 Hobie 18 "Knot A Clew" sail #5445

we have people that tow Hobies with cars all the time. The Jetta are great cars and I don't see any problem, I saw one this weekend pulling a double jet ski trailer out of the water at the ramp.

Thanks,
Brad Stephens
www.sunjammers.com
Hobie Division 15 Chairman
Authorized Hobie/Vanguard/Hunter Dealer
[email protected]
850-235-2281
866-sun-jamm
Panama City Beach, FL

I tow my H18 with a 2001 1.8T Passat. I have no problems. My milage is awful (due to the hulls sticking out past the sides of the car) but I can easily keep up with traffic on the highway... and I can pass them if I need to.

The only thing to wathc out for is brake wear. The xtra weight will take it's toll on them. I tow my boat every time I use it and have been for about 5 years.

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Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

I just installed a hitch to the underside of my 2k2 Jetta TDI. I checked out all of the comments on the VW site and then purchased the hitch from U-haul. Some of the site members are towing 1750# tent trailers.
I've also purchased some airbags that slip into the rear springs for ride levelling.
The hitch install took less than one hour. It will handle 2000#, and the car is rated for at least that.
Back in the day I towed my 18 with a 1982 Dodge Daytona turbo from California-Canada, fully loaded with all of my camping gear.

You won't need the air bags if you keep your tounge weight under 200 lbs (Unless you really load the car up with people/gear)

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Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

The car owners manual will tell you the limits of towing. I tow my H18 with my four cyl. Honda Accord. It tows great. In fact when I bought the boat it was 800 miles from home and the first trip was those 800 miles with the cruise control set at 65MPH. Worked great.

In the past my brother and I use to go to Florida from Canada in the winter towing his Prindle 16 with a little 4 cyl. Fiat.

All that to say I expect the car can do it but check the manual first.

I live in the Sierra Nevada foothills along I80. I tow my H-16 with my '84 Rabbit with no problems at all. Other than stopping distance being somewhat exaggerated, the Rabbit hardly notices the extra weight. I've had no problems with the hobie wanting to "steer" the car when braking on a downhill.

Good post. I was wondering the same thing but with a Chev Aveo 5 towing an H16? Any thoughts?

triggs, not familiar with the aveo. So, I checked out chevy's web site. Trailering is not recommended. However, I don't think it is for my Rabbit either. Personally, I think it would be fine given the horsepower, torque, and 4 wheel disc brakes. I could not find the weight of an aveo, but can only assume it is at least as heavy as a VW Rabbit. That being said, please don't try it based on my above "guessing".

Thanks for the input and I won't hold ya to your word. Its the same car as the new Suzuki Swift Plus so I think my guesstimate is it would be very hard on it but I'm thinking very short trips and maybe a tranny cooler.

Any vehicle can tow. The main factors to consider are:

1) Load Weight. Not necessarily for the horsepower requirements, but for ability to brake and to not wear out your transmission. Your 5hp garden tractor can easily move the trailer around. There should be a gross vehicle weight in your owner's manual somewhere. This figure will include the total weight of he car and payload. Your brakes and trasmission are designed for this weight. Try to keep it from going to far over this number.

2) Transmission Cooling. Any small car with an automatic should have a transmission cooler installed on it before towing. This will drastically reduce the chances of the tranny overheating and failing.

3) Tounge Weight. The smaller the car, the less weight the suspension can handle. Keep the tounge weight as close to 10% of the load as possible. I would reccommend making it no less than 100 lbs for a beach cat. Also, too much or too little tounge weight will dramatically affect steering in a very bad way. There have been other posts on trailer loading with good information in them.

4) Tires. Both on the trailer and the car. Make sure they are properly inflated and are not too low on tread. The extra weight and forces caused by the trailer will require a good connection between your car and the road.

Most of it is common sense, but pay attention to the details and you will be fine.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Great post. I would say Nick has nailed it.