Towing USING the VR4?

[alansupra94]

I was wondering if anyone has tried using their Galant VR4 to tow small things, such as motorcycles? Or do you think they just don't have enough low end torque/power. I have 2G pistons for 8.5:1 compression BTW. (Dunno if that makes a difference)

I mean I don't have a hitch right now but I have been looking and am unsure of what exactly will fit and what not. Modifying the hitch won't be a problem as I have a welder guy that can pretty much do anything. I just would rather not waste his time welding and mocking up stuff that is already out there.

Thanks,
Alan

 

i know it's possible, one of the front pictures for the site (idk if it still is, but it WAS on there), was a gvr4 painted all rally like and it was towing a trailer

 

[SmoothCustomer]

That's the one lap car. That trailer is probably not too heavy though. I don't *think* it has much in it besides tires and a few spare parts.

 

[mountaineerjeff]

it really just matters what you have done to the car. I mean with my agx suspension I definitely think I could pull a motorcycle easy.

but if you have worn out stock suspension, and an overworked motor it might not be a great idea.

a whole lot of towing relies on suspension.

 

[SmoothCustomer]

Transmission? I would say that it's going to be a way bigger toll on the trans and motor.

 

[mountaineerjeff]

idk, maybe. but id think the clutch more so then the tranny. its not like hes going to be launching it or anything, just slipping the clutch and starting out easy. a stock tranny would be fine, I mean if its bad that could pose a problem, like popping out of gear under load

 

[89Mirageman]

I would think a GVR4 would tow pretty easy. I've seen much smaller/weaker cars going down the road pulling u-haul trailers and such. You could always throw two fat girls in the back seat first before investing in a hitch. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[alansupra94]

^^^

I think I would rather just put 4 guys than 2 fat girls /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

- As for the transmission, its brand new rebuilt by Turbotrix. Also has a new ACT 6 puck clutch and ACT flywheel combo. I should mention I have a welded center diff as well and open diffs all around (w/ a 4 bolt rear end).
- The suspension is a pretty new KYB GR-2 on stock springs. I will be changing them out too for something better (possibly hypercoils).
- The motor is getting rebuilt now and I wont be doing any kind of towing/racing until it is completely broken in and compression tested.

I will be going with a thicker radiator, upgraded fan and 90 OFH and oil cooler setup for the Galant VR4 after winter.

I also think it depends on how you drive it. I mean its not like I am going to be launching the car or driving like a maniac.

If anyone is interesting in towing as well, I might mock something up and do a write up on installing a tow package.

 

[Brunoboy]

Hasnt anyone seen this already?

 

[alansupra94]

Ah I have seen this before!

Excellent....maybe I could even tow my supra to the track....lol

 

[fuel]

I don't see why not. Tow bars (hitches) are a common sight on cars here in New Zealand. We kiwis just love to tow sh*t like Caravans, trailers, camels etc. The law here is that the towed weight must not exceed 3/4s of the total weight of the towing vehicle.

As long as the tow hitch bracket attaches to the rear chassis rails in a secure way and in multiple points then it should be fine. Just make sure the tow hitch is rated for a sufficient load. On our domestic market 6G Galants there were nuts welded into the inner chassis rails ready for through bolts to attach the tow hitch bracket to the chassis rail, but I find those nuts are missing on the JDM models, perhaps on the other export market models too.

 

[alansupra94]

I am not too worried about that.

I am probably going to find a cheap on locally on craigslist and fabricate up mounts and bolts for it.

Going to weld on extra support spots too.

 

[GreenGSX]

Quoting alansupra94:
I was wondering if anyone has tried using their Galant VR4 to tow small things, such as motorcycles? Or do you think they just don't have enough low end torque/power. I have 2G pistons for 8.5:1 compression BTW. (Dunno if that makes a difference)


I mean I don't have a hitch right now but I have been looking and am unsure of what exactly will fit and what not. Modifying the hitch won't be a problem as I have a welder guy that can pretty much do anything. I just would rather not waste his time welding and mocking up stuff that is already out there.

Thanks,
Alan



A VR4 can make a great tow vehicle and shouldn't have any issues towing a small trailer with a bike on it. The One Lap trailer was a 4x4 foot Harbor Freight special with a wood box built on it. We had it filled to the top with a transmission, tires, tools, and enough spare parts to get us home. It wasn't as heavy as a bike but it wasn't easy to move around by hand either.

The only issues I can see is finding a hitch and then making sure your bumper is strong enough to hold the tongue weight you are expecting to have. A good formula is you should have at least 10% of your total trailer weight as your tongue weight. The One Lap rear bumper had some rust issues that you couldn't see from the outside. I had to weld plates to the top and bottom and then run 1/2 bolts up through to sandwich the tongue mounting bolts on the hitch to the rear bumper. Given that all of our cars are at least 18 years old and can be in any state from rust buckets to flawless you should factor in pulling off the rear bumper and cover to inspect exactly what condition your car is in.

 

[mitsuturbo]

Quoting fuel:
I don't see why not. Tow bars (hitches) are a common sight on cars here in New Zealand. We kiwis just love to tow sh*t like Caravans, trailers, camels etc. The law here is that the towed weight must not exceed 3/4s of the total weight of the towing vehicle.

As long as the tow hitch bracket attaches to the rear chassis rails in a secure way and in multiple points then it should be fine. Just make sure the tow hitch is rated for a sufficient load. On our domestic market 6G Galants there were nuts welded into the inner chassis rails ready for through bolts to attach the tow hitch bracket to the chassis rail, but I find those nuts are missing on the JDM models, perhaps on the other export market models too.



There would be a market here for GVR4 specific draw-tite type setups, i'm sure.

 

[H05TYL]

I've towed a full weight (1700kgs +) R32 GTR with a rope with my vr4 no problems at all.

 

[fuel]

I towed a Cordia 4WD Turbo on a tandem axle car transporter trailer which probably totalled 1600-1800kgs over 150kms with a 1.8 4G37 carburettored '89 Galant GLX That engine never got such a workout in its life - there were some 2nd gear 5000rpm pulls up some hills.

 

[alansupra94]

Quoting GreenGSX:
Quoting alansupra94:
I was wondering if anyone has tried using their Galant VR4 to tow small things, such as motorcycles? Or do you think they just don't have enough low end torque/power. I have 2G pistons for 8.5:1 compression BTW. (Dunno if that makes a difference)


I mean I don't have a hitch right now but I have been looking and am unsure of what exactly will fit and what not. Modifying the hitch won't be a problem as I have a welder guy that can pretty much do anything. I just would rather not waste his time welding and mocking up stuff that is already out there.

Thanks,
Alan



A VR4 can make a great tow vehicle and shouldn't have any issues towing a small trailer with a bike on it. The One Lap trailer was a 4x4 foot Harbor Freight special with a wood box built on it. We had it filled to the top with a transmission, tires, tools, and enough spare parts to get us home. It wasn't as heavy as a bike but it wasn't easy to move around by hand either.

The only issues I can see is finding a hitch and then making sure your bumper is strong enough to hold the tongue weight you are expecting to have. A good formula is you should have at least 10% of your total trailer weight as your tongue weight. The One Lap rear bumper had some rust issues that you couldn't see from the outside. I had to weld plates to the top and bottom and then run 1/2 bolts up through to sandwich the tongue mounting bolts on the hitch to the rear bumper. Given that all of our cars are at least 18 years old and can be in any state from rust buckets to flawless you should factor in pulling off the rear bumper and cover to inspect exactly what condition your car is in.



/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif @ the people towing cars. You guys have a lot of faith in your cars.

Now what I don't understand in this post is, is your trailer hitch/towing bar connected to your bumper/bumper support? Why would you connect it to the frame to avoid tougue weight?

I planed to connect to the frame in possibly 4-6 spots to give ample support and towing capacity.

 

[misterfixit]

Look on ebay in europe and you'll see many tow hitches. Practically every 4wd sold in the uk ended up with a hitch, in fact its a pain finding a rear bumper that hasn't been cut for a hitch here.

They were really popular back in the day as they were used mostly as tow cars.

Rich

 

[kartorium]

I pull a snowmobile with my crappy 2.2 subaru legacy. It has wrx suspension and and a draw-tite brand aftermarket hitch. The bar doesn't actually attach to the bumper. I'd think attaching a bar to the bumper would be a bad idea on most cars. Basically mine uses the stock tow hooks (on the subaru there is one on each side) and a hole in the factory frame rail to bolt up. Complete bolt on at four points. It looks like a good design cause most the weight seems to be on the tow hooks, they are the furthest rearward mounting point, then the hitch assembly extends towards the front of the car where it attaches to the rails.

I haven't ever looked at the back of the vr4, but as long as the bar/hitch assembly is designed well and mounted properly it should tow just fine. I would recommend just purchasing a uhaul or draw-tite brand hitch. It should do the job just fine.

Make sure you have good brakes, the extra weight is most noticeable on braking.

 

[vtecds1]

Quoting 89Mirageman:
I would think a GVR4 would tow pretty easy. I've seen much smaller/weaker cars going down the road pulling u-haul trailers and such. You could always throw two fat girls in the back seat first before investing in a hitch. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif



Went fishing yesterday and saw a guy towing a 18ft Tracker v-hull with his old Lincoln Continental. Looked weird as hell. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif