Towing The Elio / Towing With The Elio

[emt1581]

I have both the HF folding trailer (a royal bitch to register in many states...but my notary screwed up and registered mine) and the hitch basket. For the Elio, I really wouldn't want to tow a trailer behind it, even a small one. Then again, I don't tow anything on my Intruder either.

However, the hitch basket is VERY appealing with the Elio because it lets me put a bunch of gear there and it's easily removed. My main concern is the drag, stress it puts on the computer/car, and any safety issues it might create. Say, for example, I put a 2'x2'x4' cooler back there and loaded it to 100-200lbs with gear. Would it fry the computer/strut(s)/etc, cause me to wobble/shake/fishtail like crazy, and cut the mpg in half...or would it not really be noticeable except for dinging the mpg by 5-10?

Plus, I did look at every page in the thread before posting but where would the hitch come out at and what would be the attachment points?? I do my own hitch installs. Recently I did one on my Forester. But with such an enclosed design, I can't figure out how it would work.

EDIT: I also would love to know about ground clearance in the rear. It'd suck (with or even without the basket) to hit a pothole or other bump and have the rear wheel cover get scraped/broken or fly off.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

-Emt1581

 

[goofyone]

I have both the HF folding trailer (a royal bitch to register in many states...but my notary screwed up and registered mine) and the hitch basket. For the Elio, I really wouldn't want to tow a trailer behind it, even a small one. Then again, I don't tow anything on my Intruder either.

However, the hitch basket is VERY appealing with the Elio because it lets me put a bunch of gear there and it's easily removed. My main concern is the drag, stress it puts on the computer/car, and any safety issues it might create. Say, for example, I put a 2'x2'x4' cooler back there and loaded it to 100-200lbs with gear. Would it fry the computer/strut(s)/etc, cause me to wobble/shake/fishtail like crazy, and cut the mpg in half...or would it not really be noticeable except for dinging the mpg by 5-10?

Plus, I did look at every page in the thread before posting but where would the hitch come out at and what would be the attachment points?? I do my own hitch installs. Recently I did one on my Forester. But with such an enclosed design, I can't figure out how it would work.

EDIT: I also would love to know about ground clearance in the rear. It'd suck (with or even without the basket) to hit a pothole or other bump and have the rear wheel cover get scraped/broken or fly off.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

-Emt1581

I pull trailers on a regular basis and the amount of weight on the hitch is always an issue no matter what your tow vehicle. On the Elio if you have too much weight pushing down on the hitch not only will this affect the rear suspension and such but the bigger issue is that you will actually lift the front end and take the load off the Elio's steering and drive wheels which would be a bad good idea. I would recommend against a cooler or anything of similar weight mounted onto the hitch as I estimate you would likely want to have a hitch weight of between 20-30 lbs. If the weight on the hitch is too light and the trailer is back heavy then you will have an issue with trailer wobble/shaking.

All that being said I don't believe the Elio would have any big issue pulling a small trailer with a max weight of trailer and cargo of about 300lbs as long as the weight is properly distributed on the trailer.

 

[emt1581]

I pull trailers on a regular basis and the amount of weight on the hitch is always an issue no matter what your tow vehicle. On the Elio if you have too much weight pushing down on the hitch not only will this affect the rear suspension and such but the bigger issue is that you will actually lift the front end and take the load off the Elio's steering and drive wheels which would be a bad good idea. I would recommend against a cooler or anything of similar weight mounted onto the hitch as I estimate you would likely want to have a hitch weight of between 20-30 lbs. If the weight on the hitch is too light and the trailer is back heavy then you will have an issue with trailer wobble/shaking.

All that being said I don't believe the Elio would have any big issue pulling a small trailer with a max weight of trailer and cargo of about 300lbs as long as the weight is properly distributed on the trailer.

20-30lbs.? Just curious but what are you basing that number on?

I agree that too much weight on the hitch or any equation that equals the front end becoming too light is a really bad idea that has the potential to be lethal.

Like I said, I've got several trailers and baskets. But with the Elio, I can't see using the trailer for anything. If it came to that I'd probably just take one of our other vehicles better suited for it. Now for those who camp/vacation out of their mini-trailers it seems they feel differently.

But a rear cargo basket with a cooler would be optimal for groceries, wal-mart runs, etc.

-Emt1581

 

[goofyone]

20-30lbs.? Just curious but what are you basing that number on?

I agree that too much weight on the hitch or any equation that equals the front end becoming too light is a really bad idea that has the potential to be lethal.

Like I said, I've got several trailers and baskets. But with the Elio, I can't see using the trailer for anything. If it came to that I'd probably just take one of our other vehicles better suited for it. Now for those who camp/vacation out of their mini-trailers it seems they feel differently.

But a rear cargo basket with a cooler would be optimal for groceries, wal-mart runs, etc.

-Emt1581

Your example of using a basket or cooler for a run to the grocery store or wally world would likely be ok as groceries do not generally weigh much however it is not unusual to see people loading five day coolers on their hitches full of ice and beverages which easily weigh 60+ pounds. While that may be ok for most regular vehicles in this car 60 lbs is 5% of the entire vehicle weight hanging behind the rear axle which I doubt would be a good thing for vehicle stability.

Just like a motorcycle the Elio has very limited storage space with two people on board so if you wish to take it on an extended trip or even a camping weekend a trailer can be very handy. You will lose some fuel economy do to aerodynamic drag but with the Elio being as efficient as it is you will likely get much better fuel economy than most vehicles on the road.

I treat the Elio under motorcycle trailer towing rules as it is only supposed to weigh 1200 lbs and only has one rear tire. To maintain stability on a motorcycle it is recommended that you stay under 30% of the vehicle weight and 25% is advisable. This means a good safe weight for an Elio trailer would be 300 lbs. With two people on board plus 300 lbs of trailer you are also likely operating on the limit of the engines useful capability. There are many lightweight motorcycle or even light car trailers that weigh in the 75-175 pound range and when loaded up with stuff could reach the 200-300 pound range full loaded. For trailers you generally want to keep the tongue weight at about 10% of the total trailer weight to keep trailers stable resulting in my 20-30 lb weight estimate on the hitch which is also light enough I doubt the Elio will have trouble handling it.

 

[emt1581]

Your example of using a basket or cooler for a run to the grocery store or wally world would likely be ok as groceries do not generally weigh much however it is not unusual to see people loading five day coolers on their hitches full of ice and beverages which easily weigh 60+ pounds. While that may be ok for most regular vehicles in this car 60 lbs is 5% of the entire vehicle weight hanging behind the rear axle which I doubt would be a good thing for vehicle stability.

Just like a motorcycle the Elio has very limited storage space with two people on board so if you wish to take it on an extended trip or even a camping weekend a trailer can be very handy. You will lose some fuel economy do to aerodynamic drag but with the Elio being as efficient as it is you will likely get much better fuel economy than most vehicles on the road.

I treat the Elio under motorcycle trailer towing rules as it is only supposed to weigh 1200 lbs and only has one rear tire. To maintain stability on a motorcycle it is recommended that you stay under 30% of the vehicle weight and 25% is advisable. This means a good safe weight for an Elio trailer would be 300 lbs. With two people on board plus 300 lbs of trailer you are likely operating on the limit of the engines useful capability. There are many lightweight motorcycle or even light car trailers that weigh in the 75-175 pound range and when loaded up with stuff could reach the 200-300 pound range full loaded. For trailers you generally want to keep the tongue weight at about 10% of the total trailer weight to keep trailers stable resulting in my 20-30 lb weight estimate on the hitch which is also light enough I doubt the Elio will have trouble handling it.

Makes sense, thanks for sharing!

Again, my personal preference would be to us a basket and then just watch the weight, but 30lbs would be around the weight of the basket empty...so once you get a cooler on there with some stuff in it, it seems like it might be too heavy even with only a few rolls of TP in it. As with all things Elio, I'll wait until I see a bunch of other people do it before I do.

Thanks

-Emt1581

 

[Craig]

My son being the engineer in the family I may be wrong.
With the fulcrum so close to the hitch, the weight required to lift any weight off the front and effect handling, would have to be well over half the weight of the car. Any thing even half of that would max out the rear suspension. As far as the cooler project goes, the rear suspension would be the issue setting weight restrictions. JMO

 

[goofyone]

Makes sense, thanks for sharing!

Again, my personal preference would be to us a basket and then just watch the weight, but 30lbs would be around the weight of the basket empty...so once you get a cooler on there with some stuff in it, it seems like it might be too heavy even with only a few rolls of TP in it. As with all things Elio, I'll wait until I see a bunch of other people do it before I do.

Thanks

-Emt1581

At this point we are all in the same boat watching and waiting to see how this all works out. Everyone has a different reason for being interested in the Elio and a different comfort level with putting money down at this point or waiting to see how this continues to move forward before jumping in. One advantage to waiting is you will definitely get to learn from those in front of you as they try a bunch of things and see what works and what does not.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

But a rear cargo basket with a cooler would be optimal for groceries, wal-mart runs, etc.-Emt1581

I have this mental image of someone tying a walmart shopping cart to the hitch and taking off.

 

[emt1581]

One advantage to waiting is you will definitely get to learn from those in front of you as they try a bunch of things and see what works and what does not.

Right. But the two potential disadvantages are ridiculous wait times and the price shooting up due to supply and demand. But if Elio sticks to his principles at this point...into the future...the price gouging would only happen on the secondary market.

-Emt1581

 

[emt1581]

I have this mental image of someone tying a walmart shopping cart to the hitch and taking off.

That'd be a redneck trailer...

EDIT: Could also be a redneck rumble seat depending on the BAC at that point.

-Emt1581