Towing The Elio / Towing With The Elio

[ecdriver711]

Harbor Freight will be easy to upgrade and stay low budget.

 

[JEBar]

I've seen cheap trailers bouncing around behind cars

most light weight trailers are OK for limited, light use .... in years past I've built/modified more trailers than I care to remember .... one thing that I learned early on is the stress they experience has a cumulative affect on the suspension and frame .... every trailer has a weakest point which, given time, will fail .... the point where the spring hanger attaches to the frame is really a place to watch but is often overlooked

 

[grampi]

I guess my wife and I look at traveling and hauling a bunch of stuff with us as something that defeats the idea of travel. Travel for us is the trip and what we can experience along the way and hauling along excess stuff isn't condusive to that experience. Now, I'm not talking about camping, that's a whole different animal. You shouldn't be trying that with the Elio unless you are doing it by yourself so you can pile stuff up in the back seat. I'm just talking about a road trip. There are certain things you should take with you when you travel but there are a lot of things you don't need to haul with you or can pick up along the way. If you plan on hauling something, the Elio should be your last choice of vehicle to do that with. Shoot, adding a hitch to my Fit would have voided the warranty! It's quite a bit bigger and more powerful. Seems to me that towing something with the Elio is like entering the Iditarod with a team of 10 Yorkies! Nice dogs but not made for that purpose.

I think of it as going on a long road trip with a motorcycle...it's pretty tough, if not impossible to take everything two people would need during the trip without a trailer...and if a motorcycle will safely tow a trailer (which it will), an Elio can certainly do it as well...the trick is not trying to pull a trailer that's too big or heavy...

 

[grampi]

If you look around you can easily find narrow and relatively light utility trailers which would be perfect for Elio towing. My plan is to build or buy something like this:

View attachment 5043 View attachment 5044


Both of these trailers are relatively light and inexpensive as they both came from harbor freight. The first one is built on a harbor freight chassis and uses a standard roof carrier bolted to it and the second one is a complete harbor freight unit.

Base trailer without storage unit - http://www.harborfreight.com/870-lb...ailer-with-8-inch-wheels-and-tires-42708.html
Complete Trailer - http://www.harborfreight.com/600-lb-capacity-78-inch-tag-along-trailer-66771.html

There are a few inexpensive upgrades which should be done to these inexpensive trailers to make them ride better and lost longer. It helps greatly to upgrade the wheel bearings and pack them in good quality grease as this will make them last a long time without giving you much trouble along the way. Isolating the leaf springs using some thick rubber pads will make the trailer handle much nicer. Also upgrading the wheels and tires plus purchasing a spare at the same time will make everything ride nicer and save you hassles down the road.

Another nice upgrade would be to ditch the 8" tires and wheels and go with a set of 12 inchers...they ride much better and last a lot longer...and they slow down the rotation speed of the wheel bearings, which makes them last longer too....

 

[grampi]

I like this one, too.
http://n-line.com/

They are nice, but way too expensive...the Harbor Freight ones are less than $500...

 

[Mike W]

I know that people will attach trailers to the Elio and that more space is nice but I guess I sort of see the Elio as a tool to accomplish an end. To travel (to work or farther) and save gas in a way that is a hoot. I have always been told to use the right tool for the job and this approach (a trailer on the Elio) is using a tool that will work (like a metric socket on a standard bolt) kind of but wasn't made for this specific application. Will it accomplish the end result of gaining more storage capacity on the road? Yup! Is there potential for bad things happening down the road? Maybe, maybe not. I guess it's the whole "perceived" potential for problems that might end up in a not good way that bothers me. But I sincerely hope my concern is baseless and blown out of proportion. Besides, some of the trailers I can imagine tagging along behind could be really cool!

 

[ecdriver711]

Elio will be my daily driver and long hauler for trips. MPG, even with a light trailer will be much better than anything else offered today or next year.

 

[BaldGuy]

What about a peddle bike trailer? Be awesome to transport my bike to the trail for a little riding.

Actually, if it has a hitch, why not just use a bike hitch rack like you see everywhere.

The Elio don't have a rear window so wouldn't block vision.

That way I don't have to pay taxes on the trailer and deal with getting tags for it. win win

http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Sports-...id=1426031501&sr=8-1&keywords=bike+hitch+rack

 

[Ty]

They are nice, but way too expensive...the Harbor Freight ones are less than $500...

True. I agree. They are expensive and for as much as I'd use it, impractical. I just don't think I'd like one of the junky looking topper on a trailer solutions... I'd rather pay more and have something I was proud of. But, I can be cheap, too. I mean, I made a lot of furniture...

 

[Jim H]

True. I agree. They are expensive and for as much as I'd use it, impractical. I just don't think I'd like one of the junky looking topper on a trailer solutions... I'd rather pay more and have something I was proud of. But, I can be cheap, too. I mean, I made a lot of furniture...

Thule and Yamaha both make narrow rooftop carriers that would look more streamlined than that big box offered by Harbor Freight. Buy the trailer without the box and modify the trailer if necessary.