XD tow waverunner?

[jbanderson]

I know it says not recomended for towing, but my waverunner and trailer are only about 650lbs combined and the one of my freinds has a 94 honda accord with over 200,000 miles on it that he pulls a double trailer with 2 waverunners on it with that little car.
I am just wondering what everyones opinon is.
I guess it would be like having 2 fat freinds ride with you in the back if you could compare it to that, lol.

[kris68]

You shouldn’t have a problem. A friend pulls his wave runner with his Miata lol so I know the XD will be fine. But you are putting more strain on your drivetrain so you might need to change fluids more often than required and it would prob void your warranty if something went wrong in the future.

[Zefoxe]

Its not the same because ur suspension is taking on more of the weight if u had 2 friends that heavy. trailing is going to put more of the job on your transmission and axles since its going to be dragging rather then carrying. this is why toyota says not to hitch anything.

[TRDxD]

also, the miata is rwd which DOES have an effect. where is the majority of the weight in the miata? front. and the drive train is located where? rear. so thats also taking a huge load off of his drive train, regardless of what hes pulling. when you get an FF and try hitching something, especially with a small output engine like ours, youre going to be putting a MASSIVE load on the suspension and transaxle...i know it doesnt seem like alot, but maybe the better solution is the ask a friend to follow you with it or maybe just have him drive..

[Zsanz]

all seriousness ive seen a escort tow a nice size sail boat.

[jbanderson]

no offense, but gas is way to high to "ask a freind to follow me" and that would also require my freind to sit and wait on me for a few hours wile im on the lake. I just figured it wouldnt be a problem, I would only tow it about 3 times a month for 5 months out of the year.

[TRDxD]

no offense taken, i understand what you mean. i guess you can try it. just stay in lower gears to get as much torque as possible....hopefully we're wrong and the xD can take it. did you find a tow hook that fits the xD?

[pickledchang]

as long as you have the stock suspension and your trailer's tongue weight isnt more than 150lbs or so, you should be fine. i definitely wouldnt pull much more than 700lbs though.

[jbanderson]

does anyone have a picture of a hitch installed? I dont want one that will hang down at all, in fact I might have one custom made were you cant see it at all. I will also need it for a bike rack. I wont be putting anything heavy on it, 2 40lb bikes every now and then and the ocasional summer trip to the lake with the wave runner.

[Runawayrogue]

I have seen bike racks on xD's here in Portland, but no tow hitches yet. I would be very wary and careful when towing if you decide to go for it. No sudden stops or starts, that type of thing. Drive easy and try to keep it in lower gears as stated above.

[jbanderson]

no offense again, but why does everyone act like a wave runner is a big boat? I cann pull it around by hand. I know it will have some effect but it will be very very very little.

[Runawayrogue]

We know that it's not a big boat. Heck, the thing weighs nothing, even with the trailer. However, the point is the xD's drivetrain was not built for any towing whatsoever. Carrying weight is one thing, pulling is a different beast.

It's up to you, and honestly I doubt you will do any damage to your car by pulling it, but us Scion junkies like to take the safer route usually since we tend to baby our cars.

[pickledchang]

^^^ to add to that, pulling it around by hand is completely different than pulling it at 55mph. remember one of the most important rules of physics, e=mc2... the faster you go, the more strain it is on the cars drivetrain, brakes, etc... and you cant compare it with weight that would be seated in the car either, because the car is designed to have said weight spread evenly across all 4 wheels, not to have 700lbs trying to lift the front end off the ground while accelerating, or trying to lift the back end up while braking. its weight thats way off of the center of gravity. sure the ski and trailer only weigh 650lbs, but what about the full tank of gas, you and anyone else coming along, and all your associated gear.

my wifes cobalt has a hitch, and we just pull a 4x8' small flatbed trailer, with the heaviest thing being a gokart on it, the whole trailer/load combined probably weighs 500-600lbs. the car pulls it just fine, but the faster you go, the more you know its there. cars like the xD were not designed with towing as a major priority.

im not saying you shouldnt, im just saying if you do, be careful. and dont expect it to pull the waverunner like its nothing. towing capability isnt just about how much power your car has. just make sure if you do a custom hitch, its rated for at least 2000lbs, equivilant to a class 2 hitch.

[jbanderson]

yea thanks guys just wanted to check and see what ereyone thought. thanks for the opinons.

[turner]

when you pull your jet ski out the water up the ramp is your most strenuous moment... the water in the jet ski, trailer and so on may not seem like alot but i have seen honda's with one jet ski loose there rear bumper... not sure what exactly the hitch was connected to :ponder: but it was enough to have the thing roll back in the lake.... pretty funny actually.... but anywho just think about that not sure if it would hold it from the factory but if ya wanted to get nuts you could always weld in a tough crossmember and void all warantys! good luck!

[TRDxD]

and hopefully your tires are better than mine...i have the stock tires on the steelies but MAN do those things lose traction in a quick second.