Towing

[churp]

:biggrin: I want to tow a paddle boat and camping gear this summer. Has anyone had any personal experience towing with the Yaris....especially an automatic?

[PetersRedYaris]

The owners manual has some info about towing.

[Astroman]

The owners manual has some info about towing.
Yeah, it said you shouldn't. But for the canadian Yaris it states you can safely tow up to 700 lbs. Perfect for a utility trailer or a small fishing boat, or a bike rack. I have found a site (but since forgot) that does sell a tow hitch for the liftback. I have found more for the sedan though... If you keep the tow weight low (no camping trailers, look up youtube for a pretty good video of a small car towing a camping trailer up a big hill.) and not climb any mountains you should be fine. If I stumble (or anyone else for that matter) upon the link for the liftback/sedans tow hitch, I will post it here.

[ChinoCharles]

I tow my lovely lady lumps eevvveerryyy day.

[churp]

hiddenhitch.com has 2 types ...one that is hidden from view when not in use. They aren't listed on their site under Toyota you have to search 'Yaris' from their site. I'm going to go for it, but was just wondering if anyone had realtime experience. And since the rest of the world allows towing figured it should be ok in the US,,,just the stupid warranty issues. :iono:

[Vervepipes]

:biggrin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAfZ1N56qjY

[churp]

:eek: :eyebulge: :eek: :eyebulge: :eek: :eyebulge: :eek:

:iono: :iono:

[Astroman]

:biggrin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAfZ1N56qjY SWEET! You found the exact video I was talking about. You should never tow anything larger than your vehicle, unless you have a good truck! lol :bellyroll:

[Vervepipes]

I found the video pretty quick, I just had to see it, and I'm getting pretty good at finding the "I once saw a video on..." ones on youtube lol

[rningonfumes]

Gonna revive a thread for warranty question.

So considering the US doesn't have a tow rating...how does this work on the warranty...considering you are doing something which isn't "recomended?"

[Nelson]

Re Warranty: So long as towing something does not cause the problem that you are trying to get covered under warranty, then there should be no problem with your warranty.

I have installed a hidden hitch on my '08 Yaris hatchback automatic. It was completely painless and took about 20 minutes. We're talking way easy here.

Both Hidden Hitch and DrawTite make serveral hitch options. They are typically between $100 and $200. They are all Class I hitches which have a 2000 lb gross trailer weight and 200 lb tung weight limit.

The Yaris is rated for NO towing in the US, 700 lbs gross & 70 lbs tung in Canada, and I think 900 lbs gross and 90 lbs tung weight in Australia. Probably because there is less gravity in Canada and Astralia than there is in the US. :wink:

The Yaris tows light trailers just great. With an automatic, I wouldn't do much mountain travel without a transmission cooler, but heck, you can probably max out the hitch limits for short flatland towing.

The hardest part of setting up towing for a trailer is the wiring for the trailer, but even that is pretty straight forward. You have to buy a little converter box for $15 - $50 and they don't make T-connectors for the Yaris that I could find, so you have to tap into the tail light wiring using QuickSplices (probably took about an hour all together).

[drbilal]

SWEET! You found the exact video I was talking about. You should never tow anything larger than your vehicle, unless you have a good truck! lol :bellyroll:

Oh f**k lol. I try not to laugh as that looks quite dangerous but I cant help it.

[41magmag41]

Curt and hidden hitch both make hitches for the LB and the sedan. Run around 130 bucks with both the hitch and the draw bar.

U.S. yaris are not to be towed with via the owners manual but the canadian models can tow up to 700 lbs. Don't know why the difference.

If you tow and have a drive line issue with warranty toyota will probably laugh at covering it. Chance you take.

[Callisto]

:biggrin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAfZ1N56qjY

"He's burning a bit rich." Tee Hee

[GeneW]

:biggrin: I want to tow a paddle boat and camping gear this summer. Has anyone had any personal experience towing with the Yaris....especially an automatic?

I think you're gonna regret it over the long term.

Gene

[Astroman]

Don't diss the paddle boat! :laugh:

You'll be fine as long as you don't have too much back there, and you properly balance the load. I towed a ancient small utility trailer I bought on craigslist (because it was cheaper than u-haul) about 1,000 miles to california and I averaged 30mpg and the car performed great, even on hills. You'll be fine as long as you use common sense.

[SpaceShot]

I got the DrawTite Class I hitch from AutoAnything.com, and the only problem I had was that one of the bolts was impossible to get a wrench on. I ended up putting in from the other direction and using a locknut on the outside.

I don't tow a trailer yet, but use it for a hitch basket and bike rack nearly every other weekend without any trouble. Even though it is not tow rated in US, I was pretty confident as it rated for towing in Canada and UK.

I would suggest keeping with a trailer less than 6 feet long, but otherwise you should be OK.

[Revsson]

As it is snowing here now, I am thinking of this spring and biking. I am thinking of
getting a tow hitch mounted bike rack, as I think the Saris Bones model might scratch
the back. I didn't care about scratches on the old car, but do care about the new one.
I usually just have one bike on there, but want the ability to carry at least two.

Has anyone found out why they don't recommend a tow hitch on the US model, even
for a bicycle rack?? :iono:
Is there anything underneath that would need to be reinforced for a hitch?

[Mordarvia]

The Yaris is rated for NO towing in the US, 700 lbs gross & 70 lbs tung in Canada, and I think 900 lbs gross and 90 lbs tung weight in Australia. Probably because there is less gravity in Canada and Astralia than there is in the US.


Floating Man Floating hahahahah

[ctrj]

I've been thinking about adding a tow hitch to our Yaris Sedan. We've been doing a far amount of camping and I would love to have the extra space.

Everyone says you shouldn't tow with the Yaris. I submit my parents 1981 Toyota Starlet 5 speed.

http://www.toyoland.com/photos/starlet/starlet.jpg

This beauty had 67 lb/ft of torque and 58 hp. With 2 adults and 2 kids in the car and a fully loaded Harbor Freight 40x48 trailer with wood sides we went camping every summer for many years. The car always handled it fine and never had problems.

Now if that car can do it, why can't a Yaris with almost double the horsepower do it? Are the rear springs too soft?

U-Haul sells a hitch for $140.

[churp]

Update....Had my hitch and 4x8 trailer for over a year now, and works great. Have hauled 700 lb's of payload + trailer, for a total of over 1,000 lb's, but recommend keeping it around 700 or less. Would recommend it to anyone....it's easier to drive than a full size pickup, and a heck of a lot cheaper (only drops 2-5 mpg). I have 58,000 miles on my automatic LB, and probably 1,000 of them are with the trailer.

Will have a small pop up camper this summer!

[BailOut]

Nice, churp. :smile: I had no doubt that it would work out nicely.

I have not needed to tow anything yet but I have carried mountain bikes, snowboards and skis on my hitch without issue, and despite the mountainous terrain.