Yaris hb with trailer hitch.

[gnarlyrider410]

Who here has towed a small trailer with the yaris. Thinking about installing a trailer hitch. What I plan to tow might be 500-650lbs including trailer weight. I have an auto trans. I see they are rated for 700 lb in Canada. How would the yaris handle this? I know it says not recommended in USA but I have seen people tow things and can imagine its only from a legal standpoint. Thoughts? Think it would beat the heck out of the car? Something along the lines of this picture.

[m.flores.0928]

Who here has towed a small trailer with the yaris. Thinking about installing a trailer hitch. What I plan to tow might be 500-650lbs including trailer weight. I have an auto trans. I see they are rated for 700 lb in Canada. How would the yaris handle this? I know it says not recommended in USA but I have seen people tow things and can imagine its only from a legal standpoint. Thoughts? Think it would beat the heck out of the car? Something along the lines of this picture.



Fill up your car with passengers, 5 total, and loaded bags and go for a drive. That's about the same weight.

I have a hitch that I haul my bicycle around with. I went on a road trip with my girlfriend and dog and brought my bike and a few loaded bags. Not nearly the weight you're looking at but I noticed the weight difference dramatically. It could do it but I wouldn't take the highway or any slight grades. Acceleration would die and fuel economy goes out the window.

It's capable and not unsafe it's just a small engine with minimal power to begin with.


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[gnarlyrider410]

fuel economy goes out the window.

That's the only reason I was considering it, because it beats spending $100 in diesel in my truck. Sounds like it might not be worth it. I loaded it up with about 250/300 lbs in the back and a passenger and drove 6 hours with varying grades through New York state. It wasn't terrible but sure noticed a difference in performance. Didn't track mpg tho.

[m.flores.0928]

fuel economy goes out the window.

That's the only reason I was considering it, because it beats spending $100 in diesel in my truck. Sounds like it might not be worth it. I loaded it up with about 250/300 lbs in the back and a passenger and drove 6 hours with varying grades through New York state. It wasn't terrible but sure noticed a difference in performance. Didn't track mpg tho.



It's up to you. Performance and MPG are largely affected but it can haul that all well enough. My MPG with my load went down to 30, I average 38 and that was less than half load. Full load probably 25 or so.


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[dogsridewith]

What is the post 1 photo car?
Find informative trailer/Yaris thread here.
Empty Yaris and heavy trailer w/o much tongue weight risks jackknife.
Yaris advantage is low rear overhang, so ball can be closer to CG.

[CTScott]

What is the post 1 photo car?
Find informative trailer/Yaris thread here.
Empty Yaris and heavy trailer w/o much tongue weight risks jackknife.
Yaris advantage is low rear overhang, so ball can be closer to CG.

That's a Renault Twingo (one of my favorite not available in the US cars).

I too have a hitch on my Yaris, which I typically use for hauling one to three bikes on a rack, but also occasionally use for haling stuff on a 4'x4' trailer. Hauling a motorcycle should not be an issue with one like the one in the first post, as the trailer is relatively light and properly balanced.

[Bluevitz-rs]

I have a custom hitch for my car '05. I've pulled over 1000lbs with it. You know it's there, just like any vehicle not specifically designed for towing. I wouldn't do it every day but I'd have no issue pulling 500-600 lbs over large distances.

The safety factor has everything to do with making sure all the equipment being towed and doing the towing is adjusted properly. Tires, load balance, and adjusting your driving habits for speed and stopping.

[David C]

I'm planning on adding a custom re-enforced hitch on my 2007 HB to support a cargo carrier more properly. I've ordered the Curt 11050 class 1 hitch which I plan on adding an outside steel plate to the tow hook tab (to sandwich the tow hook sheet metal in between steel plates), add a brace from the tow hook plate to the main chassis to help counter torsion from the weight pushing down on the hitch. Second will be to cut off the 1-1/4" receiver tube to weld in a 2" one and add trussing to stiffen the rather slim cross tube.

[WeeYari]

I see absolutely no reason to sandwich the tie down tabs.

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[David C]

I see absolutely no reason to sandwich the tie down tabs.

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Because it stiffens them up a lot more than just a bolt and washer.

[dogsridewith]

If doing that much mod on a hitch, with a-below-the-bumper-cover architecture, might consider tying in that laughable jack point (see owner's manual) just to the right of center.
(Is that Curt hitch for Yaris? If not, what about it makes it good for a starting point?)

[David C]

The Curt 11050 is for the Yaris. It's really about the tabs and placement that I didn't wanted to bother with starting from scratch. Plus there's isn't much room to fit a bigger square tube over-under the exhaust tip and bumper tabs from the look of the installation videos. With a $20 mail in rebate, it comes down to $68 for the hitch, so it's not bad as a good starting point. I'll do most of the work myself and take it to a fab shop to do the full welds after I tack everything together with my own welder.

Hooking it up to the jack tab is something I didn't thought about, I'll check it out. Thanks.

[WeeYari]

I have the 11050 installed on mine. I don't really fathom what it is you are trying to do and why. I have far exceeded recommended tongue weight using a cargo carrier traveling from the GTA to Moncton and back several times. That sucker did not budge a hair.

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[dogsridewith]

Tow points, generally, can be strong. Not saying anyone else should, but I used all four on Tercel and Corolla to floor-jack up a corner. These spot welded Yaris rear points don't visually scream "strong." Consider that the hitch bolts would help hold them together, and adding plate could crush edge lip detrimentally, if plate is not kept to the area where the stampings touch.(There's also a stamped in drain channel you might not want to crush?)

[David C]

Mostly for cargo carrier application. I may be loading over 200lbs plus the carrier weight itself, and also wouldn't mind using the carrier as a bench for service calls.

Looking at the owner manual that says max 300lbs tongue weight (pretty sure it's more about keeping enough weight on the front wheels than the body strength), class 1 hitch claims max 200lbs (static 200lbs load can easily reach 600lbs on big bumps), so I don't wish to rely solely on a basic class 1 hitch to handle everything I might want to dump on the back of the car. Also I really want a 2" receiver since our other cars have 2" ones and all the hitch accessories we have are 2" already.

I'll start by bolting in the hitch as is since I'm having it delivered to my beach house where I'm heading for a week tomorrow and also ordered a cargo carrier and hitch adapter.

[WeeYari]

I understand the want to convert it to 2". A word of warning, that much weight and bumps = blown shocks. Experience speaking here.

And again, there is nothing to gain by sandwiching the tie downs.

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[David C]

I understand the want to convert it to 2". A word of warning, that much weight and bumps = blown shocks. Experience speaking here.

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Yup, that's another concern. I've loaded several hundreds pounds in the back without problem many times, but it was mostly over and forward of the rear axle beam. Now it's gonna be behind the rear axle, no weight to be carried by the front wheels. I don't think I'm gonna be loading more than 200lbs often at all, mostly 50-100lbs. However I want it to be stiff and to possibly handle a light duty snow plow or winch/pulling up to a 2000lbs rolling weight.

[WeeYari]

Keep in mind as well that tongue weight specs for the receiver exceed specs for the car 3 fold. There is a huge difference between 200lbs sitting above the axle and 200lbs 3-4 ft aft of the axle.

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[David C]

Would you use the stock setup hitch for a pushing application, like a foot of light snow, width of the car ? Or to move around a 2000lbs rolling weight in a parking lot ? I feel like it's pushing the hitch/tow point to the limits and could possibly damage the tabs due to the torsion. But perhaps Toyota really built the chassis with some beefy steel and I'm worried about nothing.

Would be cool to see a picture of your cargo carrier setup. Did you use tie down straps to secure the carrier to each corner of the car to prevent sway ?

[WeeYari]

Would I attach a plow? Not on your life.

I don't do anything to further stabilize the carrier. Mine is a 1.25" so direct attach to the 1.25 receiver is fairly stiff. Your utlizing a 1.25" to 2.00" adapter will introduce some sloppiness, just don't know how much. Also, the adapter pushes your load another 6 or so inches further away from axle, thereby effectively increasing the load on your suspension.

[David C]

Would I attach a plow? Not on your life.



I don't do anything to further stabilize the carrier. Mine is a 1.25" so direct attach to the 1.25 receiver is fairly stiff. Your utlizing a 1.25" to 2.00" adapter will introduce some sloppiness, just don't know how much. Also, the adapter pushes your load another 6 or so inches further away from axle, thereby effectively increasing the load on your suspension.



That's why I want to go straight to 2", to get rid of the adaptor and extra length.

Thanks for the pictures

[David C]

I received the hitch Friday and an hour later it was installed and bolts properly torque in. Yesterday I received what was supposed to be a 2" to 1-1/4" adapter, but wrong item was sent and I'll only get the proper one on Tuesday. Cargo carrier should arrive on Tuesday or earlier (it's a 2" shank).

Note on the Curt installation instructions : 45lb-ft for the 3/8 bolts and 210lb-ft for the 5/8 bolts means a lot of clamping force, and obviously even for grade 8 yellow zinc plated hardware, a thorough lubrication of the threads prior to torquing is a must, but there was no mention of it in the instructions at all, either on paper, online or in videos. If a manufacturer invest the resources into specifying an exact assembly torque, then it should clearly indicate the minimum hardware grade and if the torque values are for lubricated or dry threads. If I'm to take the hitch off, I would clearly use new hardware for reassembly, as the old ones would have already been weaken from the high torque of the original installation.

Next update when I get the adapter and carrier and haul it all back home 600 miles north.

[David C]

Here's the carrier with riser adapter.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170613/a3f14ae0d2900547f5cd8c00410cfeec.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170613/bccd4d2879139bbc1ead8dce0eb096f3.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170613/4ee55aa0297987ff603d1767dec2fad8.jpg

[WeeYari]

Is that riser adaptor actually touching the license plate? Sumbeach that's about as close for tolerance as you can get.

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[David C]

Is that riser adaptor actually touching the license plate? Sumbeach that's about as close for tolerance as you can get.

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It's actually gonna need to be trimmed 1/2" for the pin hole to line up in the curt hitch receiver.

[dogsridewith]

I might be tempted to try lower, closer and lighter by using a piece of straight 1.25" receiver stock and then the 2" cargo carrier tongue as a female rather than a male fit to this piece...with whatever for spacer plates in between for a tight fit.

[WeeYari]

I might be tempted to try lower, closer and lighter by using a piece of straight 1.25" receiver stock and then the 2" cargo carrier tongue as a female rather than a male fit to this piece...with whatever for spacer plates in between for a tight fit.
If his carrier is like mine, then the tongue is solid stock and could not act as a female.

Edit: Upon close inspection of the pictures, I guess the tongue is indeed hollow.

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[MugenRep]

Isn't there an older thread here with similar information regarding this to tow a trailer? I could have sworn I read it and it had really great info. I can't seem to search and find it atm though.

[David C]

Yes there's another thread I remember about, with pics of people towing a wide arrays of trailers and such. Keep browsing the search function I guess.

The carrier shank is a 2" square hollow, so technically I could weld a square 1-1/4" steel stock in it with the adequate fill plates. That's a pretty slick idea, thank you Dogs. The riser adapter I bought is actually a solid 1-1/4" steel stock (which make it almost as heavy as the whole carrier itself, carrier is only 26lbs), but it's kinda loose inside the receiver, same goes for the carrier fit into the adapter, both are pretty loose and there's a lot of slope, I'll need to add shim plates or a tightener device to keep everything straight and levelled. I should be back home by the weekend, it'll wait till then.

[David C]

First trip to the recycling facility was a success.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170620/79e07e4d6d882e9dbd37ca4f342180c9.jpg