|
01-01-2019, 08:10 PM | #1 |
Drives: 2007 3 door 5MT Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: snowbirding in Tucson
Posts: 25
|
I built a camping trailer and towed it to Arizona
Sharing this to inspire the curious and refute the naysayers regarding long-distance towing with a Yaris.
I built a camping/travel trailer on a $300 Harbor Freight "super duty folding trailer" frame and drove from NY to AZ over ~2 weeks last fall, about 900 pounds towed, zero issues with my '07 hatchback (on its third cross-continent trip). Yes, it's slow going over 6000 foot mountain passes, but the roads are full of vehicles with a worse power/weight ratio (e.g. semi trucks), and they do just fine too. Blog post about the trailer (written before the trip): https://blog.c-mart.in/posts/hazard-...travel-trailer Photo album of the trailer build last Spring: https://imgur.com/a/3hfjtIH Some things I've done to my Yaris:
Some shots of the trip to Arizona.. Random pee break: If this is OK, then towing 900 pounds with a Yaris is definitely OK: If this is OK (yes they are all connected) then what I'm doing is definitely OK: Sleeping at a rest stop: Stayed in St. Louis for a week to attend a conference. The motel let me to park next to the front office for security: Spent a few days in Tulsa OK to help some people from the internet build a boat: They taught me to weld, so I disabled the "tilt bed" feature on the trailer frame. Taking this slop out of the trailer tongue made the entire ride less jouncy: Somewhere in New Mexico: Final sleep on the road, I-10 in SE Arizona: Rolling into Tucson (destination and where I am currently): I've been living out of the trailer (in a friend's backyard) since October. I doubled the electrical system capacity (another AGM battery and solar panel) to take advantage of the Arizona sun and charge my Onewheel (which I use to commute to work). Later this spring I'll de-snowbird back to NY, probably via the Pacific Northwest. Last edited by grilled cheeseus; 01-01-2019 at 08:25 PM. |
01-01-2019, 09:10 PM | #2 |
Drives: 2007 2-door hatchback Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: USAnotCA
Posts: 750
|
Nice!
What were your typical highway cruise speed and mpg? |
01-01-2019, 09:26 PM | #3 |
Drives: 05 Echo Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Waterford Ontario
Posts: 131
|
Nice job!
I considered doing the same with my Wife's Sonic and spent a fair bit of time researching it on tnttt but we've decided to go in another direction and build a minivan camper instead |
01-01-2019, 09:30 PM | #4 |
Drives: 2007 3 door 5MT Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: snowbirding in Tucson
Posts: 25
|
Typically about 60 MPH. 65 was still fairly comfortable but I was in no rush and wanted to burn fewer dinosaur squeezings.
I think the best tank was about 32 MPG (in Ohio?) and the worst was about 27 MPG (big headwind in New Mexico). I probably averaged about 29-30. |
01-01-2019, 10:11 PM | #5 |
Super Moderator
Drives: 2014 White VITZ Join Date: May 2007
Location: Huntington Bch, CA
Posts: 4,938
|
Very nice setup!
|
01-01-2019, 10:24 PM | #6 |
Drives: 06 2ZR Turbo Yaris RS Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Posts: 2,384
|
So cool!
__________________
2006 Yaris 5 Door RS 2ZR-FE (2011 Corolla 1.8L) Swapped, Automatic, T-28 Turbocharged (8 psi), HSD MonoPro Coilovers, DIY W/M Injection, custom 3" cold air intake, custom 2.5" exhaust, TRD rear sway bar, Penguin Garage 13mm spacers (rear), custom Civic front lip, full repaint, Android 6.0 7" touchscreen, Rockford Fosgate speakers, tweeters, NVX underseat subwoofer https://www.instagram.com/2zr_turbo_yarisrs/ |
01-02-2019, 07:31 AM | #7 |
Drives: 2007 2-door hatchback Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: USAnotCA
Posts: 750
|
Roughly, w/ a tape--what is outside-of-tread to outside-of-tread for both car and trailer?
|
01-02-2019, 08:00 AM | #8 |
Drives: No longer own a yaris :( Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Ashland, VA
Posts: 680
|
That's awesome.
__________________
I'm a hermit named Lee |
01-02-2019, 10:28 AM | #9 |
Drives: 2016 SE Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Silicon Valley
Posts: 1,139
|
looks good thanks for posting
|
01-02-2019, 03:15 PM | #10 |
2ZR swap. DO IT! Ask how!
Drives: 09 Meteoric Metallic HB Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: West Michigan
Posts: 2,333
|
Awesome work!
|
01-03-2019, 10:25 AM | #11 |
I always get a kick out of this kind of thing. Thanks for sharing.
|
|
01-03-2019, 12:22 PM | #12 |
Drives: 06 5door Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Canada
Posts: 19
|
Awesome work! I think I'm going to switch up my project to a foamie as well.
|
01-03-2019, 07:37 PM | #13 |
DWEED
Drives: 3DR 2008 Metorite Metalic Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Arizona
Posts: 1,161
|
Thanks for posting. Love it.
__________________
Making a decision without following it with an action is still a fantasy. |
01-10-2019, 04:29 PM | #14 | |
Drives: 2007 3 door 5MT Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: snowbirding in Tucson
Posts: 25
|
Thanks everyone!
Quote:
Honestly, after 3 months of living out of it (and relying on friend's bathroom/kitchen), it's getting somewhat cramped. I'm planning to upgrade to a Class A motorhome (probably 30-35 feet), so my house will tow the Yaris rather than the other way around. I guess it's true what they say about new RVers upgrading to something else within a year. |
|
01-10-2019, 08:22 PM | #15 |
Drives: 2007 2-door hatchback Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: USAnotCA
Posts: 750
|
Done right, a second tow hook mount installed opposite the existing one might make a good attachment for a fork-type tow bar?
|
01-16-2019, 10:51 PM | #16 |
Drives: 2009 5-Door Liftback Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Columbus, OH
Posts: 333
|
That is super cool! Please share more road trip pics if you have any!
|
01-22-2019, 04:17 AM | #17 |
Drives: 2009 Yaris--3dr MT Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Ohio
Posts: 541
|
Wow. Ultra-cool. Thanks for posting. Would like to see what it's like inside the camper.....
|
01-22-2019, 08:30 AM | #18 |
Drives: Yaris 06 - 5dr hatchback Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Birmingham, UK
Posts: 390
|
DUDE.
I SAW YOU ON SV SEEKER's CHANNEL ON YOUTUBE! Nice work. I couldn't believe it. I take it your car is the 1NZ engine? I had a feeling it would do fine towing a small trailer. I have loaded my 1L up with hundreds of kilos and driven it up and down mountains for a couple weeks. These cars are tanks.
__________________
- Yaris 2006, 1.0, 5 door hatchback "Betty" - 240,000 miles UK to Nordkapp in a Yaris
|
Tags |
towing, trailer |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Driving w/ Trailer Safety | Connoisseur_of_fine_cars | General Yaris / Vitz Discussion | 2 | 11-03-2011 06:00 PM |