Quote:
Originally Posted by ctrj
I'm curious--
How much of a trailer are you pulling and how does the Yaris do pulling it? Could you post a picture of the car and trailer?
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It is a fold-up 4'x8' trailer that I bought as a kit from redtrailers.com.
The trailer itself as purchased is just a frame. I added a 4'x8' piece of plywood (cut in half to allow the trailer to fold) for a floor. I also built side panels from another piece of plywood and cut-up 2'x4's for stakes.
So far I've only used it a few times. Once was to go about 400 miles down the east coast on the highway, with the trailer holding boxes of light houehold goods. I could definetly tell the engine was under a heavier load pulling the trailer, but once I got up to speed on the highway, it was fine. Just like pulling any trailer, you need to be mindful of breaking issues/stopping distances. Stopping distance was definetly increased, but a little testiing before I got on the road helped me get comfortable with that.
The other time I used it was to bring some trees/shurbs home from a local nursery. I also had a few bags of stone and other gardening items in there as well. There were a few more steep hills on this trip, and while the Yaris was straining a bit to get up some of the hills with the trailer, it ended up geting the job done. Again, the heavier the trailer, the more you have to watch your stopping distances.
Since Toyota recommends you don't use the Yaris for towing, I don't endorse this or recommend you try it for yourself; I can only comment on my own experience so far. I really added the trailer hitch to the Yaris just to connect my bike rack; towing the trailer was more of an experiment for me. I have a more powerful vehcile that I'd use for towing a serious load.