Towing with a commmodore

[stevefish]

Gday raiders,

Holden say with the right towbar and a couple of suspension mods (and maybe a tranny cooler), a Commodore wagon can tow 2100kg. is anyone doing this and how does it go?

i know a 4x4 will do it better but thats money i cant spend on the boat.

thanks in advance

steve

[Guest]

The problem towing with sedans and heavy loads is the body starts to twist under the heavy loads.

I used to tow a 17ft crestcutter with my VN auto sedan without too much hassle but that is nowhere near 2100 kgs

Cheers Stewy

[wonniefisho]

(and maybe a tranny cooler)

Forget the maybe. Even if you aren't towing a tranny cooler is a good investment to keep the transmission cool. Its a definite if you are towing and want to extend the life of your transmission.

[pjbink]

Forget the maybe. Even if you aren't towing a tranny cooler is a good investment to keep the transmission cool. Its a definite if you are towing and want to extend the life of your transmission.

With newer car one is not needed when towing (according to the manufacturers). A medium to large 4wd will tow heavy loads better not the least because of the fact that they are heavier than a sedan. When you rig is significantly heavier than the tow vehicle the handling braking and stability becomes increasingly more compromised.

[fishmaniac]

Apart from the poor braking capabilities and other associated safety issues when towing a large load with a relatively small car you are going to stuff your engine and transmission.

If you are going to tow 2.1 tonnes on any sort of regular basis you should be looking at a 4WD.

My mate has a commodore wagon and he tried towing a 1.8 tonne boat to his local ramp (as the 4WD was in service). He said never again. You could smell the transmission.

Most car dealerships know jack crap about towing. The maximum a car can tow is based on the actual weight of the car. I towed my boat (800kg) with a toyota camry rated to tow 1.2 tonnes. On a 15 minute trip you could smell the transmission on top of the fact it was struggling a lot. Unless you have a powerful diesel or a V8 you are going to struggle even if the car is rated to 10 tonnes!!!

Try not to push things to the limit as it will only cost you more in the long run.

Edited February 6, 2011 by fishmaniac

[PRED-ATOR]

i recently sold my holden commodore vx s pak because it was rubbish at towing my boat which is less than 700kg. it was a manual and the clutch was screwed. i have been towing with manual all my life but never again with the commodore. i now bought the ba xr6. its got a higher towing capacity then the commodore. definately tran cooler is important

[Guest Aussie007]

i was towing a 90's 5.6 meter half cabin swiftcraft it was about 2 meters wide and just fit through my gates with my VR V6 commodore a oil cooler is a must and some ramps can be tricky otherwise no problems at all towing or pulling the boat up a good ramp i often used the old port botany ramp no problem the only time i ran into trouble was at the entrance the ramp was covered in seaweed took about 5mins to get up the ramp