Towing with a Sedan

I have been dreaming for so long about what to do with my SonderKlasse. I've had multiple threads about it. This is thankfully not one.

All the time I see photos, mostly from Europe, of people towing cars with cars. Heck, before the pickuptruck revolution in the US you bought a big sedan to tow your trailer. Then I saw this photo the other day, a W116 towing another W116.

I can't tell the model, but the car on the trailer weighs a minimum of 3660lbs plus trailer weight. I'd love to put a high rated hitch on my W116 and use it as my tow vehicle. If it's not a terrible idea. But the worry becomes tongue weight, stability and brakes. Load the trailer backwards like this photo and I've solved the tongue weight but won't that adversely affect the handling? Then there are trailer brakes that should make that doable, right?

Or just tell me I'm an idiot and I'll move on.

EDITED TO ADD PHOTO

While i was in between trucks my 1991 caprice sedan was my tow vehicle.  I used to rent the tilting heavy trailers at the rental place and i used it to tow several cars.  It's not any more sketchy than a half ton short bed truck and probably less so because of lower CG.  

What?

Disclaimer: The rear springs were waaaaaay too soft, but it worked fine just to get to the local boat ramp.

I towed quite a bit with my Volvo 740 wagon but never with a trailer. It was perfectly fine with a tow dolly but I don't know I would be comfortable towing a full trailer with that little tongue weight. 

I used to be the hitch guy at a U-Haul and know a little bit about towing with cars as a result.

I think the biggest challenge in the US is cultural. When the average person here tows something, they want to be able to do it at 70MPH on the interstate, where the wrong lane change and braking maneuver can lead to instant chaos. Combine that with mediocre average car control skills, omnipresent threat of litigation, etc and you get the common perception here that you need a big three HD3500 pickup to tow anything more than a garden trailer.

That said, hitch availability for cars in the US also sucks. It's tough to find more than a little Class I that bolts through the spare tire well with gusset plates for many non-truck or SUV vehicles here.

In Europe, you see little cars towing big holiday trailers quite frequently, but they're also not boogieing down interstates in most cases, and they are content with doing it very slowly. But because that market is there, they also have more substantial hitches available for smaller vehicles.

I once towed a Subaru RX hatchback about 100 miles with a Brat and a bumper dolly. It wasn't really scary until we tried to get above 55MPH, but I was also extremely conscious of braking and steering inputs, stayed the hell away from other traffic, etc.

Long story short: yes it can be done and is reasonable and yes they do stuff like this in Europe all the time, but you gotta have the right hardware, you gotta be careful as hell, and you have to be willing to move a little slower than the rest of traffic.

You could minimize the towing weight by getting a ($$$$) trailex trailer, they're ~700lbs and have brakes. Depending on elevation you can get away with not a lot of car to tow more than you'd think, but you have to tow smart (read slow) keep in mind tongue weight is really important to get right to avoid sway. 

I've towed with a lot of non-truck things.

Our old Ford Galaxy towed the race car and trialer no problem.

One I was involved in Rally I noticed a lot of the European guys used Mercedes and Volvo wagons.

Tongue weight and overall weight apply to any vehicle when towing.......stay with in the ratings and you're good.

My favorite tow vehicle, although it was not the most capable, was the Crown Vic. I'd go for it, but find a lighter trailer if you can. 

The great Tommy Ivo towing his FED with his Buick Riviera.

A long time ago I used my ITB Pinto to stop a wall. It worked the wall did not move. I had to borrow a trailer and load the shorter than stock Pinto backwards. I could not exceed 45 mph without the trailer wagging the wagon. 

In reply to buzzboy :

One of my customers used a Mercury Sedan to pull his race car around. Had a 460 cu in engine in it and pulled his Ferrari 330 around on it. He seemed very comfortable and while I checked the car before every race and again at the race track before he towed it home.  Fluids stayed up and temps stayed normal.  
I've seen a MK 9 Jaguar sedan  (3.8 liter in line 6 with 210 gross horsepower pull an XKE Racecar.   When questioned he assured me the power was adequate except going up the Mountains (This was in California ) where he said patience and a respect for fellow motorist kept him out of trouble. He said he got a lot of smiles and thumbs up even though sometimes going up the mountains he was going 20 mph less than traffic.  
My first race I attended I saw a 1930's Bentley  pulling a trailer with a Triumph TR 4  race car on it. 

That was my introduction to Augie Pabst. 

pointofdeparture said:

I used to be the hitch guy at a U-Haul and know a little bit about towing with cars as a result.

I think the biggest challenge in the US is cultural. When the average person here tows something, they want to be able to do it at 70MPH on the interstate, where the wrong lane change and braking maneuver can lead to instant chaos. Combine that with mediocre average car control skills, omnipresent threat of litigation, etc and you get the common perception here that you need a big three HD3500 pickup to tow anything more than a garden trailer.

That said, hitch availability for cars in the US also sucks. It's tough to find more than a little Class I that bolts through the spare tire well with gusset plates for many non-truck or SUV vehicles here.

In Europe, you see little cars towing big holiday trailers quite frequently, but they're also not boogieing down interstates in most cases, and they are content with doing it very slowly. But because that market is there, they also have more substantial hitches available for smaller vehicles.

I once towed a Subaru RX hatchback about 100 miles with a Brat and a bumper dolly. It wasn't really scary until we tried to get above 55MPH, but I was also extremely conscious of braking and steering inputs, stayed the hell away from other traffic, etc.

Long story short: yes it can be done and is reasonable and yes they do stuff like this in Europe all the time, but you gotta have the right hardware, you gotta be careful as hell, and you have to be willing to move a little slower than the rest of traffic.

Here in Dallas, you are going to get honked at if you are towing something down the freeway at 45 or 50 mph with something smaller than an F150. Slow down traffic enough and people will start throwing things at you as they pass. I get passed all the time by big duallys dragging big boats and horse trailers over 75 mph. Probably why big trucks are popular here. Small bore motorcycles get picked on here too. You have to be big and fast to survive. 

Towed a oval kart with a 4x8 Open Trailer with a P71. Whole setup weighed 800 lbs. Had to look behind me every 5 minutes to see if it was still attached being so light.

in Germany you are  required when you are towing to only do 80km / 50mph , plus those travel trailers are pretty light and there are weight checks to keep you honest  and a BIG fine for overweight.....

Plus European trailers  mostly have brakes....

When still in the UK I towed my TR7 on a tandem axle trailer with my 1.8L fwd Cavalier, no issue. 
 

my current 15.5 Volvo S60 toes our camper. Here it has a tow rating of 3,300lbs. The identical car in Europe has a rating of 3,968 lbs. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

That explains why the rear diff bushing was shot. :p

I remember back in the 70s they used to sell big stations wagons with a towing package. Stiffer springs, air shocks, etc. 

In the late 70's, my father towed a 5000 lb travel trailer with a '76 Coupe DeVille. Besides the hitch receiver, he added air shocks, an external transmission cooler, and... that's it.  Towed fine other than being a little bit slow due mostly to the too-tall standard rear gears. 

He was also a subscriber to Trailer Life magazine.  I, as a young gearhead, would read the tow vehicle reviews.  Around 1982 or so they did a survey to find the most popular tow vehicle.  F250? Nope.  C20? Nope.  Suburban? Nope.  1972 Olds 98.   Yeah, towing with a sedan is fine, you just need the right sedan

The Abomination and trailer tip the scales at around 2500 pounds. I frequently hauled it with the P71. 

When I was heating my house with wood, I used to haul 1500+- pounds of fire wood behind a 81 Corolla wagon. 

Sedans will tow fine with a little forethought and care. Just remember the safety margin is a lot smaller. 

In reply to Everybody :

Towing slowly is fine. Plodding at 55mph gets me where I'm going. East NC is a pretty flat place and I'm a very slow driver. I towed my 62 comet(2750lbs) behind my dad's 2.4L Toyota PU once and anything better than that is fine by me.

I know I'd need stiffer rear springs. Thankfully they're a more common size than the fronts. My friend tows with an S124 E36 AMG on cut springs. It works but it spends a lot of time bottomed out. I like suspension travel.

There are a lot of Brake Controller Types and I know very little. I've only experienced the type that uses a potentiometer on the pedal. Works great but something tells me that they don't make one for a W116 Mercedes. So it's proportional or time delay? Time delay sounds simpler yet less effective.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Oddly googling "W116 Towing" brought me your photos. How did the brakes feel? I'm currently upgrading the W116 to 2nd gen W126 brakes.

In reply to EvanB :

I just don't like dolly's that much for reasons like disconnecting drive shafts or currently I have a car with a seized rear brake I need to move.

In reply to AccordionFolder :

That's my big worry. My last towing experience was 5500lbs behind a 3/4 Ton suburban and I had the car 6-12" too far back on the trailer. It was not a fun tow even at 55mph. Finding that sweet spot is key. That is a lot of trailer for a forester. I hope it's not the CVT.

And because this car is already the Planet Express I really want to recreate this

Back when it was routine to tow with a car or station wagon, those cars had real frames which handled the weight better than the uni-body modern cars. Can still tow with modern uni-body cars, just not as high a payload. That's why trucks are more commonly used today, they still have real frames.

At least what I've been told.

In reply to buzzboy :

The Subaru was a five speed. Did fantastic, towed through the mountains in Utah with it. The only sketchy thing was the shop I towed from had an incredibly steep grade to pull out of and the Forester had a terrible power dip when you were pulling off the line, I was genuinely unsure if I was going to make it out of there.....

I don't generally like driving my SUV (Sequoia) for regular (non-utility) purposes, but I have to say - the best part about towing with a taller truck is the ability to see ahead in traffic, making it much safer to be able to operate in traffic when you have 5000lbs behind you. It's not that there aren't cars that are perfectly capable of towing things (good enough brakes and power) - but the ability to see ahead is a big reason why I'd have no interest in towing with a car. 

Being able to see several cars ahead has saved my ass several times in heavy traffic when towing. Else I probably would either have to sit much farther back of the car in front (and then people would cut in), or I'd have rear-ended a couple people by now. 

I tow a utility trailer with my Mazda2 all the time.  Kayaks, motorcycles, garbage, lumber, etc. 

Best/dumbest tow was an X1/9 (2000ish lbs) on Uhaul dolly with surge brakes, behind a 2.2l Impreza wagon.  800kms 100 - 110kms/hr the whole way.