Trailer towing

[keithert]

The owners manual for my car says not to tow a trailer with the Galant. That there may not be enough braking power for a trailer. With the 4 wheel disks and V-6 I would think the car would no problem pulling a trailer. Does anyone pull anything with their Galant? I'm was thinking of a pop-up camper trailer or a trailer with a motorcycle.

[verywhite01]

I think the max towing is like 600 or 700 lbs or maybe even less.

[Elwenil]

I wouldn't tow anything with a Galant. This is a big pet peevee with me. I hate seeing all these weirdos out on the road towing crap with Escorts and Geo Trackers. It's pathetic. One, if the factory does not offer a factory installed "Towing Package", then you should never tow with it. Just because you can buy an aftermarket hitch for it, doesn't mean that's all it takes. And for god's sake, don't ever let anyone weld up a "custom" hitch for something that should never have one in the first place. Two, yes the brakes on our G's, regardless if it's an I4 or V6, are made to handle the weight of our cars at the speed that they can attain. And in my opinion, even the 4 wheel disc brakes suck. Three, the suspension is way too soft on a G to tow with. In order to tow you would have to put all of the weight on the trailer axel to keep from squatting the G down to the ground. Too much trailer weight causes a "squirrely" trailer and it can really get out of control in a crosswind. In my truck driving travels I've seen everything from full size campers and semi trailers to Uhaul trailers and Jet Ski trailers overturned on the highway. Four, the Galant doesn't have enough wheel base to keep it stable. The longer the wheelbase, the easier the tow, and it "follows" the towing vehicle better. Your towing vehicle must be longer than the distance between the hitch and first axel on the trailer for good towing. The bigger the difference, the better it tows. With the exception of single axel trailers. They all suck. For tractor-trailers, it is the same, only the lengths are reversed. The closer your truck and trailer get in length, the worse it is to tow with. Ask any driver that has to tow pup trailers around or 28 foot containers. They wag back and forth all the way down the road.
Bottom line is this, if it ain't meant to tow, don't do it. The factory tow packages include more than just a hitch. Most have heavy duty alternators, batteries and radiators, external transmission, and power steering coolers, and heavy duty transmissions, springs and sway bars. All vehicles in the US have Gross Vehicle Weight Ratings, or GVWR, that can be found on the label in the drivers door jamb. This should not be exceeded. Most vehicles that are meant to tow have a rating for combined vehicle weight. This is for the towing vehicle and for the trailer. This number includes the weight of both the empty towing vehicle and the empty trailer, plus whatever you may be carrying. Most of the trucks you see pulling trailers are doing so illegally. Same goes for all the RV's towing SUV's and crap. Anyone with an RV should be made to get a CDL, but that's just my opinion. Ok, I guess I'm done ranting. Sorry it's so long, but I think it's just stupid to pull a trailer in an unsafe manner. I have a 3/4 ton pick-up to tow with, and it barely does the job with a 10,000 lbs GVWR.

[varroa]

notwithstanding with the above, here is my record of towing with the 8G 4g64:

Monterey, CA - San Angelo, TX, 1500 miles, 1100 lbs of combined trailer and car load. trailer itself was probably around 900 lbs.
San Angelo, TX - Tacoma, WA, 2400 miles, 1200 lbs of combined trailer and car load. trailer itself around 950 lbs.
Tacoma, WA - NYC, 4500 miles, 860 lbs of combined trailer and car load. trailer itself was around 600 lbs.

i never had any problems with the car except for slight overheating when going up a hill in 4th gear (easily solved by going to the 3rd). other than that, i just kept extra distance between my and the car in front of me. also, i had brake pads and rotors that were just put in, so not even broken in yet, and i only had to brake really hard once, about 3000 miles into the trip - didn't want to run a red light.

so a 6g72 galant with all disc brakes should have no problem towing anything under 1000 lbs. i got my trailer at Tractor Supply Company, and the hitch - from eBay somewhere. trailer - about $370 after tax and hitch - about $180 after tax.

[kcarel]

I'm needing to move an ATV and disc. The ATV is a 250 and I could probably pick one end of it up. I cant imagine the ATV disc and trailer exceeding 500-600 pounds. I am interested in renting a trailer hitch to do this. How does the hitch install on the galant? I'm assuming it's a bolt in application? Anyone have transmission issues? I'm not concerned about the braking but more the wear and tear on the transmission. Mine kind of bucks every now and then when I have the AC on, so I'm just wondering what the adverse effects would be from loading the drivetrain even more.

[Rob21]

I would say you should be fine with this. I had a 91 civic i towed my bike with. It was an r6 on a light weight trailor, and the civic was VERY underpowered, but it got the job done. If you dont do it regularly, I would say you should be ok. Most hitches are bolt on applications.