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Does anyone Tow?; Towing with a metro
Topic Started: Jan 3 2015, 02:02 PM (5,678 Views)
nerys
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Grr

300 pounds is incorrect IIRC. that is the CONVERTIBLE. I believe your right 700 pounds for the regular metro.

I think you could do a decent little camper at under 400 pounds wet. no carbon fiber needed some foam board and some fiberlglass would be plenty I think. if you can AFFORD it carbon would be nice. I would actually use a carbon kevlar weave if money were no object. I estimate that would be about $2000 in fabric alone!! ouch. not me :-)

my 42x40" trailer is under 100 pounds and that is 90% of the camper and that is WITH a very nice heavy wood "floor" not just plywood (you can see it in my pictures mylittlemouse.com) and it's steel. Make it aluminum and you could make it 7ft long as the same mass as the 40x42 I bet. ie around 100 pounds.

I can pick it up off the ground myself and carry it. I am strong but I am no muscle builder or anything. never weighed it but my guess is under 100 pounds since I don't think I could so easily carry much more than that.

so now you have 300 pound left to play with to build the camper. I bet I could do the shell at around 100 pounds as well maybe 150. being a hi lo style and being smaller than the metro aero load would be nearly nill. you could build VERY light and get away with it.

my ideal camper would be 7ft long. as wide as the metro not an inch more. "in down" position 3 inches shorter than the metro. ideally I want 6'6" headroom inside the trailer if that is possible. might have to do a 3 piece "lift" box to get that height.

EZ up style canopy attached when set up for more "interior space" (think lighter version of what I bring to geo palooza)

I was even thinking of building a water bladder into the floor of the camper to "weigh it down" when on site. that is how light I think I could build it.

If your brakes don't feel up to snuff then DO your maintenance and fix them. my brakes (original style 94's) work JUST fine even with 400 pounds out back. zero problems stopping at all.

proper maintenance and good judgement.

850 pounds is way way too much.
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nwgeo


Before I would tow something like maybe 1000# with a metro I would put some weight in the rear end and I would want electric brakes on the trailer a must and I think I could go more than 1000#s.
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myredvert
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myredvert

Quote:
 
so now you have 300 pound left to play with to build the camper. I bet I could do the shell at around 100 pounds as well maybe 150.
:stoner
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Turbo Dan-O
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Obsessive Car Detailer

I pull stuff every now and then with mine. I have a 4'x8' Harbor Freight trailer. Not sure what it weighs(200lbs?). It pulls a 300lb four wheeler fine but I hauled a 500lb engine and that was a bit much. It did it but it wasn't happy about it. Won't do that again. My .02 ;)
Edited by Turbo Dan-O, Jan 11 2015, 10:53 AM.
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Justahoby
Unqualified informant

myredvert
Jan 11 2015, 08:21 AM
Quote:
 
so now you have 300 pound left to play with to build the camper. I bet I could do the shell at around 100 pounds as well maybe 150.
:stoner
I thought the door jamb was cargo / passengers.. Cool I'm going to carry two sumo wrestlers in my car and tow :stoner
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t3ragtop
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker

the 4 contact points of the tires make a rectangle. the chassis is designed to maintain its entire laden weight within that box.

anything that you do that moves loading outside of the box is undesireable if not downright unsafe. ;)
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nerys
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Grr

define unsafe. discussion is worthless without a source reasonable definition of that word as used here.
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Justahoby
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nerys
Jan 13 2015, 01:28 AM
define unsafe. discussion is worthless without a source reasonable definition of that word as used here.
Websters Dictionary, circa 1893

Unsafe:1) Geo metro, fat family of 4 , two dogs, roof rack with barbecue , 4 bycicles,harbor freight trailer with 700 cc atv, while the fat family of Falkers themselves exceed the limit on the door jamb.

:P


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Justahoby
Unqualified informant

I mean really, as an engineering student I can just get into the loads that end up summing up a lot of sheer and bending force on the rear axles alone...

Do we need to go on unreasonable " we don't have the definition" to know we are exceeding the safe limit ...
The car not only was not made for towing, but a to package was never available.. I had three bags of concrete ( 240lbs) other day and my 200 lb butt.. It was no bueno...
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nerys
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Grr

My fat ass is 430 pounds. 2 more passengers another 400 pounds. the car accelerates fine stops fine turns fine. I put 180,000 miles on the car typically over 90% of those miles with 700-900 pounds in the car minimum.

I have thousands of miles towing with it (200-400 pounds loads including trailer mass)

zero issues accelerating zero issues braking. no broken parts. nothing.

180,000 miles on top of the 100k it already had on it for a total of 280,000 miles.

Just because it was not "intended" to tow does not mean your are "unsafe" in doing so.

NO motorcycle was "designed or rated" to tow. it is not unsafe to do so unless you "do it" unsafely.

towing 400 pounds behind a geo metro will not even PHASE a geo metro. it won't care and I drive an XFI with over sized tires. (155 80 13 came with 12's stock)

I guess that is unsafe too right? the 94 was not "designed" for that size tire.

towing 850 pounds? absolutely in my book that is NOT SAFE

300 or 400 pounds (including the mass of the trailer)

WELL within safety tolerances in my book.
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t3ragtop
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker

be honest nerys. have you ever snapped a toe control arm?

i know you have and it wasn't a random failure. ;)
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myredvert
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myredvert

Quote:
 
define unsafe. discussion is worthless without a source reasonable definition of that word as used here.
:smackface

Without having to consider unsupported/unverified/incorrect estimates of component and material weights, It is reasonable to assume that the weight of his finished trailer should in line with what other trailers of similar design and construction actually weigh.

Also, the design does not seem to pose any significant issues considering the length of trip and speeds at which he intends to use it and the vehicle(s) he has available to tow it with instead of his Metro.

I don't see any problem with the wisdom he has displayed by making a decision to respect that there is more involved in real engineering analysis and real testing that the industry uses to establish vehicle limitations than what people who typically have extremely limited (if any) personal knowledge of or experience with actual engineering analysis, professional testing methodology, and risk analysis can dream up on an internet forum, for the purpose of mitigating risk, do you?
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Tubablake
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I tow a 6600 lbs trailer for the high school marching band. I am familiar with what is safe and not safe.

I feel for the Geo to tow what I want it to tow is unsafe because it is way too much weight behind it. The downward weight alone would be killer.

I use a suburban to tow the 6600lbs trailer and I use air lift to keep the back end level and not sagging. Even so this is still not safe because of weak points in the drive shaft and suspension due to it being a 1500.

Towing in itself is unsafe there is no way to guarantee that towing is safe you can just make it less dangerous.

It doesn't matter if your truck is rated for 10,000lbs and your trailer weighs 2000lbs there are still risks which make it unsafe.

Why kill my metro when I can use an old truck with a new tranny and rebuilt motor instead.
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nwgeo


I agree with Tuba, towing in itself is somewhat more unsafe than regular driving so you have to be extra carful and check brakes and loads etc.

What I don't understand is if my truck weighs like 7000#s and I can tow 12,000#, total of 19,000#s why if my geo weighs like 1600#s so it seems the same ratio would enable the geo to pull like 2700#s. how be it maybe less but at least 1000 or 1200 #s.
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Justahoby
Unqualified informant

Tubablake
Jan 13 2015, 09:35 AM
I tow a 6600 lbs trailer for the high school marching band. I am familiar with what is safe and not safe.

I feel for the Geo to tow what I want it to tow is unsafe because it is way too much weight behind it. The downward weight alone would be killer.

I use a suburban to tow the 6600lbs trailer and I use air lift to keep the back end level and not sagging. Even so this is still not safe because of weak points in the drive shaft and suspension due to it being a 1500.

Towing in itself is unsafe there is no way to guarantee that towing is safe you can just make it less dangerous.

It doesn't matter if your truck is rated for 10,000lbs and your trailer weighs 2000lbs there are still risks which make it unsafe.

Why kill my metro when I can use an old truck with a new tranny and rebuilt motor instead.
Well said, right tool for the right job. When you need a 5 foot pry bar , don't use a screw driver.
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