Trailer towing?

[Slipangle]

So, aside from doing fun stuff with my SVT Focus and using it for a daily driver, I also do fun stuff involving hauling building materials for playing handyman around the house. This year I've got a long list of things I want to get done, particularly before our baby is born, and to do it I'm doing as much advance planning as possible so I plan the right purchases and borrow the right amount of money...

Part of the question I have, though, is I want to hear what kind of experiences folks have putting a trailer hitch on their SVT Foci. One logitstical problem I will be facing is the fact that I can't fit 4'x8' sheets of plywood or sheet rock in the back of my Focus, so I would need to borrow my parent's trailer.. I'd rather not have to deal with having to also borrow something that can pull it.

This would just be 2 mile trips to Home Depot, I would estimate 1000 pounds trailer + load weight, tongue weight shouldn't be an issue. Is this feasible? Or am I going to cause the kind of premature wear of the clutch that might be accompanied by premature voiding of my driveline warranty?

[deactivated]

towing capacity is only 1000 lbs...are you saying the trailer will weight that and THEN load weight?

people have put hitches on our vehicles, though I would go look for a really cheap truck before I did that.

[Slipangle]

I'm guesstimating 1000 lbs weight of the trailer with load. Although if I did carry sheetrock, it would probably go higher, maybe the total weight would be 1500 for 2 loads.. And in those cases, I'd either borrow a vehicle or use the $20 rental flatbed.

[Slipangle]

For reference, I got around to reading the owner's manual... There isn't anything in the SVT specific literature, but for Focus it recommends a maxium gross weight of the trailer of 1000 lbs (which means Ford has likely done durability testing at 1500 to 2000 lbs)

I would wonder if anyone has any experience with that, though.. It would seem that the low end being what it is might be less conducive to trailer towing on SVT than a normal Focus, particularly considering that while my drive would be short, it will consist of starting from a complete stop multiple times.

But then again, I'm not one to shy away from trying it anyway.

[deactivated]

i dunno, I can only see bad things coming of it. I know of people here that have done it, but the $20 flatbed seems like a GREAT idea.

[Slipangle]

The problem is that I'll need to make a large haul every other week through the end of October, and having the option to leave my materials in the trailer instead of having to unload before the 2 hours is up..

Hmm - You see, I started out probably having been convinced that I'm going to do this anyway. Now I'm having thoughts of other reasons I would want a trailer, such as carrying extra tires to autocrosses (or to replace the ones that I bend on my way to work :bash: ) Or for that matter, if I ever get the ambition to build that A-mod car...

I guess now that I think about it, I'm pretty much set on it.. I just need to be a little more careful with tongue weight than on past rear wheel drive tow vehicles.

[10clock]

save the car save the worry save the possible damage
rent a truck.

[Euro_SVT]

save the car save the worry save the possible damage

I'll second that !!

If you don't know someone with a truck you can borrow - rent the Home Depot rig for ~$20 an hour!