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I've seen C6 owners at Autocross with a small trailer to carry 4 track tires/wheels.
Is this safe? Is there a weight limit suggestion on much to pull?
I was thinking about heading south for the winter from Maryland in my vette and was curious about very small trailer options. I've scene some very small light weight aerodynamic trailers advertised that have enough room for 1 person to sleep. I'm a minimalist and very frugal. I do most repairs on my 152K 2006 Z51 convertible.
I spent the winter of 2016 - 2017 in South Florida. Everything I needed for the winter fit in my vette. I did airbnb though at $20 a night for 4 months
By the time you get the hitch installed, get the trailer, or even if you rent the trailer you'd be some good money into it, plus I can't see a vette with a trailer hitch having good resale.
You may be money ahead by shipping the stuff you need for winter to your winter address. Many options here that may be fairly cheap compared to the trailer option.
I have a hitch on mine and consider it very safe, in fact much safer towing a small trailer than riding in HDPE events. Having said that, because it was not an option for a vette, you will get grief from most folks, and probably even your insurance company if you happen to have a wreck while towing.
You will probably have about $250 in a hitch and wiring harness, probably even installed for that price, because it is not hard to put on a "non NPP" version vette.
I would not recommend towing anything that weighed more than 1,000 lbs total weight. My track trailer when I towed it probably weighed that with tools, tires and car parts, and you really could not tell it was behind the vette.
I have the 2007 non NPP Corvette and had a trailer hitch for my track and autocross days, worked well until I loaded the trailer wrong and didn't have enough tongue weight. So really no issues if you know how to use a trailer properly. THe problems can happen with any car if you don't know how to load a trailer.
Now I have the BB Fusion Exhaust installed and the hitch doesn't fit anymore. We're trying to fix that, so we're modifying the hitch but it's very hard to fit everything there. It might not work at all after the hours of work for trying.
Eckler's has sold a Class 1 hitch for the C6 since day one . I had one installed on Red three weeks after I brought it home from the Museum. I needed that hitch and a small utility trailer to haul my winter & summer tires up to NTB for their twice a year swap. Without a hitch, you simply can't do that by yourself. I quickly realized that my trailer could hold twice as much as Red's tiny trunk (it's a vert), which made hauling camping gear to/from the lake a whole lot easier.
Two years ago I gave up the stock exhaust for a set of NPP. Suddenly there was no way the original hitch could fit. So Chuck Mosello (Chuck/CoW) pulled out his welding torch and rebuilt the entire hitch so it could squeeze in and among the NPP's pipes. In the process, he cut several pieces from a snow plow blade to make ultra-strong mounting brackets. About ten frame & bumper bolts later, that modified hitch was installed neatly between the NPP tips. You have to look very closely to see it. I guarantee it is MUCH stronger than its original Class 1 rating (200 lb tongue weight, 2000 towed weight). A couple of months ago I used that trailer to transport a power washer and 200 lb chipper-shredder to/from a small engine repair shop about five miles away. I tell people if I could get the tongue weight right, I could probably drag a cabin cruiser.
Within minutes you'll have the usuals in here telling you that the owner's manual says don't do it, so it's a mortal sin and you're gonna die a slow and painful death from it. Same as driving it in the rain.....
Anyhow, if it is a non NPP exhaust then CURT has a model that bolts right on. You can get it from Amazon. There is also a plug and play wire harness that doesn't require cutting your factory wire harness.
If it is NPP you can buy the bolt on CURT model, and with some creating cutting and welding you can rearrange the hitch mounts so that it will bolt on with no drilling into your frame. I have mine on my Z with no holes drilled. It can be done.
Just remember, more weight means more braking room needed. It's not a truck. It's also pretty important to have your tongue weight and balance right.
I'm set up to carry 4 hoosiers for my corvette and 4 for a Subaru, or 4 tires and a big tool box to carry a jack and consumables. I wouldn't really push it past that. The car doesn't squat or lift the nose, the trailer doesn't yank the car around at all, but I do notice the need for additional braking distance, even with Z brakes and good pads.
Eckler's has sold a Class 1 hitch for the C6 since day one . I had one installed on Red three weeks after I brought it home from the Museum. I needed that hitch and a small utility trailer to haul my winter & summer tires up to NTB for their twice a year swap. Without a hitch, you simply can't do that by yourself. I quickly realized that my trailer could hold twice as much as Red's tiny trunk (it's a vert), which made hauling camping gear to/from the lake a whole lot easier.
Two years ago I gave up the stock exhaust for a set of NPP. Suddenly there was no way the original hitch could fit. So Chuck Mosello (Chuck/CoW) pulled out his welding torch and rebuilt the entire hitch so it could squeeze in and among the NPP's pipes. In the process, he cut several pieces from a snow plow blade to make ultra-strong mounting brackets. About ten frame & bumper bolts later, that modified hitch was installed neatly between the NPP tips. You have to look very closely to see it. I guarantee it is MUCH stronger than its original Class 1 rating (200 lb tongue weight, 2000 towed weight). A couple of months ago I used that trailer to transport a power washer and 200 lb chipper-shredder to/from a small engine repair shop about five miles away. I tell people if I could get the tongue weight right, I could probably drag a cabin cruiser.
One of my all time favorite C6's! w/ a tow hitch! w/ POWER to PULL!
We like to call this the "Corvettes of Westchester C6 Corvette Deluxe Towing Package"......
Originally Posted by Sox-Fan;1597964697[color=#e74c3c
]Within minutes you'll have the usuals in here telling you that the owner's manual says don't do it[/color], so it's a mortal sin and you're gonna die a slow and painful death from it. Same as driving it in the rain.....
Anyhow, if it is a non NPP exhaust then CURT has a model that bolts right on. You can get it from Amazon. There is also a plug and play wire harness that doesn't require cutting your factory wire harness.
If it is NPP you can buy the bolt on CURT model, and with some creating cutting and welding you can rearrange the hitch mounts so that it will bolt on with no drilling into your frame. I have mine on my Z with no holes drilled. It can be done.
Just remember, more weight means more braking room needed. It's not a truck. It's also pretty important to have your tongue weight and balance right.
I'm set up to carry 4 hoosiers for my corvette and 4 for a Subaru, or 4 tires and a big tool box to carry a jack and consumables. I wouldn't really push it past that. The car doesn't squat or lift the nose, the trailer doesn't yank the car around at all, but I do notice the need for additional braking distance, even with Z brakes and good pads.
Ok, I will be that guy, the owners manual clearly states that a Corvette is NOT designed to tow anything. Safely towing a load is more than having enough power, its about the weight of the tow vehicle, the wheel base, the braking, all of those things
Ok, I will be that guy, the owners manual clearly states that a Corvette is NOT designed to tow anything. Safely towing a load is more than having enough power, its about the weight of the tow vehicle, the wheel base, the braking, all of those things
The owner's manual also states the maximum load is on the door jam label (mine is 423#) that includes passengers and luggage. So if your's is the same and you weigh 250 and the wife is a trim 173, her purse will put you over the limit.
The reason it's not designed for towing is gov't regulations, not that the car isn't capable.
The owner's manual also states the maximum load is 350# that includes passengers and luggage. So if you weigh 225 and the wife is a trim 125, her purse will put you over the limit.
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09-11-2018, 10:01 AM
Towing a trailer on a C6 convertible
