Can I tow a camper?

[mars_volta]

Hello,

I would like to buy a pop-up camper but I dont know how much the saturn can tow. 96 sl2. How big can I go? 10 feet?

What kind of hitch should I get?

Thanks
MV

[Twin_Cam]

Talk to a member named 'SL2abuser.' He tows a camper with his SW2, along with 150 lbs. of cargo in the back. He says it works well.

[Euphony010]

I got an idea. Get a camper to tow the car. Problem solved.

Thomas

[mars_volta]

Ha! Ha! I would if I had a place to park somehing like that!

MV

[Euphony010]

We had that problem.. check the background of this pic for our answer..

http://www.saturnfans.com/photos/dat...26untitled.JPG

Thomas

[ChrisION]

I don't think you want to tow a camper with the SL2. Max weight I believe is 1,000 lbs. which would be a very tiny camper (Coleman has the Yuma and ehh, something else that's around 1,000 lbs - visit www.foldingtrailers.com ) We have a Coleman Santa Fe that we tow with the TrailBlazer (used to tow it with a Venture and even the Venture had a hard time!). You could tow a camper with your SL2, but don't be supprised if the transmission fails and you get stranded out in the middle of no where

[OhioVueBoy]

The Taos is the smaller version of the Yuma. We have an older Taos that I tow with my VUE.. but I believe it is more than 1,000 pounds.
~D.J.~

[abbear]

I am going to answer this the way it is usually answered on popuptimes or one of the other popup forums.

How much does your owners manual say you can tow? As I recall, the S series is limited to 1000 lbs. How much does your camper weigh?

This will help determine whether you can safely tow your popup. You also need to not overload your vehicle. Remember, tongue weight is added to the weight of the vehicle along with luggage, gas, and people.

Yes, you can ignore all the weight stuff and tow anyway but why don't you bite the bullet and buy a real tow vehicle?

I tow my 12 foot Coleman Westlake with my 2004 v6 fwd vue. I bought this car specifically to tow with. Its limit on trailer weight is 3500 pounds WITH TRAILER BRAKES. Trailer weighs 2750 with 300 pound tongue weight. As long as I watch my vehicle load, I'll be ok. I loaded everything (and everyone) up and went down to the scale to be sure of weights. Misjudgements in this area tend to have severe consequences....


Hope this helps.

[SL2Ghost42]

Talk to SL2abuser. Actually visit his gallery and you'll see his sl2 towing away! It's possible, WITH SOME UPGRADES.

[erick295]

Even if it's possible, I wouldn't think it would be good for it... I don't think I'd tow anything with a car.

[amazinghl]

Unless it is a V8 RWD Sedan, Coupe, or Wagon...

[Shawn]

I have a small Jayco J tent trailer that I tow with my minivan. The trailer weighs around 800 lbs dry. Theoretically, I could tow the trailer with the Saturn but then I would only have 200lb left to use for gear, cooler, firewood, water, ect. That's not at all realistic for our small family of three and, I would imagine, for most people to camp "comfortably".

There aren't too many other trailers out there that are as light as mine. I would really suggest a vehicle with more towing capacity to have a good towing experience.

I will add, however, that when I was a teenager, my dad towed the same trailer around with me, my mom, and the dog using a then-new 1988 Chevrolet Corsica LT with the 2.8L V6 (2000 Lb tow capacity). You could barely feel the loaded trailer behind it. He got rid of that car ten years later at 110k and never once had a towing related problem with the car.

[FrozenPilot]

SL2abuser has a manual tranny in his tow saturn, and even with mods he says he'd never do it with an automatic saturn. Thats the biggest limiting factor right there.

[Maritime Storm]

You'll nowadays it's not power that limits the weight of trailer you can tow but instead it's body design. A 2002 Ford Crown Victoria with a base 4.6L V-8 is rated at 1499Lbs. At 220HP it's not power issue. Check with a reputable hitch dealer{not U-Haul} for some advice but error on the side a caution anyway. Screwing up while towing something tends to lead to serious bodily harm to you and others, not to mention unneccesary harm to a perfectly nice Saturn.