marilynferguson95

OK, so it seems towing anything with any weight to it is out of the question. However, is it possible to add a hitch and a utility basket to carry a propane tank and house battery used with solar? I am going on the road in my HHR and will be carrying about 500 lbs of me and gear. How much weight can be added with a hitch and utility basket? The book info is very confusing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Oldblue

I've put my snowblower on the platform they total about 475 to 500 lbs.

Silverfox

The way I understand the GM info on the HHR is as follows.

Max.Towing weight is 1000 gross.

That is based on car and driver and I assume a full tank of gas.

Any weight from any source including the new hitch you add comes off the 1000 lbs gross.

Depending on what you mean by a utility basket.
Will it be a box resting in the ball mount or a small Basket/trailer being towed.

Either way the Total extra weight counts, but so does the weight directly on the ball.
Personally I would not add more then around 250lbs directly on the ball which would include the basket and contents. That figure is just my rough estimate.
I would try to keep as much of your total weight toward the front not the rear of your HHR ie. put some of your gear in the back seat area or the front of the cargo area with the rear seats folded down.
Make sure your rear tires are properly inflated.
Going on the road is different then down the street for a few miles...

SF

donbrew

I'm pretty sure tongue weight is covered in the OM.

I think that is the weight that can sit on the hitch (not the tow).

marilynferguson95

Thank you for the info. All the gear is in the vehicle along with my sleeping area. The weight will be in the ball mount. Basically, I will be living in my HHR with a tent attached to the back hatch when stopped until I go into the nursing home. So, I really need to get this right in the beginning. Thank you both for your info. It is greatly appreciated.

Silverfox

Don,

Curt Mfg. lists the Hitch Capacity as follows.

Tongue weight .. 200 lbs.

Tow capacity ... 2000 lbs.

Tongue weight should be the same as Ball weight.

I allowed 250 lbs max. as a personal estimate which is actually fudging just a bit.

egadgetguy

I just bought a used hitch mount carrier for my powerchair. The carrier weighs 60lb and came with a 1 1/4" mount. Plus a sleeve to convert to 2" It seems to be a very expensive one as most of the cheap ones don't allow for 1 1/4" hitches. I paid $65 and it's in good shape.
I plan to buy either a curt, reese or Draw-tite hitch for my '06. It has the 2.4L and is Auto-trans.

I estimate the chair to be 120 lbs [based on spec weight w/o batteries] {total 180 lbs with carrier.} Since the batteries would add 50 lbs {total 230 lbs with carrier.}, I figure it would be OK with the batteries for short >5 mile trips at side road speeds. I will remove the batteries for Hwy as I am going to be travelling ~430 miles Auburn, AL to Orlando FL.

I know I will get flak for going over with batteries, but as I said it would only be a couple miles at ~35.

Any thoughts OTHER than the weight W batt?

Oldblue

You should be fine.
I have a 2 Curt 1 1/4 inch to 2 inch adapters , one is straight the other is stepped.
The stepped one hits the rear bumper and the 1 1/4 inch piece doesn't slide all the way into the receiver enough to put the pin in place.

donbrew

Somebody would nitpick, here?

Oldblue

Knot eye!