Heres a true story, I have a 90 maxima, with a class I hitch, I think tongue weight is 150# max, and pull weight is 15oo#, my workmates built me an awesome retirement utility trailer with 3500# axle, I put on load range C, 6 ply trailer tires, the trailer alone weighs 750#. Anyway, I was hauling gravel for a project at home and went to the local pit where they loaded 1 1/4 cu yds of gravel into her. The tongue on this trailer is quite long and therefore did not unduly load the hitch as far a tongue weight goes. Went over the scale to pay for the load , the woman says , you realize you have 3945# here,(including weight of the trailer) well I knew I was a "bit" overloaded , but only had about 3 miles of backroads to travel. The car pulled the load with no problem (@25-30mph), I got into our village and there are a couple of climbs up the mountain on paved roads, they were a little wet and as I started to drive up the one road, I started to spin out, I was able to find dry pavement and made it home. Moral to this story is I won't do that again in wet weather conditions!!! On the highway this whole scenario would have been a disaster waiting to happen. As it was I was extremeley cautious about my braking distances, sure I was able to pull close to 4000# but at slow speeds, also the trailer was overloaded by 25%.The hitch was grossely overloaded at least in towing capacity. Anyway definately not recommended. Will the HHR tow 2000? Most likely with no problem. I have towed a Trillium 13' Travel trailer (1200# MT)for over 50,000 miles with 4 different street rods, including a 302 powered Prefect, with no problem whatsoever. The problem lies when you are pulled over for a safety or MOT check and they find your tow vehicle is under rated for what your towing, they have portable scales, and will make you park your RV or get it towed. This is happening to more and more pickups with big campers as well as trailers. So I think the HHR would tow 2000# easily, just don't get in a roadblock or accident........

 

Here is what I towed today..
My Honda Foreman 500 and my bent hood from the second deer hit. (Hanging it on the wall in the garage for a while...

Between the trailer and ATV.. close to 950 lbs It towed good. no sway. only felt it on the hills.

 

I towed an air compressor up to my brother's this weekend. About 170 miles on rural and interstate. What concerned me most was the strength of the transmission. Other than that, it pulled good.

 

And upgrade your brakes

 

The thing I did notice is with the 2.4 engine running on 87 octaine it did not ping at all. It would cruse between 60 - 65, yes taking it easy to get up to speed. I towed around 180 total miles on Fri and Sun. This could be a good instance where premium gas would work for you. And yes take your time when braking also. Trailer brakes would be your friend.

 

hey folks....I want to get a 2" receiver tow bar for my HHR, I have one of those cargo racks...they sell the racks on Chevy HHR Accessories for 2" receivers but I have yet to see a 2" tow bar for the HHR...do they have adapters to make it a 2"

 

there are adapters to up size the hitch, but I would only carry bicycles with that adapter. Gambler uses his for his American flag.

 

Look carefully at the hitch you intend to Buy. I downloaded the PDF manuals on 2 different hitches I was looking at, both class 1's and they were radically different. The brand I didn't buy bolted to passenger frame channel and then to the SPARE TIRE WELL on the drivers side. That is just sheet metal! I got the hidden hitch, You have to lower the muffler to put it on but it bolts like a real hitch to both frame channels. Also go to walmart and get a conbo 6 round 4 flat connector box for the rear. (you won't need the 6pin but they are made together). I welded one of these to the side of my hitch. It looks really good with no wires at all showing. I got in a tight spot and had to hall a 2500lb trailer 170 miles with my hhr. I hooked up a trailor brake controller temporarily. It actually did very well. limited myself to 60mph and half throttle. Drove with the tranny in I. I also removed the weather strip at the back of the hood for the trip and the temp went way down. It ran no hotter towing than it usually does. Something is up with airflow under the hood. This thing needs a hood scoop. I normally tow a small open 4X8 Harbor freight trailor for garbage, home improvement etc. The hhr does not even know it is there.

 

Can anybody tell me how well the hhr will pull a boat out of the water?
Will having front wheel drive cause the wheels to spin on a slippery ramp?
I'm in miami and the ramps are very slippery. I was using an fx35, which was amazing but I sold the fx with the hitch. Now, Valentina, a 1964 thompson, which I brought from Washington state, hauled her 3,400 miles to get her to miami. is getting bored sitting on the side of my house.

 

I have pulled boats out of the water with FWD several times (not the HHR). It's no different, you just need to take you time and feather the gas. I towed a 16" bow runner with a 4cy 1999 5speed Accord. Also towed it with a 1995 4cy Odyssey. Both handled it fine coming out of the water. As long as the weight is in check, you should be ok.