I was wondering if anyone has pulled a larger boat with their hhr. I have a 70s model skeeter deck boat, im not sure what the weight is but i think its over 2000lbs. I have 2 hills to make it up, 1 to pull the boat out of the water, and another gravel hill at the cabin. The water is only about a mile from the cabin. so im not worried about hauling it, just pulling it out of the water when im done.

 

sounds like a bad idea to me. Is that 2k with or without trailer? Even with trailer, 2k, plus yourself, plus anything else in the car is a bit of a stretch. Not only a bit of work for the hhr to pull that amount of weight out of the water itself, but as said above, you have a chance or ripping the hitch off the car. It is just 4 bolts screwed on to the frame. That's it. It's only a class I hitch...

 

I have a 2008 with 2.4 and auto. and pull a 5x8 steel trailer fully loaded to about 1200# and have had no problems other than taking out of overdrive on hilly or very windy conditions. you will also notice a drop in gas mileage of about 5 mpg.

 

I would be reluctant to tow much of anything with the HHR. It just doesn't feel like a towing vehicle. I do tow the HHR behind our motorhome, which works out well.

 

Pulling a boat out of the water is a terrible strain on the ow vehicle since it's not just the weight of the boat and trailer but the drag of the water against the trailer. The other thing is with that much weight your going to unload the front wheels and since your FWD your going to have a big time traction issue. It would even be conceivable to have the boat pull the car back into the water depending on the traction level of the ramp.

I used to teach trailering for the USCGA and spent a lot of time watching bad towing issues at the ramps. I have seen a few undersized cars go for a swim.

 

He's not joking. I've seen many vehicles floating away from the boat ramp. I tow a 12' aluminum boat on an aluminum trailer with my HHR. I don't know if I would pull a boat much bigger than that out of the water.

 

HHR_style,

I bought my trailer at Lowes, made by Carry-On Trailer Corp. I'm would think you could look at them online.
The model I bought was 4X6G, they have many sizes and options to choose from. I can't give you much info on the tonge weight, it totally depends on how you load the trailer, particularly with this small size.
As far as the hitches, the only ones I am aware of "BOLT" to the frame, at existing holes, nothing involved as far as "screwing to sheetmetal".

I'll post a picture if you're interested.

 

Boat trailer tikker

 

I was answering a question by HHR_style, he started the thread discussing general trailer towing......

 

Thanks tikster.
I'll just be towing a dirt bike (225#) & some gear. I'm more worried about driving with a trailer on back. I've tried towing a trailer b4 & I got into trouble quick. Tried to back up & after 12 tries had to have somebody else do it for me (1st try for him). Guess I'll go practice 'trailoring' in a parking lot.
My personal opinion is that the HHR is not a super heavy duty tow vehicle. The rating (class 1) tells us this. Plus it's a little 4-banger. I'd tow a jet-ski with it though haha