Towing?
Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 2
Re: Towing?
oh...the URL for the civic hybrid hitch is http://performance.drivewire.com/tow...ilerhitch.html
Pretty Darn Active Enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 297
From: NYC
Re: Towing?
Originally Posted by dknapp
For my Escape Hybrid, I plan to use a hitch for a 4-bike rack, which I already own, but I am not going to tow anything.
I would actually be more concerned about the CVT than the IMA if you were gonna tow something with an HCH.
Active Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 54
From: Cape Cod
Re: Towing?
You could just do it yoiurself. On My '05 HCH the color codes for the wires are:
Right Turn-Green/Yellow
Left turn-Green/Violet
Brake-White/Black
Tail-Red/Yellow
Ground-Black
You will need an adaptor to convert the cars 5 wires to the four used on a standard flat trailer plug. The standard four wires on the trailer side are:
Right Turn & Brake - Green
Left Turn & Brake - Yellow
Tail - Brown
Ground - White
All wires can be easily accessed under trunk lip trim. You will nees to splice in to the wires (either solder or with quick connectors), since no plug is provided by Honda.
FWIW, I would not be concerned about towing at all, provided total GVW (including trailer and load) does not exceed max vehicle GVW. Proper tongue weight, 10% of trailer/load weight, should not be enough to present any problem for rear suspension.
Of course, exceeding recomended maximum GVW is not a good idea, whether or not a trailer makes up part of the load. Even an intermittent load of hauling a boat and trailer out of the water, mentioned above, would concern me too. But judicious use of a small trailer and light load would not worry me at all.
That said, if a dealer or manufacturer is looking for a reason to sock it to you on what would otherwise be a warranty repair, you'd be at their mercy if they found a hitch and trailer wiring harness when you came in looking for a transmission rebuild under warranty.
Me, I trust in the quality of Hondas and my prudent use of my HCH as the best insurance of a long lived vehicle. I also have a reasonable dealer who would be unlikely to look for ways to stiff me.
Right Turn-Green/Yellow
Left turn-Green/Violet
Brake-White/Black
Tail-Red/Yellow
Ground-Black
You will need an adaptor to convert the cars 5 wires to the four used on a standard flat trailer plug. The standard four wires on the trailer side are:
Right Turn & Brake - Green
Left Turn & Brake - Yellow
Tail - Brown
Ground - White
All wires can be easily accessed under trunk lip trim. You will nees to splice in to the wires (either solder or with quick connectors), since no plug is provided by Honda.
FWIW, I would not be concerned about towing at all, provided total GVW (including trailer and load) does not exceed max vehicle GVW. Proper tongue weight, 10% of trailer/load weight, should not be enough to present any problem for rear suspension.
Of course, exceeding recomended maximum GVW is not a good idea, whether or not a trailer makes up part of the load. Even an intermittent load of hauling a boat and trailer out of the water, mentioned above, would concern me too. But judicious use of a small trailer and light load would not worry me at all.
That said, if a dealer or manufacturer is looking for a reason to sock it to you on what would otherwise be a warranty repair, you'd be at their mercy if they found a hitch and trailer wiring harness when you came in looking for a transmission rebuild under warranty.
Me, I trust in the quality of Hondas and my prudent use of my HCH as the best insurance of a long lived vehicle. I also have a reasonable dealer who would be unlikely to look for ways to stiff me.
Last edited by ovals49; Sep 7, 2006 at 02:13 AM.
Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1
Re: Towing?
I'm about to buy a 2003 Honda Civic and was doing research on towing with it as i have a 700lb teardrop camper I like to travel with. Everything I read about towing with HCHs said "You'll burn the CVT out, You'll burn the CVT out." Imagine how happy I was to find out that the 2003 had a good old-fashioned 5-speed as I had never heard of a hybrid with a stick.
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