Shot 4/15/2018 near Lowell, OR.
CC Wordless Outtake: Who Says Camrys Can’t Tow?
– Posted on April 16, 2018
Shot 4/15/2018 near Lowell, OR.
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I’m sure the transmission loves the workout. Wow.
Ouch. I’m pretty sure I strained a muscle just looking at this picture, let alone what the poor car must be going through.
I’m all about not using too big of tool for the job (looking at you F-350s used to tow a small ski boat), but this is way, way too much.
That trailer weighs well over 7k pounds, probably closer to 9k or 10k, and no amount of transmission coolers, upgraded shocks and staying under 55 MPH could allow this Camry to safely pull that.
How????
Judging by how high the tongue is up on that trailer (plus the slide-outs are extended) the Camry is just parked in front of it. I could take a similar picture in my driveway.
Here’s a real picture of my Arctic Cat Prowler hooked up to my 29′ 1973 Travelux. The difference is that the Prowler will tow all 6,0000 lbs of it around the yard at a blistering speed of 5 MPH. Gotta love 4-low and lots of suspension travel.
That was my suspicion as well, that the Camry is just parked in front of the trailer, not actually towing it.
Yep. I was going to add that the Camry has no mirror extensions, but given that the outfit is presumably illegal and at best causes mild peril, why bother about mirrors?
Yep, optical illusion.
I once towed a 5000 pound Cadillac with a sub-4000 pound Cutlass Supreme. I cannot imagine the fear this pairing would put into me.
Can and should are sometimes two different things
Yeah that’s just a Camry parked in front of a travel trailer…
Although when I had a 4Wheel and OffRoad subscription there was a gentleman who proudly sent in a picture of his 60s Bronco hooked up to a “bigly” huge boat on a trailer (think multi masts and deep prow.) Claimed that it was an easy towing set up (yeah right..)
That brings back memories of a friend who had a 1993-ish LeBaron convertible and towed his 20′ boat with it. Maybe that is why he got a Jeep Larado next. I can’t fathom how he pulled the boat out of any launch with that LeBaron, but he did. I feel sorry for whoever bought it used and had to replace the transmission.
While not quite as egregious, I came across this 4-cyl. Mitsubishi Montero last year towing a 20’ boat. (I hope to write up a CC on the Montero sometime soon.) While I was photographing it, the owner walked up. He said that he only tows the boat around locally (this was obviously a flat, coastal location) and that he’d been doing it for years with no problem. Still, it seemed an unlikely pairing.
Incidentally, the boat was for sale, but the owner said that people often ask if they could buy the Montero instead.
I don’t know that much about Monteros, but I would assume that being ostensibly off-road vehicles they would at least have fairly low gearing.
A good friend of mine used to tow his 20 foot trailer-sailer with a 2.0L Ford Cortina. Which he eventually swapped fr a 2.0L Ford Sierra. Did the job, but getting up the boat ramp was a challenge.
That’s clever. The trailer says “OUTBACK” on it so that you know where it goes in relation to the tow vehicle. They put warnings on everything nowadays.
*Patiently waiting for the “in Europe this would be normal I towed a 10000 kg caravan with my mk1 Polo all the time”
Haha not quite. The Mitsubishi above would fall into the “normal for Europe” category, or probably more accurately “normal for planet Earth (excluding US & Canada)”. Which is a multi-faceted category.
PS I’d tow that with a Citroen 2CV firing on one cylinder 😉
I wonder if that Camry got a similar fate to that Renault 5 who towed a caravan as well?
My Gran drove Renaults, and she would give me the official Renault Autoworld magazines they sent her. One of their boasts was how often they would win towcar of the year awards from the Caravan Club.
One year the 5 GTX of that generation won its category, and I recall a photo of it towing a 4 berth caravan almost as big as that one, but that R5 looks like a base model. The GTX had the “massive” 1721cc engine.
Ah yes, the famous R5 GTX “Grand Bloc”, a downright legend!
Local young entrepreneurs who couldn’t afford a Land Cruiser yet used to tow trailers like this with that little French rascal.
That’s a funny video
In developing countries you see 70s Corollas&Datsun 120 Ys towing trailers.
They don’t have the lawsuit culture that the U.S. does.
That Renault video is what I think of, every time I hook my camper up… “an ant, pulling a loaf of bread”
It’s not the getting going of that setup that’s bothersome, it’s the getting it to a controlled stop that really matters.
With the Toyota having a towing capacity of 1000 pounds & the trailer with a minimum weight of 4500 pounds, this was obviously staged. Nice work Paul !
There are people out there trying to do the exact same thing with minivans (the front-wheel-drive ones). Whoever was driving the Windstar in this picture better have funds ready for head gasket & transmission replacement. It’ll pull the load for a little while, but the damage WILL reveal itself in the end.
Towing capacity with brakes is around 1500 kg, 3300 lbs. US van makers must use very light weight materials.
KJ in Oz
I don’t think the unibody construction would hold up to the pressure and weight of a trailer. You would pull the car apart with that much weight. I would hate to be the person who innocently buys that “used” car because Camry’s are so “reliable”