Towing The Elio / Towing With The Elio

[goldwing06]

With only towing less than 500lbs, do you still have to weld on the hitch, or can you bolt one on?

it can be bolted on, like most bike trailer hitches are. just be sure to use quality bolts of proper size, split washers or nylock nuts or both, so it doesn't loosen up during use. stainless hardware might be desirable in salty locations.

 

[goldwing06]

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Where is the 500lb figure coming from?

based on the weight of the towing vehicle. the ability to stop additional weight that is not providing traction weight to the breaking tires, even with anti lock brakes, the trailer weight needs to be a % of the towing vehicles weight and then adjusted for only 3 braking contact points. using this approach, 500# may even be a little high. I'd lean more toward 350# for the trailer or towed load. thats because of the .9 liter engine. once the hills come into view, the engine is gonna complain by killing your great gas mileage. i know my goldwing does. maybe even overheating, if it's like the current weather. finally, the max breaking ability is only when the trailer and towing vehicle are perfectly aligned fore and aft. if you are in a curve, the max breaking effort turns into a jack-knife situation, since the trailer will push the rear of the towing vehicle in the direction the trailer tong is pointing. with only one rear wheel, this condition can occur much sooner, especially on wet or uneven surfaces.

 

[goofyone]

if a trailer is loaded properly, it's tong weight is 10 to 15% of its total weight. in the process of stopping a trailer, the weight above the axle causes the tong weight to increase slightly, which pushes down more on the hitch point. if u couldn't lift the elio rear wheel off the ground without a trailer attached, it is more unlikely u will with the trailer attached.

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based on the weight of the towing vehicle. the ability to stop additional weight that is not providing traction weight to the breaking tires, even with anti lock brakes, the trailer weight needs to be a % of the towing vehicles weight and then adjusted for only 3 braking contact points. using this approach, 500# may even be a little high. I'd lean more toward 350# for the trailer or towed load. thats because of the .9 liter engine. once the hills come into view, the engine is gonna complain by killing your great gas mileage. i know my goldwing does. maybe even overheating, if it's like the current weather. finally, the max breaking ability is only when the trailer and towing vehicle are perfectly aligned fore and aft. if you are in a curve, the max breaking effort turns into a jack-knife situation, since the trailer will push the rear of the towing vehicle in the direction the trailer tong is pointing. with only one rear wheel, this condition can occur much sooner, especially on wet or uneven surfaces.

Thanks for the great input and it actually pretty closely matches what I have posted in the past. I routinely have to tow and properly balance trailers as I happen to be part owner of a company which designs and fabricates trailer mounted products.

Your example of using a basket or cooler for a run to the grocery store or wally world would likely be ok as groceries do not generally weigh much however it is not unusual to see people loading five day coolers on their hitches full of ice and beverages which easily weigh 60+ pounds. While that may be ok for most regular vehicles in this car 60 lbs is 5% of the entire vehicle weight hanging behind the rear axle which I doubt would be a good thing for vehicle stability.

Just like a motorcycle the Elio has very limited storage space with two people on board so if you wish to take it on an extended trip or even a camping weekend a trailer can be very handy. You will lose some fuel economy do to extra weight and aerodynamic drag but with the Elio being as efficient as it is you will likely get much better fuel economy than most vehicles on the road.

I treat the Elio under motorcycle trailer towing rules as it is only supposed to weigh 1200 lbs and only has one rear tire. To maintain stability on a motorcycle it is recommended that you stay under 30% of the vehicle weight and 25% is advisable. This means a good safe weight for an Elio trailer would be 300 lbs. With two people on board plus 300 lbs of trailer you are also likely operating on the limit of the engines useful capability. There are many lightweight motorcycle or even light car trailers that weigh in the 75-175 pound range and when loaded up with stuff could reach the 200-300 pound range full loaded. For trailers you generally want to keep the tongue weight at about 10% of the total trailer weight to keep trailers stable resulting in my 20-30 lb weight estimate on the hitch which is also light enough I doubt the Elio will have trouble handling it.

 

[goldwing06]

Thanks for the great input and it actually pretty closely matches what I have posted in the past. I routinely have to tow and properly balance trailers as I happen to be part owner of a company which designs and fabricates trailer mounted products.

thanks goof! the north ga hills are exactly what i was referring to. next time i go that way to visit the kids, we might try to hook up with ya.

 

[tazairforce]

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based on the weight of the towing vehicle. the ability to stop additional weight that is not providing traction weight to the breaking tires, even with anti lock brakes, the trailer weight needs to be a % of the towing vehicles weight and then adjusted for only 3 braking contact points. using this approach, 500# may even be a little high. I'd lean more toward 350# for the trailer or towed load. thats because of the .9 liter engine. once the hills come into view, the engine is gonna complain by killing your great gas mileage. i know my goldwing does. maybe even overheating, if it's like the current weather. finally, the max breaking ability is only when the trailer and towing vehicle are perfectly aligned fore and aft. if you are in a curve, the max breaking effort turns into a jack-knife situation, since the trailer will push the rear of the towing vehicle in the direction the trailer tong is pointing. with only one rear wheel, this condition can occur much sooner, especially on wet or uneven surfaces.

I'm speaking of towing with any bike or Elios here. Both have have one rear wheel.

There maybe a point we're missing here, if you are towing a trailer with brakes, the push, while stopping, from the trailer will increase on the hitch ball, only if the trailer brakes are applied before the brakes on the towing vehicle come into play. If you have no trailer brakes or they are set up wrong, the whole weight of the trailer will be applied to the hitch ball, nether up no down, just straight a forward. Another consideration is where the hitch is mounted on the towing vehicle, frame mount or rear wheel mount, (as with the Can Am {looks like}), I never liked that idea.

GoldWingo6, after your post, I went out and looked at how the trailer hitch was mounted on my '96 Wing.
The hitch ball is 13"s from the ground, in line with the rear axle, and the swing arm seems to be level with the rear axle and the hitch ball.

It seems as the weight of stopping the trailer, with a frame mount hitch, will be applied to the frame pivot point of the swing arm, not the hitch ball.

I tow with the Wing and Dyna using about 20/30 #s tongue weight and have not had,ever, a 'Tail Sway' problem with a cargo/camper trailer.
This all comes from Experience and 'Pure Guts' enough to 'Do what I Want to Do'

If this helps Anyone, 'Stay Above The Grass', you can thank me when the ride is over.

 

[Mark Ambrose]

We will all find out together how well, or not so well, this all works out when these vehicles start rolling off the assembly line and people start towing with them.

I want a trailer so I can take my Elio on an extended road trip or a camping trip with two people on board. I am planning on towing a lightweight trailer such as this one which only weighs about 150 lbs empty and I doubt I would ever put 150 lbs worth of gear in it.

http://www.harborfreight.com/600-lb-capacity-78-inch-tag-along-trailer-66771.html

I plan on using my Elio like I did my bike - as a bare bones cross country camper, (albeit with much better creature comforts). I plan to travel alone (or in a pack of other Elio's) so the trunk and rear seat will easily hold all my camping equipment. Keep it streamlined for maximum efficiency. Talk about an inexpensive way to travel! East Coast to West Coast on 4 tanks of gas (32 gal @ $3.39/gal = $109).

 

[JEBar]

historically we spend 6 +/- months a year traveling the country in our camper .... folks who travel in motor homes usually tow a "dinghy" vehilcle .... does anyone know if the front end of an Elio is designed to where that would be possible .... with its 3 wheel format, would it be possible to tow it on its own wheels or would it be better to tow it on a trailer .... folks interested in an Elio and in motor homes share an age demographic which leads me to believe an Elio can be a very popular dingy choice .... its light weight and aerodynamics would be strong positives

Jim

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

Yes, it has been explicitly stated this vehicle has been designed for flat tows such as this.

 

[JEBar]

Yes, it has been explicitly stated this vehicle has been designed for flat tows such as this.

outstanding .... if/when they get into production, I do believe they will find a solid market among RV'ers

Jim

 

[goofyone]

outstanding .... if/when they get into production, I do believe they will find a solid market among RV'ers

Jim

I agree it will be very popular as a dinghy and there is even better news as not only is the Elio being designed to be towed but Elio Motors has stated that both the manual and automatic can be safely towed in neutral without issue as internally they are both manual transmissions.