Trailer Hitch Installation

[sandange]

I had posted this on the other I Miev forum and though it best to share the information here.

Thanks to Jray3, I found 1 supplier for a hitch that fits on the I Miev
Torklift Central ECO Series-Stealth Trailer Hitches

The hitch was well wrapped, included an extra bracket & several bolts.
The installer told me it was well built and mounted on solid
It tucks up nicely up under the rear bumper

I took a few pictures - slide show

http://s211.photobucket.com/user/Sandange/slideshow/miev/I Miev Trailer Hitch

 

[sandange]

First experience towing with our I Miev

I was preparing our home for the up coming winter heating season and need to transport some Bags of Wood Pellets for our pellet stove.

I loaded 15 bags at a time - each weighing 40 lbs (18.14kg) =
600 lbs
The trailer is 4 1/2 ft x 9 ft & weighs in at
200 lbs (90 kg)

total weight per load =
800 lbs (363 kg)

The road was a downhill trend there and an up hill (Loaded) ride back
13.7 miles (22 km) round trip
Elevation difference of
623 ft (190m)

I made 5 trips total
One on the first day, Three on the second day and One on the third day.

No AC/Heat, kept to back roads, speed maximum of 34 mph (55kmph)
The RR meter showed a drop of 13.7 miles (22km) after each trip.

Day 1
Made 1 trip with the trailer loaded. I fully charged over night and only got a reading of
RR 51 miles (82km) that next morning.

After a normal driving day, I usually get a reading of
RR 74.5 miles (120km) after a full charge

I believe that the RR gauge self adjusted for the Extra load I was carrying the day before to reflect the new range under those driving conditions.

Day 2
I made Three trips loaded and again fully charged overnight. The Gauge in the morning again showed
RR 51 miles (82km) after a full charge

Day 3
I Made the last trip and the gauge dropped
13.7 miles (22km)

Although the I Miev handled the weight well & there was enough power to climb those uphill stretches with this load, The RR was substantially reduced

I wouldn't want to push the load weight any more than this.

 

[evcar]

great but for example european version on iMiev has clearly stated that hitch is forbidden, also that train weight is 0kg....
so I think not an good idea to mount trailer hitch on any electric car..

 

[sandange]

Yes - They do not recommend or rate the I Miev for any trailer hitch, or hauling. consider this a waiver.

Neither did my 2008 Honda Fit (or Jaz in Europe) , and I did a lot of trailering with it (over 148,000km).

How ever they do make trailer hitches for both

I do not abuse my vehicles or treat them as garage queens, I do expect them to work for me and I keep them in top shape.

I share this information for others who might be considering using a utility trailer for light duty and what they might expect.

 

[Don]

I've never had any problems towing trailers with small 4 cylinder cars, despite the 'No Towing' warnings in the owners manauls - I've towed probably 30 or 35K with a couple of Madzas over the years. Mostly motorcycle trailers, but some cargo as well

If it's got 4 wheels, there's somebody who makes a hitch for it, as evidenced by the fact that there's even one for our car

I don't see any problems with what you're doing with the Mitsu . . . . I do agree that 600 pounds is probably about the practical limit though. There's not a great deal of difference between you towing your trailer with just you in the car and someone else driving theirs with four 200 lb people in the car . . . . except that your trailer is supporting 95% of that extra 600 pounds. It has marginal tires and brakes for towing, not to mention the drivetrain, but so long as you're careful with it, your car will probably outlast many other cars which weren't as selective when they chose their owners :lol:

Don

 

[MLucas]

+1 on what Don says. These electric motors have a lot of torque, you probably are more than fine. I'm sure the 'no towing' warning is more for lawsuit protection if anything.

Thanks for sharing this information, doesn't look like it affected the car too much at all. Did what is was expected to.

By, the way Sandage - nice looking house and property! Must be beautiful up there, more pictures.

 

[sandange]

MLucas -
Thanks for the compliment on our retirement home
We self built our log home (Cordwood Construction) over several years up in the ski region, north of Montreal.
We have a web site with a slide show if you're interested to see more pictures

http://thecordstead.blogspot.ca/

 

[jray3]

No towing with any EV? Hey buddy, they ain't called traction motors for nothing! Electric traction is what powers the mines and railroads, and moved every Apollo and Space Shuttle Mission to the launch pad! Ok, enough feigned indignation.

Point is, as long as the load is a fair match, just about any car can tow. Extra braking distance and proper planning is in order, but our drivetrain apparently has some room to breathe EVen at the low end, where high torque and low speed could be a killer, so Mitsu sees fit to put it under city delivery vans for hilly Japanese towns.

I've only towed a 400 lb trailer so far (yep, the gas range extender for Karmann Eclectric needed service), but more is on the horizon...

 

[Ozimiev]

Thanks for posting with the pics sandange.
I guess that vehicle manufacturers think that towing means a minimum standard size of 1200kg trailer or perhaps 750kg without brakes and that would be OTT for the little i.
I agree that responsible load and driving are the important issues for towing with a small vehicle anyway.

I'd be thinking that Mitsi would be mindful of the TCS, ASC and ABS having been set up for vehicle only ?

Perhaps 1/3 vehicle weight (say 300kg) and braked trailer could be considered as acceptable ?

Did your towbar supplier state a load rating for the bar or a rating for the i fitted with the bar ?

Anyway, thanks for showing us around.

 

[sandange]

The installer said the hitch could support 2000 lbs (900kg), the limitation is the car.
I agree with 600 lbs (275 kg) on limitations for "short distance" & "slow speed' hauling.

 

[Ozimiev]

The other thing that towing a trailer (apart from its utility purpose) could be the option to experiment with aerodynamics in the i's brick wall rear end area. I do plenty of 100kmph driving and the wind drag is very noticeable in energy use.

 

[jray3]

You never know when that hitch'll come in handy.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4rffre1t7cvlahq/6%20seater%20imiev.JPG

Tonight, I needed to deliver my Burley bicycle trailer to a buddy's house only a couple of miles away, but it's very dark and cold, so I didn't exceed 45 mph.


https://www.dropbox.com/s/25ta4c1m8160oir/two%20miles%20later%20on%20a%20cold%20and%20foggy%20night.JPG

 

[PV1]

I would've just thrown it in the back of the i, but that works, too :lol: . Or tow it with a bike.

Did the trailer give you much hassle being dragged at 45 mph?

 

[jray3]

Sorry, I'm now a fair weather cyclist. Especially at night when it's freezin' and time's a wastin'. Besides, there's a bunch of drivin' fools in my neck of the woods!
The classic Burley might fit in the back of an i with the wheels removed, but it was faster and cleaner to just hitch 'er up. The trailer was not noticeable, save a quiet clunk upon deceleration and going over railroad tracks...

 

[offgridQLD]

Any chance you could take some clear pictures of the hitches mounting locations to the car (were dose it bolt to). Its very hard from your first pics to see where it is bolted to the car . I can only see the point on the right with the L bracket and bolt going vertically through the chassis. Were is the 2nd and possibly 3rd bolt on the right? the left side I cant see at all where it bolts on the car.

Thanks much appreciated if you can do this.

Also how did you go with the trailer lights , apparently some new cars perhaps Imiev included have issues just tapping into the tail lights to run trailer lights as the lighting system runs through can bus and throws up warning codes when modified.

Kurt

 

[sandange]

Just to clarify - I own the North American I Mieve - (Wider & Longer)
Don't know if this affects the hitch mount points measurements

The square attachment channel drops down to clear the bumper.

Here is a link to my pictures (photobucket)

http://s211.photobucket.com/user/Sandange/slideshow/miev/I Miev Trailer Hitch

Also a link to Torklift web site
http://shop.tlcentral.com/Store/pc/ECO-Series-Stealth-Trailer-Hitches-c157.htm

The installer had to use some kind of electrical relay box for the wiring connection.
Can't remember how much but it was expensive

Hope this helps

BTW
I just hauled another 75 bags of heating wood pellets ( 40 lbs ea, 18.14 kg) 20 at a time.
with out any problems.
Preparing for winter - This is our fall season.

Sandy

 

[Don]

Sandy - Most cars with separate turn signal and brake light bulbs require a 'converter box' to operate with standard trailer lights, since on the trailer there is only one bulb which does both the turn signal function and the brake light function and those are separate bulbs (or LED's in our case) on the car. I suspect this was the 'expensive' box they used in your installation. The converter boxes are available on eBay for about $30. I have them installed on my other cars and they work great

The Torklift website says "Notching of lower plastic is required" - Did you have to cut the lower rear bumper plastic for your install?

I'm actually a little hesitant to install a hitch on our iMiEV - Our little Mazda wagon is getting so little use, I think it enjoys getting out in the sunshine every couple months when we need to take the trailer to Lowes to pick up building supplies :lol:

Don

 

[sandange]

No - it was not necessary to cut the bumper plastic it just clears from underneath.
Should show it on in one of the pictures.
Sandy

 

[offgridQLD]

Thanks for the link and photo access. Sorry to be a pain but I was looking for a pic of where the hitch bolts to the car. like Like I said befor I can see where the L bracket bolts up that pics clear but all the other bolt locations can't be seen on any of the pics. No rush but If you get a chance to take just a pick of that each side so I can see were its actually bolting to that would be great.

I have a feeling that on the US models you have a section of steel running horizontally along the length of the rear bumper between the ends of the two chassis rails and part of the hitch is bolting to this. Given they state that no drilling of the car was involved.

I will be building my own hitch but some ideas of how they have tackled the mounting locations is always a good start .

Kurt

 

[carnut1100]

No converter issues here in Aus.
Indicator and tail bulbs must be separate.
Indicators must be Orange and brake/tail must be red.