towing capacity
 

I know Nissan tells you not to do it, but what is the towing capacity on the Z? Actually I am not so concerned about the weight, I am just curious to see how much the trailer will sag the rear of the car. I am hoping to pick up a Scooter (about 600lbs with the trailer).

Get a buddy with a truck.

Towing?! That's funny!

towing with a Z...not sure thats the best idea :ughdance:

it depends on your trailer's loading, and where exactly you've got it bolted up to the Z. I imagine with an engineering background, you'd have no problem calculating, just some algebra and trig.


Rear springs compress at about 450lbs/in

dont... please....

I believe the manual says it can tow 1 elephant so I don't thing th scooter will fly with those strict rules /:

http://www.the370z.com/members/mike-...1-trailer1.jpg

holy smokes at all the hate...

That trailer the yellow Z is pulling should be heavier than what I have since mine is a HF trailer with wood on there. The goal is to remove the tire stopper and place the Scooter on there. I will probably need to ghetto rig it by throwing an extra long plywood to hold the Scooter since it is about 15-20" longer than my deck. I don't think I am worried about the weight, I am concerned about pulling up my street since I am on a 16 degree incline. I am just afraid of the tongue bottoming out, along with the rear bumper of the car. I should probably make a test run with nothing on there to see.

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/5948/dsc5408.jpg
Shot at 2012-01-09

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/8234/dsc5406o.jpg
Shot at 2012-01-09

Is there a reason u can't just drive the scooter? Sounds a lil sketch when u add the 16 degree incline all though it is a small trailer

should probably add a wing, just to be safe.

It's a 30 miles ride, in the middle of winter, makes it a little bit rough. Also the maximum speed is like 40mph, not exactly something I can share the road with cars in.



The road that leads to my driveway is 16 degree. There is plenty of power to get it up, I am just afraid of the transition. Plus my trailer is stored inside my garage, I have to back the trailer in there to store it. I will probably have to unhitch and use my car to put it in as the rear visiblity sucks. Also with this temperature, I think I will just spin the rear tires as I get up the hill.

Haha did u post that video just because it got the scooter scene lol

Just letting you know why it isn't a good idea to ride in the winter...

you might be able to find a used weight distributing hitch for $100-200... that should give you more capacity to work with

Hnestly I doubt it wouldn't be a problem. If you went to Europe you would see all sorts of cars (especially BMW and Mercedes) pulling trailers that aren't rated in the US for using with trailers. and when I say trailers I mean the RV trailers.

Yeah I don't I don't see a problem. What's the power for if you don't use it right?

Mostly you have to be concerned with tongue weight. The 600lbs on the trailer not such a big deal. I would use a Class II 2inch detactable hitch through where the rear fog light goes and have someone custom built it and rate it for no more than 100lbs of tongue weight then get your trailer with scooter to balance out at about ~60lbs of tongue weight. I think the rule is 10% of total trailer weight on tongue is good with lighter trailers. You need a little tongue weight to keep it from wiggling as it goes down the road. On the other side of coin you want the hitch to be just a tad lower than the deck of the towed trailer once all the weight is on it.

I'd just buy a used Ford Ranger or rent a truck for this duty. But, as you have a need to tow a trailer for the scooter, so do others have a need to tow race tires to the track with their Z.

When I track a car I put it on a trailer .... so when it breaks and it will, I have a way to get it back to the garage.

Seriously! The Z is not made for towing at all! Its a 1 purpose car. Its why i have a Chevy Tahoe for my kids and a pickup for towing and hauling things. Listen to Nissan....

Getting too old to keep bunch of cars, I just want one to do everything at this point. I am going to weight the tongue later today. sick of blowing way too much money on cars.

no weight distribution hitch for a class one hitch.

Towing with a Z is blasphemy any way you cut it.

:iagree:

Why not just rent a truck or pickup. Im pretty sure they are not expensive.

Budget Rent a Car Standard SUV in my area (chicago) is 58.99 for a day
AVIS Standard SUV 65.99
Budget rent a van or 10' moving truck is 29.99/day + .99/mile

Whatever, thats like taking the car drag racing or using it for car shows. Its a 30k car, get over it. Your neighbors' tahoe could have been more expensive. Its just a car

I have the trailer already, might as well use it. I am just concerned about clearance in the back

Towing with a Z is badass. I saw the guy with the yellow Z that tows all his AutoX equipment across the country in IL when I was driving back from STL. It was sweet.

come on now cossie. not a way to treat a pretty lady. :ugh2:

Ken, I have never kept a car past 3.5 years anyway, so I don't know if I need to take it easy on them. If I refer my cars as women, then I am going have to say they all just use me for my money. I figure I might as well get more use out of "her". Oh yeah, the $600 annual tax bill pisses me off too.

Oh yeah, my dog's fur already destroyed the car. Towing is the least of the car's concern

Not sure why everyone's hating on the idea of towing with a Z. I've seen several Zs (350 and 370) towing small trailers. I love seeing cars roll up to the track with a trailer carrying all their tools and tires. A guy here in AZ tows with his MIATA!! He tows several sets of wheels + tires and tools with him to drift events.

Nobody is hating on this idea. We are simply saying there are better alternatives. Just because you CAN do something, doesnt mean you SHOULD.

The Z is not meant to tow, its a sports car, it may have the capabilites to do so, but as a Z owner myself and I think I can speak for many of the people who disagree with this idea, I would not put my Z at risk by using it to tow anything.

In fact, I think all the people who disagree with the idea are saving the OP from something catastrophic happening to his Z, so we are not hating we are helping, maybe not in the nicest words, but we are letting him know that this may not be the best idea, and there are other options such as renting a UHUAL, truck, etc.

But as I can see from the OPs last post I can conclude that he doesnt care as much for his Z, as many of us other Z owners do here, so maybe thats where we don't see eye to eye. Ultimately, the decsion is left up to him, as fellow forum members we can only warn him and state our concerns and advice, what he does after is left up to him. :tiphat:

I disagree. Towing a trailer in a z to go on a camping trip=:shakes head:

Towing a trailer in a z to the track with wheels/tires/tools=:tup:

Its not a perfect solutoon, but it beats having to buy am extra car or rent something. The trailer will mainly be used to transport race tires for autox and track. Can you think of a way to jam 4 295 tires in tje z?? I dont doubt that it isnt great for the car, but at the same time it is no different than tracking or drifting or idling the car

Having a friend or one of my sons drive my F-150 -- FTW.

Trailer hitch on a Z? :eek:

/\ well, if you bring you're own pit crew, that's just baller status right there.

Lets see how many times they will do it before they stop

"Baller status" is a good thing, right? I am old and not completely up to speed on modern vernacular.

They keep doing it because of my charming personality. :icon17:

In my kids' case, they are usually working off money they owe me. :tup:

:tup:x2

If I was in the same situation as Cossie, I wouldn't be bothered by towing with a Z. Just use some common sense and slow down. After seeing all kinds of cars that aren't rated for towing in the US pulling 20' rv trailers in europe at autobahn speeds (generally ~80mph) I wouldn't have a problem pulling a 600 lb trailer on surface roads.

yup. :tup:

I'm not exactly a spring chicken myself but I like to stay somewhat current on what the kid's these days think is cool.