Just brought my t@g home

TheresaA

Hi folks, I just brought my used 2016 camper home and I have a few concerns. First, I drive a Mazda 3 hatchback. The ride home was easy, getting it to the patio in the back on wet ground with no backing experience was an adventure. I'm a bit worried about my car. It seemed lofty on the way home. Am I going to ruin my transmission?
Second, should I get a cover for my camper? Third, how often should I charge my deep cell until spring to keep it in the best condition? Thank you and no hurry on answers. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

LuckyJ

First, congrat on your purchase!

Second, what kind of transmission do you have and what is the max towing that the car manufac. recommend?

TheresaA

Hi Lucky, I have an automatic 16 v 4 cylinder. I was told I can tow 1500 lbs. The camper is 875, and with the tire and a tent in the camper I couldn't have been towing more than 925. My car was empty except for me and I only weigh 100 lbs. Merry Christmas.

WilliamA

Theresa,
Lofty? Not sure how to translate that. Sluggish?
My oldest son Ian is a Mazda fanatic. (Captain Turbo and his turbomatic street vacuum). If I had to make any predictions, I'd say your Mazda is up to the job. If they can survive Captain Turbo, they can take about anything. As to being lofty, when I grab the handles of a wheelbarrow and blast off across the yard, I feel a bit lofty myself, but I usually get there. Use all the normal maintenance procedures on your car. Just more often. I use the "twice" rule of thumb for trailer towing. Oil,water, brakes etc get maintained/changed twice as often. Getting there under your cars own steam is still cheaper than the most comprehensive tow.

Welcome and enjoy!

WilliamA

LuckyJ

@TheresaA as William says, I also think your car can do it. But, since it is an automatic, I would check with dealer if car still under warranty or you trusty mechanic if a transmission cooler could not be used. The weak point would be your autu tranny over long distance. Other thing, if it as an overdrive, I would not use it while towing the t@g. Engin will rev up a little higher, but tranny will have less tendancy to shift or slip, reducing heat production, witch is the worst (or more powerfull) auto tranny enemy.

TheresaA

Mike, I meant sluggish. I do have overdrive, and I'll try to see if that improves the feeling of a bogged down transmission. Thank you both.

WilliamA

Both my son and ex have Mazda's and I agree the transmissions are loathe to shift. It's the programmed in corporate fuel mileage that's the culprit. I doubt you'll have any trouble with it, save getting used to the trailer. The Mazda 3 has one of the best engine/transmission packages going.

WilliamA

TheresaA

Thank you Mike. That puts my mind at ease.

Michigan_Mike

@TheresaA said:
Hi folks, I just brought my used 2016 camper home and I have a few concerns. First, I drive a Mazda 3 hatchback. The ride home was easy, getting it to the patio in the back on wet ground with no backing experience was an adventure. I'm a bit worried about my car. It seemed lofty on the way home. Am I going to ruin my transmission?
Second, should I get a cover for my camper? Third, how often should I charge my deep cell until spring to keep it in the best condition? Thank you and no hurry on answers. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

When you start loading gear in the camper it adds up and the weight includes passengers and cargo weight too. That doesn't give you any cushion and over time it will take a toll on the transmission. I know, I replaced one and the second one started slipping. Been there and done that!

You can survive the winter without a cover, but if it were me I would at least broom the trailer off and try to keep the snow up off the side of the trailer.

As for your battery, you might want to invest in a battery tender that can be hardwired to the battery with the quick disconnect plug that comes with the tender and allows you to easily disconnect from the battery whenever you want to take the trailer out camping. In my opinion that is about the easiest way to go, short of plugging the trailer into shore power and letting the electric converter charge the battery up some. Just make sure that the battery is disconnected from the trailer itself, as otherwise you will end up with a dead battery through parasitic drain via the LED lights, TV/DVD player, etc.

TheresaA

I love my mazda. But I think it might be better to sell it with a good transmission, while it's still worth a fair amount, and get something with a better engine before spring. I just wish I didn't waste all the money putting a hitch and wiring on it. Live and learn. I'll get a battery tender right after the holidays. Thank you for all your help.

mreric

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5VxeH-d7uM

in europe and australia Mazda3 are rated for towing.
Mazda even make an OEM hitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma59vJ02LA0&t=1s

check out both video...

TheresaA

Hi Eric,
I wonder if our Mazda engines are the same. My 2013 took a lot to get it up to speed, and I want to be confidant in the Adirondack mountains. I've been looking at getting a Subura Forester, same year, same miles (52,000), but I really love that my car gets 32/38, and 15,000 dollars a lot to think about. When towing the tag home I got an average of 17 mpg, and I was almost all flat road. The videos make me want to move to Australia.
Thank you for them. Happy New year.

WilliamA

Theresa,
17 sounds about right. The T@G is a surprisingly big trailer with a large frontal cross section. And as I said elsewhere here, your mpg factory gear ratio is working against you. You might be better served with a different tow vehicle so far as sluggishness goes but your Mazda is probably fine mechanically. As to the Adirondack's, I personally spend more time thinking about coming DOWN the mountain than getting up it. Take your time with these big decisions.

WilliamA

Verna

One thing to remember. When driving in the United States, you are governed by the laws and regulations from the United States. If your owner’s manual gives you guidelines that say you can tow “x” amount and the vehicle can only carry “x” amount of weight, that is what you pay attention to, not what another country‘s rules and regulations say can be towed in their country.

According to my State Farm agent, if you knowingly tow a “trailer” that weighs over your vehicle’s towing limits, if in an accident, your insurance company may decide to cover the damages you caused to another driver/object and may choose to not cover you and your vdhicle(s).

As we all know, anything out on the Internet stays on the Internet, and your insurance company can Google your towing comments on the Internet.

TheresaA

Good to know Verna.

mreric

by the way, i work for state farm as a claim adjuster...

anyways... your mazda in the USA is not rated for towing... one older vehicle that is rated for towing you might want to consider is a toyota matrix.

as for subaru... i love the look.. but google oil consumption.. i would not want to deal with that

TheresaA

I did look at the matrix. At 1499 tow capacity, I thought it was too close for comfort. I didn't know about the oil issue. Back to the search for a proper tow vehicle.

LuckyJ

I would not go for a Matrix. Engin is already tight for just passenger, I would not add a T@G to that. Yep, maybe a small utility trailer, but a T@G, even if it is teardrop shape, still as some drag.

But yep, you do want a vehicule that as a know towing capacity.

And I will agree with the subi, the cars are really nice, but the engines are definetly not enough reliable for me. But the are confortable, drive well, have an awsome awd system, but the engine sucks in durability.

Have a fun search and let us know what you get.

WilliamA

Theresa,
So when do we get a photo of the rig? Also, how is the hitch height? Hmmm?

WilliamA

TheresaA

Hi William,
After I learn to resize photos, I'll send a picture. The dealer where I bought the tag told me the best place to get the hitch and wiring put on. He supplied the ball and bar when I picked the tag up, to be sure it was the correct height. Can the system be taken back off my car, if I buy another? I know I can't use it on a new car, but I think having it there might hurt my resale.

Verna

The hitch can be used for a bike rack by the next owner. They don’t need the power, of course.

Michigan_Mike

@Verna said:
The hitch can be used for a bike rack by the next owner. They don’t need the power, of course.

She might have a ball sticking up off an angled piece of iron as shown above and that's probably why she's concerned with resale.

@TheresaA said:
Can the system be taken back off my car, if I buy another? I know I can't use it on a new car, but I think having it there might hurt my resale.

Theresa, I'm betting that your hitch mounting assembly can be unbolted if you're worried about resale possibilities. Many of the hitches are made of tubular style steel and this is what Verna was referring to. If that were the case you could leave the mount and allow the next owner a means of carrying a bike rack behind the vehicle.

TheresaA

Hi Mike, I pick up my new, white jeep renegade sport, 4x4 2.4L next week. I got top dollar for the Mazda, and told them that the car was used to tow once befor I learned it isn't rated to tow. After dealing on the jeep and my car, I had them throw in the hitch. Though I'm sad to see the Mazda go, I'm happy with what I ordered. Now to save up for new j saddles for 2 kayaks. The jeep is rated to 2000 lbs. I won't ever get that heavy. It has a place for a spare, but didn't come with one. For now, I'll store the camper spare in the jeep. One thing as an fyi, the salesman told me that the 2000 lbs assumes there is a 150 lb driver in the car, so you can actually tow 2150 with this jeep. He tows a 31' camper, so I trust what he's telling me.

Douglas

I towed my t@g camper with a Jeep Patriot. Got 15 mile a gallon. Handled pretty good make sure you don’t tell gate. Hope you enjoy your new camper we loved ours. I sure miss it

mreric

@TheresaA said:
Hi Mike, I pick up my new, white jeep renegade sport, 4x4 2.4L next week. I got top dollar for the Mazda, and told them that the car was used to tow once befor I learned it isn't rated to tow. After dealing on the jeep and my car, I had them throw in the hitch. Though I'm sad to see the Mazda go, I'm happy with what I ordered. Now to save up for new j saddles for 2 kayaks. The jeep is rated to 2000 lbs. I won't ever get that heavy. It has a place for a spare, but didn't come with one. For now, I'll store the camper spare in the jeep. One thing as an fyi, the salesman told me that the 2000 lbs assumes there is a 150 lb driver in the car, so you can actually tow 2150 with this jeep. He tows a 31' camper, so I trust what he's telling me.

congrats on the new car.

I am not sure if the saleman misread the info or i am misreading the info.

according the Jeep official website only the Jeep renegade in the Altitude trim level has a 2000lbs tow rating. the sport does not. or am i misreading it?
either way i am sure you will be fine. they seem to have the same engine and transmission. but i do wonder why the manufacturer only gave it a tow rating to only a certain trim level

https://www.jeep.com/compare/detailed-chart.html?modelYearCode=CUJ201709

when i looked at how the hitch is installed on the renegade i did not like that they have to drill and make the hold bigger in the actual chassis.

TheresaA

Eric, my understanding is that the sport comes in fwd 1.4L engine, or a 4x4 awd. The fwd is not rated to tow. I've never driven an awd before, and this jeep switches from fwd to awd with a switch, and automatically when you go into a swerve. I have to learn all about it.

JamesDow

I tow with a 2012 Toyota Rav4 4x4 4Cly. Rated at 1,500 tow capacity. no issues to date. The automatic transmission will ocassionally drop down at times going over the mountains pushing RPM up to 5,000. I take it easy and don't push it. So far, so good.

tacetman

For what it's worth, I was given advice to not tow in Overdrive if possible. Overdrive was put into automatic transmissions for fuel efficiency and is a gear ratio that is only really feasible at constant speeds (cruise), ideally level (or descending). I'd be willing to reckon the added weight of a T@G as well as the drag (previously mentioned) may be enough that O/D is not really a good choice for you. Not sure what options you have to de-select O/D (some cars have a button that does it, some -- like my FJ cruiser -- require you to select gear "4" as opposed to "D" with the lever). You'll give up gas mileage but may put less strain on your engine/trans.

Your mileage may vary (literally and figuratively) -- I am not an automotive engineer. I do, however, tow with my FJ cruiser (much larger than your mazda) without O/D selected. I have a gauge that gives me my engine and transmission temp and temps are much lower without using O/D.