Towing in US, Canada, and UK different you say?

[mcbrew]

Originally Posted by Andy B

Yes, I assumed that you were discussing the Corolla because your sign off said 2010 Corolla and you said your car was a Toyota not a Scion. ( I know that Scion is made by Toyota but they are not usually called Toyota's)

It does not suprise me that your car can tow the load, in Asia you frequently see similar models to USA models hauling loads that are many times the rated capacity. That does not mean that it is safe.

In years past, when I was younger, I had 2 Nissan 4 cyl pickup trucks, one after the other. They were both rated to carry 1460 lbs. That weight includes driver, passengers and cargo. I used to pick up crushed rock for my driveway with both of the trucks. I would pull into the stone yard, get weighed, load the crushed rock, get weighed again, pay for the rock and then drive home and unload. I would do this on my way home from work since I passed right by. My typical load of stone would be 3400 lbs plus my 175 lb body weight. Once I had almost 4000 lbs in the truck. I would estimate that over several years, I did this 30 to 40 times maybe more. Never had a breakdown, could accelerate up hills shifting through the gears and put 130,000+ miles on both the trucks before I sold them in good condition. Was that safe? No, it was not even close to being safe and I would not do that now, or recommend that anyone do it, but the truck was capable of going grossly over the rated capacity. I was lucky that nothing ever happened, when I think back, it was not a smart thing to do.

When giving opinions on a site like this some people may read that someone else is successfully going beyond the rated capacity of their vehicle and then try it. They could end up with unfortunate results. I would only recommend that everyone keep within the rated capacities of their vehicles.

Odd... I don't remember mentioning a 2010 Corolla... I think that is what Borden drives. Anyway, my Scion is a Toyota. In fact, it says Toyota on the title. Scion is not an official car company. In every other country, the same car is sold as a Toyota -- as either the Toyota IST or the Toyota Urban Cruiser.

Towing a 1,400 pound Scamp (well within my car's manufacturer's tow limit) is a lot different than putting more than double the load in a pickup. I don't see how you can say that it is unsafe. The manufacturer rates my car to tow that much. The US import company decides not to transfer that rating to the US manual. This does not change the physics involved.

[Borden]

mcbrew's Scion is what I was quoting from not my Corolla P.S. Toyota Scion is a nice ride they say at Toyota that the Scion will be available this year in Canada.