Tongue weight of the Vibe 2009?

[alex_nrv]

Hello!
I just got a hitch for my Vibe 2009, mostly to install my SportsRack bike rack, but also for when (rarely) I need to rent a trailer to move some bigger stuff the Vibe can't hold. Also, my father got a 16" boat with outboard 50 HP, and he doesn't have a hitch, so I might help him if he ever needs to carry the boat from the summer chalet to his house.

Here's the question.
The tongue of the boat's trailer is really short and a lot of weight lays on the tip of the tongue (less than 200 lbs, but more than 150 lbs). My hitch can handle 200 lbs of tongue weight, but what is the weight the VIBE can support on the rear end??
I didn't find anything stating the tongue weight in the user's manual, except the towing weight. My dad's car DOES state it can only take 150 lbs max on the tongue, because of the suspension, so this is why he won't tow the boat himself, since it is not recommended to tow a trailer with over 150 lbs at the tongue with his car.

I would really like to know is someone around here knows if there is any specification about the tongue weight ON THE VIBE?

Thanks a lot for your help and time!

[Old Tele man]

...you can get a *.PDF copy of the 2009 Vibe Owners Manual here: http://www.pontiac.com/owners/owner_res ... nuals.html

...and, section 9-72 explains how to 'calculate' maximum "tongue weight," which they state as being 10%-15% of maximum trailer weight, or between 150-225 lbs, maximum.

[DennisLee]

Ya gotta love the way the manufacturers all state "The GVWR includes the weight of the vehicle, all occupants, fuel, and cargo.", but never quite get around to telling you what the estimated weight of the vehicle is. If it's anything like my Trib was, when they say what the tow capacity is (1500 lbs on the Vibe it looks like) they are figuring the vehicle is empty except for a driver of about 150 lbs. And as for tongue wgt, that's supposed to go against the rear GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating), good luck getting what is already the weight on the rear axle when the car is empty.

[alex_nrv]

...you can get a *.PDF copy of the 2009 Vibe Owners Manual here: http://www.pontiac.com/owners/owner_res ... nuals.html

...and, section 9-72 explains how to 'calculate' maximum "tongue weight," which they state as being 10%-15% of maximum trailer weight, or between 150-225 lbs, maximum.

Hey!
Yeah, I already have the owner's manual in PDF. When I first took a look through it, I found the towing section, but I didn't see at first there were percentages written. Now that you told me, I went back and saw it... though it's on page 9-79 (the sectio of towing a trailer starts at 9-77).

But I don't get how it tells us what the car can handle on the tongue of the trailer!
The manual states that the tongue of the trailer should weight around 10% to 15% of the TRAILER'S total weight. So, it's only telling us HOW to distribute the weight in the trailer! Having most luggages in the mid and back of the trailer instead of near the front, where the tongue is.

For example, if the trailer weights only comething like 800 lbs, then the tongue maximum's weight would 80 to 120 lbs... It doesn't make sense.
The tongue's maximum weight CANNOT be a "percentage", it should be a fixed weight, since a percentage is variable.

But I guess that if we take the maximum total weight the car is able to safely tow, then we can have the maximum tongue's weight rating...

But what is the maximum the Vibe 2009 2.4L can tow?? Is it written somewhere? My hitch can take up to 1500 lbs, but what about the car?

Thx!!

[DennisLee]

Page 9-78, under Weight of the Trailer

How Heavy can a trailer safely be?

It should never weigh more than 1500 lbs

[alex_nrv]

Page 9-78, under Weight of the Trailer

How Heavy can a trailer safely be?

It should never weigh more than 1500 lbs

Oh, right!! Thx!
So, basically, the Vibes could tow the maximum weight a trailer can safely load. So the maximum tongue weight would then really be between 150 and 225 lbs maximum.
So the 200 lbs maximum tongue weight my hitch can support, the Vibe can handle 200 lbs on the rear axle/suspension?

[beemerphile1]

No PDF manual here but I have real world experience. I have towed a couple of different trailers with my Vibe for over 10,000 miles since purchased.

My hitch is rated at 250 pounds of tongue weight. I have never found a rating for the car itself.

My camper originally had over 300 pounds of tongue weight. It never bothered the car but it did twist the hitch cross bar. I have now reduced the tongue weight to where it is regularly 235 pounds and it does fine. These are real weights, no guessing.

My trailer has a total weight of just under 2,000 pounds when loaded for camping, That is including the tongue weight. My Vibe with the 1.8L and four speed automatic does great and while we have never traversed the Rockies, we pass through the Appalachians several times every year. We travel with two adults and miscellaneous camping gear in the car.

In the UK, the Vibe has heavier tow ratings than in the USA. The Vibe is rated for around 2,200 pounds with trailer brakes and 1,400 pounds without trailer brakes. I don't think the UK has as many lawyers per capita as the USA so they aren't as litigious. The numbers may be slightly off, I'm going by memory.

Be aware that a bicycle rack derates the hitch capacity. Because the weight of the bicycles is leveraged up and out from the hitch they exert more stress on the hitch than a trailer tongue.

[alex_nrv]

Whoa thanks! This is good info to know! So as long I don't get over the 200 lbs tongue weiht maximum, I should be totally fine.
In the worst case, I understand that if I tow at 200 lbs or heavier, it's mostly the hitch that will take the beating?

For the total trailer weight, that's fine. I probably will never tow 1,500 lbs, even less 2,000 lbs! I might someday think about a camper but it's really not for now.
I probably will only tow bikes (2) and probably my dad's 16' aluminium boat. The reason I ask for the tongue, the boat is very long for the trailer it sits on and the tip of the boat sits near the end of the tongue, so a lot of weight is distributed to the rear of the car/hitch.

If you can tow 235 lbs with mostly no problems, I should be able to tow 200 lbs just fine.

Thanks a lot for your input! Even if I had numbers for the user's manual, these are always safety numbers, but the car can practically handle a bit more safely. They know people will go over the weight limit, so by lowering it, people will go slightly over the limit that was fixed and should be fine.

Thanks!

[thebarber]

last weekend i had a heavy trailer, 1zz, 6speed tranny, and engine hoist....towed with my 03 GT without issue.....but the car had NO acceleration, lol. pulled on the highway for a 2h drive home

[alex_nrv]

last weekend i had a heavy trailer, 1zz, 6speed tranny, and engine hoist....towed with my 03 GT without issue.....but the car had NO acceleration, lol. pulled on the highway for a 2h drive home

Good to know, thanks! Do you think your load was below or above the 1,500 lbs safe rating?
As for the acceleration, this is not an issue, towing a trailer is not a race or a speed matter.

edit: I just checked. The 1zz is somewhere around 300 lbs, a 6 speed tranny would be around 100 lbs, and the hoist? around 50-100 lbs? Add the trailer weight to this, around 200-300 lbs? We're somewhere around 650 to 800 lbs total. You have a 2003 GT? Is this a 2.4L on 1st gen Vibes?
Weird that you have no acceleration power, we probably weren't even at 1,000 lbs.

[thebarber]

last weekend i had a heavy trailer, 1zz, 6speed tranny, and engine hoist....towed with my 03 GT without issue.....but the car had NO acceleration, lol. pulled on the highway for a 2h drive home

Good to know, thanks! Do you think your load was below or above the 1,500 lbs safe rating?
As for the acceleration, this is not an issue, towing a trailer is not a race or a speed matter.

edit: I just checked. The 1zz is somewhere around 300 lbs, a 6 speed tranny would be around 100 lbs, and the hoist? around 50-100 lbs? Add the trailer weight to this, around 200-300 lbs? We're somewhere around 650 to 800 lbs total. You have a 2003 GT? Is this a 2.4L on 1st gen Vibes?
Weird that you have no acceleration power, we probably weren't even at 1,000 lbs.

1.8L 2zzge in mine

i was likely about 800-1000lbs towing

i didnt put the engine into lift, but i had to take my time.....i suppose my weak acceleration was relative to normal capabilities

[thebarber]

Hoping to take my now-spare 1zz to monkeywrench racing this weekend using a hitch basket...think it'll be ok back there (weight-wise)?

[beemerphile1]

Hoping to take my now-spare 1zz to monkeywrench racing this weekend using a hitch basket...think it'll be ok back there (weight-wise)?

If you are talking about those cargo carriers that go in the receiver I would say no. I don't know what it weighs but the issue is the leverage. That weight hanging out there in space will multiply the force on the receiver. If you can handle 200 pounds of tongue weight you can probably only handle 75 pounds in a cargo carrier. No specific information to link to, just an estimate.

Works the same with a bicycle rack. The leverage multiplies the effect of the weight.