gerbraldy

Has anybody ever towed lets say a small boat, a jetski, or even a 1stgen on a trailer with their FC? I was wondering where I could get a hitch put on my FC for Jetski towing. I've never ever seen it done before.

impulsive-rx7

iTrader: (2)

One time we towed my TII back to a friend's house with his GXL, using tow straps.

It didn't work very well, not fun at all.

I have seen pics of a FB with a hitch on it for towing a small trailer.

beefhole

iTrader: (29)

Our torqueless monsters probably won't fair well towing another 7.

eyeoutthere

I have a hitch on my FC. It came on the car when I bought it. It comes in real handy, and it is very inconspicuous when the receiver is removed.

I used it to tow a utility trailer when I moved. I had about 2500lbs of garage equipment in it at one point and if worked great. This FC has a V8 in it though. Don’t try to tow a car with your FC. You would need a class 3 hitch which I doubt you could safely install on an FC.

My hitch was made by Draw-Tite. I don’t think they make them anymore.

liv

uhaul installs tow hooks

MrDirt

I have been thinking about having a small hitch installed so I can haul a small trailer for tires/track equipment on track days...

sleejay

dont tow with a sports car
its quite ridiculous

HAILERS

I towed a NACRA 5.2 back from Corpus Christi Tx to Ft Worth Tx two weeks ago using a 87RX7. About 420 miles from the boat barn to the garage.Towed it the other direction years ago.

Wankel7

I have a trailer hitch for this trailer...


That isnt my car but that is the trailer I bought...

And I have the hitch for my bikes.


James

NISRCelica

F-in A that is a sweet trailer! Where did you get that?

RX-Heven

iTrader: (1)

Even better....

NISRCelica

^^

I am so jealous...

Syonyk

If you can find somewhere to put a hitch on, towing shouldn't be a problem. Kevin (RotaryResurrection) has posted numerous times on towing threads - he started his business towing broken '7s with his TII - other than low end torque, the requirements for a sports car & a good tow vehicle are pretty much the same. A strong transmission & good brakes. You're kind of on your own for sourcing trailers & tow dollys, because nowhere will rent you one to tow behind a FC, but the car is capable of it.

-=Russ=-

Wankel7

From an autocrosser that lives in Greensboro years ago.

It uses a u joint at the trailer hitch and a yugo spare tire. I got it for 125 back then. Now, I just need to start autoxing again and buy race tires

James

FCguy

None of the pictures posted look safe unless trailor lights are affixed and working (dont see any there)

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

Some of you guys are just paranoid or closed minded.

True, towing or hauling in this car might not be "recommended per manufacturer instructions" but it certainly can be done; this isn't a yugo after all.

The requirements for a decent tow vehicle are:

- relatively powerful engine

- strong brakes

- medium to wide tires

(if you plan to present tongue load or inside load over 300lb)

- strong chassis and suspension

Looking at the FC, we have the first 3 covered by the nature of the car. THe fourth is only a requirement with a heavy tongue load, which should not be presented to the car with a light duty utility trailer or tow dolly. A car loaded on a tow dolly presents about 100lb tongue weight...I can lift the tongue of a loaded dolly off the hitch by hand no problem.

They also used to make several variations of trailer hitch for these cars as a bolt on application. I have sold 2 or 3 that came on partscars to track guys and v8 guys. No company would have even made them if the car were not capable of pulling a light or mild load such as a jetski or tire trailer.

True, the rotary doesnt develop much low end torque, but a good driver can slip the clutch for about 2 seconds without doing any damage, allowing smooth pullout. Most small and medium pickups use 4 or 6 cyl engines making <200hp, the same power range as most stock or lightly modded FCs. I towed over 100 rx-7s hundreds of miles at a time through the TN/VA/NC mountains with my old s-10 that had a 2.8Lv6 making 127hp if I recall it's specs correctly (and did it all on the same clutch). Once I towed a turbo 2 weighing close to 3000lb with some junk inside, on a tow dolly weighing about 400lb, with a bed full of engine/drivetrain parts weighing at least another 1000lb...up some quite steep hills 300 miles into virginia. THe point is that power to pull out is rarely the big problem with towing.

THe brakes on FC's are better than most regular cars and trucks on the road. The 4 pistons found on 75% of fc's are far better than the single piston 11.5" rotors on my 5500lb denali that is rated to tow 5500lb. Stopping is usually the biggest problem with hauling a load, and the FC has this covered. In conjunction with tires that can handle the extra weight during a stop, which should also be no problem.

As stated above, I started my involvement with 7's by towing other 7's home to work on them. I bought my first 2 that ran; one was a pretty rough turbo 2. THe third was a non running GXL that I towed 10 miles with a 115hp FWD celica, a tow strap, and a friend.

From there on, every rx-7 I repaired or parted out for about 2 years, I towed home with one of my own 7's, a tow strap, and a friend. This was probably 30 cars or so. One time I hauled 6 rotary engine blocks @ 220lb each in the passenger floorboard of a GXL to eastern NC with the seat removed. One time I had a crap body/interior partscar that still ran pretty well and I used it to haul several large cut up trees off my property up to the road so the county could pick it up. These were 24"diameter 100lb chunks, several at a time, up a STEEP grassy hill. LSD does work well on these cars. I moved my entire household twice in my junker turbo 2. INcluding a washer, dryer, king waterbed, bigscreen tv, and other heavy ****.

Now, some of you guys can continue telling us how pointless it is to try and haul anything but a bag of 2 liters with your FC.

Syonyk

Thanks for chiming in.

You don't, by chance, have a picture or diagram of how to fit a washer and dryer into a FC, do you? I can only think of making it fit by removing the hatch.

-=Russ=-

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

fits perfectly between speaker towers. Wrap it in a blanket, lower hatch, tie hatch down with rope to rear tow hooks.

Wankel7

Dude, great write up and a nice common sense view

James

Syonyk

Yea... using a car as a car... *woah*

It seems that a lot of people here don't realize that FCs aren't made out of glass. A well maintained FC can take a LOT of stress and not even really notice.

The aviation guys don't love the rotary engine swaps for nothing - the engines can put out 80% of rated power, all day long, at 6000+ RPM, and not care one bit.

The ONLY concerns I'd have with towing a heavy (around the car's weight) load would be brakes & cooling, but even cheap generic brake pads for the FC take quite a bit of abuse before fading, and cooling shouldn't be a big issue either - the NAs don't really have problems, and the modded turbos should already have bigger/more efficient radiators.

-=Russ=-

RX-Heven

iTrader: (1)

The tires fit between the lights. Also, the tire tail is not a trailer by definition since it has no axles. Ever seen bikes attached to the back of a car?
Besides, the trailer on the bottom has brake lights on it.

deadRX7Conv

The lawsuit happy crowd is what caused all the problems with towing.

Just use common sense. Towing with ANY vehicle was common prior to the '90s.
Don't tailgate, don't speed, assume everyone else WILL cut you off or jackknife in front of you. Defensive and relaxed driving styles are a must.

Now, with every company being sued for anything and everything possible, owners manual warn against or have ridiculously low weight limits.

I remember towing >1000lbs with a '2000lb AMC Alliance' with 4 people in the car. 50hp/reardrums/warp on demand front disks, and I still made it to/from that boat ramp 90+ times a summer every year.

Enjoy towing your jetskis, wet skis, canoes, sail boards, dirt bikes, tire trailers, bikes, small trailers, motorcycles.................. The RX7 is more then capable for fun activities.

Now I just got to figure out how to make the plow fit!

geezerdon

I have to agree with RotaryResurection. Back in the late 60's I towed a 16' Tahiti
outboard ski boat with a '65 MGB. Towed it all over California for about a year and a half. It towed great but was dangerous for other drivers on the freeway as you couldn't see if the boat was traveling by itself til' you got almost even, talk about
serious rubberneckin.

FCguy

I can see how that might work but personally if I had one of those I would spend the $50 (guess) on some trailor lights and wiring, put on my wiring hat, and make it just that much more safe. Come to think of it just so the brake light wiring wouldnt be over taxed I would use low draw LED tailor light... problem solved... now if somone tags your tailor and possibly your car they have no excuses in court.