With the 4 cylinder the car is NOT a candidate for towing anything more than it's 1000 pound rating. They will damage the drive train with the extra weight.
Another consideration is that the Malibu's fantasy tow rating is based on it's GCWR of only 1200 pounds over it's empty weight. Add three or four people and their weight comes out of the car's rating.
And if that trailer weight is not from a scale I'll bet the farm it weighs quite a bit more. "Dry weights" that builders published do not include things like batteries, propane, AC, furnaces, awnings, and even spare tires. Not to mention all the stuff we love to cram in our campers.
I had a 1990 Sable and had to tow U-Haul trailers to take our sons to and from college. I know that on at lease one occasion I had more weight that the car was rated to tow. (2,000 lbs)
We bought a 1995 Olds Cutlass. Same size car, same size engine, more horsepower. What I didn't know was that it was only rated to tow 1,000 lbs. Burned up the transmission.
Everyone has been talking about horsepower and safety, etc, and no one has addressed the possibility of burning up the transmission. If you look at the Freightliner web-site for the FRED, they state that towing is limited my the transmission, not horsepower. In that situation, 30,000 lbs maximum.
dodge guy wrote: With a 2K lb loaded PuP the V-6 Lumina wouldn`t be an issue. with the 4 cyl. it`s lucky to move with the family in it!
No way with the 4 cyl.!
My 3.1 V6 only has 185 lb ft torque. The Malibu 4 cylinder has 155 lb ft. My Lumina is heavier, and my trailer is a lot heavier. The overall power to weight ratio might be better on the Malibu in question than on my Lumina. But, that's just my humble opinion.
Regarding transmissions, when I bought a new 06 Malibu 4 cylinder for my MIL 2 years ago, my research showed that the 4 cylinder and the V6 Malibus both used exactly the same transmission (forgot the number code).
Whatever. My combo works very well. If it did not work, I would not use it.
2004 Ford Freestar 4.2 liter
2003 Jayco Qwest 12A
preserve the Second Amendment
Many here seems to think the ability to get the vehicle down the road or the ability to stop the trailer dictates what size load it can handle. Just because a hitch manufacturer sells a hitch for a certain application does not mean that they have tested the vehicles ability to handle that size load. From the Reese website: "Always consult your owner's manual for vehicle rating." What people do not address is how the vehicle will perform in an accident. In other words, the vehicle manufacturer has designed and tested the vehicle for certain towing limitations. When you exceed those limitations, you may be placing stresses on vehicle components (esp. those with unibody construction) that will compromise the integrity of the passenger compartment during an accident. Now if they never have an accident, that may not be a problem. But I'd hate to live with the guilt of recommending the towing of a trailer above the manufacturers recommendation and having them involved in an accident that results in serious injury or death.
FWIW, our RAV4 has unibody construction. When I installed the Toyota hitch, it not only attached to the rails on the bottom of the vehicle, but there were many additional braces that attached to six other unibody panels. According to the Toyota part man, this ensures that the stresses are safely and appropriately distributed over the unibody.
You know what's funny with all this doomsday anti-car towing attitude is that around here in this neck of the woods the "average joe" wouldn't even bother looking up his tow rating before hitching up the "average popup" to his car. The general opinion is, and has always been, that popups are designed to be easy for any car to tow, so nobody worries about it. I can't help but laugh when I see people stressing out over pulling a popup camper that barely weighs any more than the average utility trailer full of yard waste.
I get looks sometimes when people discover I added brakes and a WD hitch to my setup. My uncle, the former owner of our Bethany, used to tow it around with a 1985 Plymouth Reliant wagon. He thought it was ridiculous that I added all that "extra claptrap" when I took ownership. I feel a lot better with the brakes and WD hitch (would recommend them to anyone), but I have to be honest I wouldn't sweat towing without them either, and my trailer is a heck of a lot heavier than the OP.
'04 Ford Freestar (Primary tow vehicle) '05 Subaru Forester (Backup tow vehicle) '65 Bethany popup (best popups ever made!) Looking for a tow vehicle Minivan towing
Caddywhompus wrote: I can't help but laugh when I see people stressing out over pulling a popup camper that barely weighs any more than the average utility trailer full of yard waste.
I can't help but be amazed that anyone believes they have more knowledge about the structural integrity of a vehicle than the vehicle manufacturer. Even the hitch manufacturers say "Always consult your owner's manual for vehicle rating." Why recommend the potentially unsafe and even deadly practice of towing a trailer beyond the manufacturers limit? I guess it's OK to risk your family and friends health and safety, but I do wish you'd consider the consequence to others of such severe overloading of a vehicle in the event of an accident.
The Palomino Mustang weighs at least 1790# dry, so it's going to be around 2000# by the time they some camping gear and food in there. This is double the Malibu's tow rating!
As a former owner of a Palomino Mustang, I'd question the weight of the trailer. My '85 weighed in around 2200 lbs. Newer ones, as in the OP, are probably more than that, as mine was a stock model, with no options, such as A/C.
Also, make sure that that year/model can accept a weight distribution hitch, or sway control. Many Palominos have "C" channel tongue construction.
Jim and Sandy
'98 Dutchmen 1006
'96 Dodge Dakota ClubCab
1. Custom designed hitch. Commercially available ones bolt to the sheet metal of the trunk pan. NOT good enough.
2. Trans cooler
3. Brake wiring and installation.
4. If there will be anything in the car trunk or backseat, you will need wdh or airbags. MAYBE you can get away without if you have only 2 passengers and no stuff in the trunk. Don't forget that 250# on a hitch is more like 350# in the trunk due to leverage.
5. Good enough mechanical skill to recognize distress in the powertrain before it is serious.
I'd not do it and I don't think most folks would be happy with the performance. But if all the above were done it wouldn't be unsafe, just extremely expensive.
So you're an automotive engineer and can guarantee that the unibody won't fold like a tin can in the event of an accident? Even though you're talking about hauling a trailer that's double the tow weight limit of the Malibu? And you're willing to risk the lives of others in that belief?
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