I don't get it

"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa) 09/08/2016 at 19:17 • Filed to: None

5

28

I don’t get why Tavarish towing a trailer with his S class is such a big deal. He has 3x the power of most light trucks in a ludicrously overbuilt German super-sedan. I know people who, on a regular basis tow more than that with a 200hp FWD 2002 Buick LeSabre (rated for 1000 pounds). Even more annoying is his insistence on CONSTANTLY REMINDING you his car wasn’t specifically made to tow a trailer. “My trailer tire blew out because it’s shit and old and rotted and garbage while it was BEHIND MY S CLASS ALSO THE GUY ON THE PHONE LAUGHED AT ME”. I read the article hoping for relevant problems pertaining to towing with an S-class but just got (admittedly very well-written) drivel. Also, for what it’s worth, the towing capacity of a 1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate station wagon with the LT1 is 5000 pounds. Picture unrelated. It was pouring on the way to work this morning and I thought this picture was pretty.

Mercedes Streeter > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 19:25

10

The problem wasn’t his tow vehicle, the S Class is a wonderful tow vehicle, a vehicle so good that it isn’t even post-worthy.

The problem was that he used an incompatible hitch, extended the length of the tongue reach, and then loaded up the trailer.

The problem isn’t the car at all, but rather how he set up the towing rig. Had he bought a proper hitch and bothered to make a safe setup, there wouldn’t have been any danger at all. The most likely out

WRXforScience > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 19:25

1

I have a couple of autox buddies who use a Roadmaster as their tow vehicle, and they bought it for that purpose.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 19:25

0

I don’t know if his most recent video was in the article, but in it he talked how the back half of the car was bending. Also how he tortured the air suspension.

LongbowMkII > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 19:25

2

The B-Body was designed with towing in mind. I wouldn’t be surprised if with the same tires my tired old SS outbrakes his S-class. 120ft 60-0.

The W220 can tow that, but it still was over recommendations. Not the end of the world, but still a bad idea.

Personally, no matter what he does, he’ll be wrong in my eyes. Bitter and Petty? Yes.

jkm7680 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 19:25

3

Towing like that is commonplace in Europe. I’m not sure why it’s such a big deal either.

Urambo Tauro > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 19:29

0

FWIW, I’m glad to see that more people are actually concerned about true all-things-considered towing capacity. I’ve encountered too many guys who judge capacity only by how much the rear sags. *rolls eyes*

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > jkm7680 09/08/2016 at 19:34

1

Seriously. I see that all the time then I see this accompanied by several articles detailing why it’s obviously an awful idea and I just... don’t get it.

LongbowMkII > WRXforScience 09/08/2016 at 19:35

1

Roadmaster was built to tow, the W220 wasn’t.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > WRXforScience 09/08/2016 at 19:35

0

They’re stupidly good for that purpose. Tons of interior volume, and tons of towing volume for EVEN MORE STUFF.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Mercedes Streeter 09/08/2016 at 19:37

1

Yeah someone mentioned in the video he said the back of his car was bending. That, to me, either completely demolishes any theory that Mercedes builds good cars, or points to Tavarish being a bit of an idiot with his engineering and NOT a fault of the car or its inability to tow. Or he loaded the trailer poorly and ended up with far too much tongue weight.

daender > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 19:37

0

I don’t know why, but there’s something nice about seeing a well-cared-for Miata in the rain.

By the way, I forgot to ask some thing to you about that Miata. Did you check under the “tupperware” side skirts for rust? I’m assuming it’s been cared for enough that there shouldn’t be any but I’ve seen threads of owners picking up a used one and finding out all hell has broken loose down there (and around the front swaybar mounts).

shop-teacher > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 19:38

3

Towing capacity of an LT-1 Roadmaster Estate with the towing package is actually 7000 pounds! My station wagon has a higher tow rating than my full size pickup truck (5700 pounds).

I think people made way to big of a deal of it too. The hitch adapter he used was stupid and didn’t help, and he obviously should have replaced the tires (trailer tires don’t last for shit), but he in no way was being dangerous IMO. I wouldn’t do what he did, because of how hard it was on the car, but there’s no way towing a 5x8 trailer with a big ass car is unsafe.

bhtooefr > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 19:47

2

It’s also worth noting that European tow ratings assume 4-7% tongue weight (but they centralize the weight over the axles, and then most European countries limit towing to 50 mph), whereas Americans run 10-15% tongue weight.

If you’re running 15% tongue weight on a car designed for 7%, you just cut your allowable total trailer weight in less than half... and the European tow ratings are still assuming 50 mph. Go faster, reduce the tow rating more.

Edit: Tow ratings for a W220 S500 are 750 kg unbraked (standard in Europe), 2100 kg braked. So, if that 2100 kg is assuming a maximum safe tongue weight of 7%, 2160 lbs braked is the most you could safely tow ( at 50 mph ) with US tongue weight standards. Also, I’d respect the braked standard, especially if exceeding 50 mph, and it looks like he didn’t.

nermal > jkm7680 09/08/2016 at 20:04

1

Somebody posted a really good article here a while ago that I can’t be bothered to search for.

The TL;DR is 1) They don’t drive as fast in Europe with trailers and 2) Lawyers.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 20:07

3

I used to work at an aftermarket parts store. Most of our business was outfitting trucks for work which included many hitches. Yea we sold stick on Lund hoodscoops but those were only to posers. The way he towed was not safe. Its been a long time since I worked with this stuff but I think the hitch adapter he used decreased the towing capacity by 50%. I forget all the numbers involved but I think that adapter put the trailer alone over the tongue limit for the car. It extended the weighted point away from the car so instead of having a somewhat downward force on the hitch, it now had a rotational force. think of trying to roll a bolder versus using a lever and fulcrum. I think this is more or less proven true with the way the BACK OF THE FUCKING CAR BENT UNDER LOAD.

LongbowMkII > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 20:18

0

Hammerheadfistpunch had an excellent article covering the differences.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > nermal 09/08/2016 at 20:27

0

That doesn’t change anything, though.

Scimitar7 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 20:43

0

What gets me is that in one of his first posts about formerly expensive used Mercedes, he mentions that he can’t/won’t jump start other cars because the electronics are “too sensitive”.

Yet he’s towing with the same car...

¯\_()_/¯

HammerheadFistpunch > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 20:49

1

To get what he did wrong you have to know a little about how tow rating are set...and Tavarish doesn’t. Joking aside, Ms Mercedes and others have it pretty well covered.

The tldr is: The s class doesn’t see have the rawr to handle more than 2000 lbs or trailer based on the safe us towing conventions of 10 to 15% to get weight.

Other huge issues?

Tavarish used best case maximums for his tow gear then exceeded them anyway

He then did something monumentally stupid and added an additional lever arm which more than halved his safe tongue weight limits (that he was already over)

I don’t care what he says a trailer that size weighs nearly 1000 less on its own and if you are moving enough stuff to need a trailer...you are going to add at least 1000 lbs of stuff. That trailer weighed AT LEAST 2000 lbs.

This says nothing about not checking the tires manufacture date and making sure they were properly aired up (both obvious contributing factors to the blowout)

The moral of the story is that hp, brakes, etc...they aren’t the specs that make towing safe. It’s weight distribution, axle ratings, tongue weights and DYNAMIC factors, not static ones.

The hyperbole of towing with an sclass is overplayed, I agree, but a big powerful car does not automatically a good tow vehicle make.

ranwhenparked > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/08/2016 at 22:44

1

My old Fleetwood, same chassis and drivetrain as the Roadmaster, was rated at 7,000lbs. I remember the brochure had a picture of one hauling a big ass horse trailer.

My Town Car is rated for something like 5,000, but, with only about 140hp, I doubt it could move it very fast.

TheRealBicycleBuck > jkm7680 09/08/2016 at 23:00

1

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/tow-me-down-16…

Basic differences between U.S. and Europe are tongue weight allowances and maximum speeds. These affect the risk of unwanted oscillations.

The concern with Tavarish’s setup is whether or not the car a) is equipped with the right hitch; b) has the right rear suspension to handle the additional load; c) has appropriate cooling to handle the additional load; d) has the appropriate braking setup to handle the additional load; e) has a trailer that is properly maintained and ready for the trip; and f) has a trailer that is properly loaded given the previous points.

Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/09/2016 at 01:50

1

To be fair, any pictures with that Miata are pretty.

DutchieDC2R > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/09/2016 at 01:59

1

I didnt really understand his ‘panic’ and his anxiousness to drive that distance with a trailer that seemed just fine, but after reading more into the story and details, towing with that hitch was quite a stupid idea.

On top of everything, I also dont really understand his ‘panic’ regarding the blowout. I know and understand being scared for that initial moment, but he acted through the whole story like his life was on the line.

It seems more of a story of ‘Hey, look at me doing quite a long trip fully unprepared’ for the clicks.

Mercedes Streeter > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/09/2016 at 09:14

2

Oh yeah, he was doing a lot wrong. He had the wrong hitch for the job, used an adapter for some reason (which lowers the tongue weight limit by half) and then probably loaded the thing towards the hitch, when the heaviest parts of the load should be on the wheels.

The adapter alone is probably what did him in. Those adapters are really meant for things like bike racks and such, not really for towing a cargo trailer a thousand miles lol

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious 09/09/2016 at 18:27

0

^this guy gets it

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Mercedes Streeter 09/09/2016 at 18:28

1

So... instead of using the right size ball on the right size hitch, he used one of those janky-ass middle-man adapters? Holy crap. That’s not even kludging, that’s just idiocy.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 09/09/2016 at 21:12

1

He was using a basic hitch which mounts into the floor of the trunk and is really designed for things like a kayak trailer. Proper hitches are supposed to be mounted into the frame of the vehicle while his was mounted into flimsy sheet metal.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 09/09/2016 at 21:16

0

That’s depressing.