Saab 9-6x photo

I noticed the same thing about the US Saab site. The closest I could come to getting information was a link from the Saab site to Edmunds.com for model comparisons. Towing capacities are listed there, but in the 9-5 field it stated "Being Researched".

Yes, excellent. An entire Saabo is only 230 kg, and it has brakes. If the SUV trend continues, you can probably pack the entire Saabo IN the next generation 9-6.

As a rule of thumb; you should never tow anything heavier than the towing vehicle.

There may not be any visible damage on the outside, but the plastic honeycomb elements inside the bumper are probably crushed. There will be less resistance next time you are hit in that same spot.

Hey, that's a '70s Eriba!

How about this?

Perfect example of what not to do. Even with that tiny trailer on it (I would certainly not like to spend much time inside that camper with 3 adults...) you can see that rig is all messed up.

The hitch on the trailer is too low (it should be parallel with the ground) and the tongue weight is too much for that car as the rear end is sagging.

-- Fred W

It is a 1979 Eriba 'Puck', a 2 person camper, the smallest in the Eriba range. IIRC the empty weight was about 450 kg. See

No, I cannot. There was nothing wrong with it. It passed the safety inspection without problems.

It only looks like that because of the way it is parked on the roadside.

Tongue weight was less than 50 kg.

The Saab 95 has a 500 kg load capacity. We had some camping gear in the back as well.

You should see the caravans on the road here in Europe now!

This was an ex-U-haul rental trailer - wieghs ~1500lbs. So the combination was pretty close to 3500.I never said anything about towing and launching a boat, but since you bring it up, I have a friend in the Saab club who uses his 9-5 sedan to tow and launch his 18ft sailboat. Boat and trailer wiegh ~3000lbs. has not had a bit of trouble putting it in and out of lakes and the ocean around here. Back before the SUV craze, the standard tow vehicle was a big old American station wagon, which wiegh about the same as a modern European car and are a heck of a lot less sophisticated in design and engineering.

I would suggest you try it and get back to us when you have some actual experience rather than uninformed opinion.

Max tongue weight is a function of trailer hitch and car. My 3500lb rated Class II hitch is rated at 150lbs, same as the 9-5. That is exactly what I used towing the Triumph, determined with a bathroom scale. Towed beautifully.

You need a trailer with a longer tongue. It's really not an issue.

I didn't. :-)

As I said, try it and get back to us.

Kevin

"I have a friend in the Saab club"

Which Saab Club?

A snailbote weighs nothing close to the same as a similar length power boat, my friend. An 18 ft blowboat on a trailer would not come close to

3000 lbs. unless it had a full (weighted) keel, which would eliminate it from the trailering realm.

I disagree (once again). The old standard tow vehicle American station wagon (say, like the Ford Country Squire we once owned?) was a behemoth thing, complete with a huge V8 engine. It was nothing like any current European car then or now. But even then, the *preferred* tow vehicle was always a truck, not an elongated car (station wagon).

Yeah right. No thanks.

No, you are wrong, again. Tongue weight is a proportion of the total trailer weight. This is for safety and proper trailering. If you don't realize this you may have been lucky enough to stumble upon a combination that worked OK for you, but it was merely luck. And in all likelihood your luck put the tongue weight squarely where I suggested.

That is just stupid. You don't (and couldn't) lengthen the tongue enough to allow a car to launch it. Period.

Of course you didn't (in retrospect) since it would not advance your position.

No thanks, I'd prefer to do it the *right* way. The safe way. Not just what you can get away with.

Look, Kevin. It appears we will have to just agree to disagree. Just let me know when you are on the road, and where you are headed with these kludged up trailering rigs so I can avoid that area...

-Fred W