Submitted by: Asa Guy
Although the idea was conceived while drunk, one look in the rear-view immediately changed that. ~Not-So-Handy Andy
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The Little Miata That Could
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After a few more miles it’ll be the “Little Miata that spews oil” or “Little Miata that can’t any more….”
There’s a real reason that when you order a towing package on a truck that you get a larger engine and oil cooler and transmission fluid cooler. Little cars with little engines and transmissions don’t like towing big heavy stuff like this.
wat
Protip: Planes, particularly half-built light-plane frames without their engines in, don’t actually weigh much. That’s how they stay in the air with double-digit (or low-100s) horsepower engines. And a Miata has PLENTY enough power to pull probably 1 1/2, maybe 2 tons, if you’re unafraid to let the engine rev a bit (say 4000 or so… not so bad if you only do it occasionally) to make up for the lesser low-rev torque output vs a diesel.
We’re not exactly towing a boat, multiple sacks of hardcore or some serious piece of farming equipment here.
Hell, my own far less sporty car could probably haul that so long as the gradients weren’t too severe. Say a max of 1 in 10 so I don’t spend too much time down below 30mph in 2nd gear.
What I’d be more concerned about here is how much it’s bowing down at the back. Dude’s obviously never come across the concept of either balancing your nose weight, or putting rubber chocks in the springs. The suspension’ll give out long before the engine or transmission do.
Or maybe he was expecting the elevators to be producing enough lift that it had to be countered with artificial downforce?
well this car does, its special, now get over it
BTW the little miata is still can
I was going to say this was Photoshopped, but a closer inspection of the photo shows that the rear suspension of the car is mere seconds away from collapse, if it hasn’t already – note the unusual, “splayed out” angle of the rear wheel.
All the money saved by not using a mover can now be used to buy a new transmission. Genius!
MX-5s have a 1.8l or 2l petrol engines and can easily tow trailers up to 1500bls along a reasonably level road, provided said trailer has brakes of it’s own (like the one in the picture).
It’s not the safest thing in the world to do as the MX-5 doesn’t have a lot of mass of its own, but the engine and gearbox won’t explode towing a really small fiberglass plane.
You obviously don’t tow. Just the plane and the wood on the trailer likely out weigh the 1500lbs you mention, let alone the weight of the trailer itself. The tongue weight vastly exceeds the capacity of the Miatas suspension, any sort of bump and it will be dragging and scraping. Between the trailer itself and the stuff on it there is probably over 3000lbs being pulled. That is also a dual axle trailer and the idiot is running it with only one set of tires.
That trailer is probably close to 1000lbs on its own.
That trailer is WAY over 1500 pounds. But probably under 3500# due to only using 1 axle – usually a 3500# axle at that weight.
Any comment on the tongue weight?
Actually, that is a dual axle trailer. It’s missing a tire on the rear axle.
And the way those rear tires are bowed out, that suspension is bottomed out… lol Gonna at least need some new tires when he gets done.
Indeed new tires, along with the fact theres too much pressure from a incorrectly loaded trailer. pressure on the rear of the car
lol nope tires are fine and the plain is too.
))))))) So no worries ppl.
P.s. there is a reason why miata was used to do it and not a truck lol so all the haters should get a life
WRONG. that year miata is either a 1.6l or 1.8l. 2.0l is the 08+ miata.
that car my friend, is not 08+. i owned one.
seeings as 90% are 5 speed. the transmission would have no issue, its all the chassis
i towed a dodge neon with my 1.6l. only problem i had was i had a 6 puck clutch
I actually had a 2001… those taillamps are from the 99-05 body style and would have a 1.8L engine… the 1.6Ls ended in 98 with the first body style.
The engine has about 142hp at the crank and about 110lb tq… granted even with the 6spd close ratio tranny and good trailor brakes… it should NOT be pulling that trailor and its load…. tsk tsk
My 06 mx-5 miata is a 2.0l six speed, what a noob.
Looks like a tandem trailer to me…..
Umm… He has an airplane. If the Miata blows up, he still wins.
Either as a kit or as a rebuild/repair project that airplane can easily
weigh less than the towing capacity stated for this car.
Sorry, airplane = win, haters = fail.
Empty junkyard airplane shell = fail.
MX5 with trashed transmission, suspension, and rear tires = fail.
Plane fan who can’t see this = fail.
pretty sure that box is the airplane engine, so it’s probably a kit, even a small plane and engine like that probably weigh a ton if not more plus the trailer, also how is he going to get to the hardware store for odds and ends during the thousands of hours it is going to take him to finish it.
lol cars is fine, the plain is awesome and you rock
Hope he doesn’t have to stop. By the way did anyone notice that the trailer is a dual axle but the rear tires are missing.
lol nothing is missing there, its a boat trailer you smarty.
Anytime the towed weight exceeds the weight of the towing vehicle, white knuckle hillarity can take place at any time. The trailer in this case looks to be a converted boat trailer.
I have towed some really heavy trailers with seriously undersized cars – like a ton of Sunday newspapers with a Corvair.
It can be done safely without destroying the car – but S L O W and E A S Y are the watchwords of the day. Freeway speeds would be well outside the safe zone, and it sure looks like that’s where he is.
I think someone’s been watching too many “I’ll Fly Away” reruns.
It looks like the trailer is missing 2 wheels also.
I’m waiting for someone to explain why it’s being used to tow an *airplane*….
Best guess? Someone bought a kit plane, needed to get it from his house to the airport to finish it, but didn’t want to (or couldn’t) rent a truck.
That’s a glider, not a powered plane, I’m guessing. They’re designed to break down for easy transportation, yes, BY ROAD.
I don’t think it’s a glider — the nose shape is wrong, there’s clearly space there for an engine. Also, the wingspan is pretty short for a glider, judging from the trailer length.
My guess is this is an airplane that someone is restoring, and that’s why it’s disassembled and being hauled on a trailer. Note that a small airplane sans engine and fuel is actually lighter than most cars, so this isn’t a particularly heavy load.
Wanna bet? That is not a glider. In fact, that looks like a partially built lancair kit to me. The finished aircraft has an empty weight of 2200 lbs. Granted that includes an engine, but it doesn’t include the crating or the trailer. That MX-5 is hauling way more than 1500 lbs.
I was wondering about that. The tongue weight alone seems pretty hefty, considering that the rear end of the Miata is really sagging. I mean, look at the negative camber of the rear-left wheel! That’s putting a lot of stress not only on the drive train, but also on suspension components. Even if they do not have any friends they can bribe or borrow trucks from, there are rentals.
Everything you said, I said over at jalopnik.com.
Of course I’m wondering how this really qualifies as a kludge.
The equipment trailer alone is more than 1500. I pull one of those with a F-250 diesel and it’s a heavy pull empty, that car has NO business towing that load. Most little cars only have a GVWR rating high enough for five average sized adults.
It sure as hell doesn’t have the brakes to stop it either.
Does not look like a lancair to me. The wingtips are more complex, as is the nose of the plane. However, the nose is awfully large for a glider. It looks as if there is space for an engine.
We can tell by the camber of the rear wheels, that the tongue weight is way too much for that car’s suspension.
If the car owner is lucky, the hitch or suspension might fail before the engine or transmission overheats and dies. If they are really lucky, an accident will destroy their plane, before they start flying. Flying is not a safe hobby for those who don’t pay attention to weight and balance.
I had that same model of Miata (before they were called “MX-5″ here in the US). I never tried towing anything with it, but never would have either. I didn’t feel much torque from the engine. If the AC was on it *felt* like I was towing a boat though.
Not that it’s important, but the Miata was referred to as the “MX5″ before, during, and after its launch. Granted, there were no “MX5″ badges on the car, so if that’s your point then you are correct.
That is NOT a glider.
Airplanes aren’t all born at airports.
Some have to be assembled and then flown there.
There is no prop, looks like the windows are missing and
there are no markings on the side.
The glazing and whatnot are probably in the crate (looks like it’s marked “glass”). Guy’s probably going to finish the landing gear and windows and have the engine installed. After that it’ll get inspected, and assuming he did everything right (not a given considering the job he’s doing towing the plane) the plane will get certified, painted and the N number added.
The manual in my 1.6l miata actualy said they are not recommended for towing anything at all
So how come they’ve managed to get hold of a towbar for it?
I can’t help but notice that the rear axle seems to have been removed from the trailer. This used to be a common farmer’s trick for changing the balance point of trailers in an effort to reduce tongue weight, which I would assume is the reason it was done here.
Even then, though— look at the squat of the suspension on that car! While the drivetrain may be up to the challenge, I don’t think the suspension is….
thats a dual axle boat trailer. meaning it was originally meant for a 20′ or longer boat.
its also missing its rear wheels. probably because its so forward slanted they dont touch the ground anyways.
that trailer weighs easily 1,000 lbs empty. with the way its sitting, it would probably put at least half of that weight on the miata.
that one guy thinks a miata can safely tow 1,500 lbs.
thats at least 2,000 if not 3,000.
and even in this small picture and with the distance. look closely at the miata rear tires. notice how they tilt?
suspension is totally bottomed out on that miata.
Look at the rear wheels of the car. Tongue weight is far too high. He probably ‘got away with it’, but that car’s pretty wrecked. And no, that’s not a glider, and that IS a two axel trailer that is missing a pair of wheels. I doubt the rig has its own (working) brakes, either.
U-Haul trucks aren’t very expensive, but I suppose you could take the hitch off and sell that car to someone who didn’t know what you did with it, and let them spring for the tires, brakes, suspension, transmission/transaxle, clutch, etc.
Even if the trailer was within the manual’s specs, (and it definitely is not), he would still kill the suspension if he got close on a car that old. That looks like a first gen Miata, making it at the latest from 97. I once loaded my 95 Camry to 200lbs below the manual’s specs, and that was enough to kill all four of my struts. Towing anything with a small car, especially one that’s more than 5 years old is a very bad idea.
Well allow me to retort…
1991 VW Polo (their smallest car at the time). One-litre engine developing a mighty 45hp. Brakes and suspension that typically were described as “shocking” in used car guides. I owned it 2002-2005.
Introduce to this vehicle approximately 1000lbs of thick, laminated paper catalogues (2000+ in two seperate loads). Yes, I weighed and calculated those sods, because I wanted to know just how much stuff I’d be hauling around delivering ultimately by hand. Pushing if not easily exceeding the recommended payload even without including my own body, fuel etc. It was loaded pretty much to the ceiling, and if I’d had a roof rack, I’d have put some on there.
Well, it squatted a bit, but the wheels didn’t bow out and the suspension still travelled… on the upswing out of a bump anyway. It pulled ok so long as I held the gears a bit longer than usual. Hardly speedy, but it kept up with general traffic and climbed the steepest hill in the area at the speed limit. And back down the twisty other side without crashing, rolling over or overheating the brakes.
I mean, I probably wouldn’t have done too well with a 1500+lb trailer, but it would still have given it a go until the clutch burnt out, trying to transmit continuous full throttle at max torque revs in first gear (or just spun up the 155-section tyres). And the suspension would have been fine… because I’ve had counterweighted the thing to put pretty much the recommended 100lb on the towball (…oh and made sure to get a braked trailer!)
Given how it was used for various technically-overloading trips (some of a few hundred miles) down the years and I never had to change any suspension part other than a track rod end that was bent by a pothole, I’d submit that your nasty US-spec Toyota just had rubbish shock absorbers. Buy German next time.
Can’t speak for how good Mazda ones are though. They tend to use Ford parts, so probably about as good. I’ve seen hilarious amounts piled in, on and behind pokey little Fiestas (euro spec, that is) before.
The aircraft is a stoddard Hamilton Glasair. This is a kit plane. The rest of the load looks like wings and tooling – there doesnt seem to be an engine so the load itself would probably only be 700 – 800lbs. The trailer is another story!
There isnt actually anything weird with towing aircraft bits on a trailer – I moved my homebuilt aircraft on a trailer – albeit a low loader truck arranged with the aid of a couple of dozen beers!
I see this kind of thing every week, it seems.
This is why I NEVER buy used cars with trailer hitches on them. (Or cars that used to have hitches on them.)
Trucks are a different story; they’re designed for that.
Ummmm The truck was gonna be used to pull the plain but it broke thats why there is miata in the picture, duhhhh why ppl try to be so smart.UR NOT SMART PPL, GET OVER UR SELVES HATER
Man, NASA’s really trying to save money on hauling the Shuttle back to Florida!
There are V8 swaps for Miatas. I bet this one has a V8 swapped in it. It’s still not a good idea.
LOL IF it had a V8 swap in it, the engine, tranny and rest of the drive-train would just jump out from under the car and leave the driver, shell, and trailer all sitting at the starting point HAHAHA
j/k they really do for the ls1 and 4l60e, would handly pulling it, but not stopping it, but judging by the way the suspension is sitting, its not a v-8 swap, the suspension would be VERY upgraded to handle it, not so in this case
You would think a “pilot” would have a better grasp of things like center of gravity, weight loading, maxumum capacity’s and such…….
This has all us Jalopniks over at jalopnik.com wondering how retarded “normal people” are.
Yep, that’s a bit much. Changing momentum in any direction would be rather interesting. That’s a ’99 or later Mata — weighs maybe 2,700 lb with driver & fuel. Official factory tow rating is zero.
I’ve carefully towed at least 2,500 lb with a ’90 Miata (lighter, with a smaller engine), and about half that much many times over thousands of miles through the Rockies. If that’s “wrecked” it, it’s yet to show up at 263,000 miles.
The suspension on the photo car is on the bump-stops — no suspending being done, and thus no damage unless a big bump tweaks the metal bits. The engine isn’t strong enough to hurt the drivetrain, but those rear wheel bearings are certainly on double-duty.
I’d love to say that I’m smart enough not to try something like this. Fact is I have. Last time that I towed an airplane of about that size was with a full-size V8 Jeep Wagoneer — official tow rating 3,500 lb. I’d almost have rather used a Miata.
}}}}
I took this photo in the mountains of WV. He was cruising along at about 45 mph and didn’t seem to have a care in the world. We literally passed him and had to slow down behind him to get the picture. On flat ground I might give the guy a break but I wouldn’t be suprised if he ended up on a run away Miata ramp!
This is what happens when Tom “Click”, Ray “Clack”, Orville and Wilbur Wrong, and Cheech and Chong all meet and start coming up with ideas.
I see nothing wrong with the rear suspension on the Miata. The rear suspension on my Taurus looks like that empty!
When the Miata first came out, I took one look and decided Me Ought-ta keep my Mustang.
There is something to this mighty Miata thing. Our 1910 upright piano was moved 30 miles trailing behind three large piano movers stuffed into a little red Miata.
dang, this is awesome, I was looking for it on youtube lol, was surprised its not there but at list I still found it. Gotta love all of those comments where ppl believe that the car is broke or something happened.
That’s what decades of GM/Ford indoctrination will do to them. They have a quasi-religious belief that only the big truck can tow.
And rather than renting one twice a year when they need it, the belief in the sacred truck says you gotta ride in two tons of metal year-round just in case you stumble upon the need to tow/carry something.
for all you people negative comments. I know this man and compaired to you he’s a genius. After his truck broke down 1/2 way topick up the plain and he had deadline to pick it up because he done paid for it. He had offered few so called friends $600 to use their truck or go with him, no one wanted to help. He figured the weight and balance, designed and set up a hitch so it was perfect. The only time he slowed down for people taking pictures. His car is in good conditon, no over heating and breaks are the same as it was before. The trip went well for him and he has no plans on selling his car. Just wanted to make it clear fo you since I know what happened.
i repeat.
WTF? stop posting incoherent nonsense!
the correct name for the vehicle being towed is a ‘plane’, not ‘plain’.
a plain is an area of land that is, quite plain.
plane is a word synonymous with aircraft.
also, looking at the back of the car suggests to me (stuying physics) that it would be past it’s elastic limit.
finally, how can 2 people both spell a VERY simple word incorrectly? i call spam on this.