Are you familiar with trailer towing? It's not much fun if you aren't good at it and especially if the height of the trailer blocks your rear vision.

How far is "cross country" and how much stuff do you need to move? A bunch of my co-workers were recently relocated 600 miles away and I know that several of them used shipping "pods". The pods were dropped off in their driveways, they loaded the pods, and then the pod company collected the pods and delivered them to the new address - very low stress.

 

I have a 2010 IS250 with a Curt trailer hitch rated at 2000 lbs. I use it for a bike rack. However I want to tow a 5 x 10 enclosed U-Haul for 2600 miles, one time and plan to do 55 mph.
How will that affect te car and how about the warranty.

 

Depending on what is inside of the trailer it should pull it fine. You can go over 55 max 65-70

You will lose gas mpg a lot more pulling, and no your vehicles warranty will not void.

 

I'm sure not all of you have the resources to own more than one vehicle, but for me, towing with my ISF is simply not an option. The car was not designed for towing and Lexus does not recommend it. If I need to tow or haul anything I have a truck for that. The F is for pleasure, Lot's of pleasure and the truck for work If you don't have a truck, you can always rent one

Lou

 

Than you for the replies. Is a IS250 Convertible. Driving with the trailer from new orleans to oregon. Only me in the car and under 1000 lbs in the trailer. From there driving up to Alaska and then down the Pacific Coast Hwy so renting a truck is a good idea but not feasable.

 

Thats a long trip! It can be done but the added weight of an enclosed trailer it maybe a pain. Do you have to have an enclosed? You can't find a shipper to ship the stuff out for you instead?

 

Are you planning to pull a U-Haul trailer to Alaska and back? I assume you mean you are going to take a car ferry from Seattle to southern Alaska.

There is nothing wrong with pulling a trailer with an IS - Lexus dealers sell a Lexus branded towing hitch for the IS250 in many countries where it is recommended for towing things like jet skis or small saleboats.

Have you checked the empty and loaded weights of a U-Haul enclosed 5'x10' trailer: http://www.uhaul.com/Reservations/Eq....aspx?model=MV

Whoa! You don't even want to do this.

 

I have used many uhaul trailers and their trailers are built with overkill in mind to last many years. That being said their trailers are heavier then others.

I would not recommend towing with a IS a 5x10 or any enclosed trailer. If you had to, I would stay away from tandem axle trailers. A light 5x8 opened trailer is what I would recommend. You can find used trailers that are a few years old on craiglist for 2-500 bucks. Then you can turn around and sell that trailer at your destination.

 

There is a Curt hitch on my F for my Saris Thelma bike rack. Took the bikes from ATL to Ft Lauderdale with it and had no issues (except my bike isn't friendly for any bike rack, even the Thema). I may at some point buy a very small trailer - just big enough for track wheels, a jack, and some tools and use it for track weekends.

I know the F wasn't intended to trailer, but there's no good reason why you can't haul light loads. Certainly there's no shortage of braking power or lack of transmission and oil cooling capacity...

 

Lobuxracer,

When you installed your Curt hitch on your ISF, did you remove the rear bumber to make the installation. If not how did you deal with the OEM ehaust tips that prevent you from raising the Curt hitch up to where the hitch bolts onto the frame?

 

I did not remove the bumper cover, just removed two clips at the bottom the same as any other 2IS. I took the rear exhaust section down completely, and before I put it back up, I bent the rear mounting rods down to raise the tips to better align with the diffusers with the openings.

When I took the exhaust down, I did not remove the mufflers from the rubber suspension mounts, I used an extension and removed the bolts from the hanger and dropped it as a complete assembly after removing the mount I could access (one on each side). I removed the rubber pieces with the mufflers on the ground. After I put the hitch in place, I installed the muffler mounts and torqued to spec. Then I put a diluted solution of dish detergent (I used Dawn) inside the holes in the rubber mounts and slipped the rods into the rubber pieces like butter. Same with the two mounts near the joint in the front.

It would have been a lot easier with a second person. I did this on jackstands. It's not too terribly difficult.

 

after reviewing this thread and not liking that the hitch is always visible and an eyesore, my friend didn't want a hitch like that, we did this - posting so others can find this thread:

Thought i would post what we did on my friends car:
IS hidden hitch install - clean look!

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ml#post8249539

-J

 

have you done anything about the electrical part? how do you plan to run the wires to your trailer?

 

connector that comes with the hitch to the wires in the car?