# Cruze TD May Be a Great Tow Vehicle



## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

The concern is always transmission fluid overheating.....and I don't think the car has any system to moniter it.

If you find the car is continually downshifting/upshifting this is a sign the trans is selecting too tall a gear for the load.
So, if that is the case, then manually drop it down a gear and lower your speed......for example, at 65 mph it drops to fifth at every little rise or bit of headwind....so, go to M5 and drop back to 55.....this'll save the trans and keep fluid temps in check.

The biggest source of potental tow damage is the frontal area of the trailer causing huge drag.....the car only knows this as weight and responds accordingly.

Do not tow above 65.......ever......a passing truck can cause the trailer to sway which, on a light rear ended front driver results in the tail wagging the dog......loss of control is the result.

Careful out there,
Rob


----------



## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

I have done a lot of towing and with a much bigger one than that 16ft x 7ft by 8ft high caravan (not sure what you call them in US but mobile holiday home type trailer). The wheels were much further forward and trucks did cause a problem if you wern't watching for them. The design of the trailer in the picture looks really stable, the only concern is if too much is put in it you could put too much weight on the rear axle. I used to use level bars which when fitted stopped the sag of the rear of the car and made everything a lot more stable. I would suggest you max out at 60mph and if the transmission hunts lock it in 5 and if you come to hills drive it as you would a manual. For a 1 off trip the transmission will be OK. If you tow on a regular basis fit a separate transmission cooler.

In my Australian owners manual the diesel is rated at 750kg with no trailer brakes and 1200kg with trailer brakes.


----------



## 567Chief (Feb 25, 2013)

Keep us posted. I'm thinking she will do better with the trailer than the 39 MPG Autoguide says the CTD will do without the trailer! Good luck and be careful.


----------



## 567Chief (Feb 25, 2013)

Any update on the tow?


----------



## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

ECO diesel has tow rating? I always assumed it fell into the ECO gas no tow rule. 


Sent from AutoGuide.com App


----------



## KpaxFAQ (Sep 1, 2013)

Merc6 said:


> ECO diesel has tow rating? I always assumed it fell into the ECO gas no tow rule.
> 
> 
> Sent from AutoGuide.com App


It does not have a tow rating which is ridiculous. I plan to eventually put a hitch on mine.


----------



## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

Unfortunately, WITHOUT the external transmission piping of yesterday's cars (ie RWD), there's NOT a clean way to *add* an aftermarket transmission cooler...which really *IS* needed when towing.


----------



## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

KpaxFAQ said:


> It does not have a tow rating which is ridiculous. I plan to eventually put a hitch on mine.


Reason is ECO gas didn't have one is because our frame had modifications to make is the lightest Cruze in the entire lineup next to even a base LS IIRC. 



70AARCUDA said:


> Unfortunately, WITHOUT the external transmission piping of yesterday's cars (ie RWD), there's NOT a clean way to *add* an aftermarket transmission cooler...which really *IS* needed when towing.


Cruze gas auto has a external trans cooler maybe diesel has similar system to upgrade or add to. 


Sent from AutoGuide.com App


----------



## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

Oops! Looks like we're BOTH half-wrong: (1) the Cruze does have external piping to the radiator located in engine radiator; but, (2) that radiator is not sized for extra-heavy-duty heat loads, such as encountered while towing...it's just the OEM pipe located in the bottom of the engine coolant radiator, ie: over-heated coolant = over-heated transmission fluid.


----------



## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

Living in a hot country fitting an oil cooler between the transmission and the standard in radiator helps both the engine and transmission stay cooler. On one car I owned I deleted the standard radiator cooler and fitted a good size oil cooler and it worked great. Not sure what effect this will have in cold climates, but down to 0C I encountered no problems when not towing and the fluid kept it's nice red colour longer as well.


----------



## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Aussie said:


> Living in a hot country fitting an oil cooler between the transmission and the standard in radiator helps both the engine and transmission stay cooler. On one car I owned I deleted the standard radiator cooler and fitted a good size oil cooler and it worked great. Not sure what effect this will have in cold climates, but down to 0C I encountered no problems when not towing and the fluid kept it's nice red colour longer as well.


Here in the winter you ran aux off the existing setup because bypassing the radiator would lead to the trans fluid never reaching normal operationg temps. Some would even coardboad the aux cooler off in the winter but I never did on my 3 cars (to include my leggy) in the winter.


----------



## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

I should explain why I fitted a cooler without going through the radiator, the particular car was a Ford Falcon station wagon and the cooler inside the radiator sprang a leak. This resulted in a transmission full of water and was destroyed. When I had the transmission repaired I fitted an external cooler and sealed off the inlet and exit pipes from the radiator, problem solved and never had another issue with cooling.


----------



## KpaxFAQ (Sep 1, 2013)

A little common sense will get you a long ways towing with any passenger car


----------



## ParisTNDude (Oct 7, 2013)

Apologies for not responding sooner...had a death in the family.

The little TD Cruze did amazingly well towing the little trailer. We loaded It with about 800 lbs of stuff and it went 400 miles to east Tennessee without a hitch. I actually followed my daughter in my 99 GMC, 4.3 liter, V6, regular cab, short bed pickup and she walked away from me going up the hills (and there were plenty of them heading that direction). I was delivering her GOAT....yes, her GOAT! I drove the Cruze for a short distance and you honestly couldn't tell there was a trailer back there. Obviously overkill on torque in these little monsters.

It got fuel mileage in the mid-30s as I recall which is pretty respectable in my opinion. It was in the mid 30s temperature wise, so no difference in engine temperature and no evidence of transmission issues either. Sooo, I would recommend it to anyone.


----------



## titanman2789 (Oct 27, 2013)

That's good fuel mileage towing. Just don't let your dealer find out you were towing with it

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


----------



## ParisTNDude (Oct 7, 2013)

titanman2789 said:


> That's good fuel mileage towing. Just don't let your dealer find out you were towing with it
> 
> Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


I'm not sure, but having a trailer hitch installed wouldn't in itself void the warranty...just towing and since it doesn't appear that towing will cause harm to the vehicle? Receiver hitches can be used for all sorts of other non-towing purposes such as mounting bicycles and other items of equipment. I'm told they could only void warrantied parts if abuse caused a failure. Strange though, Australian diesels have a tow rating according to a post in this thread.

The trailer hitch is on my daughter's car, not mine. I have a pickup so would never need to tow anything with my Cruze. There must be a demand for TD Cruze receiver hitches since the biggest vender in hitches makes this one, which is a separate model hitch from other Cruze hitches. Go figure???


----------



## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

The Aussie diesel has a tow capacity of 1200kg (2645lbs) or 750kg (1650lbs) without trailer brakes and we use the 6T45 tramsmission as opposed to the stronger one used in the US Cruze.


----------



## grs1961 (Oct 23, 2012)

Yes, Australian, Asian, African, and European Cruzen of the diesel persuasion are allowed to tow.

No doubt someone at GM in the USA decided that the mix of a diesel _car_ and _towing_ was just too much to handle!


----------



## ParisTNDude (Oct 7, 2013)

grs1961 said:


> Yes, Australian, Asian, African, and European Cruzen of the diesel persuasion are allowed to tow.
> 
> No doubt someone at GM in the USA decided that the mix of a diesel _car_ and _towing_ was just too much to handle!


Unbelievable! GM sometimes makes no sense what-so-ever that they would allow towing with a Cruze made in other countries and not those made for American consumption. I would imagine GM would have a hard time defending their denial of warranty work if it was used to tow when they allow others to do it. They should take a look at what the Europeans tow with diesel cars and many much less well built than ours.


----------



## mr overkill (Dec 1, 2013)

what size is that trailer?


----------



## ParisTNDude (Oct 7, 2013)

mr overkill said:


> what size is that trailer?


It's about 5 feet long and 4 wide (inside dimensions), I guess. Daughter still has it or I would measure it. I installed carpeting on the side front and back walls since I haul sound equipment in it. I can easily pick up the tongue with about 300 lbs of equipment in it...very nice.


----------



## mr overkill (Dec 1, 2013)

Oops I pm'ed you before I saw this


----------



## BradHerr (Sep 29, 2013)

I am building a trailer to tow with my CTD. It is a metal frame that I fabricated and welded the "cargo box" on. I am laying up fiberglass to cover it. Right now I've just got the floor and nose cone fiberglass done. As of now the trailer weighs 150.6 lbs and I plan on hauling camping gear and or my bicycle racing gear in it. I am hoping to keep the entire trailer with cargo to around 350-400 lbs. 


-Brad


----------

