Thread: tow hitch

Anybody ever added a tow hitch on there grand prix, I am a fisherman and had to get rid of my truck and 14 ft boat. I see towing hitches on ebay you can get for the grand prix, but is ok to tow a small 12 - 14" boat and 40 hp ob motor about once or twice a month in the summer time, or is that to much for the engine,tranny,ect?
Thanks

Originally Posted by Panther427

Well i dont think anyone really knows. Look in the owners manual. See what it says about towing. IT should be ok. that wouldnt weigh very much would it?

Couldn't be more then 350 - 400 lbs,I know on the truck didn't feel like I was towing anything at all. I am gonna have my friend way his 14ft boat and 50hp outboard and see what it weighs, and thanks for the info, I didn't even think of looking in the owners manual.

I was going to suggest that myself, if you are going to tow that boat at any time, you would be well served to have a tranny cooler put on, a good one too. Trannyman95 (transmission expert here on our forums) would be able to sell you one.

Originally Posted by agrazela

Upper safe limit for towing with GP will be 1000 lbs.

Assuming the boat is aluminum: including boat, motor, trailer, gas, gear, you're probably looking at 700-800 lbs. If fiberglass, add 100 to 150 lbs or so. You should be OK. Might want to add a trans cooler for peace of mind.

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

I was going to suggest that myself, if you are going to tow that boat at any time, you would be well served to have a tranny cooler put on, a good one too. Trannyman95 (transmission expert here on our forums) would be able to sell you one.

Cool thanks gentlemen, A tranny cooler and a aluminum boat is what I will get. also there will be me in the car 170 lbs, my two girls 165lbs together,maybe my son 200 lbs, nevermind not my son, better just make that a seperate fishing trip, just me and my two girls. preety soon my first mod will be a tranny cooler, you were right trannyman95 has a great deal.
Thanks.

This is hands down the best hitch

Uhaul Stealth 37103

U-Haul moving supplies: Custom hitches

I put mine on last summer, and it works great. It's easy to install and when you remove the hitch from the hitch receiver, you can't see it at all. Its is 100% completely hidden. I've towed a uhaul trailer with my grand prix that was either an enclosed 4x8 or 5x8 and loaded was probably 1500 lbs. I just drove it in 3rd gear the entire time and kept it out of 4th.

Just don't accelerate hard and you'll be fine. I made 2 trips 50 miles away to move my stuff into my college apt (total for the day was 200 miles or so).

I'll take a picture of it later today and post it

Pics as promised

Originally Posted by JJ91284

This is hands down the best hitch

Uhaul Stealth 37103

U-Haul moving supplies: Custom hitches

I put mine on last summer, and it works great. It's easy to install and when you remove the hitch from the hitch receiver, you can't see it at all. Its is 100% completely hidden. I've towed a uhaul trailer with my grand prix that was either an enclosed 4x8 or 5x8 and loaded was probably 1500 lbs. I just drove it in 3rd gear the entire time and kept it out of 4th.

Just don't accelerate hard and you'll be fine. I made 2 trips 50 miles away to move my stuff into my college apt (total for the day was 200 miles or so).

I'm looking at this one now, but I am not so sure that the way I want to use it will work... I want a hitch receiver to put a bike rack on ONLY... this looks like I'd have to have an adapter custom fabbed?

Originally Posted by Borotva

What did you do for wiring it up?
I've heard numerous different stories about what is needed, just flat 4, module converter, larger fuse etc. What did you do?

Sorry for late update, my grand prix overheated and now something is f'ed up on it either" UIM, LIM, HG, Head, bought a compression tester but it didn't have the right threads on it, so took it back, got to get another one later.

Originally Posted by JJ91284

This is hands down the best hitch

Uhaul Stealth 37103

U-Haul moving supplies: Custom hitches

I put mine on last summer, and it works great. It's easy to install and when you remove the hitch from the hitch receiver, you can't see it at all. Its is 100% completely hidden. I've towed a uhaul trailer with my grand prix that was either an enclosed 4x8 or 5x8 and loaded was probably 1500 lbs. I just drove it in 3rd gear the entire time and kept it out of 4th.

Just don't accelerate hard and you'll be fine. I made 2 trips 50 miles away to move my stuff into my college apt (total for the day was 200 miles or so).

Originally Posted by JJ91284

Pics as promised

Sweet love that hitch once I am on the road again, I will look up one of those, thanks man.

Originally Posted by RebelGTP

I'm looking at this one now, but I am not so sure that the way I want to use it will work... I want a hitch receiver to put a bike rack on ONLY... this looks like I'd have to have an adapter custom fabbed?

Yeah, you would have to have something fabbed up to Allow a bike rack to fit in it.

I use a saris bike rack (holds 3 bikes) for my grand prix. I originally bought it for my zx2, as my college buddy's and I would go on bike trips throughout the summer. When my car was totalled, I purchased the grand prix and went to see if it fit. The saris rack holds the bike securely and looks good as well. This hands down is the best rear bike rack I've seen. It's pricey but should last a LONG Time and is quality.

I purchased the saris 3 bone bike rack (unit was from 2000 ford zx2)

Saris Cycling Group


As far as the stealth hitch goes, I looked at a bunch of other hitches, and this one takes the cake. Its a class II which is what I wanted as its a bit beefier then those smaller class I's. The hitch is pretty simple to install. You just take off the 2 rear muffler rubber straps so you can slide the hitch up. you center the hitch and drill 4 holes. You then insert these 2 angled spacer for the 2 holes and then bolt the thing up. Would be a good idea to get a new drill bit as you don't want an elongated hole. Also make sure the hitch is centered in horizontal direction as well as the hitch being level in the vertical direction. The directions are straight forward and I followed them to the T.

It would probably be a good idea to have a spare set of hands. I used a jack on one end to support the hitch while the other end I held up while I was drilling the mouting hole. When the drill went throught the metal the torque of the drill caused the hitch to slip off the jack. I ended up partially getting a hold of the hitch before it hit me, but the jack fell over and hit me in the lip/chin. I cut my lip, but all my teeth were still intact. LOL

Thanks for the link to the Saris Rack... I think that might be a better alternative, and it appears that it will clear the spoiler...

GM say only 1000lbs to tow. I see civics pulling tent trailers? I would think 260hp in the supercharged engine could pull up to 2000 lbs? Do you need an tranny cooler? what is involve at what cost? I was at Canadiantire and thy only have the class 1 hitch for the GP.

Don't even consider a class 1 hitch, buy a class 2 as its stronger and safer for a small difference in price. A class 2 hitch if I recall can only have a 200 lbs tongue weight which shouldn't be an issue on the rear frame.

I've towed probably close to 2,000 lbs (between trailer and car loaded) and I just tow it in drive (no overdrive) and monitor my trans temps. Don't accelerate hard and increase your traveling distance. I have upgraded brakes on the car so I'm sure that helps some as well. My trans temps got to around 210 F when it pretty hot around 90 F and I drove around 250 miles like that.

You can buy a nice trans cooler from the link below which is made to bolt in and is an OEM option.

Auxiliary Transmission Cooler Kit - W-body - PFYC.com