[Sanguinius]

All right folks this is a REALLY odd one but here goes. I have (As some of you know) a 2003 Sentra GXE with the QG18DE engine. I also purchased a '92 Eclipse BUT the engine is blown and it sits in Florida at the current moment. (I know SOME of you see what's coming already). Now I'm planning to take a trip down to Florida soon here (I live in Virginia). I need to get that car up here and I'm wondering if I install a tow hitch on my Sentra and a tow bar on the eclipse will the little 1.8 be the little 1.8 that could or the little 1.8 that couldn't? Anone have any idea? Rough HP estimate for the Sentra is 123 plus whatever I gain by removing the unnecessary pieces of the intake (I.E. the piece in the bumper cover all the way up to the air box). Approximate weight of the Eclipse is 2,405 with a little extra for gear that I'm going to be taking down there and extra parts that came with the car. What do you guys think? Will it make a 15 hour ride all the way up here to VA or am I SOL?

 

[sukebegigi]

Using a 4 cylinder engine to tow anything over 1000lbs. is madness. Not even with my 2.5 would I do this. But if you truly enjoy owning cars that need to be towed then this may be the way to go.

 

[Sanguinius]

Not that I enjoy owning cars that need towed but I enjoy owning cars that I can easily upgrade and work on. I just don't have the $ to fix it while I'm down there. But you don't think that the Sentra will be able to pull the weight of the Eclipse for that distance?

 

[Biscuit]

I wouldnt recommend it. You would probly damage your clutch to no end

 

[Dav5049915]

rent a truck with a car towing trailer.

 

[Sanguinius]

I would love to rent a truck witha hitch but I'm going to be down there at least a week and that'll get rather pricey as well as rack up MANY more miles than I'm allowd a day on it (It's about 900 each way). I'm still kinda foggy on exactly how a clutch works so I didn't even really think it would tear teh clutch up. I thought that the clutch had nothing to do with anything once the car was in gear and moving.

 

[xbrandonx]

how many people are going down there with you? If there is someone that can drive a uhaul see what it would cost to get the smallest one they have and one of those little car dollies.

I'd say it'd be less then maybe right at 100$ for both things.

 

[Sanguinius]

It's not so much the cost of the initial rental but the cost of driving so far over the daily alloted miles. There are 2 people going down but possibly 3 cars coming up and the gas prices for the U Haul trucks are ridiculous (Been there done that arm and a leg to get from Ohio to VA with one).

 

[sukebegigi]

But you don't think that the Sentra will be able to pull the weight of the Eclipse for that distance?

No offense, but this idea just sounds crazy. Sure you could pull the thing but the chance you would make it even 200 miles without burning out your clutch would make it a bloody miracle. And then there's the poor engine. It would never forgive you for putting all that strain on it. And then there's the braking system, assuming of course you will need to stop more than once. Maybe you could do a 25 mile trip without hurting your car but 900? If you do it anyways, please take some pics for this board.

 

[Biscuit]

So thats means basically yur shit outta luck...

 

[Sanguinius]

Probably LOL MAYBE I'll get lucky and be able to fix it with a simple valve job and head gasket but I doubt it.

 

[Zac]

The manual will tell you towing limits...I believe it is 1000 lbs.

You have a few options:
1) Tow with your car and risk damage
2) Rent a truck to tow
3) Hire towing to where the car will be for the time being (it is about 300 bucks from an FL port to a MD port for example)
4) Find a buddy with a truck
5) Work fast and get the engine running (I know where you can get 4G63s for durt cheap )

 

[Sanguinius]

Where can I get a 4G63 durt cheap???? I'll have little to play with down there. But if I had it running... Cuz it's either fix the head and valves or replace engine (It's got a performance upgrade computer but I want to go turbo with it and I dunno if that performance comp will handle the turbo or not... It's currently got an N/A engine.) And are these durt cheap engines in FL already or are they elsewhere needing shipped and would any of them hapen to be turbo models??