http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/ The Smart Car Towing area is for owners to discuss both towing of and with your smart fortwo.SPONSORED BY en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:07:49 GMT vBulletin 60 http://smartcarofamerica.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/ http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f77/any-interference-dual-tpms-systems-27715/ Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:52:28 GMT I've decided to install a TPMS system on my tag-axle coach. I've been " assured " by both TST and Darlan/ pressure-pro that if I install one of these 12 tire systems there will be no problemo with the coach xpndrs blanking out the car xpndrs or vice versa, etc....

In our case we'd be putting a valve stem sender right on top of the in-tire sender of the Smart. It appears that the two units would be at discrete frequencies and also have somewhat different encoding... but I wondered about RF type of interference? Just wondering....

I'm gonna spend the money on the TPMS for the coach for a couple reasons. MOSTLY it's so I won't have to go out and check all them tires, usually in the rain of course, every morning when on an extended road trip. The display will tell me every tire's pressure and temperature. This would be pretty handy.
Secondly I don't think I would be able to tell if the Smart-toad had a low tire until the point that it tore up the tire or maybe a wheel..... I'd rather know about a flat tire relatively early in the process?
Lastly, I would like to be able to monitor the effect of steering axle loading as regards tire temperature rise. My coach is somewhat heavy on the steering axle and on real hot days it would be nice to be able to see what's goin on down there, and if in fact I'm running more PSI than I realy need to, etc...

Any body running dual senders on yer Smart? Any problems? Do the senders make the little bugger jump up and down like a Mexican jumping bean?? ;-)

I know I can mitigate some of the antenna effect of the coach senders by going with a Smart-tire or other system with senders inside the wheels, but this is rather expensive up front and ongoing.... and also isn't portable at all... and ya have to run two repeaters on my type of coach apparently due to attenuation. I may or may not end up with a rear repeater for the SMart-toad back there in any case... I'm thinkin it will probably work fine without it but ya never know until ya try it I guess. I'm lookin closely at the TST system right now. Maybe Santa will come through with some cash, ya never know.... ]]> Smart Car Towing kannonvaggon http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f77/any-interference-dual-tpms-systems-27715/ http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f77/tow-bar-installation-front-smart-27420/ Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:09:28 GMT Note - this is about installing a tow bar ON the smart car so it can be towed behind a motorhome; not a smart towing something else. My husband... Note - this is about installing a tow bar ON the smart car so it can be towed behind a motorhome; not a smart towing something else.

My husband and I finished installing the Blue Ox tow plate on the smart and it took 2 1/2 days from start to finished wiring. Its not THAT hard, it just takes a lot of fussing around to get things in the right place. I do think the tow plate is 10% too large and that causes plenty of issues with fitting it correctly; but to the details:

The manual on line is great; right up until things get really difficult and then there's hardly any explanation. There are also some errors. They say you need a 3/8 12-point socket but you can use a 10MM one just as easily.

I'd recommend making a tray of sorts and laying paper down so you can label each set of bolts, pins, etc that come off in each step. Plus, making additional notes about where things came from if you had a hard time finding them. It could be days before you reassemble and you won't remember all the details.
The push pins used to connect sections wiggle out with a flat screwdriver that you slip under the edge of flat head.
Step 5 says to use a 25 torx but its actually a push pin that you can wiggle out.
Step 8: the fascia around the antenna and on the passenger side is very tight and comes off from the top, then the bottom.
Step 10: the door panel kick panel needs to be removed carefully with a long screwdriver held horizontally to open the 5 tabs. Some square white plastic keepers will break but still be functional - although I ordered some replacements (and some pins). There are also several spots UNDER the kick panel that have to be pried apart, and retapped together later.
Step 12 leaves out that you have to twist separate a light harness on each side.
Step 14 should say to use a 10MM socket and you can actually remove the bolt by hand.
Step 17 mentions fastening the wheel well out of the way although this isn't needed until step 22. It should say "pull and push, fold and mutilate and generally wrench the thing in half to work behind it." It will require someone to hold it out of the way later.
Step 18 mentions a push pin (besides the bolt) but its just a tab that isn't removed.
Step 19 referenced that 3/8 12-point socket -- use a 10 MM. They should add here to remove the horn temporarily.
Step 20: set the tape circles aside to be reinstalled later.
Step 21: The photo is deceptive; if you download the manual; print page 8 out with a high quality setting so you can see the pictures as well as you can. You have to cut away the bottom part of the cardboard from the drawn white line, down to the fold.
Step 22: Go create a 1/4" spacer from a piece of wood, about the size of a small post-it note.
Step 23: The BIG MISTAKE. Should say SUPPORT BRACKET, not baseplate. This was confirmed with Blue Ox technical assistance.
Now, the dreaded nut plates. Find someone that has dexterity to help you here! We often pre-weakened the nutplate wire so we could break it off easier and on some, we removed it before putting the nut inside. If you can get some "earthquake putty" or "poster putty", stick some on/around your index finger and that will keep the nut on your finger as you blindly try to line it up with the bolt coming to the inside of the teeny box.
Also helpful to do: stuff a rag down into the frame channel (with a string tied on) to catch anything you drop before it rolls to the back of the car and can not be retrieved. (yes, it happened to us)
Step 24: The wire on the whiz bolts was much harder to remove; pre-weaken it a lot.
Step 26: if anyone has any idea how to run a safety cable around this area; let me know. We didn't see a way to do it and didn't. Note; we've towed more than a few cars behind several motorhomes for YEARS. The baseplate attachment to the vehicle is NOT the weak link in the system.

Reattaching the front of the car -- sure, but only after you cut some of the plastic grill out of the way of the tow bar. Gee, a template of where to cut would have been helpful. We attached the front in a temporary way, lined up as well as possible, and started clipping the plastic diagonal grill as necessary. Taking the smallest 'diamond' out and enlarging the cut as necessary. In the end, we had a wide cut out for both the tow bar safety chain attachment and the actual tow bar attachment as one single cut out. It looks fine but was nerve-wracking to do.
Step 28: We dremeled the bevel out of the back of the license plate 'frame' and reinstalled it an inch or so higher; looks fine.

WIRING:
We ran the 4-wire length over the plastic 'drip pan' like plate underneath and to the battery area and came through the existing rubber grommet for the battery cable. Then go under the rug and along the side of the passenger seat to the slope heading up to the engine area. Fishing it through there took some work but once up to the deck, you can get access to each side's tail lights pretty easily.
My husband fabricated a metal bracket to hold the 4-pin wiring plug at the center front of the car, using the 2 tubes on the tow bar provided. The bracket has 90 degree fold to sit against the bottom of the tow bar's cross member and the flat part is screwed into the 2 tubes.
Testing the wiring showed it to be 100% perfect -- but then my husband watches the details...

Phew - it was quite a process but its done and we're ready to tow!
Hey - give me some love here. This was quite a posting!!

Hamp ]]> Smart Car Towing hampyoung http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f77/tow-bar-installation-front-smart-27420/ http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f77/opera-luxury-camper-trailer-hits-high-note-27412/ Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:42:42 GMT The Opera luxury camper trailer (http://www.gizmag.com/opera-luxury-camper-trailer/13241/)seems big but the description indicates it is 7 meters... The Opera luxury camper trailer seems big but the description indicates it is 7 meters long, more than 3 meters wide and 3.5 meters high. It might be a little on the heavy side though. There isn't a weight given but the features might make it a little heavy. It seems bigger than really is. :cool:




It would be neat if it a Smart Fortwo could tow it. :D ]]> Smart Car Towing BigWarpGuy http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f77/opera-luxury-camper-trailer-hits-high-note-27412/ http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f77/towing-insurance-27329/ Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:41:17 GMT What position does the Insurance industry take on Smart cars towing trailers? Since the Operator manual specifically states," The manufacturer has not approved your vehicle for towing a trailer. A trailer can permanently impair driving safety." Page 105 in my 2009 manual. If the insurance industry knows this fact it would seem to me that they would probably steer clear of this or stick a rider to your policy basicly stating your ins. coverage is void while towing. Maybe this applies to 451's only or 2009's I don't know? Do we have any insurance specialist's out there or should people that tow with Smart's check with their personal carrier's?

Regard's, Barney O..... better to be safe than sorry :eek: ]]> Smart Car Towing BARNEY O http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f77/towing-insurance-27329/ http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f77/towing-aux-braking-27208/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:35:45 GMT Just got our new Passion last Saturday. We live near Portland, OR. Found out that to tow our 1800 pound smartcar into California we need an... Just got our new Passion last Saturday. We live near Portland, OR.

Found out that to tow our 1800 pound smartcar into California we need an auxiliary braking system. California law requires one for anything over 1500 pounds.

Needed or not - we want to get one.

Has anybody recently had an aux braking system installed in their smartcar?
Which one and why? ]]> Smart Car Towing GaryRomans http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f77/towing-aux-braking-27208/