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3rd Generation GK Specific Suspension & Brakes Sub-ForumThreads discussing suspension and brake related modifications for the 3rd generation Honda Fit (GK)
I'm moving to CA (Redwood City) from Daphne, AL (right outside Mobile) in a few weeks. We already have a fully furnished condo out there that my wife has been living in for over a year and we will be keeping our home in AL so I will have very little to move, but more that I can cram in my beloved 2015 Fit EX 6MT. Specifically, I'll be bringing our King-size Bed Frame and Tempur-Pedic mattress, plus perhaps a dozen medium size boxes of my random crap that I can't live without. Costs for shipping even small amounts of stuff are way higher than I'd like to pay, so I am strongly considering towing a small 4X8 U-haul trailer instead. Even with trailer rental, hitch and wiring (I'll install myself) I'll come out ahead in terms of cost. I've read most of the towing threads on here, as well as Bassguitarist1985's excellent mods thread. Total trailer and cargo weight should be less than 1500lbs, well within the tow rating. Brakes have been reported as a problem, but I long ago upgraded the front rotors with some Centric drilled and slotted ones, and some very good PowerStop brake pads, now the car stops like I've thrown out a 2-ton anchor and they never, ever fade, no matter how hard I abuse them.
My question is, is there anyone out there who has done this kind of long-distance tow with their Fit? Also, should I consider some sort of air-shocks or helper springs? No one makes helper springs that I am aware of, but I should be able to fabricate mounts and source some appropriately sized and rated springs.
As always, any helpful advice is greatly appreciated.
Really looking forward to the drive, well...less now that I'll probably be towing a trailer......but still. I drove it out there 2 years ago and had a blast on all the back-roads, particularly the roads leading from Monument Valley to the North RIm of the Grand Canyon. Because....smooth windy roads + little to no traffic + Fit 6MT = RACECAR!!!! Still even with a trailer, the scenery should still be awesome.... Tiny car...HUGE rock!! My Monument Valley campsite from 2018.
Firt of all, I haven't been towing such long distances with my GK5 Jazz, but have quite lot of trailer towing experience with many different vehicles from tiny, underpowered cars to light trucks and 4WDs on highways, towns and backroads. Based on that experience I'd say you don't need any changes or improvements to Fit, just get go towing! Most important thing is the correct loading of the trailer. You should have about 5-10% of the loaded trailer weight on the hitch.
Hey! I agree, you shouldn't need too much modification. balance the load and keep the tongue weight below 200lbs. Get as much weight on the center of the axle as possible. There is another guy on here I've been chatting with extensively and he did the air bag kit from Air Lift.
Depending on your UHaul location, they might not allow you to rent one of their haulers if your vehicle is "not rated" for it. They tried to deny me a rental when I had my minivan, until I showed them the hitch (which, coincidentally, was installed by their service center) tow rating numbers.
Firt of all, I haven't been towing such long distances with my GK5 Jazz, but have quite lot of trailer towing experience with many different vehicles from tiny, underpowered cars to light trucks and 4WDs on highways, towns and backroads. Based on that experience I'd say you don't need any changes or improvements to Fit, just get go towing! Most important thing is the correct loading of the trailer. You should have about 5-10% of the loaded trailer weight on the hitch.
Thanks!! I've done a wide variety of towing too, used to haul a huge Hurst enclosed box trailer around almost every weekend in the fall for our HS band, and tons of other boats, trailers, campers and whatnot since long before I had a driver's license. (Farm Kid). I used to tow my old early 70's vintage 16' Starcraft with a 50HP Mercury red-top outboard behind my old 78 VW Rabbit diesel that had 200K+ miles on it, and my Fit has at least 3 times the power that the old VW did. Good times..... I am going to get a good wireless OBDII dongle and an app for my tablet so I can monitor engine temp and a few other things durning the tow.
Hey! I agree, you shouldn't need too much modification. balance the load and keep the tongue weight below 200lbs. Get as much weight on the center of the axle as possible. There is another guy on here I've been chatting with extensively and he did the air bag kit from Air Lift.
Its far less intrusive for the install, and you keep your OEM shocks.
I've been looking at those too. Seems like a simple enough install and I'm a fair mechanic and "good enough" fabricator. First I'm going to get my hitch, hook it up and meadure the rear droop at 200Lbs. Then re-evaluate.
Depending on your UHaul location, they might not allow you to rent one of their haulers if your vehicle is "not rated" for it. They tried to deny me a rental when I had my minivan, until I showed them the hitch (which, coincidentally, was installed by their service center) tow rating numbers.
Yeah. I already covered that, in person, face-to-face with my local U-Haul place (Corporate, full service center, not just a partner or franchise) specifically asking about the tow vehicle and hitch requirements. I could actually have either the 4' X 8' or the 5' X 8' trailer, but I'm going with the smaller option because I'm not really moving all that much stuff.
Just for curiosity, you seem to rent trailers quite a lot in US. Are the trailers expensive to buy? I mean in Finland it is much more common to own than to rent a trailer.
Hey! I agree, you shouldn't need too much modification. balance the load and keep the tongue weight below 200lbs. Get as much weight on the center of the axle as possible.
It is as well important for stability to have enough tongue weight, at least 75 lbs if your trailer weight is 1500 lbs.
It is as well important for stability to have enough tongue weight, at least 75 lbs if your trailer weight is 1500 lbs.
Very true, and def dont want negative tongue weight. My empty tongue weight on my 5x8 I weighed at 102 pounds. so loading right on the axle works great for me. if the back end sags or bounces too hard, i move the weight to the tail of the trailer for balancing.
Here is a perfect video explaining weight distribution
Just for curiosity, you seem to rent trailers quite a lot in US. Are the trailers expensive to buy? I mean in Finland it is much more common to own than to rent a trailer.
It's not uncommon to own one, and over time it would be a good investment. The problem is, I will have nowhere to park/store the trailer once I get to my final destination. Otherwise I would have seriously considered it.
Safer to just rent a moving truck and tow the fit behind? Less wear and tear on your own vehicle.
True, but a lot more expensive. Rental and insurance on the trailer will be less than $250. A small U-Haul truck, plus a tow-dolly for the Fit would come to around $2000 for this move. Also the fuel cost would be at least twice (more likely 3X) as expensive.
I'm not worried much about the car handling this light towing duty. I used to tow and put in and out of the water, my old late 60's vintage 14' Starcraft with a 50HP mercury outboard with a 78 VW Rabbit Diesel (that had over 200K on the odometer). The Fit has probably 3X the power and torque of that old VW and that boat was heavier than the U-Haul with my stuff in it. If it was a CVT I would hesitate, but with the manual gearbox, I am pretty confident.
I have taken all the reasonable precautions I can think of. I have changed ALL the fluids (Oil, Gearbox Oil, Coolant, Brake Fluid (replaced with DOT-4), new front brake pads, I installed some Centric cross-drilled and slotted rotors not long after I bought the car and I checked them for thickness and runout, New OEM spark plugs, new belt, New coolant hoses, new PCV valve, (thinking of adding a oil catch-can...), checked the rear brake drums and shoes, Checked the wheel bearings on all 4 corners. SO mechanically the old girl should be in tip-top shape. About the only thing of any concern at all is wear on the clutch. If I have to replace it when the tow is done, then that's not a huge deal to do.
I am also going to run Dash Command (or similar software) on my tablet so that I can have gauges for Coolant and Oil temp, Oil Pressure, and anything else I need to keep and eye on. That way I can monitor everything and adjust my speed and driving style as needed.
Welcome to the Peninsula! I'll be your neighbor in Menlo Park
Awesome!!! It won't be my first time living in the Bay Area. I lived in Sunnyvale back in the mid 90's.
Mabye you can help me find someplace where I can work on my cars. No garage in the Condo in Redwood City....I'm really going to miss my garage and all my tools....
It is as well important for stability to have enough tongue weight, at least 75 lbs if your trailer weight is 1500 lbs.
Originally Posted by Bassguitarist1985
Very true, and def dont want negative tongue weight. My empty tongue weight on my 5x8 I weighed at 102 pounds. so loading right on the axle works great for me. if the back end sags or bounces too hard, i move the weight to the tail of the trailer for balancing.
Here is a perfect video explaining weight distribution
Thanks. I've done a lot of trailer towing over the years. I grew up as a "farm kid" back in the old days before internet.... Towing was just a part of life for us. I also recently spent 5-years as a "Band Dad", hauling my daughter's HS marching band's huge loads of instruments and equipment all over Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. This tiny little U-Haul trailer should be a piece of cake!!
So, in addition to all the vehicle maintenance to get ready for this tow, I also installed a hitch receiver and a powered trailer wiring harness. Both Curt products from Etrailer.
The hitch receiver installation was pretty simple. The instructions provided were decent. I did wind up removing the heat shield for the muffler for more clearance during the install, and trimming a bit off the rear of the shield just to make sure there was no rattle. It would have been a lot easier if I had had a second person to assist. As it was, getting and holding everything in place while starting the various fasteners was a bit of a PITA.
The wiring harness is custom for the Fit, and wasn't quite as simple/easy. The instructions were not the best. I've been in the electronics hardware industry since 1986, so I didn't have much trouble filling in the blanks that the instructions didn't cover. A novice DIY installer might have more trouble. I did a review and submitted it on Curt's website. Hopefully they will update their instructions.
Review:
I just installed this harness on my 2015 Honda Fit.
The good:
1. The harness is well made, and uses quality wire and connectors.
2. It is small, and all the wires are long enough to reach everywhere they need to go.
3. The included power wire, to run to the front of the car and connect to the positive battery terminal is more than long enough and has thick, very high quality insulation (Silicone?). Similar to the wire on high-quality multimeter leads. It should stand up to harsh environments very well.
The not-so-good:
1. There are 2 sets of connectors that come off of the module. One is Green, and plugs in to the tail light assemblies on both sides of the car. The other is Red/Yellow/Brown. Nowhere in the "Installation Instruction Sheet" does it mention what to do with this part of the harness. The additional included "Powered Converter Lead Instruction Sheet" does mention this about the Red/Yellow/Brown part of the harness. "If using the converter as a powered module for a 2-wire system, the Red brake wire must be grounded." This could lead to more confusion among DIY installers with limited electronics/wiring experience. Luckily, I have been an Electronics Technician for well over 30 years in many segments of that industry and I quickly realized that this "mystery harness segment" needed to be connected to the driver's side tail light connectors. Once that was done, the harness worked perfectly.
2. The included double-sided adhesive foam tape was essentially worthless. Despite scuffing the metal mounting surface in the car with a Scotch-brite pad, and cleaning/degreasing that surface with Automotive pre-paint solution, the adhesive simply would not stick for any length of time. Instead I fabricated a simple strap-type metal bracket out of some scrap aluminum sheet and secured it to the car body with some self-tapping sheet metal screws.
Overall I am quite satisfied with this unit. I just think Curt needs to edit the instruction sheet including that Red/Yellow/Brown harness connection information.
It would also be helpful if the instructions included some vehicle-specific recommendations/instructions for routing the black power wire to the front of the car. I routed mine across the inner fender, down the firewall, then loosened the driver's side of the large plastic cover that protects the underside of the passenger cabin between the front and rear wheel-wells, then behind the rear inner-fender liner and through the rear of the inner fender. I drilled a small hole and protected the wire with a small rubber grommet that I had in my "Wiring hardware" organizer. I secured the wire along that route with wire ties and sheet metal screws.
In addition to the included hardware from the kit, the following might be useful. I used all these in my installation.
1. A quality ratcheting crimp tool with the proper jaws for the insulated open-barrel connectors in the kit.
2. A small grommet for passing the power wire from the outside to the inside of the car body.
3. Wire ties with a screw mounting hole to secure the wires to the car body. Like these: https://tinyurl.com/y68yakjg
4. Self-drilling sheet metal screws for mounting the above wire-ties.
5. A larger tube of black silicone sealant, the small tube included was adequate, but not ideal.
7. An assortment of plastic body and trim panel fasteners, as breaking one, even when using the proper tool, is not unlikely. Like this one: https://tinyurl.com/y6e7me5c It has most of the fasteners for Honda cars of this vintage.
Now I only have to install an additional USB charging point in the headliner right behind the rearview mirror for my new phone mount and I should essentially be ready for my towing adventure. I already have a 12v to 5V buck module to use, I just need to route another wire from the battery, through a relay, put in a small toggle switch into one of the blanks on the far left of the dash and run my wires to the connection point in the headliner.
Thank you for your thorough review of the installation. There is one detail I'd like to ask:
Originally Posted by MikeDD969
It would also be helpful if the instructions included some vehicle-specific recommendations/instructions for routing the black power wire to the front of the car. I routed mine across the inner fender, down the firewall, then loosened the driver's side of the large plastic cover that protects the underside of the passenger cabin between the front and rear wheel-wells, then behind the rear inner-fender liner and through the rear of the inner fender. I drilled a small hole and protected the wire with a small rubber grommet that I had in my "Wiring hardware" organizer. I secured the wire along that route with wire ties and sheet metal screws.
Since I'm likely going to need routing power wire from the battery to the trunk for additional 12 V power outlet (for e.g. a coolbox), this issue is of particular interest for me. May I ask what lead you to route the wire mostly outside of the car instead off getting through the firewall and inside the car under the plastic upholstery panels on left doorsill, where most of the factory cables to the rear of the car are routed?
Thank you for your thorough review of the installation. There is one detail I'd like to ask:
Since I'm likely going to need routing power wire from the battery to the trunk for additional 12 V power outlet (for e.g. a coolbox), this issue is of particular interest for me. May I ask what lead you to route the wire mostly outside of the car instead off getting through the firewall and inside the car under the plastic upholstery panels on left doorsill, where most of the factory cables to the rear of the car are routed?
Part of it was simple expediency if I'm honest. I hate pulling trim panels, and I'm running low on replacement clips and pins. I already had the car up on 4 jack stands, so it was pretty simple and quick. I also had some small spiral-wrap protective conduit left over from a previous unrelated project that I encased the wire in, so I'm not too worried about abrasion of the insulation. That was probably overkill because the wire included in the kit is a very high quality 12 AWG with thick, probably silicone insulation. Even unprotected it would probably have outlasted the car. The circuit is protected by a 10A fuse in a fuse holder that attaches directly to the positive battery terminal. It is easy to access, and I will be pulling the fuse whenever I'm not towing, which will be pretty much all the time. Whenever I replace or insert a fuse in a circuit that's been inactive for any real length of time, I always check resistance to ground before I re-insert or replace the fuse. I've learned that lesson the hard way....more than once. On the Fit, if memory serves resistance to ground, with the fuse pulled around 4 MΩ, don't quote me on that, I didn't pay too much attention to the actual value. I made that check before I plugged in the fuse and just saw a high resistance so I knew that the circuit wasn't compromised.
Old video, but everyone doing the light harness mod has it easy, i had to splice and solder into the existing harness. Now all the kits are plug and play.
Cross country with a small trailer?
Costs for shipping even small amounts of stuff are way higher than I'd like to pay, so I am strongly considering towing a small 4X8 U-haul trailer instead. Even with trailer rental, hitch and wiring (I'll install myself) I'll come out ahead in terms of cost. I've read most of the towing threads on here, as well as Bassguitarist1985's excellent mods thread. Total trailer and cargo weight should be less than 1500lbs, well within the tow rating. Brakes have been reported as a problem, but I long ago upgraded the front rotors with some Centric drilled and slotted ones, and some very good PowerStop brake pads, now the car stops like I've thrown out a 2-ton anchor and they never, ever fade, no matter how hard I abuse them. 
Still even with a trailer, the scenery should still be awesome....
First I'm going to get my hitch, hook it up and meadure the rear droop at 200Lbs. Then re-evaluate.
