Towing a Brenderup with a 2003 Volvo S60

[Prima Donna]

Anyone have experience with this? I'm looking at a Brenderup solo. My car meets all of the recommended specs with some room to spare (with horse weight factored in) but I wanted to see if anyone has actually done this. I would be towing maybe once a month, pretty locally (within 100 miles each way) but don't want to kill my car doing it.

So far, I've heard that I should get a class II or III hitch, change my oil more often, and find out about getting an enhanced cooling system. Any info on the cost of the enhanced cooling system would be much appreciated.

[AKB]

My neighbor tows a Brenderup solo with a Volvo wagon. They don't drive fast and don't go into the very hilly areas. So far, the car, horse, and trailer have survived. I don't think I would recommend their setup, but I guess it can work if nothing goes wrong.

[Alagirl]

not sure how big the Volvo is, but my family has been pulling Brenderup type trailers with cars like that for years. (A friend pulled a one horse with a VW golf/Rabbit, that is deffinately NOT recomended :lol:) I have been gone for to long can't recall the model type but they all pulled 2 horse.

[hosspuller]

I considered a Brenderup at one time. I decided against it for two reasons.

1. cost, A B-up is very expensive compared to a conventional trailer.

2. Tow ratings. Every vehicle builder has a Combined Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GCVWR)for their vehicles. That rating is DOT enforceable. Insurance compies and law suites use the rating too. B-up 's recommendations are counter to that rating. :no:

[Prima Donna]

Hosspuller: from what I can find, GCVWR for my car is about 6800 and curb weight is 3400. That seems like it allows 3400 for towing (3300 is what the towing capacity in my manual is). The B-up solo is about 1300 pounds and the baron 1h is 1700. With my horse, some hay, and some tack would bring that up to about 2600 to 3000.

Can you explain how B-up is counter to that rating? Just trying to understand. Thanks!

And the expense definitely is higher but I'd rather not get a so-so truck or suv and other trailer and have to pay insurance and find somewhere to park the truck or suv. Keeping my car is very appealing!

[Trixie]

don't want to kill my car doing it.

Or yourself, or your HORSE. That would actually be my primary concern, not the car.

Have seen a volvo pull a brenderup. As it swerved across the highway, I got FAR, FAR out of the way. And it was a BIGGER volvo than the S-60.

[BestHorses]

At first I was thinking you meant XC90 or something, but I reread. We have the exact same car and I would never even considering towing a horse trailer with it. Never. Ever.

I know it costs more for a bigger truck and trailer, but the cost of your life and your horse's (not to mention other people on the road) is far, far greater. Please, be safe and don't do it.

[Auventera Two]

I know a lady who is an Eventer, and she hauls her 17 hand horse all over the Midwest with her car - can't remember exactly what it is, but I think it's a Volvo. (I have pictures of the rig somehwhere, I'll try to look it up.) She loves it, swears it pulls better than a conventional rig, and she's been doing it for years without any problems.

My understanding is that in European countries, it is very common to haul Brenderups with small cars. They don't have the "big rigs" like we do here in the U.S. The countries are more crowded - highways are more packed - have to drive through many little "alleyways" and yards. In the U.S., we have lots of wide open space, which is more conducive to the big rigs.

If your horse is in an accident, the chance of injury is quite high, regardless of the type of trailer. I've seen You Tube videos of aluminum featherlights that folded up like a soda can with the horses inside.

I think of all the trailers on the market, the old fashioned, heavy steel ones are probably the safest in terms of rigidity, but still, there is nowhere NEAR the protection that a vehicle has. Even steel trailers are made of long, thin pannels of metal with very little reinforcement.

[wildlifer]

You can pull it. But you'll be slowly (or quickly, depending on terrain) killing your transmission. And they're not cheap to replace.

People do it, maybe even get away with for a quite a while. People do lots of things. But that doesn't mean I would risk it. I like my trailer heavy and made of steel (with lots of reinforcement, which they do indeed have!). Hauling is always dangerous but I do what I can to minimize the risk and that means buying a heavy 3/4 ton truck too to haul with and my rig is now far more stable than it was with my SUV that i recently sold and I will never go back. It's just another step to make things a little bit safer and in a hauling situation, even small improvements can mean a HUGE difference in an accident.

[AlfalfaGirl]

I pull my Brenderup with a 07 Toyota Rav4 v6 Limited. It has 269 hp and a towing package.

I can't speak for the Volvo but I can for my Rav4. My sister used to be a service writer for Toyota (now she is a service writer for BMW) and I am very good friends with my new service writer. Before I bought the Brenderup, I sat down with the Toyota service people and discussed what I wanted to do, how much it weighed, tongue weight, etc. Jason told me that my Rav was rated for 3500 but could pull much more than that with NO problem for my transmission.

My Rav is serviced every 5000 miles - tires rotated, oil changed. Since I use my Rav for my sales job, this occurs about every 8-9 weeks at the most.

Speak to the Volvo people - ask them about the possible stress on the transmission. Make sure the vehicle is well maintained and serviced regularly.

[dmalbone]

You can pull it. But you'll be slowly (or quickly, depending on terrain) killing your transmission. And they're not cheap to replace.

People do it, maybe even get away with for a quite a while. People do lots of things. But that doesn't mean I would risk it. I like my trailer heavy and made of steel (with lots of reinforcement, which they do indeed have!). Hauling is always dangerous but I do what I can to minimize the risk and that means buying a heavy 3/4 ton truck too to haul with and my rig is now far more stable than it was with my SUV that i recently sold and I will never go back. It's just another step to make things a little bit safer and in a hauling situation, even small improvements can mean a HUGE difference in an accident.
Are you speaking in reference to pulling a Brenderup specifically? I'm not being snotty, I'm really trying to learn more about them and I have read a lot of past comments about lumping them in with general trailer pulling and am trying to understand whether you have specific brenderup knowledge in relation to safe hauling or are just speaking about a "heavy 3/4 ton truck" for ANY hauling.

[dmalbone]

Hauling is always dangerous but I do what I can to minimize the risk and that means buying a heavy 3/4 ton truck too to haul with and my rig is now far more stable than it was with my SUV that i recently sold and I will never go back.

...and were you pulling a "regular" steel trailer with your SUV? From what I understand they are not meant to do that whereas the Brenderups have different engineering (?) that makes them suitable for SUV hauling and is not the same as pulling a steel 2 horse bumper pull.

[jn4jenny]

Are you speaking in reference to pulling a Brenderup specifically? I'm not being snotty, I'm really trying to learn more about them and I have read a lot of past comments about lumping them in with general trailer pulling and am trying to understand whether you have specific brenderup knowledge in relation to safe hauling or are just speaking about a "heavy 3/4 ton truck" for ANY hauling.

I'd also like to know this. To me, it sounded like someone who was talking about a traditional, American-built 2-horse bumper pull. In which case their advice is absolutely valid, but it is not valid regarding Brenderups.

As usual with the Brenderup threads, there are two kinds of replies: those by people who bothered to do their homework regarding the Brenderup's design features and those who didn't. That doesn't mean everyone who does the homework loves the B'up--some people still have very valid objections to it, like that it lacks storage space--but horsepeople are not the most open-minded people in the world. I'd be curious to see a Brenderup actually SWERVING. Hell, I tried to GET mine to swerve in a high school parking lot one day just to see what would happen. No dice--the trailer stayed with me.

The Brenderup Solo was specifically made to be pulled with vehicles like Volvo station wagons. You will not "kill your transmission" if you put a good transmission cooler under the hood. As my tranny specialist said when he put my transmission cooler in my (smaller) Brenderup towing vehicle, "You'd have to pull 10,000 pounds in a mountainous area to get past this transmission cooler. And since your hitch maxes out at HALF of that, your trailer would fall out the back of your rig before you got to that point."

[BestHorses]

This is the car in question: http://www.edmunds.com/volvo/s60/2003/index.html

It's pretty small (not a station wagon, not a mini-SUV.) I told DH about this thread since he's the one who drives our s60 every day and he was incredulous. He told me he had to transport boxes of brochures for work (probably less than a thousand pounds) and he said there was a noticeable loss of power when the car was full.

I don't care what kind of trailer (Brenderup or not) you pull with it, I don't think it's safe to pull a ton or more behind this car. You CAN do it. I don't think you SHOULD. It's like saying that the specs allow for this car to haul a ton of gravel, so I'm going to use it for my gravel hauling business. Yes, you COULD do it, but why?

[craz4crtrs]

I pull my Brenderup with a 07 Toyota Rav4 v6 Limited. It has 269 hp and a towing package.

Well, I have a Lexus RX300 that has the same rating and the only thing I have ever towed with it was a 12 ft rowboat. One that two people can pick up?

Honestly, I wouldn't do it. When I was a kid I hauled a 2 h trailer with a 1968 Cadillac Fleetwood. :lol: That was a towing, solid machine. Now I tow a 3h slant bp with a 3/4 ton Ford diesel. It's great and I wouldn't go any smaller. Of course my next truck will be a 1 ton crew cab.

I have big horses, perch/qhX, fjordX and a big qh. I wouldn't consider hauling one with anything smaller than a half ton.

Before I got the Lexus, I did have a Ford Expedition with the bigger engine. It towed pretty well, but you could feel the horses moving around. I usually only towed one horse with the Exp, if I needed to haul more, I used the pickup.

It would be cheaper for you to find a little older, 90's, regular cab pickup and tow a regular slant or straight load trailer. You could probably get both the truck and trailer for what you'd pay for the Brenderup. The diesel trucks get pretty decent fuel mileage for non-towing. Even towing, I get 12-15 mpg, but we get less when towing our 5th wheel camp trailer.

When the idiot pulls out in front of you, you will than your lucky stars you are in that pickup.

[Alagirl]

Well, I have a Lexus RX300 that has the same rating and the only thing I have ever towed with it was a 12 ft rowboat. One that two people can pick up?

Honestly, I wouldn't do it. When I was a kid I hauled a 2 h trailer with a 1968 Cadillac Fleetwood. :lol: That was a towing, solid machine. Now I tow a 3h slant bp with a 3/4 ton Ford diesel. It's great and I wouldn't go any smaller. Of course my next truck will be a 1 ton crew cab.

I have big horses, perch/qhX, fjordX and a big qh. I wouldn't consider hauling one with anything smaller than a half ton.

Before I got the Lexus, I did have a Ford Expedition with the bigger engine. It towed pretty well, but you could feel the horses moving around. I usually only towed one horse with the Exp, if I needed to haul more, I used the pickup.

It would be cheaper for you to find a little older, 90's, regular cab pickup and tow a regular slant or straight load trailer. You could probably get both the truck and trailer for what you'd pay for the Brenderup. The diesel trucks get pretty decent fuel mileage for non-towing. Even towing, I get 12-15 mpg, but we get less when towing our 5th wheel camp trailer.

When the idiot pulls out in front of you, you will than your lucky stars you are in that pickup.


LOL, if the idiots pull out in front of you you always wish you'd be in a tank...


OK, pulling is one thing....and the easy part.

the deal about people freaking out is the breaking, assuming the Brenderup is like any other old unbreaked or electrical breaked trailer.

The deal is, this puppy breaks itself when it starts pushing onto the hitch.

Of course you don't what to slam on the breaks, but that has more to do with the horses being thrown about.

Cars we had (in Germany, where this trailer type is standard since forever)

we pulled with mercedes 240, Volvo 240 (70s and 80s) peugeot 505, and then Volvo, I swear it was a s90, but I have been told s70 was as big as it gets (90s till today) diesel is preferred, I don't know anybody who had a great time with automatic transmissions. Oh, and all of them pulled 2 horse, and most of the time with 2 in them, from the tiny TB to the 17h WB...

True, for what you pay for one Brenderup, even a smal econo version, you can buy yourself a used rig of the traditional kind. But it won't be new either, guzzle gas and have maintenance issues to deal with, not to mention extra inssurance/taxes etc...and more room to park the rig.

Storage is an issue, that why most horse peple I know have a caravan type car (these days they have the SUVs, my cousin drive a big mecedes one, didn't check the type at the time...) you just can't bring the kitchen sink when you are on the road with that, you have to take some back packing lessons and purge your gear a bit. and still people have managed to haul 2 horses, water, grooming supplies and tack, plus coolers and grub for 4 or 5 people in the trunk of a regular car.

it has been a while since I checked the website, but as I recall the difference between a 1 and a 2 horse was considerable, otherwise I's siggest to get the 2horse, for the added possibilities to store stuff like extra hay...but with a 1 horse you won't be asked to give lifts... :D

[Yip]

Jason told me that my Rav was rated for 3500 but could pull much more than that with NO problem for my transmission.

You need to consider more than the transmission.

If the loaded trailer weighs the same as or more than the tow vehcile - what do you think will happen on steep grades in either direction? And consider wheelbase for both vehicles. If the trailer is wider than the car, your rear vision could be blocked.

There are so many considerations.

There are 2-3 great books about trailers and towing. One is by Cherry Hill, and I forget the other, but it is like the horse trailer towing Bible. They are trailer dealers, and have left no stone unturned. I bought mine from Amazon.com.

[jn4jenny]

If the loaded trailer weighs the same as or more than the tow vehcile - what do you think will happen on steep grades in either direction? And consider wheelbase for both vehicles. If the trailer is wider than the car, your rear vision could be blocked.

The Brenderup has surge brakes that respond to pressure on the hitch. On a steep grade, if the trailer outweighs the vehicle and presses on the hitch, the built-in trailer brakes slow the trailer down. If the pressure is significant enough, they'll stop the trailer. It's mechanically impossible for this trailer to "push you" down a hill.

It might be difficult to pull it UP a hill if it weighed more than your vehicle, but that isn't likely to happen. The trailer weighs 1300 pounds empty, and you can only fit one horse up to 16 hands in there, so it's about 2700 pounds total with a really chunky horse in there. Anything big enough to pull the Brenderup *definitely* weighs more than that. Not that weight would be the key factor in pulling it up a hill--it would be engine and transmission power. Personally I would hate to tow a Brenderup with a 125 hp vehicle, but I tow with a vehicle that's not more powerful than that (less than 200 hp) and it pulls just fine, including on hills and including at low speeds. And yes, my transmission and engine are just fine (says my mechanic who ran some extensive diagnostics on both this summer to satisfy my curiousity).

The Brenderup Solo's wheel width is designed to match the wheel width of most cars/small SUV's. On the off-chance that you couldn't see around it, you could add snap-on towing mirrors to your car.

[SharonA]

My Solo arrives in a few weeks. I'll be towing with a "nontraditional vehicle," but well within the safety margins. I will be doing relatively easy trailering. It cost about $350 to have a transmission cooler installed, and took about three hours. Even the smallish transmission cooler is rated to a vehicle that's towing 5000 lbs, so I feel comfortable with it.


Yes, towing will shorten the life of my vehicle -- but so does living. I don't know for sure that the light towing will make a significant difference to my car's lifespan, while I do know for sure that it would cost $40K or so to buy a vehicle that has a higher tow rating and that can do all the other things I need a car to do, while having decent gas mileage.

Don't let the naysayers drag you down. :-) As long as you have done your research into safety and are realistic about your towing needs, I think you can be comfortable with your decision.

[suzyq]

When I lived in Germany I saw these type trailers being pulled by pretty small vehicles. I know there were rules for what could pull what but it did include cars. Most cars over there are diesel. Also, most people trailered pretty short distances (less than 1/2 hour) and I believe the max speed was 55 miles per hour. So I think it depends on what you want to do.

[craz4crtrs]

[quote=jn4jenny;4404765]The Brenderup has surge brakes that respond to pressure on the hitch. On a steep grade, if the trailer outweighs the vehicle and presses on the hitch, the built-in trailer brakes slow the trailer down. If the pressure is significant enough, they'll stop the trailer. It's mechanically impossible for this trailer to "push you" down a hill.
quote]

If you are talking hill, how big? Are you talking 500 ft of elevation or 2000? We have "hills" that have breakaway ramps for trucks that lose their brakes, and vehicles pulling trailers can get hot brakes. If you don't have enough truck or "car" to stop that trailer with hot brakes, you are in trouble.

I honestly can see how the Brenderup and smaller vehicle would work for shorter hauls on flatter ground or small hills, but not for steep switchback hills and mountain passes. I want something that will stop that trailer.

The "inertia" brakes and surge brakes have been around for eons, I had surge brakes on my 2 h trailer many moons ago. There is a reason why surge brakes were improved upon by electric brakes. Granted, this is "newer" technology, but I think a person needs to seriously think about where they live and what type of roads they will haul with their trailer. If you are going to haul a Brenderup over the Rockies or the Cascades with a Rav or a Volvo, you might want to think about it a bit more.

This naysayer has been hauling horses for over 35 yrs and have seen some setups that work and others a wreck waiting to happen.

Good luck.

[CatOnLap]

there's tons of threads on this- do a search.

the Solo is only rated to 16 hh. The Baron is a larger 1H ( and 30% more expensive) that will fit the larger horse.

Every trailer I ever used had surge/inertia brakes. The newer ones have those as emergency brakes as well as emergency battery supply for the electrics. Electric brakes are a huge improvement especially on downhills or tight turns- I've had them go dead on me and relied on the inertial brakes on the trailer and its not always nice.

But I would imagine B-up has done a lot of engineering on their design, so maybe they are better.

Lasst time I was in Germany I was at a huge show- the parking lot took up acres, the lower level tests were being run with 3 riders at a time in the ring and there were probably 300 rigs in the parking. I saw one, one horse trailer being pulled by a passenger car. There were a few others being pulled by SUV's. Everything else was either aaaan all-in-one horsevan or a rig being pulled by a substantial truck.

I pull a 3 horse GN with an F350. It gets about 18 mpg hauling fully loaded. The Volvo S60 is rated as 17-24 mpg. You can bet it will guzzle when hauling 2700 lbs. There is no saving in fuel economy with these rigs. You may like them for other reasons, but please don't claim its better for green or economic reasons.

[IFG]

I know that many people use these trailers in Europe, but you are not driving in Europe. You are going to be on the highway with big trucks and stupid teens racing by you, cutting in front of you, and stopping dead. Your rig will not be able to stop. As has been said many times, it is not whether you can pull the trailer, it is whether your towing vehicle has the suspension and heft to stop the trailer in an emergency. I tow a 2 horse bumper pull with a 3/4 ton truck. Even with that rig, I can get blown around by large trucks. If I am going down a mountain, I can get sway.

I drive a 23 year old Toyota to and from work so that I can have a safe rig to tow with. I cannot fathom towing with less truck.

[craz4crtrs]

I did a search on Brenderups and accidents. I found this below quote on a website called Tundra Solutions. This person is going from a Brenderup, which she had a terrible accident with, to a conventional trailer. She's trying to decide between a bumperpull or gooseneck, towing with an 05 Tundra.

The 09 Tundras are much bigger than the old style 05. The 2000-2006 Tundras are a very light half ton. We've owned over 20 of them over the last 9 years in our business, and never towed anything larger than a 18' ft boat, less than 3000#.

If a person towing a Brenderup with a pickup with a much higher tow rating than a Volvo had these issues, why would you try it with a small vehicle?


"Thank you all for your comments. I am leaning towards the bumper pull trailer in combination with a weight distribution hitch and sway bars. Sounds like a gooseneck would be pushing the limits of the tundra. The horse trailer that I had the accident with was a brenderup which is a european trailer company that claims that even cars such as bmws can tow the trailer because of the light tongue weight. Problem is, to make such a light tongue weight, only 3.8% of the trailer weight rests on the tongue when it should be 10-15%. No wonder I had sway/stability issues. The trailer fishtailed out of control on the highway and if that wasn't bad enough, the fiberglass roof separated from the walls of the trailer while I was fishtailing. I had a machinist look at my trailer afterwards and he pointed out that the rivets which were supposed be drilled through the roof and wall to attach them were not drilled through the wall, but rather half holes at the top of the wall bearing no load. So needless to say, both me and my horse have mental issues about trailering now. My horse is now only ok when he rides in a trailer facing backwards. If he faces forwards he gets so stiff (as if he's bracing for the trailer roof to come off again) that he actually looses his balance and falls over. So for him to have enough room to face backwards the bumper pull trailer will have to be 16' long. Is that too long for the tundra to pull or will it be ok with stabilizer/sway bars? Thanks for your help! My horse thanks you too. "

[SharonA]

Well, most Brenderup owners say they have no sway or considerably less way than they did with a traditional trailer. And, it sounds like the "accident trailer" came apart because it wasn't put together properly -- that can happen with any manufacturer. It's not related to the B'up design (not that I'm excusing crappy manufacturing, but I wouldn't take it as a sign that alot of B'ups were going to have that problem).

You would tow with a Brenderup, if it works for your towing needs, because it means you don't have to get a second car that you use only for towing. If you don't tow very much, it's the gas mileage when not towing that you care about -- the idea is that your car is mostly a "do whatever you do when not towing, but when you have to tow, this might work for you."

Also, I think drivers are pretty much the same the world over. I doubt that the US has cornered the market on stupid teens and truck drivers (and the trucks I see on the highway are among the best drivers, actually. It's just when they get into Boston proper that the road warrior mode kicks in. :-) ). People have car accidents every day. It doesn't mean I'm not going to drive. I'd like to say that in a given day/week/month, more people are delighted with towing their horse in their Brenderup than are in accidents or near-accidents.

If I am wrong about how well a Brenderup will work out for my own towing needs, you all get to say, "I told you so." :-)

Good lord, people. ;) There are several ways to do things well. We don't all need to ride with the same trainer (and I'm sure someone could come up with a story about the unsafe and cruel techniques of any trainer), we don't all need to feed the same menu (and no doubt there are tragic stories about every type of hay or grain), and we don't all need to have the same type of trailer to both enjoy and safeguard our horse.

[subk]

As long as you have done your research into safety and are realistic about your towing needs, I think you can be comfortable with your decision.
I would suggest your research include grabbing hold of the back corner of one with a single hand and shaking it to see how much you can move it around. Be forewarned, if you do this in front of the dealer he will get red in the face and start sputtering. If afterward you are still comfortable then go for it!

[Alagirl]

If you are talking hill, how big? Are you talking 500 ft of elevation or 2000? We have "hills" that have breakaway ramps for trucks that lose their brakes, and vehicles pulling trailers can get hot brakes. If you don't have enough truck or "car" to stop that trailer with hot brakes, you are in trouble.

I honestly can see how the Brenderup and smaller vehicle would work for shorter hauls on flatter ground or small hills, but not for steep switchback hills and mountain passes. I want something that will stop that trailer.

well, the same point repeated over and over. the trailer goes faster than the car, the mechanics engage the breaks. I venture a guess, by the time the trailer breaks run hot, the car will be even hotter...and you don't get electric malfunctions in the break system either. :cool: