The torque part is nice but that and great handling don't necessarily add up to being a great tow vehicle. If the rear of the car has no way to support a receiver in sturdy manner that's a problem. Then there's how the car behaves with the tongue weight of the trailer on there and what the side sides do to handling of the entire package. I tow a 7,500 pound trailer with a 99 K2500 Suburban and I see other guys trying similar things with lighter duty and shorter wheel base vehicles. It's scary. Some try with crossover SUVs and probably end up burning out their transmissions.

But what Vance580 wants to do seems like a piece of cake to me in terms of the load. Maybe he should just buy the pre-2005 one and see if he can have it adapted?

 

Trailer Hitch by Curt for 2003 S-Type - C12314

 

Thanks for posting, but this won't work on 05+ model, without cutting the rear bumper cover anyway...

 

What is the difference on the 05+ models? I thought it was only the front bumper that was changed?

 

Entire rear changed, including the trunk, bumper and taillights...

 

What I wonder is it could be adapted to work by a decent fabrication shop or just find a shop that makes hitches ...

 

I have a factory detachable tow hitch on out STR (07)
only a bit of lower valence cutting required to fit.

 

Source?

 

One thing I've noticed over the years, is there is a huge discrepancy in tow ratings and tow culture in general, between europe and north america.

In Europe/UK, the smallest, dinkiest cars will pull a trailer/small RV. While in the states, there is a whole 'pick-up truck' culture, and the only thing that gets 'er done, is a big truck.

This article is pretty good explaining what I'm talking about,



Indeed, the STR has big brakes and good torque output. Pretty capable tow rig if I say so myself. My only concern is the delicate ZF transmission, I would keep the trailer and weight towed conservative, and maybe monitor transmission temperatures as well for reference.

I'm definitely looking into a hitch for the STR in the future, perfect for limited amount of towing I do.

 

People here commonly add an extra (oil) cooler or two so that the gearbox is happy.

 

Being a good tow vehicle is a lot more complicated than a big engine and strong brakes. If the loads is light it's not as big an issue but even a lighter trailer can start whipping around behind a vehicle and it you don't have the proper type of hitch mounted to a FRAME chassis instead of unibody construction it can become dangerous. It's not just a "pickup culture" issue. It's deadly serious.