Trailer hitch for Esteem wagon

[Johnn Johnny]

I just recently purchased a hitch at my local Suzuki dealership (Rivington Suzuki in Carleton Place, ON - about 30 minutes west of Ottawa) and installed it myself on my 2001 Esteem wagon. Fitted perfectly the first time. I'm currently using it just for a hitch-mounted bike rack, as I don't have the electrical light connection yet (well, I don't have a trailer, either, so...).

[Brit101]

Spoke to the service manager at Suzuki dealership on Thursday and he said that clients who installed hitches and keep the weight limit to 2000 lbs. with their auto trans. have no problem pulling a trailer. That no trans. cooler is necessary.
Apparently Hidden Hitch has one for the Esteem wagon.

[jim_naisium]

I have the 99 Esteem Sedan, I went to a welding shop that has been in business since the 1940's, they spent 10 minutes under my car measuring all kinds of things but said that putting a hitch on it couldn't be done.

Looking under there myself before I even drove down there I had to admit that it was a long shot, the only way I can see it being done is if the exhaust was modified and split into a mini-dual exhaust system (would make room for the cross beams), although that would be cool it was more $$$ than I was willing to spend.

[suzibyte]

Try a different shop. They vary quite a bit in what they are willing to do or possibilities they see. Posts above suggest you can go to Suzuki although I had no success - again, things seem inconsistent. Don't give up!

Can you describe difference between wagon and sedan?
My tailpipe gave me a hard time (rattled against crossbar) so I just did a cold bend on it, being careful not to stress where it joins the muffler.

Good luck.

[jim_naisium]

I tried U-Hall which up to then I assumed could put a hitch on anything, there is a place downtown that all they do is hitches and roof top racks (storage, skies, 'boards, etc.) who referred me to the place that had been open since the 1940's.

Seeing as we had no way to use it we gave our trailer away to someone who had just bought a 3/4 ton van who has been using the trailer on a regular basis and loves it.

The "Sedan" is the model that is on my website: http://home.comcast.net/~lj_robins/99suzuki/

The "Wagon" or "Station Wagon" or even sometimes called an "Estate Car" is the long version of the same car: http://home.comcast.net/~lj_robins/p...steemwagon.jpg

In general I like Station Wagons they are basically a long small covered truck that are great for hauling things that wont fit in a sedan, but I think Suzuki should have done more to make the Wagon its own car, for the 99 model (both of the pictures are of the 1999) it is basically the sedan with a different rear end bolted on it.

[MysticX]

It is too costly to do a purpose built wagon, so they add on to sedan version of the car. Luckily the back end looks like it belongs to the rest of the car with the Esteem. Some manufacters are even using the same base for more than one model, anything they can do to cut costs. Unfortunately, that makes for some awful automobiles and we all suffer.

[jim_naisium]

Yeah I know, all about saving money Ford did the same thing when they created the Mustang out of the Falcon's frame, engine, and drive train.

Seems to be the way to do it now, "well if we take this off and add this here and call it the ________ we can make a different car out of what we already have."

[solaredge]

Hi folks on the Suzuki Esteem thread!
Since you are talking about adding trailers, I figure you have suggestions for improving the rear suspension. My 2000 Esteem wagon have been "dragging butt" since purchased new, but the space to carry 10 ft pipe and a fold-flat cargo space is so good( I make it rest even lower when I even put in the tool box..)Please help me find ways to effectively "lift" the rear, and make the suspension more heavy duty. It is exciting to find this avid group of esteem owners...

[jim_naisium]

The only thing I can think of is trying to find heavy duty McPherson struts to replace the stock ones with but I have no idea if such a thing even exists.

An old school trick that people used to do on 1970's cars and trucks was to put air shocks on them, the shocks were hooked up to a 120psi air line with a fitting on it. Load the car/truck up and then hook 120psi up to it to fill up the shocks and level the car out.

Cool idea but not really doable on today's cars.

[solaredge]

Jim,
Are "air shocks" not doable nowadays because the Esteem is using M.struts vs just shocks?
Or is something else an issue now? ( I'm a newbie in lots of things..)
How much rearend drop do you see on your rig with the trailer added (and no rear suspension upgrade)?
What about lift kits, or even body lift kits to increase road clearance?
Thanks for all insight that you may have.