Parts Needed to Flat Tow a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid with Automatic Transmission  

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Expert Reply:

Flat towing a car behind a motor home or other vehicle requires 5 basic items: a tow bar, safety cables, a lighting kit, base plates for the towed car and a supplementary braking system. Each of these is described in the linked article.

We do offer base plates for the 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid. I recommend part # BX2236 from Blue Ox because it has removable draw bars. For a tow bar I recommend you use the Blue Ox Alpha # BX7380 because it includes the safety cables.

For lighting you can use the easy-to-install magnetic light kit # TL21RK from Optronics; I recommend this kit because you do not have to cut into the car's wiring.

My favorite braking system is the Patriot from Blue Ox, part # BLU37TR, which is easy to set up and fully portable.

Vehicles with automatic transmissions can be tougher to set up for flat towing than those with a manual transmission. Some cars cannot be flat towed at all. The auto maker gets the final word on that and you are wise to check your Civic owner's manual. Your vehicle must NOT be equipped with a continuously variable transmission.

If you find you cannot flat tow your car you may need to use a tow dolly like the RoadMaster # RM-2050-1. Your manual will indicate if this is an option and it is often the case with automatic transmission vehicles that a dolly is required to keep the front wheels off the ground. Check your manual for details regarding "recreational towing" or "flat towing" since particular transmissions may have different requirements to ready them for flat towing.

expert reply by: Adam R

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