trunk or back seat?

[just me]

hey all!

im not sure this is in right forum...
i am driving cross country in a honda accord.
i am taking two bins filled with books, making them very very heavy.
does it make a difference regarding (safety, gas mileage, etc.) if i put them in the trunk or the back seat?

thanks!

[Mark Sedenquist]

Generally you want the heaviest load to be centered over an axle -- So I would think that the back seat would make more sense. But this is just a guess on my part.

Mark

[Southwest Dave]

I would agree with that one, but try and buckle them up so that in a worse case scenario they don't turn into nasty projectiles. The other thing to consider is whether they are too heavy to put in the trunk each night ? Books might not be that tempting to an opportunist thief, but if the bins are concealing the contents ? Best bet is to put them in the trunk and look at the ride heights front and rear because it's hard to say how heavy "very, very heavy" is. It won't a noticeable difference [if any] to fuel consumption.

[Lifemagician]

Definitely over or forward of the rear wheels, and as low as possible in the vehicle. You will find the car much more stable on the road. If at all possible, I would pack as many as you can between the front and the back seats. If you have to put any on the back seat, use the seat belt to hold them. Even hard braking could have them joining you in the front seat.

I once drove a car which was packed by an amatuer, with many heavy items behing the rear axle. It was not long before it started fish-tailing. After repacking everything and putting the heaviest items over and forward of the rear wheels, it behaved itself for the rest of the journey.

I have never hidden normal luggage in a car, and never had a problem. Park in safe, well lit places and don't leave valuables in the car.

Lifey

[just me]

hi mark, lifey, southwest dave!

thanks for answering.

so i took your advice and emptied one bin onto the rear seat floor but had to keep one in the trunk.

each one probably weighed approx. 150 pounds, so thinking about it, thats probably not that heavy in the big scheme of things

all the best

[glc]

You can easily exceed 300 pounds just with 2 adults riding in the back seat, the car was designed for doing that!

[Mark Sedenquist]

Much more enjoyable ride if the weight is centered over the rear axles. I drove a new pick-up for the USFS and we welded some steel weights in the bed over the axles to keep the darn thing from bouncing too much! So loading the passenger area with the weight is always going to be good thing. And like glc mentioned -- 300 pounds of books is nothing!

Mark