Any of you guys tow your boat with a car?

[imq707s]

I have a 97' Mercury Mountaineer (just like an Explorer) that I use to tow my Vegas XT with....but it's getting worn out. It's approaching 140,000 miles and I would like to get something a little newer.

I would love to get rid of my gas hog Mountaineer (11/15) and get a car....but I'm not sure there are any cars that would stand up to the abuse of towing my Vegas. Would one of the Dodge Magnums with a Hemi do an OK job pulling my boat, or would I just burn up transmissions like crazy?

What would (if anything) be a good car that would hold up to towing my Vegas?

Thanks

[triple dude]

You're worried about your Mountaineer gas bill and you're thinking a Hemi Magnum??? Wouldn't think there's any savings with that move. :confused: Your Vegas is a relatively light boat. Many guys on here have gotten by with sixes and maybe even some fours.

[imq707s]

What about something all-wheel-drive...like a Subaru WRX? Would that stand up to towing a boat?

I guess I might be better of getting some little V6 SUV.

[chris_lacey]

I towed my hydrostream with my '04 Chev Impala. Worked alright, but it was a fairly light boat

[chynewalkr]

i saw a magnum rt this summer pulling a 20 some foot checkmate. it looked like he would be in trouble if he had to brake hard!

i used to tow my boat with a mustang 5.0, had plenty of pulling power and then some, but i couldnt see jack behind me.

[Pro300x24LD]

wrx doesnt have an option for a hitch unless you go with the wagon and is limited at like 2,000 lbs or less i think.

A hemi magnum would pull your boat fine and would not hurt trannies, hell it probably has the same tranny as a half ton dodge or a dakota. And it has an AWD option.

[rocket1]

I pull my allison grandsport with a 95 lesabre. It pulls and stops just fine. Great gas mileage on trips and around town. Although only rated to tow 1000 pounds. I have pulled the boat through the mountains with no problems at all. Just looks a little funny the buick pulling the allison!! I think the next car will be toyota avalon nice car, toyota reliablity, great gas mileage and rated at 1500 pounds towing.

[pyro]

How about the best of both worlds? A jeep Cherokee! (not Grand, the classic Cherokee.) 190 HP Inline-6, with part-time and full-time 4-wheel drive. I get 20 MPG average, as high as 25 MPG if I drive strategically for maximum economy. My wife and I got 14 MPG while towing the Vegas at 70 MPH on the freeway with a load of camping gear in the back, with the back seat folded down for max cargo room. The Cherokee is classified as a "station wagon", so the insurance is reasonable, and it drives like a car. I'm going to have some fun this winter...

Otherwise, I've heard the Caprice/Impala platform, as well as some of the Camaro types, are supposedly good cars for light-duty towing.

-Chad

-Chad

[MarkHP]

I pull mine with my Subaru Forester, no problem. It's rated for towing 2000 LB but I would suggest brakes on the trailer if you are doing a lot of hills etc. Regular highway no problem.

[stokernick]

I tow my Stoker&2.4BP Offshore with a 98 Toyota Rav$,all wheel drive 25 mpg/28mpg empty.Brought the boat from Mich.to NYS,not a strong tow vehicle ,but got the job done..Check with INXS,he tows with a LexusRX300,the V-6 would be perfect!

[Scream And Fly]

My 'beater' - a 1993 Z28, and it tows like a dream. 20 MPG at 75 MPH and you don't even feel the trailer back there.


http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/3384/car14aw.jpg

[JWTjr.]

Things you will need:

Get the largest high performance stacked plate (not tube and fin) cooler you can fit in the engine compartment, and try to position it in direct airflow. Remember that the farther away from direct airflow you get, the larger the cooler has to be to do the same job. Contrary to some belief, it is not possible to have too much in the way of transmission cooling. I have installed dual and triple stacked plate coolers with excellent results (and I live where it gets cold).

Trailer brakes will be necessary if your trailered weight is much over 2500 lbs. Most passenger car brakes will heat up and fade, and the rotors will warp, if subjected to repeated stops with towed weight.

Get a good frame mounted hitch. Use a name brand and have it installed professionally.

Lastly, most newer vehicles have some sort of ECM or module-controlled electrical system. You cannot simply connect a 4-flat or converter to most anymore; a powered converter with circuit protection is necessary. A powered converter wires the same way a conventional 5 wire converter does, but also includes a 6th heavy duty wire that is run directly to the battery with a blade style automotive fuse. This unit takes the signal from each circuit, but transfers the electrical load to the battery.

JWTjr.

[gfinch]

I pull an Allison XB 2003 with a Lexus ES300, just a fancy a Camery V6.
The trailer has electric brakes, I use a Prodgy brake controller. I can transfer it between the car, truck or motorhome without having to set it up each time.
JT is right about the light adapter ;) , the wiring on most cars is very light guage, read too light.... Also I wired in front of the light failure relay.

It's not what you can pull it's what you can control !!!! :eek:

You want the tower to be heaver than the toad. :D

Gary

[action20]

My 1997 Ford Taurus SHO. 235 HP 3.4 Liter V8.
It has 197,835 miles on it and doesn't owe me a thing !!! Still tight and strong !

Tows my valero, used to tow my action and my vector. The boats i tow are pretty light. It is not the "best" tow vehicle but it is better on gas than my Explorer was while towing.

About 15-17 MPG while hauling the boat. I only get 21-23 MPG on the highway usually anyways. So thats not bad.

As far as a tow vehicle it lacks some low end torque. It produces it HP @ around 6500-7000 RPM. Best torque @ 4200 RPM.

[81hydrostream]

I towed my vegas XT everywhere with my 2003 V-6 mustang. Got a little hairy at times, but towed fine. I never even spun a tire getting out of the ramp. I have a picture somewhere I have to see if I can find it.


Ray

[Riverman]

The Crown Vic/Grand Marquis platform is good for towing light loads. Big brakes, good fuel economy, great ride. The towing capacity is right up there with some trucks. Some of these cars come with self-levelling air suspension as well. Mine did.


http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/river_57/GrandMarquis.jpg

[Sidewinder16]

I towed my old larson with a car and that just did not work out well. Went thru breaks once a month. Problems overheating in the mountans. Transmission at 115,000 miles got pretty good gas milage tho. It was an older caprice classic v6. Get a truck Chevy 3500 dully with a durimax diesel 12.9 mpg no matter what you are pullin 5ton excovator with a bobcat on a 34ft flat bed trailer 12.9. Boat with camping gear 12.9, car on trailer 12.9. Nothing 12.9 well it varies from 12.7 and 13.1 but never seen it higher or lower.

[NNT]

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/3841/shagwag3nx.th.jpg (http://img83.imageshack.us/my.php?image=shagwag3nx.jpg)

1991-96 gm fullsize wagon.the better years are the 94-96's,they all came standard with the LT1 350.I used to get 20 mpg towing a 2000 lb boat,motor and trailer,that was until i put in a set of 3.73 rear gears,now i get about 15 or so.

[Alan Power]

You guys all crack me up, will a 5.0 pull my boat :confused: ROTFLMAO of course it will.

I pull my Vking with a 1.4 Renault Megane, yes thats 1.4 litres :eek:
It just takes a few tricks launching and recovering :D

Alan

[1BadAction]

the aussies know how to haul a boat in style (and haul ass too)

http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=74185

[NNT]

You guys all crack me up, will a 5.0 pull my boat :confused: ROTFLMAO of course it will.

I pull my Vking with a 1.4 Renault Megane, yes thats 1.4 litres :eek:
It just takes a few tricks launching and recovering :D

Alan

well yea technically most anything will tow almost anything,but will it do it safely?emergency stops are the biggest thing i can think of as well as wear and tear on the drivetrain.Lets see you routinely pull that boat 200 miles a weekend at highway speeds etc I hear where your coming from though.

1bad,is that a holden or a mustang?looks about the same from that angle :D

[Alan Power]

Lets see you routinely pull that boat 200 miles a weekend at highway speeds etc I hear where your coming from though.


I wasn't taking a stab, I think it's awsome you guys have such big cars, I would give anything (except boat) for a car with a 350 and enough cash to fuel it. Also I would have to sell vital organs to insure it, my car insurance is €2400 a year, thats nearly 3000USD :eek: My car is a beater (and not a beater like Greg's, a real beater, it gets me to work and pulls the boat) if it dies I'll buy another. ALL my spare cash goes into the boat :D

If I drove 200 miles in any direction I wouldn't have to worry about the car anymore, good job I'd have the boat too ;) :D

I suppose it's hard to understand each others driving habbits, a long drive to me is 150 miles, some of you guys probably do that to the ramp each weekend. Cars here don't get much over 2.5L gas, 4x4's a bit bigger but most of them are Diesel anyway.

Alan

[1BadAction]

the fact is, its a totally different world in other countrys. a long commute in a city over there is how much?? over here a long commute is 60 miles one way :eek: compared to most countrys we are spoiled. Alan, I pay $200 a month to insure BOTH my vehicles, Im 23years old and both of them have V8s, truck is a 5.3 H.O. 305hp, and car is 5.7 Ls1 350hp.

NNT wheres my stand and my engine hoist? we going tomorrow? load that granny car you have with the boat and haul it up here so we can put the lower on it.

[jphii]

How about a performance towing challnge? We could put crossflows into Minis and see who makes it 24 hours to the ramp:eek::D:eek::D:rolleyes:

[Alan Power]

I live about a mile outside the city here and worked in the city up to 3 months ago. Now I work way out of the city, it's a 9 mile drive each way :rolleyes: :D
Jim, I'm 26 and I would nearly call an insurance co. just for kicks and say I have a 5.7L truck, they would probably hang up. I am not driving that long either so maybe that has a lot to do with it, but I couldn't afford the insurance before I got a little older. I was refused insurance when I was 20, I could only go named driver on my mothers car, I couldn't even get named driver on my dads 2.2 merc then. Insurance has started to come down now and I will probably shop arround this year and try to get a bigger car. Nothing like the smell of burning clutch at the boat ramp :D

[Alan Power]

How about a performance towing challnge? We could put crossflows into Minis and see who makes it 24 hours to the ramp:eek::D:eek::D:rolleyes:

I'm in :D (Kinda like a motor triathlon)
http://www.pulltown.com/2002/2000-30.jpg

[1BadAction]

I thought my insurance was bad :eek: I live 6 miles from where I work now, and thats the closest I have ever been. I worked for 3 years at a place that was 55 miles from me. worked 7am-6pm everyday plus an hour of driving each way. that got old, fast. Put about 100,000 miles on the 4.3L blazer in that time and decided to give my grandma a hand-me-down. now it has 188,000 miles on everything except for brakes, tires, and alternator. still runs good except for the exhaust leak :D

[Rickracer]

http://www.pulltown.com/2002/2000-30.jpg

....gallons per mile.....:eek: :D :cool:

[Bruster]

I pull my smaller boats (less than 16') with my Lincoln Continental. The Lincoln has plenty of power with the 295 HP 4.6 Intec motor. I've pulled them to the shows @ 75 MPH getting 20 MPG, and ride in comfort. The bigger boats get the Avalanche .

[Ted Stryker]

Used to Redfish with a guide that pulled his 20'/200 hp Bayboat with a Licoln Towncar... A fullsize truck would have been better suited, but I never heard any complaints from him...

[150aintenuff]

buddy towed a 14' lake runabout with his escort and took a 12X8 uhaul tandem Axle to AZ from here with it when he moved.. only problem he had with it was the fact he had an allignment problem and scrubbed off a tire on the trip.. got 25+ mpg but was slow on the hills...

[chris_lacey]

I suppose it's hard to understand each others driving habbits, a long drive to me is 150 miles, some of you guys probably do that to the ramp each weekend.
Alan

Alan, some of us drive that far to work and back each day! You're right about hard to understand each others driving habits.
BTW, my wife was ready to change insurance companies when ours went up to $1800CDN for our 2 vehicles.

[Alan Power]

Chris, I suppose it's down to the size of the country, if I drove 200 miles in any direction I would run out of road :eek: The good thing is I can drive anywhere in the country in 6 hrs.

My insurance is up in january so I'm going to shop around a bit and see what I can get, I'm thinking of trying to get a 4x4.

Also vehicle road tax is calculated on engine size here, my anual tax on a 1.4L is €378, about 450USD. So that's another reason to keep the cc's down.

[Rickracer]

....and big on power......:D :D :D

[150aintenuff]

Chris, I suppose it's down to the size of the country, if I drove 200 miles in any direction I would run out of road :eek: The good thing is I can drive anywhere in the country in 6 hrs.

My insurance is up in january so I'm going to shop around a bit and see what I can get, I'm thinking of trying to get a 4x4.

Also vehicle road tax is calculated on engine size here, my anual tax on a 1.4L is €378, about 450USD. So that's another reason to keep the cc's down.




trick, if ya find ya can afford a Small block V8 at any time put a 265 CID (4.3L) aticker on it as the original SBC was a 265 and shares the same dimensions externally as a 400 CID... so if you can find a bigger cc engine with the same external dimension ya can claim its the smaller motor and have the smaller payment with the larger power...

[Alan Power]

:D Man, my car would tear it's self to pieces with even an sbc, it's a 1.4 (1400cc), a 4.3 would be a hoot! And 3 times what I pay in tax already :eek:
Some of the car guys do this around here, drop the bigest engine the car will take into a car with small engine chassis numbers, the trouble is it invalidates your insurance. In the event of an accident you are liable, same for nos, modifications and in some extreme cases even alloy wheels :rolleyes:

This thread has got me thinking, new car soon I reckon :) But first the boat gets finnished and a wicked bridgeport!

No room for an sbc, but I'm sure I could get a 2.5 in there :D

[Alan Power]

....and big on power......:D :D :D

That's what I thought, they even f*** us on that one too, a buddy of mine has an RX7 with a 1.3 rotary and it is taxed and insured as a 2L :mad:

Screw a new car it's time to move :mad: :eek: :p

Although we do have special insurance & road tax for classic cars, at a very low cost, so I have been looking at some mustangs, torinos, etc on ebay, the trouble is they are left hand drive, and you guesed it, higher insurance.

[JW]

I like to tow my little boats (up to a 24' pontoon boat) with my 2001 RAV4. I haven't tried the bigger fiberglass boats yet though, as they all double the tow rating of the car AND my launch ramp is kinda steep..................

[Ted Stryker]

Alan, sounds like it's time for you to set sail... It might be a matter of time before the Insurance companies over here get to be such a$$h0les...

[rocket1]

Boat US says in the september 205 issue says that 11 cars can tow one ton or more they are the chrysler 300, caddy deville, subaru impreza, toyota camry,and volvo s40 were rated at 2000 pounds. The saab 9-3,9-5, subaru forester and legacy, volvo s60 and s80 are rate at over 2000 pounds. The saab 9-5 is rated for 3500 pounds. I do not know how a couple of them are rated that high.....just what I read.

[Checkmate2.5]

Would you guys throw a hitch on a 300m??
I need something to tow my 16' checkmate and I dont have a truck.
I usualy get 26+mph on the HW
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v694/checkmate414/blackout.jpg

[delawarerick]

Why not unless you are gonna tow a long distance. I am gonna tow a 20 baja with a crown vic. I have added a trans cooler and I can take it out of overdrive by pushing a button on shifter. Rick

[Checkmate2.5]

whats a long distance? I may make a few trips from MA to ME and NH....
Isnt a crown vic a 5.0 V8?
Mine is a 3.5 V6 w/ tiptonic trans

[diamond-back]

Would you guys throw a hitch on a 300m??
I need something to tow my 16' checkmate and I dont have a truck.
I usualy get 26+mph on the HW

That would be fine. My Dad had a reciever hitch installed and a tranny cooler on his, and it towed NO PROBLEM whatsoever. Our trailer+boat is around 2500lbs. We dont have that vehicle any more though.

[david martin]

How would a 1995 camaro z-28 lt1 motor automatic pull a 19ft picklefork?
David

[Checkmate2.5]

How would a 1995 camaro z-28 lt1 motor automatic pull a 19ft picklefork?
David
Any V8 should pull a boat no problem, As others have mentioned its the transmission temp and brake temp that you really need to pay attention too.
Be carefull on steep launch ramps because your tires will slip in a Z-28. (especially because the ramp is always wet)

[Triple J]

i know a guy that uses his 2004 chrysler 300m, and tows his cvx16 glaston with a 140merc t.o.p. he tells me it works well for him.

[Yamaha 225]

I hauled my Gilbert 21 with a Peugeot 406 HDI one time to a race. I managed to get 32 mpg.... French cars sucks! I have been in the states two times and I dinn't see one single french car!

My favourite tow truck would be the Lamborghini LM002 (Countach V12 engine) or a custom 6 door GMC dually with 5th wheel.....:D :D :D :D

[Ted Stryker]

Many times and far too often People concentrate too closely on whether or not the engine has enough power, if that were the case these V8 cars would all be rated to pull 6,000 lbs.+... Rarely power is a real deciding factor in towing other than the low performance just being an annoyance, hence the I-6 300 c.i. engine that came in a bazillion F-250's.. The low tow ratings are are due largely to the suspension and the fact that they are uni-body... They structure is strong in the middle where it needs to be be, but You don't wan't a lot of weight surging up, down, back and forth on the tongue area as it's just basically a thick sheet metal structure.. The suspensions are typically pretty stiff for sport handling, the stiffness will only add to the stresses on the structure by having the tongue weight of a trailer trying to resist the suspension movement.. Be sure not to put alot of tongue weight on it, go very easy over uneven roads, keep an eye on trans temp, and for sure do not use the full potential of the engine with cars such as a Z-28... Sure there are always gonna be those who will try to pull anything with anything, and that's why fudge factors are put in to an extent to compensate for the "fudges"... I would probably exceed the factory rating (1500 lbs I think) by a little just because I and You would probably be more careful than most, but I think that 2500 lbs. or more is marginal...

[captcarb]

My tow vehicle is a 96 Impala, the last of the rear drive V-8's. I added airbags to the rear. It already has extra cooling.

The transmission is the weak point. I added the necessary HD parts to it and the rig is pretty much bullet proof at 100k now. The trans can be beefed up to pretty much tow any thing with after market parts.

My car has the 4L60E (modified). There is a 4L65E and a 4L80E that can be modded to pull really big loads.

I bought it new.

jim

[Raysoncraft16]

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u32/Kenthecougar/Chevysmall.jpg
Hills don't bother me at all, and the looks and comments at the ramp are priceless. :D :eek:

[Barefoot Bob]

I tow an Allison XB2002 with a 2006 RX400h hybrid Lexus. tow rating of 3500 pounds and 20MPG towing. Dont even know the boat is back there.

[whipper]

I used to tow my XL 1200 wave runner with my honda prelude. I would have 4 people and a months worse of gear and travel thousands of miles a trip like this with no problems at all ever for about 4 years. I would think any v8 car with a study fram like Gregs Camaro. A grand marque, Catilac STS or Elderado, Lexsas 420, I like the Camaro idea I think I just might have to find a Camaro convertable for road trips with my Allison. My wife has a Jeep Grand Cherokee with the I6 and it works well good mileage. I have a full sized Suburban with a 454 that can tow a house and gets 13 if im lucky:eek: Thats going to have to change i think. James

[whipper]

I think another cool car for towing would be a 3000vr4!! They are awd also.320+hp the same size as a Camero. James

[gotboostedvr6]

alan power
you can import a Japanese (right hand drive) integra gsr 1.8 190 hp or type R 1.8 210 hp they both make over 100 hp per liter
even a civic sir 1.6 makes over 100 per liter at 170 hp

they will all go over 140mph and get 32 mpg
also are short geared with 4.7 final drives and some come with gear type lsd so no more spinning at the ramp

forgot to add the gsr and sir have front and rear disk 10.2 inch
the type r has 11.2 inch front and rear