Towing Capacity

CurrentSea

CurrentSea

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So trailer boat I am looking at has a dry weight of 5100 lbs.

I currently own a 2009 Ford Escape.
I am pretty sure, this is not a sufficient tow vehicle for this size boat.

I guess I need to add in trailer weight, fuel, water, cargo, etc.

I prefer SUV's that are more car-like as opposed to trucks.

Was looking at the Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 which has a 7200 lb tow capacity.

Is this sufficient? Any other vehicles I should consider.

Thanks.
 
I agree, the Escape is insufficient... You're right about factoring trailer weight into the equation. Whatever vehicle you choose, it would be money well-spent on having a tranny cooler.

Just for comparision purposes, I towed a 26' boat weighing about 5500 lbs. on a tri-axle trailer equipped with brakes, with a full-sized 4WD ext cab p/up, and it was all it could handle; hills were a challenge. I'll never do it again.
 
Take a ride in the new Ford F-150.
I got my wife one with the Eco-Boost engine.
Put a bed cover on it.
Tows 11,000 lbs.
Gets 24 mpg on the highway. 12 to 15 mpg towing on the highway, depending on the weight.
Plenty of room inside, even in the back seat. Rides like a car too.
 
Dry vs. Wet Perspective. My 1996 LUND 2450 had a Dry weight listed as 4,200. On the certified scale, full fuel, water, ice and NUMERIOUS fishing items its WET weight was 7,380, just below the trailers MAX GVWR. I’ve adjusted the tongue weight to the MAX on the towing vehicle which is a recent Ford Super Duty crew cab, short box.
 
If you are going with a SUV check out the Nissan Armada 9k towing. We tow our Chaparral and it does great with about 1k to spare.
 
I think when you add the weight of trailer, fuel, etc., you will be pushing the limit at best. Also, remember the tow vehicle will also have a maximum CGVWR, or combined gross vehicle weight rating. The CGVWR is the weight of the tow vehicle and tow combined. The advertized towing capacity is usually calculated as the CGVWR minus the weight of the tow vehicle with two adults and no additional cargo. Any weight in the tow vehicle must thus be deducted from the towing capacity.
I had a trailer boat that was 3800 lbs dry weight. I had it weighed on the trailer and it came in at 5250 lbs. I towed with a Ford Expedition with a 5.4L V8 and high ratio rear end, with a tow capacity of 7300 lbs. I wouldn't have wanted to tow with anything much smaller.

I am not recommending an Expedition, though. It was a money pit.
 
I really don't want a truck, prefer a SUV. Wife won't drive a truck and she drives it sometimes.
I also don't do hills, Long Island is flat.
Biggest hill would be pulling it up the ramp!
Interesting, jeep is 7400 with 2wd and 7200 with 4wd.
I think 4wd is better to get the traction up the ramp.

So what would a double axle trailer weigh in at?
 
quote:
Originally posted by CurrentSea

I really don't want a truck, prefer a SUV. Wife won't drive a truck and she drives it sometimes.
I also don't do hills, Long Island is flat.
Biggest hill would be pulling it up the ramp!
Interesting, jeep is 7400 with 2wd and 7200 with 4wd.
I think 4wd is better to get the traction up the ramp.

So what would a double axle trailer weigh in at?

Click to expand...


The reason the 2WD has a higher towing capacity is due to the additional weight of the 4WD drive train. This comes off the CGVWR. Using my example above, the difference between the total weight of my boat on its tandem axle trailer and the dry weight of the boat was 1450 lbs. That was just before I sold the boat, so it had very little fuel in it, and none of the other things that add weight except for one anchor. I'd plan on 2000 lbs. more than the boat dry weight.

I do think 4WD is an asset when pulling up a wet ramp.
 
1,500 for the trailer plus 5,100 for the boat plus 1,000 for fuel and other stuff and you are at 7,600. You are going to need a bigger truck or a smaller boat. I personally would not pull anything that heavy without a full frame tow vehicle.
 
Hi Dave,
I have 2 boats, the smaller is a 21' Clearwater WA on a tandon axle trailer. The Trailer weighs in at aprox 1,000lbs. I'll look at the sticker tonight and get you the exact Lb. it's a 2011 tidewater roller trailer.
 
So you think a jeep with 4WD and 7200lb towing capacity would handle a 5100 lb with trailer?
I would never tow farther than say 20 miles, all flat terrain.
Steepest hill would be ramp.
Boat I am looking at is the Searay Sundeck.
 
That should be more than enough. I would also go with the 4x4, as the worst part is the ramps.. I've watched a lot of guys struggle with the back wheels slipping. depending on the ramp I use sometimes I'll put it in 4wd while backing down, just to make sure it's engaged and I don't slip coming out. and as for pulling, get a tow package, not just a hitch, look for the tranny & engine oil cooler. you should be fine towing off the island then if you ever decide to..
 
Would it physically pull it? - sure. Would you be comfortable driving it while pulling something that heavy - depends on how much trailering you have done. I used to trailer a lot - often with underpowered vehicles - never again. I would suggest that you have at least a 10-15% fudge factor. Also, if you were to ever get into a wreck while towing over limit, it could be a problem for you.
 
Captain Rick has it correct. Except I've always heard that the combined weight rating accounts for a single 150 pound driver in the vehicle, rathet than 2 adults. Anyway, just keep in mind that ANYTHING you add to the tow vehicle (People, luggage, etc.) also gets subracted from how much you can tow. A boat with "dry weight" of 5100 will be somewhere near 8,000 pounds to tow with trailer, fuel, gear, etc. Add another 500 to 800 pounds of people riding in the vehicle itself for an average family heading out for the day in the boat. Pack in a cooler and some gear in the vehicle. Probably figure you are now up to about 9,000 in weight. Remebemr, just because you put weight in the vehicle (such as people, etc.), doesn't mean your vehicle doesn't have to "pull" it, and more importantly ... stop it in a hurry, if needed.

Figure close to 9k in weight with boat, fuel, gear, people, etc. The Grand Cherokee will most likely be too little, unless you just want to use it to tow down a neighborhood street to your neighborhood ramp, and not take it over 20-25 moph. I know I wouldn't want to be stopping that much weight with a Grand Cherokee at 65 mph highway speeds.
As for the Ford Escape, it looks like that even with the best towing package, it can only get rated as high as 3,500 pounds towing capacity. That's not even inn the ballpark.

I know you don't want a truck, but have you tried some of the newer 4-door ("quad cab") varieties? They don't ride like trucks of yesteryear, you get full front and back seating, and a heck of a lot more towing capacity, in general.
 
I have a Key West 196 Bay Reef with a Yamaha 150 motor (engine) and trolling motor on it. It sits on a Wesco double axle trailor. I have never weighed the whole thing but, I can tell you, it's an after thought to my Mercedes ML-350.

Bob
 
Do a search of SAE J2807. New trailer tow test standard that is being implemented for the 2013my. This is a voluntary rating standard. I expect that most 2012 ratings will drop in 2013 for the same vehicle when using this standard.
This info should help you understand how the current ratings are developed and guide you to the correct vehicle selection based on your needs.
 
Dave, are you likely to slip the boat somewhere? Is this launch at beginning of season and pull out at end? Or maybe move it around a few times a year but not launch/retrieve every weekend?

If you are going to do this all the time and routinely drive among Long Island's "interesting" fellow motorists, that says you want something that's comfortable with it. If it's more occasional, I would think you could go with a more marginal vehicle that suits your more typical needs.
 
I live 3 miles from ramp. Boat will stay on trailer. No slip. Occasionally I will go to south shore which is 20 miles. All flat.
 
I pull my Whaler with my MB ML 350 and don't even know it's behind me. Don't know what year they switched from truck chassis to unibody. Mine has the truck chassis and granny gear low range. Will pull the chrome of a trailer ball. Only problem is it's a full time 4 wheel drive but I still get 21 MPG on the highway.
 
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