Can my (Mazda Miata, Chevy Suburban, etc.) pull my 26M???

[dennisneal]

Evidently, this has been a popular topic from time to time.

If this question comes up in the future, there is a website that may help to solve this problem.

It is: http://www.trailerboats.com/towrating/

Input vehicle data

Input trailer weight data

Receive their opinion.

This site does not address the issue of the type and class of the trailer hitch, but it is a good start.

If this information has been posted in the past, I apologize in advance.

[Alex]

Hi Take a look here
http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewt ... ght=towing

[kmclemore]

Doesn't list my 2004 Toyota Sienna - which I use to to the Mac all the time, as it has a rating of 5,000lbs.

[richandlori]

(ok....ok....ok....I just towed it a few feet with my CR-V)

[pokerrick1]

U.S.S. ENTERPRISE

PS That looks like Bakersfield in the background

Rick

[Hamin' X]

This was before Rich's diet. That is why the front wheels are still on the ground. Also, the spare tire will act as training wheel.

Rich---Hamin' X---N7ZH

[Russ]

Doesn't list my 2004 Toyota Sienna - which I use to to the Mac all the time, as it has a rating of 5,000lbs.

How does your Sienna tow the Mac?

We are buying a new 2008 26M and will need to tow it 800 miles back home. We have a 2004 AWD Sienna that is rated for 3,500lbs. We currently tow an 18 foot runabout that has a 140hp I/O without trailer brakes and I can really feel that thing back there. I'm guessing it weighs about 2,800lbs, but it probably should have brakes. I'm concerned that the Sienna isn't enough vehicle for the Mac.

Also, we are using a 4-wire flat wire connector. I imagine we'll need to get an adaptor or something. What connector does the new Mac26M use?

[richandlori]

U.S.S. ENTERPRISE

PS That looks like Bakersfield in the background

Rick

Bakersfield indeed....

Star Trek fan.....so NCC-1701-SEA, as the "real" starship Enterprise was NCC-1701-A (up to D)

[Trouts Dream]

Doesn't list my 2004 Toyota Sienna - which I use to to the Mac all the time, as it has a rating of 5,000lbs.

I have found that you want at least 5,000 lb towing capacity if your going to be travelling any distance with traffic. Remember ratings are always max and any passengers and gear in the vehicle are deducted from the capacity. Tried towing with a Torrent (3,500 lbs) and it was very noticeable that we were towing (very limited power and high RPMs). Moved up to an Envoy, 2WD, 5,400 lbs towing and big noticeable difference. Then again we tow at least 6 hrs to lakes up here.
If it was less than 1 hour tow distance, the 3,500 lbs capacity of the Torrent may have sufficed.

[Captain Jim]

I tow my 2006 with a 2003 Chevy Silverado, 4WD, Crew Cab, Short Bed........one hardly knows it is back there, until you look in the rear view mirror and see something right on your bumper and then you remember , yes there is a back there! My longest haul has been 875 miles.

Jim

[Divecoz]

Lots of Vehicles will do it some do it better than others. As you say / read a LOT have to do with wheel base.
Heres a question for someone. With my Explorer Sport and Delvi's BMW M5 being almost the same size what makes his tow his Mac soooo much better than my truck tows mine $$$$

[Chip Hindes]

With my Explorer Sport and Delvi's BMW M5 being almost the same size what makes his tow his Mac soooo much better than my truck tows mine $$$$

This is not meant to single out Delevi for criticism. In fact, there are any number of good reasons why two vehicles which are similar in size may behave considerably differently. Height, wheelbase, track width, front/rear weight bias, center of gravity, roll center, suspension stiffness, steering ratio, IRS versus live axle, rear overhang, ball height, even tires can make a discernable difference.

However...

Without going back and reading what Delevi says about his towing experience, a general observation about many towing claims: With the possible exception of those towing with the equivalent of big rig tractors, anyone who makes a statement to the effect, "Tows the boat like it isn't there," is either exagerrating for effect, or hasn't been paying much attention to what his vehicle feels like when it isn't towing.

It has a lot to do with perspective as well. Many are familiar with the fact that after driving 75mph the better part of a day, 60mph seems like Grandma speed. By the same token, if you're towing your Mac for 6-8 hours per day, by the end of the day you're so used to the way it handles, you may well be lulled into forgetting for a moment that it's there. Let me assure you, that feeling will go away in a big hurry if you have to make a panic stop on slick pavement or find yourself going too fast in the middle of a curve that's a little tighter than you anticipated. BTDT.

My point is not to question Delevi's claims, since as I said I haven't even read them, but to point out that towing performance, like many things, is in the eye of the beholder. Everybody is approaching the question from a different perspective.

First there's what I like to call the "I can do it with a Yugo" bunch. They insist that their Yugo (or fill in the blank with other vehicle) tows their Mac just fine, when most of the rest of us can take one look at the vehicle in question and state that it is without a doubt, inadequate for serious towing. The second group is typified by the guy who he won't tow his Mac with anything smaller than a modified big rig tractor. "All other things being equal," even the Yugo bunch would have to agree they'd like to tow with the big rig tractor. But of course all other things aren't equal. Purchase price, carbon footprint (gas mileage) maintenance, insurance, the size of your garage, whether we use the vehicle for other purposes, the list can be pretty long. So both of these arguments are equally irrelevant to most of us. We're the vast majority who are somewhere in between, and that's where most of the discussion ought to center.

Towing performance is as much in the trailer and boat setup as it is in the tow vehicle. I have never towed with either of the vehicles in question, but my first Mac tow vehicle was an earlier Explorer AWD with live axle rear suspension, and depending on tongue weight alone, the towing performance ranged from hair-raisingly, death trap scary, to adequate (but from my biased/unbiased view, no better than adequate). I never got a chance to tow my tandem trailer with that vehicle because by the time I completed the trailer mods the Explorer had self destructed. I had decided my comtemplated frequent long distance runs demanded a heavier and more powerful tow vehicle, thus the "opportunity" to upgrade to an Expedition. Tandem was way better with the Expedition; I suspect the performance of the Explorer would have been better as well.

The only way you can really compare towing performance of two different vehicles is back to back, with the same boat and trailer or one set up identically; over the same course in the same conditions. And with the same unbiased driver. Sorry, but the unbiased tester can't be the guy who has has just dropped $50K on his vehicle and feels the need to justify it to others because in doing so he justifies it to himself, nor should it be the guy who has just cheaped out and needs assurance that by settling on a marginal tow vehicle he hasn't put his vehicle, boat, himself and his family in jeorpardy by settling for in- (or barely) adequate towing performance.

Finally, though it may be beating a dead horse, there's no question that the guy who is towing his boat five miles from his driveway to the launch ramp every two weeks doesn't need the same towing performance as the guy logging 1500-4000 miles on the Interstate every year. Guy #1 may never have discovered that the Explorer I described above was treacherous above 60mph, and might wonder why I (unfairly, in his mind) would criticize his favorite tow vehicle.

[Catigale]

Ive been towing my to the cape (about a 200 mile trip one way, all highway) with a VW Eurovan...its rated for 5000 pounds towing by VW, but has a V6 200 HP motor - on the weak side for that load. I have to go up the major grades (as major as we get in NY and MA) in third gear or else it hunts between 3rd and 4th under heavy throttle. Once rolling, I dont feel the rig at all (sorry Chip) but indeed if trouble hits in the form of braking or manuevering I know there is a boat back there.

One way I have made the towing experience pleasant is adjusting my driving habits to the rig - on the Mass Pike I drive 60-65, which puts me about 5-15 mph below the flow of traffic in most places. I stay pulled over right and leave the cruise control on. I almost never have anyone closer than 1/4 mile in front of me, which reduces the chance of panic stop drastically I feel. If I come up on a slow truck in the Berkshire pass, I adjust my speed and stay behind same. I arrive at the launch ramp in 4 hours, not all would up and whacked out, and ready to sail.

[Chip Hindes]

Once rolling, I dont feel the rig at all (sorry Chip) but indeed if trouble hits in the form of braking or manuevering I know there is a boat back there.

One way I have made the towing experience pleasant is adjusting my driving habits to the rig - on the Mass Pike I drive 60-65, which puts me about 5-15 mph below the flow of traffic in most places.

With all due respect, Steve, (what they always say just before nailing you right between the eyes) towing in a straight line down the interstate, going 5-15 mph below traffic flow makes it seem like you "don't feel the rig at all"? You're both stretching the point and not paying attention.

You may as well be saying that while stopped at a stoplight, it feels like it's not there.

It's not often that somebody who disagrees with me proves my point in their own words in two consecutive sentences.

[Terry]

"Tows the boat like it isn't there,"

Chip really does not like this expression so don't anybody use it

How about we say it feels a lot more comfortable and safe!
Merry Christmas Chip!