Trailering

[Catigale]

Terry - the problem is there is towing and TOWING

I pull my boat 15 minutes down the road to the Hudson with my Volvo V70 wagon with no problem

I wouldnt take it onto the freeway though.

Defining a safe tow vehicle has to account for both use and personal factors, so its a hard thing to nail down into a simple list of vehicles

[Robert]

What vehicles out there can we call adequate without them falling into the marginal or overkill categories?
..
My opinion is that to be safe enough, without overkill, use a tow vehicle rated to the next higher tow weight than you intend to tow. So, for a Mac26X or M that is probably going to be close to 4000 lb. when ready to put in the water, I would get a tow rating of 5000 lb.
..
I think the rated 3500 lb. tow vehicles are marginal, but will be good for infrequent towing that does not go over steep hills.
..
The less your tow rating the greater your need to keep the trailer brakes working really well, that is not hard, but it is very easy to forget about.

[NiceAft]

Based upon responses from people who own similar vehicles, the answer to this threads original question is Yes. The more important question is whether Sasa should?

Sasa, what risks are you willing to take?

How many miles on your car now?

What condition is it in?

Are you towing a few miles, or hundreds of miles?

Are you prepared to get another car/van/truck if you lose the gamble?

I had a statistics Prof. in college who used to give an example similar to this: Someone is parking his car to run into a store to buy pack of cigarettes, and he stops in a no parking zone. Are the cigarettes going to cost $1 or $26? In this case we are talking a lot more than twenty six dollars

Ray

[og1975ze]

I see your point Ray. I’ll gamble and probably lose. My Ody is at 100,000 miles. It’s in good condition but 100,000 is 100,000 no matter what condition. I will upgrade my towing vehicle to 4x4 SUV if/when I lose.

[Gazmn]

My .02,

I have a 2003 Mazda MPV with a 3000# capacity tow pkge. I towed my boat home from my purchase of it - 400 white knuckled miles in gusty wind. When I could - which was PDQ; I looked on Ebay for a proper, read TRUCK, tow vehicle.
$7000.00 later I found a 97 Chevy Diesel k1500. Now I can pull a house - - and my knuckles have their proper color



- Gaz

[rockman]

I towed my new 26M with a commodore wagon (6cyl family wagon - 1500kg) and it was fun - i could feel the mac move behind me. I have also towed it behind a Nissan Patrol 4.2litre - had to check the mirror to make sure it was still there. Now i tow with a Kia Carnival (Sedona in US). Its pretty good - plenty of power, and no problems with the front wheel drive on the ramps (and i have had some really steep ramps).

I think that the weight of the tow vehicle is really important - In Australia some road traffic bodies recommend that you always have a tow vehicle that is heavier than the trailer/boat. From my experience i can understand why they recommend this.

Cheers

RockMan
Mac26M

[rockman]

Loved the pic of the sportscar towing the boat - reminded me of childhood trips.

An MGB - loaded with Mum, Dad, 3 children (10,9 & 4) + a medium size dog, all towing a 16' fibreglass dingy, loaded with camping gear and food/supplies for two weeks holidays. And no trailer brakes in those days.


Cheers

RockMan

[pokerrick1]

It's also disconcerting to look in the mirror and see that huge bow just a few feet from the back window.

That IS disconcerting!!

Rick

[Gemini]

I have been towing my with a 2005 Kia Sedona for 5 months now. No problems. The key I have noticed is balance of the weight and the proper heighth of the hitch and weight on the hitch. I do have the factory tow package (up to 3500) and I haven't gone on a cross country trip.

I have no issues at the ramp. The engine is plenty powerful enough to pull the boat out with full ballast. I think the FWD is an advantage because my wheels are on the dry pavement and not on the wet with slime etc. I have pulled out of some steep ramps and in combination with low water levels (being backed way in) no issues.

One time I pulled right out (I think everyone was watch too just because it does look funny, a minivan pulling such a large boat) while a pickup was just spinning wheels.

On the highway it has been comfortable and under control. I do feel the 18 wheelers go by, but with or without the boat I feel them. I wouldn't want to pull it up a long moutain pass in the Sedona, but for flat Florida has worked out nicely.

[Paul S]

I dont think fwd is a big advantage in all situations..as the tounge of the trailer will be pushing down on the rear, reducing the weight (and traction) of the front wheels. It may be good for 95% of the time, but there will be a time where you wish you had 4wd.

Although you CAN use many lighter duty vehicles, I would still personally opt for something heavier with 4wd.

[Lease]

This is a very useful debate, but is missing a couple of points.

None of the points made in terms of weight authority, power, four-wheel drive, etc, are untrue. Generally speaking, the more you have of these, the more flexibility you have.

I don’t agree on the matter of safety, or on safety margins.

Electronic dynamics devices are becoming more and more common in cars and have a lot of adherents in the world of road safety. Opinion is emerging about their role in the towing equation now as well. ABS is a huge bonus to pulling up a heavy combined mass and is now almost universal on new cars. Electronic Brake force Distribution is a feature that is not so common yet, but is particularly useful in towing. EBD modulates the brake force to provide more to the wheel(s) with the most traction, and less to those with the least. Emergency Brake Assist is still quite rare, but is a wonderful feature. With this device, a sensor in the brake actuator detects a sudden brake application (the initial ‘panic’ response) and makes sure that maximum braking occurs even if the force applied to the pedal is not at maximum. The reason for this is that many people in an emergency will hit the brakes suddenly, but not fully because they don’t want to lock up. It’s not something that comes into your consciousness in the heat of the moment; it just happens. EBA/EBD/ABS combine to make sure that you stop in the shortest distance possible with full directional control.

Then there is Electronic Stability Program. ESP is the device that modulates the throttle and braking to individual wheels when yaw is detected (commencement of a slide), in order to restore tracking. This has been the biggest advance in vehicle dynamic safety in a very long time and road safety authorities are lobbying furiously to get it adapted on all cars. Lastly of course is traction control which is useful for wet ramps, leaving the traffic lights on wet roads when towing, etc.

The reason for hashing over all this is because whilst it would be good to have a mini-truck exclusively for towing, it isn’t really practical for most people. Most of us have to commute and/or cart the family around in said truck, and that isn’t something that many want, or can afford to do.

But most importantly, it is to illustrate that there are alternatives to brute force when it comes to towing safely. Having said that, when they come up with a two tonne luxury four wheel drive with all of those gadgets, plus hydro-pneumatic suspension, that gets 30 miles to the gallon when towing, and costs less than forty grand, I’ll take one.

[NiceAft]

Lease,

I had to look up tonne. I now know that it is a unit of 1000 kilograms, equal to 2,204.62 avoirdupois pounds. A two tonne vehicle would weigh in the U.S. almost two and a half tons (4,409.24lbs). You have to translate for us!

[Catigale]

AKA metric ton in North America,,,actually in US, since Canada uses kg already like the rest of the world...

[Paul S]

Electronic upgrades are fine. But I still, personally, prefer brute force and weight. Big brakes on a big heavy truck with 4wd. Priceless.

My LR Discovery for example is insanely overbuilt (heavy) lots of torque, 4wd. Has ESP, self adjusting rear suspension (air bags), active cornering, and is inexpensive used (9-11K for a 00-01). Best of all worlds.

If I had a choice, I would take brute force over technology. Maybe i am old school

Paul