Towing a 20 foot pontoon with a Toyota Rav 4 V6 engine

dppe

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May 28, 2015
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I am new to this forum and pontoon boating itself and have several questions. Has anyone tried or observed others towing and launching an 18-22 foot pontoon with a V6 Rav 4? According to my manual it has a 3500 towing weight. If so, did you or they run in to any problems pulling the boat out of the lake or launching it on a ramp? Also, how do you figure the towing weight of the boat? Is it wet weight plus motor, plus trailer and cargo? Looking at a Lowe or Sweetwater as I don't really have the bucks for some of the more fancy or deluxe models.
 

H20Rat

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you are about to be deluged by a bunch of posts saying go to a scale, so just a heads up! :)

so getting past that, MOST 20' pontoons with a reasonable engine and trailer under them will be under 3500# ready to go. Not by much, but they will be under. My 22'er that I used to have was 3200# ready to go, and my 24' was actually a little lighter. (open deck, no furniture, 2 stroke engine)

Also, how far are you towing? Pontoons pull much heavier than their weight would indicate if you are going down the highway at 75 mph. The rav4 will be fine for short duty pulling. If it is 2wd, you will have to pick and choose ramps to avoid steep or slimy ones, awd shouldn't have an issue.
 
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dppe

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May 28, 2015
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I am planning on buying the boat and hauling at about 50 mph to a lake where I recently have bought a cabin. I won't actually be in the market until September
so I am just trying to get information ahead of time. I may very likely simply have it shipped there to avoid making a long haul myself. Thanks! so much for your reply and any other replies. At this time I don't plan on taking it to a scale for exact weight.
 

Tater72958

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Apr 9, 2014
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I have a 16 foot flat bottom with a 50hp outboard, the boat is decked with 3/4 marine plywood and a big live well. Its pretty heavy for a flat bottom. Not sure the weight.(it wont fit on my bathroom scales). I pull it with a suzuki samurai that only has 60hp. But i only pull it about 20 miles. I have loaded it on some steep ramps but i have manual hub and 4wd so when pulling it out of the water i go to 4 low. And i have a manual tranmission. I just hate pulling anything with a automatic
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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worse case, rent a truck from u-haul vs having your boat shipped to your cabin.

if you are under your load capacity, you should be good, however as smoke pointed out, you will be just under.
 

bigdee

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Jul 27, 2006
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If it has a two wheel trailer it should be under 3500# I don't think you will have any problems towing it. Just use a little common sense regarding speed and following distance. Accelerate and brake gently. I pulled a similar 'toon with a 4 cylinder S-10 on mild mountain roads for years.
 

ihearth2o

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Aug 18, 2014
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If your RAV4 is awd (for the slippery ramps) then go for it as long as you stay under your tow rating. Also, I wouldn't go any longer than 18-19 maybe 20' because of the short wheelbase of the RAV4. Pontoons are not exactly low profile so you may run into really sketchy sway issues especially in windy conditions if you go any longer. Would probably stay away from scissor trailer too as those aren't the best for towing due to their narrow wheelbase.
 

oldjeep

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Weightwise you are likely ok, problem could be in the wind at highway speeds. I was amazed at how.much a 20ft suntracker on a scissor trailer pushed around my dads Lexus gx470 in a cross wind.
 

lmuss53

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Notice the 2wd 90 hpTracker in front of my Forester back in '06 when it was new, I used that to launch and recover the pontoon for a year or so until I came across the old Dodge pickup I use now.

I would heed all the good advice you've been given so far and be very careful on your first fifty mile trip. I don't think you'll have any trouble launching and recovering with the Rav 4. I used a friend's V6 Mazda Tribune to tow to Chincoteague VA once and had no issues at all with the little SUV towing the loaded down pontoon.
 

bruceb58

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Mar 5, 2006
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Weightwise you are likely ok, problem could be in the wind at highway speeds. I was amazed at how.much a 20ft suntracker on a scissor trailer pushed around my dads Lexus gx470 in a cross wind.

Agreed, even with my 1/2T Silverado, it moves it around pretty good in a crosswind.
 

mla2ofus

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Dec 30, 2008
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I've always said my 24' pontoon is like towing a parachute w/ my 1/2 ton 4WD 5.3 Chevy. You'll definitely feel a head wind!!
Mike
 

jkust

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Aug 2, 2008
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I can attest that it takes surprisingly little of a vehicle to tow even a relatively heavy boat. I used an inapproriate vehicle for a summer to tow a heavy boat a long time back and learned a lot before moving up to real tow vehicles. Even launching and retieving from the worst maintained, steep boat ramps isn't that big a deal with even a fwd. You can force any vehicle to do anything. The downside ignoring the wear and tear you might put on the drive train is the emergency maneuvers that at some point you will be forced to do when that idiot pulls out in front of you while you are on the highway going 60 and it is life or death as to what you do next next. Such a short wheel base vehicle with a long trailer that is top heavy like a pontoon brings additional risk into the equation. My take then is that weight-wise you might be bumping up to the edge but where the unexpected stuff is concerned, that is where I would have a bit of consternation.
 

series9

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May 27, 2012
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We recently weighed a friend's 24' Pontoon with 90hp 4-stroke, Bimini, Grill and minimal furniture at 2200#. They are pretty light for their size. Add the trailer at about 500# and we were at 2700#. It was lighter than we expected. Easy to tow, at least from the weight perspective.
 
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