Boat+Trailer Combo

[Sabbath]

Hi All. Have a quick newbie question.

Im just getting in to boating. Infact, i had my first attempt at putting a boat in the water today. Granted it was trying to swap my boats around on trailers.

One boat is a 5m and has a better trailer. 14inch/7ish inch wide tyres on it.
The other is a 4.2m on a tilt trailer with 10inch rims.

Now. I tried putting the first boat in the water with the larger trailer. Given it was a shallow ramp, i had the problem that my car was almost putting the exhaust in the water before it was able to float.

I drive a lowered car, it's not massivly low, but it's the only car i've got for towing and putting standard springs back in isnt really ideal.

Now, my second trailer is on 10 inch rims, so that makes it lower slung. But running on 10 inch rims when i have to travel over an hour on 100km/h roads doesnt seem safe or ideal. So i was wanting to swap the boats over on the trailers. But im not sure if i will keep having clearance problems?

Should i go up in rim size on the tilt trailer, or put it on the bigger trailer and hope for better ramps?

Tilt trailer

Non Tilt (one i want to swap above boat onto)

Towcar

 

[1980Coronado]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

You need a more appropriate tow vehicle...the trailers are fine. You don't need a huge pickup truck, but you do need something more suited to towing than what you show here.

 

[Fed]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

Keep the 5M boat on the good trailer and make it so it will roll off instead of floating it off.
Change your tow bar height to get the trailer close to level.
Your Commodore will tow the 5M boat easily.

 

[zopperman]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

Keep the 5M boat on the good trailer and make it so it will roll off instead of floating it off.
Change your tow bar height to get the trailer close to level.
Your Commodore will tow the 5M boat easily.

^^^ yep. make sure the trailer is level.

 

[1980Coronado]

So....what is this car rated to tow? 1100 lbs maybe?......put gear in the boat, gear and people in the car....and you're over the rated capacity....hope you don't have to stop quickly....its gonna be a wild ride.

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[zopperman]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

So....what is this car rated to tow? 1100 lbs maybe?......put gear in the boat, gear and people in the car....and you're over the rated capacity....hope you don't have to stop quickly....its gonna be a wild ride.

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only way to now is to consult the manual... I'd imagine that boat is very light.

 

[Fed]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

Your Commodore will tow the 5M boat easily.

In fact he could probably tow both boats at the same time.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

In fact he could probably tow both boats at the same time.

I agree, that car ain't no slouch. In the fifties most families could only afford one vehicle so they would use their family car and never thought twice about it. The owner's manual didn't even have specs on the towing capacity. I remember seeing Nash Ramblers, six cylinder Chevys,big Desotos and Chryslers pulling heavy tri-hull boats to the lake......today you must have a big dually diesel!

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

NO you dont , you can tow with any thing that has a rating for the load , I tow a 2600 lb pontoon with a S 10 I get 18 mpg while towing , in the over silly towing world here in I boats I should go and find freight liner tractor with a 400 cat motor that is rated at 120,000 then I could tow even if bouth wheels come off and I could just drag it home in a shower of sparks, think of all the money I could save n tires.

 

[Sabbath]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

So....what is this car rated to tow? 1100 lbs maybe?......put gear in the boat, gear and people in the car....and you're over the rated capacity....hope you don't have to stop quickly....its gonna be a wild ride.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9650 using Tapatalk

Towbar's rated to 2100lbs. I use this car to tow my drag car around etc so i know that the car and towbar can cope with the weight

Car's no slouch even with the boat on. Extractors, Exhaust, Tune, Intake Mods. Pushes over 230rwkw.

Thanks for all the replies guys. I've taken the boats to the local boat shop and am getting them to swap them over on the trailers. Only costing me $100 quoted over the phone, sure saves my time and petrol driving to and from the boat ramp to do it.

 

[Fed]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

Are you sure that's not 2100 Kg?

 

[Sabbath]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

Are you sure that's not 2100 Kg?

Yeah that...oops

 

[1980Coronado]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

I assume you have the recommended load leveling package for towing 2100 kg...right?

 

[1980Coronado]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

I agree, that car ain't no slouch. In the fifties most families could only afford one vehicle so they would use their family car and never thought twice about it. The owner's manual didn't even have specs on the towing capacity. I remember seeing Nash Ramblers, six cylinder Chevys,big Desotos and Chryslers pulling heavy tri-hull boats to the lake......today you must have a big dually diesel!

So...because people couldn't afford a second vehicle in the 50's....and they didn't think twice about it....that makes it safe today? That's the argument? We used to pull a 2000 lb (900 kg) boat and trailer every weekend in the summer, with a 1977 Ford LTD II...with a bumper hitch. The car had a 351 cid (5.7L) V8 engine....transmission went out at 60,000 miles. Just because the vehicle can tow the weight doesn't mean it is: 0ne, safe and two, good for the vehicle.

I'm not suggesting a need to go out and buy a 1/2 ton pick up with a diesel....I'm suggesting you get a more suitable tow vehicle. My brother in-law has a Z28 that has close to 800 hp...runs 10.9's in the 1/4 mile.....now that car aint no slouch, but I wouldn't tow with it, just as I wouldn't tow with that Commodore. I'm suggesting he get a vehicle that will allow him to back the boat in without putting his exhaust in the water. If that car was suited to towing, he wouldn't be having the problems he's having. You're also asking for transmission problems later on pulling that drag car around......that's just my opinion, it's worth as much as you paid for it.

 

[98Shabah]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

This thread has the potential to get nasty. lol.

Tow ratings for cars are quite a bit higher in countries where fuel is far more expensive than here in the US.

 

[erwinner]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

Regardless of vehicle or tow rating, if you are towing it is important to keep the tranny fluid nice and cool. If your tow rig doesn't have a transmission oil cooler, it's definitely worth investing in! And not a particularly expensive or difficult procedure to DIY.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

This thread has the potential to get nasty. lol.

Tow ratings for cars are quite a bit higher in countries where fuel is far more expensive than here in the US.

Yeah, When I was in Germany a few years ago I was amazed to see what people pulled their trailers with. I have a friend that pulls a two horse trailer on the very crowded autobon with a Citroen! A pick-up truck is seldom seen. It is amazing what a person can do when they are forced to be conservative. The coolest thing I saw was logging trucks that had no trailer.....it was just a semi-tractor that carried a spare axle that was strapped to the long logs so the logs themselves became the trailer. I think marketing has brainwashed us into over-killing everything.

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

One comment... 100 KM/Hr is 62MPH for those who are metric-ly challenged. The 10" rims will be spinning very fast, and may not be rated for much above that. Here in the states, speed limits are 70MPH, but many people exceed that up to 80MPH. I do that my self, but NOT with a trailer. The high speed can be hard on the tire and bearings and can give some "interesting" results. The larger rims will do much better at highway speeds. Also, Fury is hopefully not running (and stopping) at the speeds that we run here in the states. The lower speed reduces his risk of not being able to stop in time.

TerryMSU

 

[Sabbath]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

I assume you have the recommended load leveling package for towing 2100 kg...right?

I do have an air-ride suspension kit that i could install, yes.

We used to pull a 2000 lb (900 kg) boat and trailer every weekend in the summer, with a 1977 Ford LTD II...with a bumper hitch. The car had a 351 cid (5.7L) V8 engine....transmission went out at 60,000 miles. Just because the vehicle can tow the weight doesn't mean it is: 0ne, safe and two, good for the vehicle.

Alternativly, you could of had hundreds of thousands of miles of towing on the same car, same transmission etc. Just because a transmission fails prematurely doesnt count in the concept that it was towing 900kg regularly that did it.

just as I wouldn't tow with that Commodore. I'm suggesting he get a vehicle that will allow him to back the boat in without putting his exhaust in the water. If that car was suited to towing, he wouldn't be having the problems he's having. You're also asking for transmission problems later on pulling that drag car around......that's just my opinion, it's worth as much as you paid for it.

I see what you're saying. But, the ramp i was putting the boat in at was inexplicably shallow. Talking to a friend at work, and he suggested on shallower boatramps (ie some river ramps) that they used to put a snatch strap on the back of their car and on the boat, allowing them to get the boat further out, without putting the car all the way in the water (and this was using a Nissan Patrol)

Regardless of vehicle or tow rating, if you are towing it is important to keep the tranny fluid nice and cool. If your tow rig doesn't have a transmission oil cooler, it's definitely worth investing in! And not a particularly expensive or difficult procedure to DIY.

Definately going to be fitting a trans cooler. These cars have a pissy internal cooler which runs through the radiator. So rising trans temp has an effect on cooling ability for the motor. I've never bothered before because it's usually freeway driving so low stress.


I do appreciate all the replies. Definately looking forward to putting my boat in the water for the first time tomorrow at a proper boat ramp

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Boat+Trailer Combo

So...because people couldn't afford a second vehicle in the 50's....and they didn't think twice about it....that makes it safe today? That's the argument? We used to pull a 2000 lb (900 kg) boat and trailer every weekend in the summer, with a 1977 Ford LTD II...with a bumper hitch.

You're also asking for transmission problems later on pulling that drag car around......that's just my opinion, it's worth as much as you paid for it.

So you are saying that a 1/2 ton truck from say around mid 1970's is safer? I'd be willing to bet the OP's car with that trailer behind could out stop a '70's 1/2 ton with 4 drum brakes and no abs...

And as far as transmission problems, I bought my car (subaru WRX) at 20k miles. I immediately put a hitch on to tow my 2000 pound boat, 1500 pound snowmobiles, and all kinds of other things. People immediately said the transmission isn't going to last a year. That was 6 years ago, and i'm over 140k miles. Still have the same clutch even. Not bad for a heavily modified car that puts out around 350hp at the crank. The disclaimer is that I grew up towing, I literally was driving a farm truck with stuff behind before I could reach the gas pedal.

Towing is 99% driver, 1% vehicle. The trend on this board is that you have lots of people that are relatively inexperienced with towing, and try to compensate for that lack of experience with vehicle. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation. If you look outside the US, people safely tow all kinds of things with much smaller cars. The difference is that the requirements to even get a license are vastly higher than in the US, which doesn't have much in the way of requirements beyond a heartbeat.