Towing (well, launching) midsized aluminum boat with Rav 4?

[JASinIL2006]

Haha. Not quite. Wasn’t having a go. Just that the thinking is so different between the two. I also think the vehicles must be rated differently too.
I had a 2006 rav 4 years ago and it was rated to tow 2200 kgs gross. Think that’s about 4800lbs nearly without checking.

I also know that my bmw 5 series 530dGT tows my boat and trailer (weighs over 4000lbs gross) very well. Very powerful car and huge brakes for stopping. Across there, the go to car for doing the same would generally be thought of as nothing less than a huge truck like an F150 or more, perhaps. Would an F150 stop in an emergency quicker than my 530d ? I wouldn’t think so.

I think the 'tow big' attitude over here is fairly recent. I know when I was a kid in the late '60s and '70s, my family pulled a camper behind several cars and it generally did OK.

I also wonder if the rise of unibody cars led to people choosing pickups (and similar, frame-built vehicles) for towing?

 

[Old Ironmaker]

I think the 'tow big' attitude over here is fairly recent. I know when I was a kid in the late '60s and '70s, my family pulled a camper behind several cars and it generally did OK.

I also wonder if the rise of unibody cars led to people choosing pickups (and similar, frame-built vehicles) for towing?

The 1st time I ever saw 4X4's that were all jacked up, had big knobby tires on them and big roll bars was in 76' when I stopped in Atlanta on the way back from Spring Break to see Family that transplanted from your town. It was the rage down there, I called them Red Neck limo's. Still is the rage not just in Georgia.