Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

[Biggems]

Hey everybody, I am new to these forums and relatively new to boating.

I just recently got a 14'6" Northwood 1467LW fishing boat and I need to know if I'll be able to tow it with my 2001 Honda Civic EX (4dr). It's a riveted aluminum hull with a deck in it. Basicaly a fancy jon boat so I can't imagine it'd be that heavy??

I've also attached a few pictures so you can have a better idea....

Thanks!

 

[strngcru99]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

shouldn't be a problem

 

[109jb]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

I've owned several Civics over the years. The owner manuals all said that towing was not recommended. That said, I did have a hitch on an '88 Civic and used it for towing a small utility trailer. I'd say the max load I ever towed with it was probably 800 or 900 pounds. I wouldn't have wanted to tow any more than that. The newer Civics are a little bigger, more hp, probably better stopping power (most important), so you may be able to do a little more weight, but the Civic just wasn't made for this kind of use.

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

Shouldn't be a problem. I towed my 13' whaler for years with both a '78 Civic 3-door (REALLY small car) and an'82 VW Rabbit Hatchback.. No issues with either one....but always make sure your brakes are in top condition.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

You can tow lightweight 12-14' tiller-steered aluminum fishing boats with just about anything you can put a hitch on. They're very low weight, and tongue weight is usually about 100 lb. or less.

Generally, you're not going far with one of those, and even with an outboard up to 15 hp or so, your total weight will be under 700 lb. You won't even notice it behind you, really.

 

[captlee]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

Shouldnt be problem. I tow a 17' proline with a 240 volvo wagon which is right about the limit for me. The tow capacity of my car is around 3,200lbs if the trailer has brakes, but this boat/trailer is the max I personally feel safe towing (2100-2300 lbs). You should be fine.

 

[JoeCrow]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

I wouldn't want to be anywhere in the area if you ever have to slam on the brakes.......

 

[bigpoppakdog]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

Shouldnt be problem. I tow a 17' proline with a 240 volvo wagon which is right about the limit for me. The tow capacity of my car is around 3,200lbs if the trailer has brakes, but this boat/trailer is the max I personally feel safe towing (2100-2300 lbs). You should be fine.

When I saw your photo I sounded like akmed the dead terrorist "Holy Crap!"

 

[captlee]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

When I saw your photo I sounded like akmed the dead terrorist "Holy Crap!"

Theres no mountains here and Im not towing very far. Ive hit the brakes hard enuff to engage the ABS brake system and it stopped ok. So im sure if mine will tow this, Biggems wont have a problem

 

[steelespike]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

I tow my 57 18ft Crestliner utility with a tiller 65 Merc 500 50hp.
about 545# boat and motor, Load Rite trailer full gear.My 07 impreza tows easily.Not often and about 100 miles at a time.Probably more hp but a smaller car.

 

[vandy21]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

Shouldnt be problem. I tow a 17' proline with a 240 volvo wagon which is right about the limit for me. The tow capacity of my car is around 3,200lbs if the trailer has brakes, but this boat/trailer is the max I personally feel safe towing (2100-2300 lbs). You should be fine.

I tow with a Volvo also. Newer (1998), but the capacity is about the same. 3300lbs I think. I have a toyota T100 also, but I prefer driving the Volvo so I mainly tow with it. No problems.

 

[timdan94]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

I tow a 15 mfb with an 85 hp outboard with my subaru legacy 5speed. The boat is 650 lbs the motor 250 plus trailer and gear and I have no problems with it.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

I have a 1991 Volvo 740 wagon. I tow my little tinny with it all the time. You'd never know it was back there. No problems at the ramp, either. Rear wheel drive, plenty of weight. Kinda underpowered, but I'm in no hurry.

Brakes? Four wheel discs (Volvo was the first maker to use 4 wheel disc brakes, way back in the 1960s).

No problems. I do push the overdrive lockout on hilly country, but there it is. Did I say it didn't tow fast? It just goes, and goes, and goes. 250,000+ miles on it now.

 

[bigpoppakdog]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

its not the hp of the car, but the transmission. Weight is a factor also, don't care how good your brakes if what you're pulling is too heavy. The biggest thing to worry about is burning out the transmission. Cars don't have oil cooler lines like tow vehicles so engine heat is also a concern. But for lighter boats or smaller boats shouldn't be too much of a concern as I'm sure these cars can carry 3 200lb passengers and a 200 lb driver pretty easily. That's about the same as a small boat right there.

 

[Titanium48]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

Using full synthetic transmission fluid and adding a cooler (if automatic) will go a long way towards preventing premature failure. A manual will probably be happier than an auto cruising down the highway, but hauling a boat out of the water will be hard on the clutch. You will want to install trailer brakes if the rig (including all your gear!) will be over about 1000 lbs.

 

[Biggems]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

Thanks everybody.

My car is obviosly FWD and also manual transmission. I guess my real concern is pulling it out of the water on that steep ramp with those skinny little Honda tires. You think it'll be ok though?

 

[captlee]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

Youll be fine Biggems, but if youre still worried put a snorkel and fins on the seat next to ya

 

[freddyray21]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

I keep my 17ft sailboat at the lake. I tow it from the storage to the lake with my Volvo 850 turbo wagon. It's a light boat and not much of a problem towing.

 

[bigpoppakdog]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

my first boat three years ago was a 14 ft chrysler cadet with a 50 hp suzuki. I noticed the trailer is very similar where the wheels are far back. This made the tongue weight very heavy. I had to use two hands to lift it. With my tri hull last year and runabout this year they were very light at the tongue. So I would also be concerned about a hitch that will support that weight on a car. As far as pulling it with a motor(your photo didn't show a motor) and full tanks of gas (roughly 72 lbs) out of the water, I don't know since I have never pulled a boat with a car.

 

[mthieme]

Re: Tow 15' with Honda Civic????

No problem.
I added a hitch to my wife's Cavalier so she could take the bikes and the kids to the park - and of course I would have the option to use it for my hydroplane since her car gets twice the mileage of my pickup truck.