2500Lb load tongue weight w/ single axel compared to dual axel

[hungupthespikes]

Re: 2500Lb load tongue weight w/ single axel compared to dual axel

thebrain: with the mods on your car, full frame, suspension, and coolers, all make it able to tow the tandem axle trailer/boat you are looking at. The problem is more wheel base now. On dry roads with the low center of gravity you should be fine.
Slick roads..... now you have a problem, highway speeds, add high winds or the semi passing, even the high HP chip, along with the short wheel base and it's white knuckle time all the way home.

Another problem is the front end. If you need help at the ramp, you will need someplace to hookup. The low profile of the Pontiac and the high profile of most helper vehicles and the facial is going to need repaired.

It just makes good money 'cents' to buy an old beater for the job. An old truck/suv is sooo much better and even more..
for peace of "thebrain".
good luck
huts

 

[Outsider]

Re: 2500Lb load tongue weight w/ single axel compared to dual axel

You can pull it to the coast with whatever works for you, but you still won't have a 'bluewater' boat when you get there. Sorry ... :facepalm:

 

[thebrain]

Re: 2500Lb load tongue weight w/ single axel compared to dual axel

You can pull it to the coast with whatever works for you, but you still won't have a 'bluewater' boat when you get there. Sorry ... :facepalm:

why do you say it's not a BW boat?

SC designed this boat for the Ocean.

note: (only on 2' or below sea's days) the farest out I plan is trolling the Wall off Destin FL and the oil rigs off Organe Bch, AL both 20 miles off shore.
STB

 

[TorchedGT]

Re: 2500Lb load tongue weight w/ single axel compared to dual axel

Just to reiterate what others have said; you need the weight on the tongue for safe "operation" and functionality of the trailer, not necessarily the vehicle towing it!

I've hauled my boat down the street a couple times with an empty tank of gas and nadda on-board the boat, and slight variations in the road surface would create the worse hitch "clatter" you've ever heard - which is amplified when towing boats because the bow will tend to fly around and act as a spring (even when secured and strapped - the weight forward of the bunks will cause this). It's also really bad for the chassis / driveline... and your spine!


Plus as others have said - if you push your luck even further, someone jumping on the transom or something (maybe you're cleaning the boat before you hitch it for example) on a single axle while unhitched = disaster lol. Tandem it's not so bad, but you could still tip her over backwards.. and if something breaks up front.. your boat will no longer be on a trailer

Anyways for general driving, you need some constant weight to keep the hitch/receiver from creating havoc. The percentage is based on the TRANSFER of weight. It's a variable that can't be "reduced" - it's a factor of the boat's overall weight! That's an important point that hasn't been mentioned. If you reduce the tongue weight, you increase the weight behind the axles - that differential will be noticed when you drive over bumps or something in the road. That 10% is a "buffer zone" and generally eliminates the effect of road imperfections, which might shift weight up to 9% hypothetically - however that 1% will keep positive weight on the hitch/ball/receiver and is much safer (and comfortable)!