Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

[summertimetoy]

I was wondering if anyone out there pulls their boat with a dodge Nitro. We are hoping to pull our 18 foot bayliner that weighs less than 3000lbs with trailer.

Depending on hitch with the nitro you can pull up to 3000lb or 4500lb. Vehicle does have tow package.

Just wondering if anyone out there is using a medium sized SUV

 

[scipper77]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

I was using a ford Escape for a #2000-#2500 boat. It was just barely enough to properly tow my rig (rated for #3500).

Transmission was on the way out so we replaced it recently (I now have a boat and nothing with a hitch ). Don't tow in overdrive and if you tow regularly, get the transmission flushed every couple of years.

 

[Blue Crabber]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

I now have a boat and nothing with a hitch

WHAT!!!!!!

That's like a cardinal sin around here!

Hope you find something to tow the boat with soon.

If you were closer I would just let you borrow my truck.

Good luck!

 

[scipper77]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

WHAT!!!!!!

That's like a cardinal sin around here!

Hope you find something to tow the boat with soon.

If you were closer I would just let you borrow my truck.

Good luck!

I know, I have a plan all be it a horrible one. I'm going to sell the boat, tuck the $$ away in a money market and add like $100 a month for a few years then upgrade. In the mean time I have a line on a small aluminum boat that I can trailer with my little car so I can still get out on the water and fish.

Plan B is to drop $2500 on a tow only vehicle. Something with high miles since it will only see 500-1000 additional miles a year.

Plan C is to put a hitch on the new Mini-Van (2008 Quest). It will tow #3500 but after wearing out the tranny on the escape I would rather not tow with it.

For now it's plan A as I will likely never upgrade the boat unless I sell it first.

Of course I never fish alone and the guys I bring with me all have trucks that can tow so I guess that's plan D.

Sorry to thread jack!!

 

[Subliminal]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

I bought our boat specifically to pull behind our 08 Chevy Equinox. The Equinox did not have a hitch on it, but because it's the v6, it is rated at 3500 lbs.

Our boat is an 18 ft Monterey, 2400 dry, ~500 trailer, a few hundred in fuel and toys and we're right at the limit. When the dealer ordered a trailer, I had him order one with surge brakes (discs).

So, I've towed our boat (that I picked up 1.5 weeks ago) about 4 hours now...and it tows great! I mean, you can DEFINITELY tell it's back there, and acceleration is pretty slow, but it tracks straight on the highway at speed, and with the brakes it slows down very swiftly.

I even spoke to the owner of our local tranny shop, and he said that if I baby the car from stoplights, the transmission is definitely up to the task.

Anyway, that's all the help I can give you. I'd say if you have the Nitro, go to etrailers.com or something and order the hitch, and then (instead of buying a new tow vehicle) have brakes installed on your trailer and call it a day!

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

I even spoke to the owner of our local tranny shop, and he said that if I baby the car from stoplights, the transmission is definitely up to the task.

Do you have a trans cooler? Overheating a trans will kill it faster than your right foot ever could.

 

[Subliminal]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

It has a factory one installed. The tranny fellow said it was up to the task.

 

[180shabah]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

Should be no problem with that load. I have an Isuzu Trooper that I have been towing boat and camper with for 5 years. We do not take the camper into the mountains with it, but the boat goes a couple times a year.

 

[jkust]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

Ok so I bought my boat before I had a proper tow vehicle two years ago so I have some first hand observations. And so I towed it with our old minivan with the tow package and 3500 capacity. Our 18 foot boat and single axel trailer is 4000lbs on the scale wet. The minivan handled it like a champ (or what I thought a champ was) and had well over 100,000 miles on it at the time. I will tell you why the minivan tows better than you'd think. The van has a very long wheel base, it's a heavy vehicle and it has the automatic air adjust suspension. To my knowledge the Nitro has none of those attributes. Towing with the wrong vehicle is an accident waiting to happen and I was glad to have only done it one season. The main problems you have in towing with the wrong vehicle are absolutly horrible acceleration and low speed maneuverability is a little more difficult due to low torque (at least with my pitiful van engine). I assume your Nitro would have 4wd so won't mention the need for that at certain times. What I really discovered is that even the tiniest engine has enough torque to pull out of the steepest ramp with almost zero effort. It's when you are turning the wheel parking the boat in the yard or whereever that you notice the lack of torque. Now fastforward to last season and I wised up and bought a body on frame SUV with a v8 and 6500 lb tow capacity and now really realize the error of my ways. It's like going from a model T to a roadster with regards to capabilities. I can honestly say I will never tow my 18 foot boat with anything less than a true suv. Again these are just my observations. I'd suggest a body on frame suv. It makes towing life much less stressful among other things.

 

[grahamh]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

I like Plan B. Just find an older pickup truck or SUV. You can probably find something for less that $2000, or even less if you don't mind it being ugly. My old Bronco is used almost exclusively for towing the boat, the rest of the time it just sits.

 

[summertimetoy]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

I have a newer 3/4 ton HD dodge pick up that will pull the boat 99% of the time. The only time the nitro would pull it would be if we are going to a small nearby lake so would could pile more friends in.

Just wondering what your thoughts were.

 

[jkust]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

I have a newer 3/4 ton HD dodge pick up that will pull the boat 99% of the time. The only time the nitro would pull it would be if we are going to a small nearby lake so would could pile more friends in.

Just wondering what your thoughts were.

The intown trips were the worst for us because we'd have to do more maneuvering on skinnier roads with more stop and go and the temp needle was constantly creeping up if we weren't moving. In other words all the shortcomings were magnified intown vs the open road towing to the lake house. I know the Nitro is probably 10times the vehicle the minivan is (with a much hipper name than Silhouette) and your boat is a little lighter too. Also then taking into account the load in our van from say a weeks worth of gear plus four passengers we were so far over the limit it wasn't even funny. The more people and gear in the Nitro the more you approach the limits. I'd say if you had the larger 4500lb limit, you'd be ok.

 

[Jeepster04]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

If it has the 3.7l engine then its basically a Jeep liberty. Same frame(Uni-Frame), same engine, same transmission, same axles. If it has the towing package then you should be just fine towing 3,000lbs.

 

[Andy'sDelight]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

I have a newer 3/4 ton HD dodge pick up that will pull the boat 99% of the time. The only time the nitro would pull it would be if we are going to a small nearby lake so would could pile more friends in.

Just wondering what your thoughts were.

Don't forget those friends aren't weightless, unless you tow on the moon of course

 

[JaseBosto]

Re: Boat Towing...Dodge Nitro (or Medium SUV)

Don't forget those friends aren't weightless, unless you tow on the moon of course

It would be a reduced weight on the moon, not weightless.

I would pull the boat with the nitro, if you already have it. If not, get a bigger vehicle.