do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

[tommays]

i cant believe the things i have seen in the last coupple of weeks<br /><br />i saw a chevy astro towing a BIG 25 ft Cabin Cruiser with a Bravo 3 drive<br /><br />the tires were way to low on air and it was hopping down sunrise highway and pushing that poor littel astro all over the place<br /><br />then today i saw a toyota CAMARY pulling a brand new Bayliner 210 Classic that must be 100% over its tow limit<br /><br />tommays<br /><br />Edited topic for clarity.

 

[DJ]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

"pulling" and "stopping" are two different catagories.<br /><br />Idiots can pull, those in the know can stop.<br /><br />The idiots will dictate tow restrictions, for all of us.

 

[rg33]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

Not here in Wisconsin. Truck may be as big or bigger than the boat at interior state lakes

 

[tomatolord]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

that bayliner weighs in at over 4000 so i would say it was at least 400% capacity.<br /><br />At least the guy pulled it once!

 

[craze1cars]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

I'm with rg33. Appears that us midwesterners are less likely to undersize, and are more likely to buy massive trucks that have 4 times the towing capacity we need.<br /><br />At least we can stop!

 

[Pony]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

LOL gots to agree with that.....very rare to see a car pulling a boat of any kind. occassionaly i see a saturn or something with a hitch on it but never seen one pull something

 

[umblecumbuz]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

Oh boy!<br /><br />You lucky guys have different standards. While I agree with what's been said - in the real world over here we get minicars pulling huge boats all the time.<br /><br />Others who've lived in Europe, and especially in the land of ingenuity (Ireland) have probably seen it all, too.<br /><br />Sometimes, the old boys who drive them go so slow that the tide's gone out and come in again before they reach the ramp, but there seem to be very few accidents.

 

[Triton II]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

Our standard family car is either a Ford Falcon 4.0L straight six or a Holden Commdore 3.8L V-6. Both can legally tow 1.5 times their weight at up to 100 kmh or 60 mph. This equates to 2.5 tonnes or over 5500lbs. However most people with big boats use 4WDs but I have seen the odd Subaru WRX towing 18ft Bayliners!

 

[RobG]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

I pull my 14 ft alumacraft flatbottom with my 96 Saturn SL, with gear and all it probably doesn't weight 500 lbs. Still get good gas mileage and can use the A/C going up hills. I do get some strange looks but those are people probably wishing they were fishing!<br /><br />Rob

 

[dragracer]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

I hope I'm not undersized. I pull my 18 foot Celebrity with an F350 Superduty crew cab long bed dually powerstroke diesel. It doesn't seem to be too small. Just kidding! It does just fine.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

I've seen a runabout of somekind being tow by a Fierro once, is that even correct spelling of that car? anyone even remember that thing? you know the one they use in Back to The Future.<br />Triton> I would slap the dude in the WRX silly if it was the newer model, that car made for speed and agility not towing.

 

[dragracer]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

It's Pontic Fiero. The car in Back to the Future was a DeLorean.

 

[ndemge]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

When I sold my boat 3 years ago,,,<br /><br />21' Celebrity with I/O, dual axle heavy trailer.<br /><br />I used my '94 Blazer with 4.3 to pull it home, and it was WAY too much boat for the vehicle. Never towed with that again except for the couple mile from storage to ramp.<br /><br />When I sold it, a guy came with a MONTANA minivan! He was convinced he would be fine, hope he lived, he had a 30 mile trip to make.

 

[coleman kayak1]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

I had a frient with a relatively light boat (700 lbs) he towed it with a large sedan

 

[Nos4r2]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

Over here we're legally restricted to towing maximum 85% of the weight of the tow vehicle-unless plated otherwise-hence the 4x4's towing 2.5 tons+<br /><br />Still doesn't stop me seeing people towing up to 4x their car weight...

 

[Northern Eclipse]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

I saw someone towing a 17ft bowrider i/o, I think it was a Invader with a VW Beetle

 

[debkeys]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

I have been vehicle shopping for something fuel efficient and capable of towing a 20' Mako with a 225, and our family. I would like a mini van or small SUV-any ideas??

 

[debkeys]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

We almost bought a 2005 Explorer with Advance Trak which according to the salesmen was an upgrade and would allow us to change the Class II hitch to a Class III/IV hitch no problem. Waiting for the paperwork to finish I am browsing their spec brochure and discover we are not even close to being able to tow our 20" Mako and stuff. The 4.3 axle is not an upgrade-whew we high tailed it out of there and are still looking-gas efficiency is a big consideration. Any ideas-small SUV big enough.

 

[Jeepnn]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

debkeys,<br /><br />How much does your Mako weigh? I was a salesman for a Ford dealership and the Explorer w/ the class III tow package should of handled it fine. If it has a class II hitch on from the factory then you are s#$@ out of luck. The factory hitches are integrated into the rear crossmember. They are NOT upgradeable in the aftermarket.<br /><br />OK, just my 2 cents...<br /><br />Mike M.

 

[PolarBear]

Re: do you see BOATS being towed buy way-too-small tow cars?

OK how do you confuse a Fiero with a DeLorean? Hehe...<br /><br />We have a '93 Blazer which would be nearly identical to a '94, and I would have thought it would handle towing that 21' boat fine - what did the boat and trailer weigh?<br /><br />Our boat has only been towed once (purchase to here) but it is only a 15' runabout with outboard. We've pulled lots of bigger crap around, though, just not boats.<br /><br />I'm sure trailer brakes would help in some cases, although not with the Camry pulling the Bayliner