Re: Ford Escape pulling a Searay 185 sport
Looks like the 185 sport goes between 2400lbs to 2600lbs depending on the year and engine. I've towed my sig boat of a shorter length but with a 2900lb dry weight and 4000lb trailer/wet weight with a vehicle rated at 3500lbs prior to owning two body on frame, fully capable suv's. The difference is my vehicle was a heavy, long minivan with air springs and so those things masked how inappropriate a tow vehicle it actually was. The actual, on-the-highway towing part was fine. Sudden stops were scary and an emergency maneuver could have been deadly. In town, stop and go towing was really too much for it and its cooling system and pulling out of a ramp was fine no matter how insanely steep it was. It takes shockingly low torque to pull two tons out of the water. Just the slightest amount of pedal and you are out. Even the slightest amount of algae or heavy use and hence wet cement and the fwd struggled. You would have to shut off the traction control and spin up the ramp in a cloud of smoke. Better tires mitigated that probably 60%. The difference between a full truck frame, 300+ hp v8, 4wd, 6500lb tow capacity and all the stuff a real tow vehicle has compared to a unibody, v6 is like a horse compared to a luxury car. Life while towing is 100% less stressful and even if you manage a safe trip to the ramp with an inappropriate tow vehicle, you stress the whole time out on the water of whether your car will get your boat out. If a failed emergency maneuver doesn't get you the stress will. Towing with the wrong vehicle will provide a very quick education as to why trucks are so superior to car chasis'. As midsized suv's die off I fear we will see more of this type of situation in the coming years. Boats aren't downsizing and are seemingly getting heavier while crossovers and their lighter construction and smaller engines proliferate.
