Towing/Launching with a minivan

[GoingOverboard]

I am trying to decide what to do about towing my 20' Crest Pontoon. I currently have a Dodge Grand Caravan minivan with a 3.3L engine. I plan to park the boat at the marina, but I still need to get it in and out of the water (no valet service at the local marina). The boat is about 400 lbs over the towing weight of the van, but I am wondering if I can get away with it since I am just going from the parking lot to the ramp & back.

My other option is to get a new van and upgrade to the 3.8L which is rated at 3800 lbs. I would rather not spend the money on a new vehicle, so if anybody has smiliar experience I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks!

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

I am trying to decide what to do about towing my 20' Crest Pontoon. I currently have a Dodge Grand Caravan minivan with a 3.3L engine. I plan to park the boat at the marina, but I still need to get it in and out of the water (no valet service at the local marina). The boat is about 400 lbs over the towing weight of the van, but I am wondering if I can get away with it since I am just going from the parking lot to the ramp & back.

My other option is to get a new van and upgrade to the 3.8L which is rated at 3800 lbs. I would rather not spend the money on a new vehicle, so if anybody has smiliar experience I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks!

That's a tough one. It's going to depend on the ramp at the marina, frankly. Front wheel drive vans aren't the hottest at pulling heavy loads out of a ramp, I'm afraid. Plus you're over the towing limit. You're likely to get slippage on your drive wheels if the ramp's the least bit wet. The 3.8 L one won't help much, either. It's a weight distribution thing.

That said, if the ramp's not terribly steep, you might get away with launching and retreiving with your van. Or, you might not. Or, on a busy day, when the ramp gets really wet, you could be in big trouble with that heavy a boat.

Maybe a different sort of vehicle should be your next move. A full-sized SUV would have no problem with this, and you'd have 4WD to help on tough days. Something like a Suburban would also be good. With either, you'd be better equipped to tow the boat on the highway, when needed, like taking it to the shop for the inevitable repairs.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

If that is the ONLY time your in need of something to move your boat from the storage area of the marina to the ramp then keep the van.
Give it a try, be ready to apply the parking brake and maybe have a tow strap handy on a busy ramp day so you can beg for a tug.

Seems silly to change vehicles for only that much useage.

Maybe you should consider using another marina that at least has a junky 4x4 that they can at least retrieve and launch your boat as part of the storage fees.

I bet you could even get a marina employee to launch it and pull it out for beer money if nothing else.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

i tow with a mercury mariner (like a ford escape) 2.3 liter 4 cylinder. does great. Don't think you will have a problem, keep the tongue weight on the light side, so the weight stays on the front drive wheels,

 

[Motor Boater Bill]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

Get a friend with a 4 x 4 to go along the first time you try it and take a chain, so you have your "Plan B" in place if it doesn't go well. Then take your friend fishing, and buy his gas for the trip. It's a win-win.

 

[Nova II 260]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

Weight is close enough to call ???, but, if your worried..borrow or rent a truck..it's only a few times a year. Take friend fishing.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

Had a 20' toon with a 70 HP on the back. Couldn't tell you how many times I launched and retrieved it using a Caravan with the 3.0. Never a problem, but I did use decent concrete ramps...

 

[RubberFrog]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

Yap, it's all about the ramp! You could pull it out with a pinto if the ramp was shallow enough and had good traction.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

I was towing an 18 footer with a 3.0 grand Caravan. I found that because the drive wheels were always farther up the ramp I had no problem dragging the boat out. Never spun them--always marched right out. On the highway, that was another story. She would shudder and shake pulling away from a stoplight and really just didn't have the steam to do highway speeds adequately

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

Probably be O.K. for what you say you are using it for....but treat it with respect and have a couple of "chocks" handy to put behind the wheels in case you have trouble on the ramp. Most places around here have a couple for folk to use if necessary.

 

[jmoorepghpa]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

Well...... if it will or won't is one issue but if you should or not is another. Chrysler originally designed that tranny back when their mini-vans were smaller and lighter. When they changed to the new body style Caravan (in '96 I think) the vans got way heavier and since then they have been really prone to having transmision problems. If you are going to ramp your boat with it just keep that in mind and be very very gentle with it. If the tires start slipping or if you really have to almost floor it to get the thing to move up the ramp I would stop there and seek some help. The towing capacity on most things that are not a truck or a big SUV built on a truck platform is a bit inflated by the manufacturor as a selling point. Just because you can steer and stop with that much weight doesn't mean its good for the car.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

Well...... if it will or won't is one issue but if you should or not is another. Chrysler originally designed that tranny back when their mini-vans were smaller and lighter. When they changed to the new body style Caravan (in '96 I think) the vans got way heavier and since then they have been really prone to having transmision problems. If you are going to ramp your boat with it just keep that in mind and be very very gentle with it. If the tires start slipping or if you really have to almost floor it to get the thing to move up the ramp I would stop there and seek some help. The towing capacity on most things that are not a truck or a big SUV built on a truck platform is a bit inflated by the manufacturor as a selling point. Just because you can steer and stop with that much weight doesn't mean its good for the car.

From what I understand the Caravans got lighter in 96 as the material thickness of the stamped components was downgauged as a cost saving when the newer body shape took over. Less components used in the body as well due to using higher strength steels in the stampings that gave the required strength while saving a lot of weight by eliminating some of the other stamped components.

 

[jmoorepghpa]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

From what I understand the Caravans got lighter in 96 as the material thickness of the stamped components was downgauged as a cost saving when the newer body shape took over. Less components used in the body as well due to using higher strength steels in the stampings that gave the required strength while saving a lot of weight by eliminating some of the other stamped components.

I looked up the specs on the caravans more out of curiosity than anything and the curb weight is as follows: '91-95 3305lbs, '99 4100lbs and '06 4581lbs. They had an issue too with the brakes they carried over from the earlier models to the new body style being to small for the heavier vans. Got better when they upgraded to the 15" rims and bigger brakes. My wife pulls a small pop-up camper with our '99 but we take it pretty easy on it.

 

[RubberFrog]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

I wonder how all that extra weight translates into frame strength, if at all. My wife has a T&C with the big 6 and it moves alright (for a minivan) but I would never consider towing my particular boat with it.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

I looked up the specs on the caravans more out of curiosity than anything and the curb weight is as follows: '91-95 3305lbs, '99 4100lbs and '06 4581lbs. They had an issue too with the brakes they carried over from the earlier models to the new body style being to small for the heavier vans. Got better when they upgraded to the 15" rims and bigger brakes. My wife pulls a small pop-up camper with our '99 but we take it pretty easy on it.

Well the extra weight certainly did not come from body and frame strength components. They must have put a lot of extra crap in the thing elsewhere. I was involved in the underbody stampings and weight reduction on that model and we ended up about 150lb lighter on the frame.

 

[jmoorepghpa]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

Well the extra weight certainly did not come from body and frame strength components. They must have put a lot of extra crap in the thing elsewhere. I was involved in the underbody stampings and weight reduction on that model and we ended up about 150lb lighter on the frame.

Ken, when you said that about the lighter stampings it made sense - that's what all the car makers are doing now. I wasn't trying to play the I'm-right-you're-wrong game. Our '99 has two sliding side doors instead of one on the '94 and a whole lot more interior goodies--I wonder if that's part of the weight difference. We tow a proprotionally high number of new model caravans for tranny issues and the higher curb weight is the reason the guys at the trans. shops seem to agree is the problem. I have to keep the back brakes adjusted up tight on my wife's '99 or it eats front brakes and rotors with the quickness and the Chrysler guy says its cause the van is too heavy for the brakes (14" wheels). I guess my point is if people have to tow with one of these take it easy on the car. In our area a tranny job ranges from $1500 to $1800 for Chrysler mini van and nobody wants that unexpected bill. Take 3900# for the van, add 600# for cargo and then a 2500# boat/trailer----7000# seems like a lot to me for a FWD buggy.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Towing/Launching with a minivan

Ken, when you said that about the lighter stampings it made sense - that's what all the car makers are doing now. I wasn't trying to play the I'm-right-you're-wrong game. Our '99 has two sliding side doors instead of one on the '94 and a whole lot more interior goodies--I wonder if that's part of the weight difference. We tow a proprotionally high number of new model caravans for tranny issues and the higher curb weight is the reason the guys at the trans. shops seem to agree is the problem. I have to keep the back brakes adjusted up tight on my wife's '99 or it eats front brakes and rotors with the quickness and the Chrysler guy says its cause the van is too heavy for the brakes (14" wheels). I guess my point is if people have to tow with one of these take it easy on the car. In our area a tranny job ranges from $1500 to $1800 for Chrysler mini van and nobody wants that unexpected bill. Take 3900# for the van, add 600# for cargo and then a 2500# boat/trailer----7000# seems like a lot to me for a FWD buggy.

No problem with your response. I just never got into the other "goodies" that they put on them. You are absolutely correct with the weights and I stand corrected on that. I just wish that the other departments had got the same result as we did. Then we would have a lighter minivan. Currently doing the same thing with the new Caliber, compass and Patriot. Lost 55lb so far and still going.