Towing more than capacity?

[ryno1234]

This is a question coming from complete ignorance regarding towing larger boats.

I currently have a 19' boat. It was my first boat ever and my first time towing ever. 12 years later, I'm plenty comfortable with towing, but that said I had never checked "if" I could tow from a capacity standpoint when I first got the boat. Because of that, I've never thought twice about it.

Fast forward to today, I'm looking at buying a new boat, but larger (30' tongue to outdrive). Boat weighs 5,000 lbs and the trailer is probably 1,500 - 2,000lbs. The trailer has surge brakes (if that matters)

The towing capacity of my 2007 Lincoln Navigator is 6,000lbs. Looks like I'm over anywhere from 500 - 1,000lbs.

How significant is this overage?

 

[Scott Danforth]

if you are going off of published weight, your boat weight is dry.

add fuel, water, gear, etc. and that is 6k alone for the boat.
add your trailer and anything else you bring along and you are well over 2000# over capacity

your navigator has independent rear suspension, lowering its towing capacity over a solid axle truck. not to mention, your navigator has a short wheel base, so the boat will wag the SUV around like a rag doll.

My recommendation, use the appropriate tow vehicle.

 

[dingbat]

Btw your towing capacity is #6,000 with weight distribution hitch. #5,000 otherwise

 

[racerone]

Towing down the street to the launch or a 100 miles at highway speeds ?-----How steep is the launch ramp ?

 

[briangcc]

Over capacity is over capacity. All it takes is some kid darting out in the street in front of you and you can't stop. Or Grandma pulling out in front of you and you T-bone her again cause you can't stop. Legal fees, court fees, etc.

To put it another way...wanna be a YouTube celebrity?

Get the right vehicle for the job.

 

[Lou C]

There is no way that a 30’ boat weighs only 5,000 lbs. I bet if you weighed it it’s a lot more. My little 20’ dry weight was supposed to be approx 3000 yet on the trailer boat & trailer is 5,040. The boat is at least 4,000 if not 4100-4200.
For that load you need a 3/4 ton pick up.

 

[mike_i]

Two words come to my mind that I would be concerned about, safety and liability.

 

[Lou C]

Are you sure your tow capacity is 6,000? I know for my 07 Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi it is 7,200. Still I would not tow a boat that big! Not just weight its sail area, etc.

 

[Alumarine]

Is the boat 30 feet or the length of the trailer and boat 30 feet?

 

[Lou C]

If there is any way you could get it weighed before buying that would be great.

 

[racerone]

It sounds to me that the bowl goes empty.----Those motor typically then rev up before they stop.----Easy to solve this I think.

 

[tpenfield]

I have towed on the highway right up near/at capacity and maybe even slightly over, considering published weights do not include fuel, gear, etc. (24 foot boat . . . about 6,500 - 7,000 lbs total)

I towed this beast (see signature photo), which is 14,500 lbs (ish) total and about 42 feet overall on the trailer. I am quite a bit over the tow rating of my truck, but only go 25-30 mph for about 1-2 miles. I doubt I could tow this on the highway, as it would be too much for my truck. If I needed to tow further distance or higher speeds, I'd need to get a better truck.

If you are towing near/over the rated limit, you need to be cautious with your driving. Slow speeds, plenty of stopping distance, etc.

 

[Sprig]

There are no good reasons to tow over capacity. Only bad things happen from doing so. Doing so will harm or break the suspension and the drive train and/or cause them to fail sooner. Your brakes are likely inadequate for the total weight. Stopping distances are greater even with trailer brakes. Towing over weight increases your chances of an accident. Increases your chances of injuring yourself and others. If you are towing overweight and you have and accident that’s your fault, liability increases dramatically. There are numerous other reasons too not to tow over capacity.

 

[H20Rat]

How far are you towing? I've towed FAR above the vehicle rating more times than I can count, but... on a 1/2 mile gravel road at 10 mph.

 

[RaftRat]

I second the “how far is your tow trip?” I know meeting or exceeding the tow capacity its never recommended, but towing to the neighborhood ramp where you’ll never get to highway speeds, you should be fine. I’m also not an attorney, so you’ll have to assess the risk for yourself. But if I was that far percentage over the tow rating of the vehicle, I would not travel on roads where the speed exceeds that of residential areas. That being said I had a little ranger that was just about at 100% capacity, and it did ok in town, never going over about 45 mph. Acceleration was obviously heavily taxed, but because the trailer had hydraulic brakes, the braking wasn’t bad.

 

[racerone]

Remember that towing CAPACITY is given for a vehicle that was new.----Once a vehicle has been subjected to wear and tear.----Salt in winter climates then frames and hitches may not be " like new " anymore.

 

[jimmbo]

With many Vehicles, it is possible to Tow a Trailer far above the Tow Rating of the Tow Vehicle. However, it may cause premature Wear on many things. Regardless of the Longevity Issues, there is the Safety Issue, and also the Liability Issue. The "I only tow a 1/4 mile and, at low speeds" doesn't mean anything in Court.
In case of Accident, even if you would normally be free of any Liability, the other Insurer would say you shouldn't have been on the Road in that Configuration, and you could be found Culpable to some Extent

 

[RaftRat]

With many Vehicles, it is possible to Tow a Trailer far above the Tow Rating of the Tow Vehicle. However, it may cause premature Wear on many things. Regardless of the Longevity Issues, there is the Safety Issue, and also the Liability Issue. The "I only tow a 1/4 mile and, at low speeds" doesn't mean anything in Court.
In case of Accident, even if you would normally be free of any Liability, the other Insurer would say you shouldn't have been on the Road in that Configuration, and you could be found Culpable to some Extent

I fully agree with that. It’s like the safe vs max load limits on rope and chain, you can easily exceed the safe limit, at your own risk, and there’s a good chance that you’ll be fine as long as you’re still under the max limit, but they have a disclaimer that recommends to not go over the safe limit, and if you do and get hurt, then they are not liable.

 

[Blorton]

To add to the dogpile, I’ll chip in that safe operating thinking is that you don’t even want to approach the rated limits for towing, leave a nice healthy margin along the lines of 25%, just like you would with your fuel reserves.