Towing a blue water boat?

[jdlc1406]

im looking at ~29' offshore boats.. can my 2008 200 series tow it?

In this range I'm seeing weights around 7400 lbs. the manual says 8500 lbs max. I'm unsure if that number is a "dry" weight number or not, and also how much the trailer weighs.

I know LC's aren't MADE for towing, but I also don't want a diesel F250 instead.. so...

Anyone have any experience towing boats?

 

[mreedbmwm3]

I have a 25' Cobalt that weighs in at 5300 lbs dry. I'm guessing my trailer weighs 7 or 800 lbs. It does the job but I don't particularly like doing it with the 200. I would think getting up into that size of boat you might want to get an F250 diesel or something rated for towing 14,000 lbs. plus... How far will you be towing it?
I'm basing my opinion on having to drive an hour to the lake.

 

[IOPTURBO]

How far do you have to tow it? I've always had diesel pickups for towing heavy stuff but that said I towed a similar boat to what you are looking at with my former car, an 05 v8 4runner. Didn't get on the interstate or anything but it did fine. The LC will pull it your issue is going to be sway, the relatively short wheelbase isn't great for towing stability. I'd also look at electric over hydraulic trailer brakes, makes a huge difference for safely towing that size boat.

 

[Sandroad]

There are good threads on towing in general. For starters (and finishers), read up on some of the posts from @linuxgod. However, you don't yet have nearly enough information. Since you're looking at the possibly of towing near the limit, you need to get fitted out wet weights of the boats you're looking at, including the trailers. Then make sure you look at tongue weight too.

 

[TeCKis300]

What's the tongue weight on something like that?

The 200 can surely do it from a capacity standpoint. Though there are considerations you'll want to address towing at the upper limit.

The primary disadvantage of the 200 series is not so much wheelbase, but the length of the rear overhang. Stability is function of the rear overhang to wheelbase ratio. So either having a super short overhang, or a super long wheelbase is an advantage in towing.

The other issue of the longer overhang is loss of weight over the front axle. Like a seesaw, heavy tongue weights will lighten the front axle, and put commensurately more weight on the rear axle.

Both of these issues can easily be addressed with a proper hitch. Many hitches can adequately distribute weight and mitigate sway. If you absolutely want to make this work, with the highest margin for success and safety, look into a Propride or Hensley hitch. They are expensive. I can't say if this would be overkill, but you'll have to greatest likelihood of success in preventing the purchase of another $30k++ vehicle.

 

[RS6tofj80]

I "towed" our 33' grady Express about 25 miles for a mjor service using a friends trailer - but can share that it was a bit more then I'd like to have on the rig... the brakes were good but it really was walking around over 45mph ..... all's well that ends well.

I think under 8k might be okay.... as loaded the grady was fully 15k but the LC did fine on the roads at 5am.....

E

 

[Markuson]

Gotta pull that up a wet boat ramp...with a wet boat... If needed, 4Lo would be your friend at that point on a steep ramp with no power problem...but that's a whole lot o boat on a relatively short truck...