towing with 80

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O

ofer

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Oct 4, 2010
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hey Guys,

I just finished to lift my 80 (actually LX450) and to replace the tires to 35 mud tires and I need to know if the truck has the power to tow a ski boat.

does some of you has experience with towing something like this with the 80?
the reason I mentioned the lift and the tires is because I haven't done ratio and I need to know how it should impact this...
does someone have an experience with this setup?
Thanks
Ofer
 
As you probably know, it's rated for 5000 lbs. Depends on what boat you're hauling, but my Crownline 182 BR (18 footer, so kinda shortish) weighs in at 2200lbs plus trailer weight plus tack. So, maybe 3000 lbs on a heavy day? You should be able to pull it without a lot of issues, if you've baselined it and know it's in good shape. Just my personal opinion, the correct one will be along shortly. :)
 
Can't answer if you don't tell us how much the boat weighs.

That said, I tow '80s on a car trailer with my '80s. I have a '60 on the trailer now. With the 1FZ it is not really too bad if you are not doing it every day. An '80 with a 1FZ will move a '40 on a trailer pretty decently so long as you are not battling upgrades.

If you have not regeared then you will be a bit punier... a bit less felt performance from an 1FZ pushing 35s than with a 3FE pushing 32s

I have to assume that your boat and trailer weigh less than even a '40 on a car trailer.


Mark...
 
Hi Guys
Thanks for the answers...
The reason I haven't tell the weight is simply because I haven't bought the boat yet :-)
I thinking to buy something like this in the next few weeks and I wanted to know if I can tow with the 80.
otherwise I won't buy it...
so is 5000lb is the maximum the truck is capable to tow?

Ofer
 
Yes.

A 27 foot bow rider will likely weigh 5500 lbs. Too much. A Ski Nautique 20 ft dedicated ski boat is around 3,000 lbs. Pick your poison.
 
Go for it.

I tow a 18' Maxum ski boat. I think it is 3500lbs with trailer. You are not going to be passing people going up a mountain pass, but your 80 will do the job. I would not go over the recommended 5000lbs. Also, trailer brakes and double axel trailers will really help if you are towing a heavier boat.

This thread has got me drooling for summer. Nothing like jumping in the cruiser and heading to the lake.
 
We tow a 6000lb boat/trailer total a thousand miles a summer or so and have for 15 years. You'll have a bit of trouble on grades due to the larger tires, but as mentioned it's important to overmaintain the bearings, brakes, tires and all lube fluids. The lift is going the wrong direction for towing safety/stability also.

DougM
 
I tow a travel trailer at about 4500Lbs Max. but it has the added drag of wind resistance at hwy speed. I have a lift and a sway controller and use a weight distributing hitch. (even though Toyota recommends against the WD hitch) I have a new Reese Hitch bolted to the frame rather than the factory unit and haven't had any problems and it certainly handles better than without WD.

For me the difference between acceptable power for towing comes down to altitude and grades. Mild grades and low altitude is okay, but steeper grades and high altitude necessitates almost dangerously low speeds IMO and I am re-geared. (occasionally even passed by loaded tractor trailers)

Anything over about 3500 feet elevation requires second gear at 3-4K RPM's for me to maintain speed up almost any grade. Kinda scary, even in the slow lanes, but given enough time it will get anywhere I want to go.

It pretty much depends on what you consider to be acceptable for safe speeds.

There are plenty of other threads on the towing capabilities/limitations of these rigs.

HTH
 
Hey guys
so finaly I got my boat
it's 4000lb together with the trailer.
The trailer is dual axle with brakes.
so as far as I understand the 80 should handle this quite good.
Ofer
 
Pics or it ain't true.

And yes, it's all good.
 
I pulled my 40 on a 600mile Round trip with out any real excitement. Pulled at 70-80 until I hit hills which slowed me down substantially. But got 9-10 mpg....so watch out for that.
 
I've towed a 4000 lb trailer for my scout troop for years. Had used a weight distribution hitch and have used Airlift airbags in the coils since 2004. Just replaced them last week. Oh, I'm running 33's with stock gearing on my '94. BTW, 5000 lbs is the US stated limit. ROW is 7500 lbs with the same truck. You can decide or liability lawyers here in the states can.

You'll do just fine anywhere but steep grades. I can't speak too much for altitude as the most we've got here in SoCal is about 4500'. You'll do about 40-45 max in those situations if you can keep your foot on the floor without having to back off for any traffic.

With 35's, if you've a lot of grades or altitude and want to for wheeling too, you might consider regearing too. At least you can use that as an excuse for a mod! :hhmm: :D
 
Hi Guys
so finally I put everything in place and I tried towing my new boat yesterday.
the boat + the trailer is about 4000lb
I must say that it felt quite bad...
I tried it in the highway which was very simple and still it was very difficult for the truck.
I had to disconnect the over drive to get more power.
if I put the overdrive i couldn't cruise for more then 50 MPH...
when I disconnected the over drive it was a bit better I could cruise around 55 but still I had to push the gas quite hard.
is that reasonable? I remind you that I have 35 tires and I didn't gear them...
do you think that's the reason?
is there a problem to keep it like this and drive constantly with over drive off?
any problem that it can cause the gear or the engine?
I'll be happy to hear what you think?
thanks
Ofer
 
I think its because f your tires. Follow the link below to determine your "new" gear ratio with 35" tires.

Using the calculator titled "find new gear ratio with new tire size" put 31" as new tire size and 35" as old to determine how much ratio you have lost. According to the calculator you have gone from a 4.1 ratio to a 3.63 ratio - a change of nearly 12%. As a rule of thumb this kind of translates to a 12% loss in power. Surely you observed a loss of power when you had the 35s installed. Going down to stock tires will get some of that power back (some is lost due to aging engine components).
 
I tow a Bobcat 533 and a '66 Keaton 17' ski boat with a 429 Caddy for power that weighs about 4,000 ish with the trailer. I have deemed that the John Deere 310 backhoe, 14,xxx lbs is just too big to tow behind the 80. :hillbilly: My 80 is stock even the 275/70-16 tire size. It tows heavy loads best with the over drive off unless you are on flat ground, then it seems to pull OD ok. I don't like my trans shifting all the time, so that's why I tow with OD off. I believe it even states something to that effect in the owner's manual?
 
so I understand there is no problem to drive all the time with OD off?
what about damaging the engine/gear?
do you think it might damage them if I'll keep it like this?
another option that I'm thinking about is to hold another set of tires+ rims (I already have the tires) and to use for towing only...
Ofer
 
Taller tires without regearing will generally generate more heat in the transmission, eventually shortening it's lifespan. It would be a good idea to regear since that is accentuated when towing. I realize it's been a month since the last post but figured I'd add my 2 cents.
 
I could be wrong, as I have a 92, but don't you have a pwr button on the dash? You should use that button when towing, since it will change the shift points to a higher rpm, to make use of the horsepower and torque in the higher rpm ranges. That and towing with OD off will give you a little better experience, I would think.
 
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