This vehicle ok to tow with?

[Navy Jr.]

I've lived boat free all of my life, but all that is about to change come next January when the Boat Show comes to Minneapolis. I have 1,001 questions in anticipation of the day when I take the new boat out for the first time, so have been spending literally hours reading this forum which has proved invaluable in answering many of them. Today's question is if the vehicle I plan to tow with will work okay for the boat I plan to buy.

The boat:
17 1/2' Lund Pro Sport/115 hp Merc Optimax wt: 1200# OR
17' Crestliner Super Hawk/140 hr Merc Optimax wt: 1300#

I'm not sure of the weight of the motors, or the weight of the trailers, but would a guess of 400 pounds for the motors and another 200 pounds for the trailer be out of line? Maybe add another 200 pounds for anchor, fishing gear, PFDs, etc? (I just don't know). So the total weight for the heaviest rig might be, say, 2100 pounds or so? Am I forgetting something?

The vehicle: Chrysler Town & Country minivan with towing package (includes load leveling suspension, heavy duty radiator, transmission cooler, heavy duty alternator and a few other goodies). The manual says it can haul up to 3500 pounds. I just put new tires and brakes on it 7 months/6,000 miles ago.

I'm shopping for aluminum boats for the purpose of saving weight, saving gas, and also to get the kind of deck space and depth I need for our golden retrievers. The objective is NOT to buy a boat and then find out I also need to buy a truck to haul it with!

The salesmen for both Lund and Crestliner say it shouldn't be a problem, and I'm inclined to believe they're right. But what else should I be thinking of? Would our T&C work okay?

 

[Walleye'nbox]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

A friend in my camp has a Chrysler Town And Country and tows a 20 foot Crestliner with a 130 Johnson and a 9.9 kicker on the back and has no problems.

This is on the South Shore of Lake Erie where it is flat though.

 

[Tcrum5711]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

It would probably tow fine on the road, but pulling the boat out of the lake will be another story at some accesses. Some ramps around the northern metro are concrete, but with wave and motor wash, most of them are covered with sand and gravel to the point where a front wheel drive vehicle will just spin. Seen it happen more than a few times. They eventually got going but it's going to be hard on the tires and tranny.
A friend at work has that same setup other than it's a 4 stroke merc. Nice boat and goes pretty good for a 115. Trailer weight is probably closer to 450 for that size of a boat.

 

[srothfuss]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

Personally I don't think you will have any problems towing the boat around with the minivan. Most of the Chrysler vans seem rather good at hauling stuff around.

Since you are just starting out you're probably not going to be trailering all over the country and as long as your home port has a decently maintained ramp then there shouldn't be any issues launching / recovering.

Later down the road maybe but right now just keep dreaming about that boat.

 

[mikey.himself]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

It certainly won't not do it, you're not dealing with an incredibly heavy load, but, like said earlier, you might be spinnin the tires pretty good at the ramp.... I know my friend's dodge caravan spun just about everytime he tried to get up the ramp with his 17' fourwinns 2200lb., he broke down and bought a 4x4 dakota not long after because of the distance he had to tow it. It's very fatigueing to tow something that plays cat and mouse for long trips.

 

[Navy Jr.]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

I know my friend's dodge caravan spun just about everytime he tried to get up the ramp with his 17' fourwinns 2200lb...

I wonder, do you know if your friend's Caravan had the towing package with load leveling suspension? I'm hoping that, if not, it might make a positive difference in my case.

Also, as I'm just learning about the different boats out there, isn't a Fourwinns a glass boat? So, is the 2200 lbs the weight of just the boat (and engine, of course), but not the stuff in the boat or the trailer? In other words, is his Caravan really trying to pull like maybe 2900 lbs or so?

Thanks for the comments so far!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

you should be fine, get a trailer with a longer than usually tongue, to make launching easier, a must in your situations is brakes on the trailer. i towed my 18 foot spectrum. same size and weight with a Ford Escape, 2.3 4 banger.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

It will certainly do it...but your transmission life becomes an unknown. Chrysler are not known for their minivans towing ability.
The Windstar I used to have had all the towing goodies (tranny cooler etc) and crapped out at 140,000 kilometres. Up to the point of the transmission exploding it towed very well. My previous Windstar did a very similar thing.
Do not push hard when towing and make sure you have trailer brakes.
Good Luck and i hope it works out for you.

 

[Navy Jr.]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

It will certainly do it...but your transmission life becomes an unknown. Chrysler are not known for their minivans towing ability.

Yes, you are certainly correct about their transmissions. We're on our 3rd Chrysler minivan (love them), so I've become somewhat of a student on the subject. Turns out the culprit to all the problems appears to be the wrong transmission fluid being used during routine service (fluid & filter change). Chrysler vehicles require ATF+3, a more expensive fluid and often not used in favor of the cheaper stuff. They don't make ATF+3 anymore, so now it is ATF+4, also a little more expensive.

Since I've taken up the habit of always watching the technician put in the correct juice, we haven't had any transmission problems. (Doh! Now I did it... Probably just jinxed it!).

The other thing is it might be a good idea to have the maintenance done more frequently than the owner's manual recommends. I have it done every 30,000 miles.

The one we have now is 12 years old with 99,850 miles on it. Still looks like new, though. My wife has talked me into getting her a new 2008 model, but she agreed to wait until I get the boat next spring and try towing it with our current van. I won't feel so bad then if I do something stupid and put a dent in the tailgate or something.

Many thanks for the informative replies and suggestions. Yes, I will certainly get a trailer with brakes (and a spare).

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

Something I forgot to mention in my earlier post. The company I work for has a fleet of vehicles that we corporate employees use. We have Chrysler minivans, GM minivans and Ford minivans included in the fleet amongst many other passenger cars. They are not leased but are owned and run for specific mileages. We need to have vehicles built by multiple manufacturers as we are a tier 1 supplier to all the major auto manufacturers in North America and always arrive at meetings in one of their products.
The Ford and Chrysler prioducts are traded in at 120,000 km (Ford) and 100,000 km (Chrysler) due to "lessons learned" from keeping them longer. Transmissions being a major factor. All the vehicles are dealer maintained so hopefully they use the correct fluids !!!
By the way, sad as it is to hear the Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota products we generally run to 180,000 km with no issues.

 

[srothfuss]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

While this might be true of your company none of the Chrysler products that I've owned have had a transmission failure in recent history. There were issues before, but now they are quite reliable. An example would be my Dads 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan with 189,000 miles on it....

If you maintain anything properly it'll last a lot longer.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

While this might be true of your company none of the Chrysler products that I've owned have had a transmission failure in recent history. There were issues before, but now they are quite reliable. An example would be my Dads 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan with 189,000 miles on it....

If you maintain anything properly it'll last a lot longer.

Glad to hear of your good fortune with your Dads 98 version. I agree that if properly maintained things will last longer. One reason my 1985 Johnson 140 hp still runs sweet maybe ???
On another note, the company vehicles are meticulously maintained and still get the tranny whine at around the 100,000 km mark.
Just saying what I have personally experienced but that does not mean that it is the "norm" for these products.

 

[Navy Jr.]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

I agree that if properly maintained things will last longer. One reason my 1985 Johnson 140 hp still runs sweet maybe ???
On another note, the company vehicles are meticulously maintained and still get the tranny whine at around the 100,000 km mark.

I would tend to agree with Kenmyfam in that there can be do denying the transmission has been the weak link in Chrysler minivans for many years, especially models from 1990 through 1995. Some still complain of problems in even later years, but not as much. My guess is that company vehicles are serviced according to manufacturer recommended maintenance schedules, and my point previously is these trannys should be maintained more often than that to make them more reliable.

It sure would be nice to use a minivan for towing our yet to purchased boat as it has proven to be such a versatile vehicle for us over the years.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

I would tend to agree with Kenmyfam in that there can be do denying the transmission has been the weak link in Chrysler minivans for many years, especially models from 1990 through 1995. Some still complain of problems in even later years, but not as much. My guess is that company vehicles are serviced according to manufacturer recommended maintenance schedules, and my point previously is these trannys should be maintained more often than that to make them more reliable.

It sure would be nice to use a minivan for towing our yet to purchased boat as it has proven to be such a versatile vehicle for us over the years.

I am sure you will have no issues towing with it and you have answered the maintenance issue yourself by having the additional servicing performed. There is also no harm in towing with your 95 version to begin with as you said. See how you go on with that and go from there. Like I said earlier I am not questioning whether it will do the job or not, just the durability long term with this type of vehicle.
Good Luck and enjoy the purchase of your new boat.

 

[mikey.himself]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

I wonder, do you know if your friend's Caravan had the towing package with load leveling suspension? I'm hoping that, if not, it might make a positive difference in my case.

Also, as I'm just learning about the different boats out there, isn't a Fourwinns a glass boat? So, is the 2200 lbs the weight of just the boat (and engine, of course), but not the stuff in the boat or the trailer? In other words, is his Caravan really trying to pull like maybe 2900 lbs or so?

Thanks for the comments so far!

His minivan had the tow package, but I do not believe he had anything in the way of upgraded suspension, however, it did have these "sport" tires (came with it from dealer new) which I never thought much of (may be part of the reason it couldnt get appropriate traction),

His fourwinns was indeed a glass boat. A bowrider with an outboard. 2200LBS. excluding trailer, and excluding fuel.... Other than that, I can't see us adding any more weight to it.

His van really wasn't all a nightmare to tow with, but like i said before the long trips are very fatigueing with an under-sized vehicle.

when he had to stop fast on the highway he had to lay into though, i didn't like that.

 

[1970 Chieftain V]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

I towed a 21 ft. Starcraft 2100 miles from Indiana to California with a Kia minivan. I had absolutely no issues what so ever. I did however drive at 55 mph more for gas mileage than anything.

Jason

 

[Navy Jr.]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

I towed a 21 ft. Starcraft 2100 miles from Indiana to California with a Kia minivan. I had absolutely no issues what so ever. I did however drive at 55 mph more for gas mileage than anything. Jason

Holy Buckets!! Serious???!

How in the world did you get that rig over the Rockies?

 

[mike176]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

I used to work as a tech at a dodge dealer and i have seen many caravans in the tranny bay geting rebuilt on average 2 week. I would never buy a Chrysler minivan or even think about towing with one, unless i was renting it and the rental agency had nothing else to offer. If your wife is thinking about getting something new and you want a boat why not consider a taho or dorango? Jeep Grand cheroke is another good consideration heck the life time powertrain warrenty is a plus. I pull a 17ft fiberglass bay boat with my GMC 1500 with 4.3 and wish i had more power everytime i leave the driveway, sometimes i pull with my wife's grandcheroke and love it. An SUV offers the V8 optinon the extra power comes in handy when you hit any kind of hill, fuel econemy is not a problem for the HIMIE with MDS it shuts down 4 cyl when you don't need them and if you go for 4wd that can tame the worst of boat ramps. I always use my wife's jeep at the lake house because there is no ramp and the jeep has 4wd. The lakes around here are very low right now, when i went fishing last weekend i was at a lake with a very nice ramp but the water was so low i had to go past the ramp and my GMC spun all the way out. Just keep in mind that a good day on the water can turn into a bad day real fast at the ramp.

 

[1970 Chieftain V]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

Holy Buckets!! Serious???!

How in the world did you get that rig over the Rockies?

I went way south. I-40 is relatively flat.

Jason

 

[Navy Jr.]

Re: This vehicle ok to tow with?

If your wife is thinking about getting something new and you want a boat why not consider a taho or dorango? Jeep Grand cheroke is another good consideration. Heck the lifetime powertrain warranty is a plus.

Actually, this comment and others like it are the reason I asked the question in my original post. Sometimes I think I'm kidding myself trying to rationalize using the T&C, but then the boat I'm thinking of towing doesn't weigh very much.

Today, however, I learned the hitch that is on the back of the T&C is only a Class I, and I'm not one who's inclined to put a brand new Class II hitch on a 12-year old minivan. I know, I know; why didn't I know that before? The problem is the class designation was hidden from view after the hitch was installed, and I just assumed since the vehicle had the towing package that was good to 3500 lbs that the original owner installed a Class II hitch (good to 3500 lbs).

So, yep, looks like I'm shopping for TWO big toys!