Towing...Am I Nuts???

[Franki]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

oh great... so my post wasn't right huh????<br /><br />Fine, be that way then :-(<br /><br />

 

[mako]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

I had a 88 Dodge Dakota with a 6 cylinder (3.9 liter I think) about 5 years ago and a 20 ft Ocean scout center console. This truck towed the boat with ease and I never had a problem, and was always in control at all times. Then I bought a Wellcraft V20 Steplift with an I/O and figured I'd be fine towing with the Dakota. Went to the local lake for the day and did some highway driving and by the time I got to the top of an incline I was doing 25 mph I found myself trying to gain as much speed as possible on the downhills just to make it up the next incline. Anyways after this first trip I sold the Dakota and bought a Chevy 250 with a 350 motor. The Chevy was the right truck for the job and I towed it for 3 years without a problem. I'm not sure but I think the Wellcraft must have weighed about a 1000 lbs. more.

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

as long as you don't come to NY, no problem <br />hell, you can rent a "truck" for $19.95 round<br />these parts, which is a good trade in my view!<br />or.... sell it and buy something lighter, it's<br />that simple to me.<br /> <br />M.Y.

 

[suzukidave]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

Franki, <br /><br />I just didn't think he needed an F350 so maybe you can just be less right than the others. Also I wasn't sure I agreed that your Falcon was a proper rig because I just don't know what a Falcon is, and I'd sure be nervous about towing anything with 200 kilowatts for fear of electrocuting myself on the launch ramp.

 

[L Christopher]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

1stTimer:<br /><br />Please take it from a former gas transport driver, heed the above warnings. I wouldn't leave my driveway without at least 500lbs extra towing capcity. An overworked truck is a dangerous truck. I tow a 22' bowrider, entire rig weighs in at 5,000lbs and I tow with a Suburban that has a tow capacity of 7,500lbs but requires braking assitance of a trailer that weighs over 3,000lbs. If you dought your trucks ablity to safely tow your rig leave the rig on the yard. It doen't matter if you can get it moving forward, it matters if you can control or stop it once it is moving and that doesn't matter if you are going 10 feet or 1,000 miles.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

One more thing to add. The pontoon rig will most likely be very tongue light due to the fact that most of the weight will be in back and the axles on the trailer are not usually set back that far.<br /><br />What that means is you will get a lot of sway which can whip your tow vehicle around. Picture the tail wagging the dog..<br /><br />I used to load up the front of the toon to buy any tongue weight I possibly could. This was with a 50hp outboard, not a 125.<br /><br />What kind of trailer were you thinking about? Float on, drive on, tandem axle?? Any particualr brands?

 

[racohoon]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

I agree with almost everyone's suggestions as far as recommendations for brakes,fluids,trans. coolers etc. But keep in mind these are only sound suggestions for staying within your mnfgr.'s towing requirement's.<br /> One person pointed out the weight of your boat is 2800#.Did we forget about the dual axle trailer and the 125 hp motor? What about the coolers and gear? You are so FAR over the 400 lbs. you originally figured it ain;t funny! As I see it you are out gunned on the tow capacity issue and only 1 of 2 things can save you--either--------<br />A) The truck fairy pays you a visit tonight and waves her magic wand over your truck--or-<br />B) Start shopping for a 3/4-1 Ton my friend! <br /><br /> Trust everyone of us when we say--Better to be safe than sorry!!

 

[Franki]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

suzukidave...<br /><br />I said the F350 cos its the only big rig I knew you guys would be familiar with, we have totally different cars over here, (or the same car with totally different names.) I guess I could have said F100 too... your right, an F350 is probably overkill, but it would certainly tow the poonton easily enough.<br /><br />As for 200kw in metric countries, hp is frowned upon and kw is the designated metric measurement.<br /><br />200kw is somewhere around 280HP (I think, can't remember the exact conversion. but its something like that.)<br /><br />rgds<br /><br />Frank

 

[Skinnywater]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

Air up the tires and let us know how it goes. If it isn't squating on the snubs in the driveway, you'll be able to come to your own conclusion in the 6-7 minute trip to the boatramp.

 

[BrianG]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

Think my 1995 GMC 3500 Dually Diesel will be able to pull it? just kidding. There has been some great advice on this thread. I would agree that its more of a size issue than a weight issue. I will say that i tow a car trailer (I just got my dually) and was using a 1/2 truck. I would say that I was over my max weight while packed up with all the goodies and people. I took my time and gave the truck a break every so often. It worked out. But this truck old and I only used it for towing so I wasn't worried about it if something happened to it. Doing this with a daily driver would have been a nightmare.

 

[CHUCKB1]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

Yep....you have my vote as being nuts.<br />The same old story.......too many people skimp on the tow vehicle!

 

[DJ]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

I f your tongue weight is light, you are going to have a great big surprise when you back down the ramp. The situation will only get worse and it will tend to lift the front wheels too. Read-truck in water.

 

[duckman]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

a picture is worth a thousand words!<br />

 

[Craigw]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

I can answer this one from experiance I had a mazda b2200 that is now someones ashtray or garbage can. I killed the transmission ate break pads as fast as humanly possible and killed that truck in less than three years. So you either pay now or pay later.

 

[Down South]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

Nice hitch.

 

[RJS]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

awesome...nice anchor

 

[mikeblare]

Re: Towing...Am I Nuts???

Ok we've had every ones opinion now for some fact. As far as towing with a Tacoma, Toyota doesnt even list towing capacities for even the double cab 4x4 tacoma this is the biggest & heaviest tacoma they make. There is a reason for this the truck only wheighs 3785lbs dry. Now I for one just dont think the physics work out as far as safely pulling anything heavier than a jet ski. As far as the brake issue its a moot point dont pull that boat with that truck period. I dont know what year your truck is but being a tacoma its probably still worth around 6K to 7K. Sell it and do what I did I had a 2001 Dakota sport xtnd cab w/V8 it would have pulled my new boat safely (according to specs) the truck was my baby big wheel tire package copper color washed and waxed weekly. I sold it and bought a 91' Chevy 1500 ext cab heavy half package (it has all the towing goodies) and it has to be registered as class 2(3/4 ton) in PA. Heavy duty springs, tranny and oil cooler, 350 V8, and class5 super duty hitch(dont argue they do exist and no its not a 5th wheel) Guess what towing is a breeze I tow an 82' Chris craft Scorpion182 with a merc V8 and a double axle EZ Loader trailer. the whole package is around 5000lbs maybe a touch more. I can leave it in overdrive and the truck doesnt even break a sweat( and this is hilly western PA). Anyways this truck only cost me 6500 tax title out the door and this was low milage with all kinds of new goodies. So save yourself the headache if the boats worth it sell the "Toy" and buy a truck. Besides women love a pickup man.