Towing with FWD?

[jeeperman]

Re: Towing with FWD?

Deflating your tires increased floataion i.e. reducing the weight per square inch you had in contact with the ramp.

You could use a front hitch with a removable basket and sand bags in it for more front weight. Along with more aggressive and skinnier tires might be the ticket on a concrete ramp.

But beware that a front hitch will have to be custom made and will have to not interfere with the airbag sensors.

 

[brick75]

Re: Towing with FWD?

This has nothing to do with a "holier-than-thou" attitude. If you're going to suggest/reveal that you're doing something completly unsafe, you better believe people will call you out.

It's one thing if it only affects you and your family. But when you end up rear-ending one of us because you can't stop, and tie up the ramps because you're stuck, it's a whole other thing. There's a reason why vehicles have tow ratings.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Towing with FWD?

Ez has a point. You could get a cheap Exploder or something that would meet your towing and human hauling needs at a cost comparable to the mods necessary to make your Mazda work the way you want it to. Just a thought. No "holier than thouness" intended, so I hope you don't take it as such. I do understand what you're saying though. More than one argument has erupted in this section.

 

[captkevin]

Re: Towing with FWD?

Your boat is way beyond the capabilities of the Mazda. If you continue to tow with it you are at least going to greatly shorten its life & possibly your own. I'd look for a used suv.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Towing with FWD?

I don't get it: 1 1/2 ride but 1/4 mile to the ramp?
Or is this a second home 1/4 mile from the ramp but 1 1/2 hours from home? Yo ukeep the boat there on the trailer?
If so, and you can't make the FWD work, a beater for a ramp car makes sense--even a full-sized sedan will do. Just leave it there.
Don't worry about the brakes, etc. for a 1/4 mile tow. Do worry for the 1 1/2 hour tow.

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: Towing with FWD?

How much tongue weight is the boat trailer putting on the back end of the car? Too much and it's unloading the front wheels. I've always used fwd cars to pull my little whaler (MUCH lighter than yours though...) and never had an issue. The cars do better on the ramps than either 2wd Ranger or Isuzu pickups did.
With the Isuzu I'd bring a 6 foot piece of indoor-outdoor carpet to put in front of the rear wheel to get the thing moving up the ramp.

 

[Silverskeeter]

Re: Towing with FWD?

FWD is probably not the answer. I know it is done on the regular,but the tranny and things are gonna be toast in the near future.And to risk the car goin in scares me to death.Here is a video that i got from the site, so sorry to repost guys ,but I don't know if he has seen this.I am not hatin on ya or anything just want you , your family and equipment to be safe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOmvW...eature=related.

 

[Bartine]

Re: Towing with FWD?

You could try not pulling the boat all the way up the trailer, leave it back about 1 foot from the bow stop and then pull the boat up the ramp. That will remove some of the tounge weight from the car. Once your at the top of the ramp, crank it the rest of the way to the bow stop.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Towing with FWD?

FWD is probably not the answer. I know it is done on the regular,but the tranny and things are gonna be toast in the near future.And to risk the car goin in scares me to death.Here is a video that i got from the site, so sorry to repost guys ,but I don't know if he has seen this.I am not hatin on ya or anything just want you , your family and equipment to be safe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOmvW...eature=related.

looks like that url died somewhere along the way... Doesn't point to a valid video.

Trans life is more related to the driver than anything else. When I started towing my boat with my car years ago, pretty much every truck owner I knew said my engine/trans/car wouldn't last a year. Here I am, 6 years later, same car, same engine, same trans. Absolutely nothing outside of normal maintenance. Ironic part is that almost every truck owner that said that has either had an engine go (ford), a couple transmissions (dodge), or chevy transfer cases eat themselves alive. (keep in mind most of those trucks have NEVER pulled anything)

 

[marcoalza]

Re: Towing with FWD?

This is a no-brainer:
* Risk the baby with an improvised seat.
* Risk everybody with an unsatisfactory tow vehicle.
* Spend megabucks for a new vehicle.

Why not just spend an extra $3 in gas and use both vehicles.

I like your style.
Sometimes the answers are just too close to see!

 

[Mr Crabbs]

Re: Towing with FWD?

Actually, folks have been putting front hitches on FWD vehicles for years because tongue weight helps out in the traction department. Definitely something worth considering.

That and tires. Your best tires should be up from on FWD.

 

[Silver Eagle]

Re: Towing with FWD?

I guess I have never heard of that problem. I would think that having front wheel drive would be better that rear wheel drive. Is the car rated for the weight of the boat? I would surely think that new tires would help a lot. LOL Not sure that a hitch on the front would help you out any. Sorry I couldn't be any more help. Maybe someone else with a little more experience with FWD will come and comment. Best of luck.

That's a nice looking Arriva ,we had a 21 ft with a 230 hp I/O, we had it for 14 years. Until we got so old that we couldn't climb up into from the water. So we bought a 24 ft pontoon boat. With doors on the side and front.

 

[Silver Eagle]

Re: Towing with FWD?

Back in 1995 we had just boat a nice 21 ft bow rider. I had an 1989 Ford Super Cab with a eight ft bed and two wheel drive. Well I had been out in the bay for some time and I came back at low tide. Very low. I backed the trailer under the boat and started to pull it out of the ramp. Well it hapened, all the truck did was sit there and spin the wheels. The ramp was wet from other trailers and I couldn't move. Everyone was trying to tell me how to get it out when this kid came up and said ,for ten dollars he'd pull me out So sure I said .We unhooked the trailer and he backed up this old beater Chevy 4x4 six cylinder to my trailer and with no problem he pull me out of the water.The next day I went out and traded my Super Cab in on a new Ford Bronco. never had a problem since.

 

[NYGiants]

Re: Towing with FWD?

my dad used a early 90s accord to haul a 21' sailboat (1500lbs) aprox and at low tide he would get someone to sit on the hood so he could haul it out. and on the minivan note i have a honda odyssey and it tows great even if the boats only aprox 1000lbs

 

[Sixmark]

Re: Towing with FWD?

OK keep in mind that towing capacity is the the listed weight MINUS the weight of passengers , gear, etc. so if you have two adults in the vehicle and they average 150lbs each, then your 1000lb towing capacity has just been reduced to 700lbs.

I also noticed how many people failed to mention anything other than weight and braking capacity..........let's say you are taking your Mazda towing your boat and you need to stop suddenly going downhill. Your boat is going to push you all over the place.

I could tow my boat with a GEO Metro, but doing so would just invite all kinds of problems.

You could find an old Crown Vic, Caprice, or any of the older SUV's to use for a tow vehicle for pretty cheap these days, you would also be extending the life of your Mazda in doing so, they didn't design the transmissions with towing in mind on many of the newer cars.

I say check out a police auction and find a former patrol car, then you get room, severe service brake package and severe service drivetrain for pretty cheap. Best of all, if you happen to take the in-laws with and they irritate you, then you can lock them in the back of the car and they can't get out.

 

[PBJT]

Re: Towing with FWD?

When I got stuck on a boat ramp with a fwd I used a second person in the boat to push using the boat power(obvious the engine was trimmed a fair bit) and between the car and boat we gained enough momentum to pop out and up the ramp easily.

 

[peter94]

Re: Towing with FWD?

For the orignial post:

Wow...That is all I can say...

How much does your boat weigh?

 

[Sixmark]

Re: Towing with FWD?

When I got stuck on a boat ramp with a fwd I used a second person in the boat to push using the boat power(obvious the engine was trimmed a fair bit) and between the car and boat we gained enough momentum to pop out and up the ramp easily.

You do that here and you get to pay a hefty fine, not to mention the washout that it creates at the end of the ramp.

 

[Skagit Hunter]

Re: Towing with FWD?

smaller boat... Or bigger veh

 

[PBJT]

Re: Towing with FWD?

You do that here and you get to pay a hefty fine, not to mention the washout that it creates at the end of the ramp.

Geez...whats the fine for getting stuck in your area?

Just some advise if you get "stuck" Also IMO if it is a good boat ramp there is not much worry of washing it out or even getting stuck. If it is a bad ramp and you get stuck washing out is not as much of my concern then getting out. Obvious another tow would be considered.

Not everyone has a 1 tonne duelly 4wd for thier fishing boat guys!

PBJT