What vehicle are you using to tow your 7M?

zip · 26 May 2015, 01:20

I currently own a car and a van.
With the upcoming purchase of my 7M, I intend to downsize to one vehicle.
I had hoped to buy a smaller used SUV with a 6 cylinder.

I just crunched the numbers, and if the boat weighs 6K pounds, and my trailer weighs 2K, I am easily weighing 8K. HOLY COW! I did not know these boats weighed so much, and thought my trailer weighed just over 1K. OOOPS!

My van has a 7.3 turbo diesel, and can tow this load with ease, but I have no idea now what to replace my two vehicles with. I don't want to buy a truck, and had hoped to use something with a 6 cylinder, but it appears I will have to go with something bigger with an 8. I would only be towing 60 miles on flat ground, but don't want to be unsafe or exceed towing capacity.

What you got?

Bigtalljv · 26 May 2015, 01:49

Why not stick with the van? I have the same engine in an F250. Works ok. Wrecks mileage, I get about 10mpg towing the boat but it's what I have so its free.

Did you find a boat????? I don't see anything here.

Jason

zip · 26 May 2015, 02:11

Jason,

My van is full blown 4X4 Sportsmobile camper, which isn't practical as a daily driver. I used to rock climb a lot, and injuries and old age and have reduced that to a minimum, so I'm going to sell it. Also, a big downside to this vehicle is that I can't get in to underground parking.

I have a found a few boats that I am looking at, and hope to make a decision soon.

Bigtalljv · 26 May 2015, 02:25

Doesn't NCP tow his with a jeep Cherokee?

The old spec sheets i can find online have the hoist weight of a I/O 733 at 4500lbs and 3700lbs for OB. I haven't weighed mine but I mean to sometime to check my my trailer setup.

Jason

zip · 26 May 2015, 03:10

I have sent a text to Tom, and asked what his tow vehicle is.

How in the heck can a 733 I/O be 4500 and the 730 I/O be 5600?

jonp · 26 May 2015, 06:35

Im using a Toyota landcruiser prado diesel, no probs towing. Most modern 4x4 turbo diesels will pull that without any dramas and most are rated to tow 3.5 tons over here. The 4x4 comes in very handy on slipy ramps or beach launching.

This might be of interest http://www.boatsales.com.au/content/...ice/tow-tests/

Jon

zip · 26 May 2015, 11:46

Jon,

Thanks for the link. I will check that out.

Blair

SIBRider · 26 May 2015, 17:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by zip

I have sent a text to Tom, and asked what his tow vehicle is.

How in the heck can a 733 I/O be 4500 and the 730 I/O be 5600?

733 is gas and 730 is diesel?
I wouldn't tow either with small/mid size SUV. Even if some might be able to handle it seemingly from spec. Grand Cherokee had 7k rating but it's number games. It's payload is like 1300lb. With 7K trailer just tongue weight is going to be 700lb or likely worse. leaving at best 500-600lb of payload. Can fit couple people but it really maxes out the rig. Maxing out anything is usually not a good ideal if you plan to tow it any significant distance. If it's couple miles to boat ramp it's prob ok. Going on a hwy

To Jonp. So far I see Prado is only 2500kg max trailer ~ 5600lb. Prado VX Turbo Diesel Auto Specifications
That ain't going to cut it for Zip. Although we have equivalent here - Lexus GX460.

ncp · 26 May 2015, 19:34

I've never had a problem nor felt unsafe towing with my Jeep. Supposedly, it's a max of 7200 lbs.

Willard 730 dry weight, 4,500 lbs. Hoisting weight 5,500 lbs (which I assume includes people, fuel, safety gear, etc. - A full 34 gallon tank of diesel at 7 lbs / gallon only weighs 245 lbs.). Welded c-channel aluminum trailer from Pacific Trailers is ~1,050 lbs. Call it 6.750 lbs or so?

My longest tows are between San Diego and LA. My usual tows are 20 miles of freeway - cruise control set at 55 mph for fuel economy (13 mpg). My longest tow was when I bought it and towed it back from Seattle to San Diego on a borrow 27' galvanized trailer - I was probably overweight there. That trailer was a beast.

Does it work for me? Yes. I need a functional daily driver and I need to be able to get into regular parking structures. It gets decent gas mileage, has pretty good acceleration, and the disc breaks on the trailer are in great shape.

EDIT: I think that I'm coming up on 4 years with the the Willard, I have 78,000 miles on my Jeep and I'm still on my first set of break pads (yes, they've been recently checked).

zip · 27 May 2015, 01:44

At the present time I do have something that will comfortably tow whatever I buy.
I will do more research once I have actually purchased, and weighed my boat and trailer.
I'm not optimistic though that I can tow this with a smaller SUV.

zip · 28 May 2015, 14:20

It looks like a GMC Yukon, or Chevy Taboe would take care of it.
Wondering if I should get 4WD?

SIBRider · 28 May 2015, 15:17

No doubt. 4WD will come handy on slippery ramp

ncp · 28 May 2015, 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by zip

It looks like a GMC Yukon, or Chevy Taboe would take care of it. 4WD?

I thought you said "fits in parking structures". They're reasonably tall and fit in most structures - just not all (like mine at work).

Check towing capacities carefully. My mother's Tahoe is only rated for 6k. A Land Rover Discovery, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and VW Toureg are all rated for over 7k.

SIBRider · 28 May 2015, 17:59

Looking carefully. GC towing rating with V6 is "only" 6200lb with class 3 hitch. To get to 7400lb you have to step up to V8 or V6 TD and step up in package level to at least Limited or Overland or Summit in order to have load leveling suspension as part of tow prep group IV. It's all kinda fallacy of course. Rated payload for those GCs are less than 1100. to tow safely something on order of 7k you'd certainly wan't wait distribution hitch figure on 100lb in addition of 700lb of tongue weight (at 10%) you talking about only 200-300lb of legal payload left, so basically just a driver. Something goes wrong, like loosing control over trailer, may end up in considerable trouble.

It can be done. Even legally. But really close to maxing out. I would be far more comfortable in full-size.

Tahoe has 1700lb payload and 8400 tow rating with Max Trailering package. Far more comfortable. Even without max trailering you get same 1700 payload, wider stance, longer wheel base, etc.

sugatam · 01 June 2015, 01:21

I'm pretty happy towing my 733 with a VW Touareg TDI.

zip · 01 June 2015, 01:50

That looks like Sreaming04's former boat, Black Ops?

I just looked at towing capacity for this vehicle, and I am quite pleasantly surprised.
What year is vehicle? Is it AWD?

sugatam · 02 June 2015, 18:13

Yes, it is Screaming04's former boat. I tow with a 2009 Touareg TDI, and yes, they're all AWD. I regularly tow 40-50 miles each way to various ramps around me, and its been great so far.

cgoing · 27 June 2015, 23:52

Remember towing is not always the issue. Stopping is much more important. Had a local guy who bragged that he could tow a large rib with his European SUV. He unfortunately found out the hard way that he could not stop it.

sphonic · 01 July 2015, 03:24

Nissan Titan V8 4x4 with factory tow package. Trailer is overbuilt which adds quite a bit of weight. I don't have to go over mountain passes or anything, and there are no freeways where I live. House is on on a steep hillside and it makes it up the hill. Tows it just fine, but I am cautious when it comes to making a stop. Even with brakes on the trailer I have to think ahead. The Titan brakes are known to be wimpy. It would be nice to have a diesel truck. Maybe something with a Cummins!

BTW - you definitely want 4X4 if you plan on launching from steep ramps.