Towing your boat

How many tow your boat with a car? And if so what size of boat do you have? I'm wanting to buy a jon boat but we own to 4cyl cars and I can't afford to buy both a boat and truck.

i pull my 14ft lund vhull with a 2.5 liter 4cly for ranger if that helps you

The main thing I could think of with a car is making sure the hitch is very sturdy. And get a hitch that has a rating well over what you are towing, that way it will last longer for you. As far as a 4cyl car for towing, my old neighbor used to tow his 14 foot V hull with a Ford Festiva, cannot get much smaller car than that...lol.


Matt

I tow my Lund WC16 with a Subaru Legacy sedan. It's got a 2.5L and AWD. The car pulls it fairly well and I've never had any issues at the launch. Just keep the general towing rules in mind when using any vehicle to pull a boat. Make sure the trailer/cargo is within the towing limits of the vehicle. Keep your tow vehicle well maintained. Don't over do it!

Here's a pic of my set up. The boat is big behind the car but the Subaru is rated to pull up to 1K pounds without trailer brakes and 2K pounds with trailer brakes. Fully loaded, the boat package weighs around 900 pounds.

I have a 1990 Toyota Camry with a 4cyl and auto trans that I have pulled my 12ft jon boat with. It pulls with absolutely no trouble at all. I think you will be fine doing that. As said just make sure you have a good sturdy hitch and if you have a tongue jack on your trailer make sure it is the folding kind so the foot dont drag the ground. The folding jack will make it fold along side the trailer and not hang below it. Altho I took the jack off of mine, the trailer and boat are light and I can just pick it up and put it on the ball so no real need for it unless you physically are not able to pick it up.

Hope that helps
Kevin

I'm looking at a Lowe 1648 and hoping it won't way to much. The only mod to the boat would probably be a floor.

MOST OF THE TIME ITS NOT PULLING THATS THE PROBLEM ITS THE STOPPING THAT CAN BE AN ISSUE, LAST YEAR I SAW A 20' FIBERGLASS MONSTER BEING PULLED BY AN OLDS DELTA 88... I STAYED WELL ENOUGH AWAY FROM THE DISASTER IN THE MAKING, JUST BE CAREFUL WITH IT KNOW YOUR LIMITS WITH YOU CAR AND DONT EXCEED THEM, SHOULD BE FINE

I tow my 14 ft Smoker Craft with my 94' Cavalier haven't had any problems yet.

I used to tow my 1448 with a 1997 4cyl Nissan Altima. No problems, even on long trips with big hills. I just kept it under 65 and took it easy.

I used to tow my 1648/30HP with my buddies 4cyl Subaru Forrester. Did a great job. No issues.

I've recently been towing around a 14' shallow V with a small outboard with my Honda Civic. Does fine.

Almost all 4cyl cars can handle up to 700 or 800 pounds with no problems.

You will not have a problem! I tow my 14ft flat bottom with a 15 hp motor and gear just fine with my 1994 2.2L S-10 manual. I can pull her around and out of the water without any issue! Make sure your brakes are up to par though!!

I Tow my 1542 with 25hp outboard, one 100lb batt, one 50lb batt. Plywood flooring console, cooler and 48lbs of fuel with a car.

With a Honda civic SI. I don't even know its back there. I can shift still shift from 1st to 3rd to 5th then to 6th with out even trying.

I put in on a pretty steep boat ramp and its usually wet. I have to get my back wheels in about 3 inches of water when I put in (not that it matters its frontwheel drive) but the concrete is always wet and I have never even slipped a tire when pulling it out.

reedjj said:

but the concrete is always wet and I have never even slipped a tire when pulling it out.

Click to expand...

I've only had that problem twice.....both times led to the birth of a child.....no more slipping for me.

jellio5 said:

reedjj said:

but the concrete is always wet and I have never even slipped a tire when pulling it out.

Click to expand...

I've only had that problem twice.....both times led to the birth of a child.....no more slipping for me.

Click to expand...

:lol:

I pull my 14' semi-V with my '93 Volvo 940 wagon, no issues at all. But in the case of this Volvo it has a factory tow rating of 3300lbs and a factory receiver hitch. Depending on the weight of your boat/trailer setup you may wish for a little more power at times, I have a turbo 2.3L motor so I haven't ever really felt like I "needed" more power.
The biggest factor will always be the brakes, I would estimate the total weight of my setup to be 800-850lbs loaded, It's fine now but if it were much heavier I would at least want a trailer with surge brakes.

crkdltr said:

jellio5 said:

reedjj said:

but the concrete is always wet and I have never even slipped a tire when pulling it out.

Click to expand...

I've only had that problem twice.....both times led to the birth of a child.....no more slipping for me.

Click to expand...

:lol:

Click to expand...

YEEEAAAA! LOL!

Years ago I towed the 12' Duracraft I had with an '86 Celebrity. That boat was heavy built to start with and I had a 3/4" front deck and floors in it plus battery 6.6 gallon fuel cell and 70lbs worth of Yamaha 8 strapped on the back of it. Only problem I ever had was going up steep grades at hiway speeds. But never so bad that it wouldn't pull it.
As stated above get a good quality hitch system and make sure your brakes are in good working order.

jellio5 said:

reedjj said:

but the concrete is always wet and I have never even slipped a tire when pulling it out.

Click to expand...

I've only had that problem twice.....both times led to the birth of a child.....no more slipping for me.

Click to expand...

HAHAHAHAHA THATS GREAT

back in the 80's I pulled a glass 15' Quacihta (spelling) with a 50 rude, and TM, with a 1980 Toyota Carolla 5sp, not any real problems except going up hills, and STOPPING. Pucker factor would rise rather quickly at times in traffic.