Towing capacity, reality versus marketing

[Conan The Librarian]

I am going to need to tow about 4500 pounds and I don't have a truck or car yet for that. I'd appreciate your insight about what kind of vehicle I'll realistically need to do that. It's a boat, and the trailer probably won't have trailer brakes. A lot of trucks are claimed to tow 5000 pounds, including one I have personally owned years ago. I can tell you that old SUV would definitely be beggin' for mercy if I tried to tow anything near 5000 with it, and stopping would have been a real adventure.

[Graybeard]

I personally would not tow that much weight without brakes on the trailer. I believe most any full size pickup or SUV with a V8 should be able to handle that load. I believe my Toyota Tundra is rated about double that or more.

If you are gonna be launching and retrieving that heavy a boat I'd want 4x4 for slippery wet and some times steep ramps. I see folks pulling heavy boats with 4x2s but I'd sure not want to.

[Old Syko]

Not legal to tow that much weight without trailer brakes anyway. 

[hillbill]

also some of what your asking will depend on how well balanced your load is and what your tounge weight is and what tounge weight your hitch on your vehicle is rated for. too much weight on the rear of the vehicle can raise the front end and make your front brakes much less effective.

[DalesCarpentry]

I have this little tid bit of information just from my recent trip from Pa to Fl. I have a 98 Chevy Silverado 4x4 with the 4.3 Vortec engine in it. This is a six cylinder engine mind you. I towed my 6,000 pound travel trailer through the mountains with out any troubles at all. I did this with out a brake controller due to the fact I did not have the money to buy one prior to my trip. The stopping was ok as long as I kept my eyes way ahead and starting slowing down way before you normally would. Lets just say you could not stop my rig on a dime and I would advise getting a brake controller. Other than that my half ton pick up truck did fine and better than I expected. I only averaged 10 MPG on the trip though. Dale

[Empty Quiver]

Towing that much weight demands a brake system. second choice is to get a slow moving vehicle sign and obey the law. Assuming you are going to ignore that advice, drive like you have some sense, use a 3/4 ton truck and make damn sure the tongue weight is correct.


Second thing to consider when towing is the square footage of frontal area. If the boat is as big as I think, it'll be a sail and will tax the drivetrain of a 1/2 ton.


For a couple mile trip occasionally in a rural setting with very light traffic and a gentle launch ramp you can press an S-10 into the job. Detroit Mi. to Naples Fl. during Christmas holiday week I would certainly want plenty of over capacity most especially in the brake dept. As I said driving like you have some sense will do wonders. Did I mention brakes?


I spent ten years in a fertilizer blend plant that serviced farms. I have towed equipment so grossly over loaded as to warrant arrest and imprisonment. Think 3/4 truck and trailer grossing 31,000 pounds no trailer brakes and twenty mile trips loaded. Pulled 2 loaded 1000 gallon anhydrous tanks 15 miles with a Bronco II (once, and that may have been the dumbest thing I ever did). I do know a bit about what I'm saying. Pulling ain't no problem stopping and controlling is the problem. Tongue weight is Very Important to control.


I may sound preachy but I would hate to think I could have saved you some serious problems. You may already know most of what I have said here I don't mean any offense.

[blind ear]

Are breaks a worthwhile investment considering the greatly increased possiblity of loss of truck, boat and life without them? ear

[LONGTOM]

Pulling over 2990 lbs with out brakes is against the law.
Pulling a load that is heavier than that with out brakes is a bad mistake waiting to happen.
Brake controlls only cost about 60 to 90 dollars and you can hook them up yourself in about 20 minutes.
Check to see if the trailer has surge brakes already on it.
This is a self contained unit that is part of the trailer hitch and works a hydraulic brake cylinder each time you apply the truck brakes with out having a brake controll.
I don't like this system but it is better than no brakes at all.
If this is a new boat & trailer that weighs that much then it is against the law to sell it with out brakes.
Federal law requires brakes on any trailer grossing over 2990 lbs.
A decent 1/2 ton full size truck can handle 4500 lbs with no problem as long as you have brakes.
If it can't, then it ain't much of a truck.
Stay away from the SUVs for towing that much weight.
Not that they can't pull it but the trailer and load will be much longer than the tow vehicle and you will get swing at high speed or in the wind or as a semi passes you.
We have been in the trailer business for over 50 years and trust me in what I say.
I have been there and done that.
1 ton truck pulling a 53' drop deck flatbed trailer grossing over 43,000 lbs.with plywood out of NC to VA on a regular basis.
I had 56,000 lbs worth of axles and was licensed for 80,000lbs.
Had good brakes but still was close a few times.
Also check with the DMV as to what weight tags you need on the vehicle.
In VA you have to have your vehicle tagged heavy enough to cover the tow vehicle, the trailer and the max load combined.
 
 
LONGTOM

[Sourdough]

1985 I Had a Jeep CJ-8 (Scrambler), I towed a 21ft travel trailer with it with no problems.  I towed that trailer all over Alaska for five years.  Trailer Brakes was the only reason I had no problems.  Pulling the vehicle weight was not the problem for the little Jeep, stopping that weight was.  With trailer brakes "No problem".

Towed a four horse trailer from Arizona to Anchorage in 1978 with a one ton Dodge.  Had a 9ft fully self contained camper on the truck.  Brakes went out on the trailer about 80 miles from Anchorage, in mountains.  Life got real interesting for 50 of those miles till we got out of those mountains.  At that time the Glenn Highway was narrow two lane, with no shoulder, and no place to pull off.  The added weight of the camper gave the truck the ability to handle the trailer with no brakes, till I got to Anchorage.

Last year I sold a Suzuki Samirai.  I promised to deliver it to Nenana for shipment with the barge.  The morning I needed to go to Nenana my son got up early and took my one ton truck to school.  The only vehicle I had was the other Samurai.  I hooked up and headed off.  I took it slow and easy, and had an uneventful trip till I got to Nenana.  The streets are gravel, and when I went to go around a corner while braking, the second vehicle having no brakes, pushed me sideways on the street.  Both vehicles weighted 1900 lbs. each.   

[rockbilly]

I would select a tow vehicle that out weighed the boat, motor and trailer, And look very closely a adding brakes to the trailer. That said most any full size pick-up with a V—8 would suffice as a tow vehicle.

On April 7, 1988 I was ran off the road and rolled a truck with a boat in tow.  I rolled five times, Why?  I was pulling a 18 foot Skeeter 175 Starfire, loaded out with a 175 Mercury, trolling motor, 28 gallons of gas, three full size batteries, mine and my buddy’s fishing gear.  I was towing with a Toyota extras cab 4x4 pickup.  The boat, motor and trailer weighed more than the tow vehicle. The accident darn near killed both of us, I had just stopped at a fast food place and got a milk shake and hamburger, when we got back in the truck neither of us put our seat belts on, we bounced around quite a bit in the roll and has milk shake and hamburger all over us.

After the other driver’s insurance paid off I bought a new full size Ford pickup and when I went to buy a new fishing rig the first thing we talked about was trailer, I ordered a tandem axel trailer with four wheel disk brakes, it was costly but had I been equipped in this manner when the accident occurred I would have likely been able to prevent the roll.

To me the first thing I would ask is, “can I stop the rig in an emergency?”
 
A cop witnessed the accident, when we stopped rolling I was pinned in between the roof and steering wheel, the driver's side door would not open.  As the cop came up to the vehicle he asked, "are you alright?"  I answered, "Yes, just gt me out so I can shoot the crazy dude that ran me off the road."  The cop turned to my buddy who was out of the vehicle and asked him, "Does he have a gun/?  My buddy told him, "Yes, he doesn't leave home without one."  After being told that the cop would not get me out untill they found and unloaded my pistol.

[Conan The Librarian]

Thanks everybody. You've helped me a lot.
 
The application will be towing about a 20 foot bay boat, which has a hull weight of about 2000 pounds, but add all the other stuff plus a little extra for margin of error, and the weight does get pretty heavy.
 
I originally figured a F150 should be OK, and it may be in some configurations, but it's pretty clear now from here and a couple of boating sites that having a heavier duty truck, with 4wheel drive, is the answer for this kind of application.
 
 

[quickdtoo]

I tow a ~2400lbs of boat and gear with my V6 Rav4 which is rated at 3500lbs tow capacity with the factory class III hitch, but Toyota recommends brakes on anything over 600lbs, state law here requires trailer brakes for over 3000lbs,  it stops reasonably well on dry pavement,  but I won't tow it in wet weather until I get brakes on the trailer, Champion and other trailer supplies sell drum or disc brake kits for boat trailers which is the way to go I think. 

Tim

http://www.championtrailers.com/DRUM%20BRAKE%20KITS.htm


http://www.championtrailers.com/KODIAK%20UNITS.html