Towing/Transmissions?

[pikerliker]

Hey I've got a question. I'm thinking about buying a boat this spring. The one that me and my wife are looking at is a 17ft. fiberglass runabout. The owner says it weighs around 1800lbs (trailer and boat). Is this too much weight for a mini van to tow? I don't want to wreck my tranny!! I have a Dodge Grand Caravan. It has a 3.0 V6 with no overdrive. I looked it up on the internet and it said maximum towing 2000lbs. Can anyone give me some good advice on this?

Thanks ~Piker

[Surface Tension]

Heat is a transmissions biggest enemy. Don't do any fast acceleration and you should be fine. Tranney coolers are fairly cheap and easy to install but you still should take it easy.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Pikerliker, Don't get the wrong impression. I'm not a Ford, Chev, Dodge, etc guy. I've owned my share of Dodge mini-vans both with the 3.3 and the 3.0 V-6. I've always had tranny problems with them. These transmissions are in many cars with the same engines and are problematic at best. If you're going to tow with this van, be careful. Take off slow, be nice to the tranny.

[norm]

this doesn't have anything to do with towing a boat but still along the same line. i want to put new 31/10.5 tires on my truck. the tires on it now are 215's. i know bigger tires can hurt trannies but i dont think this is too big of a change what do y'all think?

[This message has been edited by norm (edited 03-22-2004).]

[hanson]

PikerLiker,

Sounds to me like you're gonna be pushing it. Not saying it can't be done but it wouldn't be MY first choice for a tow vehicle. Guess it depends on if you're hauling the boat on couple hundred mile trips or just 20 minutes to the boat landing.

If you are gonna do it, I would say to definitely not drive in Overdrive which you don't have anyway. And make sure you have a transmission cooler. Every little bit will help. More frequent changes of the tranny fluid would also be advisable. Be careful at the boat landings also. Won't take much of an incline or gravel landings, etc. to give you some problems, i.e. getting stuck!

I actually had 2 snowmobiles on a trailer do in the transmission on my 4.0 V6 Auto Ford Ranger. Thats only about 1200-1300 pounds. Buddy of mine had a couple snowmobiles fry the transmission in his GMC Jimmy.

[hanson]

norm,

What kind of truck??

[FZ]

PikerLiker, I had a Dodge Gd Caravan 3.0 V6 towing a Alumncraft 170 Trophy/Shorelander Trailer five years ago. That's was my first year owning a boat and only for one year. However, I did have a trip to Rainy Lake, a trip to Cass Lake, and at least five trips to Lake Mille Lacs. Towing on the road was ok. The difficulties were at boat landings, especially with ones having a steep slope. Most city ramps were ok, I never stuck. I always used the ramp from resort or had help to pull my boat out of water when I fished outside the metro lakes. My van had no transmission problem until I sold it last year.

I guess you would be ok if you don't have a choice. For a long run, it's much better to have a full-size truck.

[trollingforeyes]

Something to keep in mind is that with front wheel drive, is when you pull the boat out of the water, the combination of tongue weight, ramp incline and a little loose sand on the concreate apron will easily result in wheel spin. Also what is included in the stated weight of 1800 lbs? Boat, motor, trailer, fishing gear,anchor, batteries, fuel? All of this has got to be considered with the towing weight. Sounds like you could be pushing over 2000 lbs easy.

[norm]

hanson-
it is an '89 s-10 4x4

[kslipsinker]

I had a 94 Plymouth Voyager tha we purchased new. They were very frank when we bought it and said it was not a good tow vehicle. Didn't matter to me because I have a truck for my boat. The trannies on those minivans are not made to handle the loads. My brother in law and his buddy blew a trannie pulling a boat to Canada with a Caravan. It was a new vehicle too.

[Powerstroke]

Some other things to consider about tow weight ratings. They are determined with a combination of factors such as the frame strength and rigidity, engine power, tranny power, brakes and other load capacity.

Being you have a minivan I assume you're driving the family to the lake too. That will mean several bodies in the vehicle, gear, maybe food, bait, etc. AND your boat and everything it needs. To me it sounds like you're stretching it. Yes you can add a tranny cooler and you will extend the life of your tranny, but you will being putting lots of stress on the rear suspension and its shocks.

My parents have owned 3 Caravans now since 1987 and for some reason my dad insists on towing with them. He killed the first two by towing his 16' Larson fiberglass tri-hull. It weighs about what yours weighs. After ruining 2 vans before hitting 150K miles, he bought a used 1/2-ton pickup for towing.

P.S. Your van has an overdrive tranny. You just don't have an "overdrive off" for towing. If you have a 4speed auto, the 4th gear is always an overdrive. Its gear ratio should be less than 1:1.

[196thDLR]

Pickerliker: I run an all wheel drive Astro Van with a 4.3 Vortec with towing and it has everything it can do to pull a 1992 Lund ProV. Total weight with everything in the boat and full gas tank, roughly 2000 lbs.

I had an Astro van before this to without towing, and I had to change oil and filter in the transmission 2X in one summer because it was burning up. As soon as I can afford it, I am going to a full size pickup.

[LundExplorer]

I would say don't do it. I had a Caravan, 3.3L V6, once pulled my 16' fiberglass ski boat, had tranny fluid leaking out the vent -days later I traded it off on a Jeep w/ V8, then later a ext cab pickup.

[bucketmouth64]

I used to have a Ford Aerostar v-6. Used it to pull a 15 foot fiberglass boat, family, and luggage. Tranny never went out, but it struggled towing with all the weight. On really hot days or long trips the engine would labor with the added weight. Would stop to let engine cool down.

Now I have an Explorer, v-8, all wheel drive. Not an ounce of problem with towing 16 foot aluminum boat, gear, family. The gas mileage isn't the greatest but I have the power which makes a big difference. Just keep up with the maintenance according to dealer specs. And if you tow a lot then you might want to change tranny fluid after/before each season. If you have a vehicle with all wheel drive make sure you change the transfer case fluid too when doing tranny service.

[Surface Tension]

Once in a while I'll trailer a 1500 lb rig with the Mazda MPV 3.0 liter mini van loaded with gear and passengers. It does have a power switch which makes the tranney shift at a higher RPM.
I hardly notice I'm pulling anything.

[Giant_Jackpot]

Look at the owners manual for towing recommendations.

[deadeye]

I would say don't pull anything with the van. The dodge caravans have fairly weak transmissions and when you pull a load they really like to fry, even with a tranny cooler. I would say find a old beater 4x4 for like 500 bucks that is full of rust but runs good for summer boat duty.
><>deadeye

[Chris-Neises]

After reading this post, I added a transmission cooler to my Jeep Grand Cherokee. It has the inline 6. The mechanic said coolers really help.

[Ray Esboldt]

Another thing to consider when attempting to tow with a mini-van is braking ability or lack thereof. If the boat is 1800lbs, you'll probably be towing 2500lbs.+ with everything considered. I can almost gaurantee you're begging for a disaster in a hard-braking situation. The weight of the boat is going to overpower the braking/suspension package of Dodge Caravan.

My brother-in-law pulls a tent trailer with his on occassion. It gets a little hairy under hard braking with a 1200lb. tent trailer.

I would say don't do it!

------------------
Ray Esboldt
MarCum
Stone Legacy

[federline]

3.0L grand caravan... sounds like an older model, since the 3.0L is not an option with the newer ones. The 3.0L is a Mitsubishi engine.

We owned two of the 3.0L Caravans (short wheelbase, not Grand) - late 80's and a '95. They both had 3 speed overdrive transmissions, that was the standard then to mate with the 3.0L Mitsubishi engine.

These transmissions (the 3 and 4 speed overdrives) were actually quite closely mated to the vehicle. So close, right on the cusp - that Grand Caravans torch trannys at a much higher rate than the short wheelbase vans. Long wheelbase owners who purchased theirs with tranny coolers usually didn't have the tranny fry, either.

All this info is not considering towing conditions, mind you. Add a trailer, and I think any Caravan should be driven short distances with a gentle foot. A friend of mine had a '96 Grand with 3.3L, and towed a u-haul cross country once, just once. It dropped tranny within weeks after moving.

I'd say: It's OK if you're going to a landing close to home (max of a couple hours away, I'd say), but not OK for regular trips up north or long distance trips (like Cities to LOTW). The history of the Dodge minivan trannys simply cannot be ignored.

And a final note: Without the factory towing suspension or aftermarket help, you will eventually flatten Caravan rear springs until the van sags in the rear standing alone, no matter what you hook on the back, be it a receiver hitch bike rack with 3 bikes or a boat trailer. Trust me, I know.

[This message has been edited by federline (edited 03-24-2004).]

[Guest]

AS AN AUTOMOTIVE TECHNICIAN I SAY DONT DO IT.. DODGE HAS HAD TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW AND THAT IS WHY YOU SEE THEIR ADS ON TV WITH 7 YEAR 70,000 MILE DRIVETRAIN WARRENTY.. THEY KNOW THEY HAVE A PROBLEM AND THERE TRYING TO SAVE THERE REPUTATION.. I REPLACE TRANSMISSIONS IN THESE VANS ON A MONTHLY BASIS.. I WOULD RECOMMEND BUYING A PICKUP TRUCK EVEN IF ITS A CHEAP BEATER.. ALSO, YOU WILL HAVE A MUCH EASIER TIME GETTING IN AND OFF THE LANDINGS. TRANSMISSION COOLERS DO HELP A LOT. ONCE THE TRANS TEMP RISES BEYOND 200 DEGREES ITS LIFE SPAN IS SHORTENED A LOT. HIGH HEAT CAUSES THE CLUTCH DISCS TO GLAZE OVER AND WEAKEN. WELL, THATS JUST MY 2 CENTS ON IT..

[Guest]

My mom used to have a grand caravan. The transmission went out right away. Many Carvans around here are bad.
Inside the transmission there are pins or rods. If the tire starts losing traction then hits dry pavement the tire grabs and the pins or rods inside the transmission will have tramedous stress caused on them causing the rod to crack or go through the housing. I work at a parts store. I should know all the technical names but I dont. If I were you I would sell it before you have to stick $1,500 into it.

[kevfish]

If you are going to get a pick-up truck I would not recomend getting a dodge- Mine has 60,000 miles on it and the tranny has already went out- In the repair shop every time I was in there they were working on another dodge tranny- never pulled anything heavier than an aluminum fishing boat

[PaulB]

Any one out there use a Toyota 4Runner or Nissan Pathfinder to tow their boat around? I've been thinking about upgrading my 97 Nissan pickup and had these vehicles in mind. I have a 16 ft. aluminum boat thats not too heavy. Thanks.

[rockhardinmn]

I personally wouldnt tow your boat with a mini van . as for it being a mopar product forget towing with it PERIOD ! i owed a dakota that never did any towing in its life and replace trany once at 54000 miles then again at 123000 miles . then i dumped it .Dealers own mechanics said to me it is a design problem with the pump being to small for the overdrive system they have . this was at that time any how the same tranny that went into most all of the mopars. i now own a ford minivan that also has junk tranys and never towed wityh it at all either. as of right now it is going back to the tranny shop for to be rebuilt again 3rd time this winter! It will be dumped soon also . For towing i have a older chev 4x4 with the 700r4 tranny wich alot of people claim is a weak trany also. it did go out on me over 100000 miles ago and i had it built up to handle towing.
I would add a tranny cooler to any rig i am going to tow with. there are many types out there to pick from and dont get the cheapest one.the others that mentioned getting a beater truck to pull your boat with are right to some point. you may have it built up to handle what you are towing as i did thou which was trailers with skidsteers for work . Some Trannys are not good for hopping up towing no matter what you do either.