Can a Wrangler handle a large boat?

[DANR]

I picked up an older Jeep Wrangler to leave at the cabin. It would be nice to be able to use it to pull the boat around locally, but I'm concerned whether it will handle the tongue weight. I have a Crestliner 1850 Sportfish. Before I spend the money to buy a hitch, has anyone had any experience?

Thanks!

Dan

[paceman]

If you just pulling the boat around in shorter hauls I think you should be fine. I see vans and cars pulling bigger boats around all the time. Longer hauls might be an issue for overheating and it will be tougher on your tranny and brakes but for the shorter stuff you should be fine IMO.

[CAMAN]

The problem with the Wrangler is the short wheelbase. When you have a short wheelbase like that and you're towing something heavy if you need to stop abruptly the front wheels have a chance of coming off the ground and preventing you from stopping. The short haul isn't going to be much concern with the tranny and overheating, but its the stopping that has me concerned.

[SkunkedAgain]

Agreed. If you're talking about locally hauling around at speeds under 40mph or so (arbitrary) then you're fine. I wouldn't tow a big boat like that at anywhere near 55mph with that jeep though. It's a certain death trap if anything goes wrong: deer, other driver, etc.

[Matt C]

I picked up an older Jeep Wrangler to leave at the cabin. It would be nice to be able to use it to pull the boat around locally, but I'm concerned whether it will handle the tongue weight. I have a Crestliner 1850 Sportfish. Before I spend the money to buy a hitch, has anyone had any experience?

Thanks!

Dan

As others said, slow speeds and very short distance. Heck, I have a Tahoe, and pull a 20ft boat. That short wheelbase is a killer! Plus in a wrangler you have a much smaller engine.