Towing with car?

[Lunker]

I have a Saturn L-Series V6 with a hitch that I used to tow my little 12ft aluminum with no problems. I sold that and am looking to buy a new boat. I was planning on a 14fter, but I found a nice 16ft aluminum with a 25hp. Wondering if this is too much boat to tow with the car. The owner towed it with his 4 cylinder truck, but I am still a bit worried. I will be traveling mostly short distances with it, I'm just worried more about the pulling it out of ramp part of it. Any opinions would be appreciated.

[Jeremy airjer W]

The bigger issue is will it be able to stop! An older 16 ft. aluminum is not a lot of boat but may be pushing the limits of the braking system which isn't much to start with?

[DinkADunk]

What's the weight of the boat, motor, trailer and gear? What's the towing capacity of your car? Answer those questions and you will know. The areas where I would be concerned are transmission, rear suspension, cooling system (engine and transmission), and brakes.

[zamboni]

Yeah, I think getting up that ramp with the boat on the trailer will be a bear.

[Jordyn Kaufer]

I have an 1987 alumicraft with a 25 horse motor.

my dad pulls it around fine with our 2004 Chevy Malibu maxx.

It's and older "boxed out" trailer but it pulls it with ease.

look in your owners manual and see what the towing capacity is.

that's how we found out if we could tow a boat with our car.

YFG

[Dave S]

I had a '98 Mercury Sable with a 3.0L 200hp motor pulling a 16" Sylvan Backtroller Select w/ a 60hp Johnson on the back. Never knew the boat was back there. The car did a better job pulling the boat than the '99 Ranger w/4.0L that I also had.

I have no doubts the Saturn can do it. Getting out of a steep access can be a problem. You'll also need to flush the transmission more often too. If you do a lot of towing with the car, I would flush the tranny/replace the filter every 20K miles.

[jwhjr]

The transmission would be my main concern, and the only other one would be if you're at any ramps in poor condition that you might have issues pulling out of.

[Scott K]

As airjer said BRAKES! Your car isnt set up to stop the extra weight and the boat will add to your stopping distance alot! The boat will also make your car brakes heat and cause them to wear much faster. I am not saying your car wont pull or stop it, but just to be aware that it isnt desiegned to.

My 4wheeler will pull my boat at 60 if I wanted it to, but it wont stop it when I need it to!

[Shack]

Quote:

I have a Saturn L-Series V6

Is it a manual or auto trans?

A Sable and a Saturn are two different beasts.

I would proceed with caution. If you make it to the launch, you better hope there is no drop off at the end. The extra weight will be short of impossible to pull up with the Saturn and a went launch ramp.

Every other aspect has been brought up also. I would bring a tow rope just in case .

Good luck!

[shizzy]

are we talking a tub or one with a floor and such? I tow a 14 Alumacraft "tub" and my Ranger doesnt even know its back there. There is a big difference in weight with all the stuff built in.