Can It Tow It? Well

[EvanT123]

I picked up a 1648 all weld jon boat with a merc 9.9 over the winter and have had it on the water a few times and throughly enjoyed it. Problem is i had friends tow it for me with trucks and suv's. I have a 96 oldsmobile eighty eight which has a 3.8L V6. I would rather not purchase a new vehicle at this moment for a number of reasons but thats another story. I found online that the boat weights around 500 the motor 72 and  I dont know about the trailer but lets just call it 1500 when all is said and done. So for the boat towing pros do you think a front wheel drive car with a 3.8l v6 would be up to the task? Not looking to tow across the state maybe an hour radius max. Thanks in advance.

[A-Jay]

According to a few resources I checked (one link is below) your towing capacity is maxed out at 1,000 lbs.

 

A-Jay

 

http://www.cars.com/oldsmobile/lss/1996/specifications/

[VolFan]

Wow, that's an old boat. I thought they were all wood back then.

I wouldn't t do it. It's going to wear out the rest of the car more than the engine.

[EvanT123]

Thanks A-Jay; I did see that. I guestimated 1500 because I dont really know how much the trailer weighs. I doubt its a 1000lbs but at the same time dont know if its 100 or a 1000. I also read people think GM is conservative on the tow capacity of their cars. I found hitchs rated for the car rated up to 3500 pounds but that could be irrelevant. We used to tow a 1236 jon with a beat up 5 cylinder volvo. So here I am still up in the air. 

[Hi Salenity]

Does it have a GVW on the drivers door?

[Tony L.]

Not sure i would try it, but it is not because of your car's motor. I would have no concerns about your engine being able to tow that boat. Those 3.8's (3800 series II???) are some of the most dependable engines that GM has ever made and they are workhorses. For me, the greater worry is in your transmission. I doubt that it is geared to handle that kind of strain. It is a reasonably light boat, so I am up in the air on this one, but i'd probably stay on the safe side and not chance it.

[jessejames556]

I second what Tony said. The engine is fine. It's the transmission and the brakes that I would be worried about.

[martintheduck]

I'd also be worried about backing the darn thing down a ramp and getting it back up again...... sounds like you blundered and bought a boat without having a vehicle for it.

[tntitans21399]

Do not go for a front wheel drive only vehicle. When you add weight to the back it lifts the front up some and most of your traction is in the back. A front wheel vehicle will have trouble going forward will the weight. Their is a reason all towing vehicles have rear wheel drive. You will have trouble getting off some ramps in front wheel only.

If your truck is under powered that is ok. You can tow more then the rating but not advised to. If you do you just need to be extra careful. Stay at lower speeds and allow for farther stopping distance. Our work trucks are Chevy 2500's and is rated for 2,000-2,500 or so in the bed and we have put 4,000 lbs on them at times and they made the trip. But the stopping is the key. If the road is wet give almost a quarter mile to stop because if you slam on the brakes the boat wikl just push you and slide or jack knife. Slow and steady.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

I've got an 8' light duty utility trailer that weighs <500# and haul light loads short distances with a hitch on a '05 Impala which has 284,000 miles and still going strong. Not Ideal but it's ok as a stop gap solution until a new truck materializes. 

[Jig Man]

My F-I-L towed a boat with his Lincoln Town Car for 20 years with no problems.

[EvanT123]

Thanks for the replies guys seems 50/50. I'm gonna have to make a decision either way and soon; being on the bank with this thing at home is killing me.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

U should be fine i had a tandem axle ez loader trailer that hauled a 20 ft glass boat it only weighed 800 lbs and if your is aluminium ur talkein maybe 300 lbs if that galvinized maybe 500 lbs

[Loop_Dad]

I have 3.8L V6 front wheel drive sedan. I have a modified inflatable boat which probably weight somewhere around 250 lbs. I bought a utility trailer from Harbor Freight  which weighted around 250 lbs + 50 lbs so for the deck. I put my gear bag and everything probably around 550 lbs total. With this set up, I am okay, but I do feel the weight when I am going up hill in slower speed.

 

Now you are talking almost three times more than that. I'm no towing pro by no means, but if I were you I would not even try this. It is just too much of load for the car. It is too dangerous. In addition to transmission, I would also worry about the breaks.

 

If you already have a hitch, you can just try out and find out, but if you have to get one, it'll cost you $120 for the hitch if you can install yourself. (I paid $200 for hitch installed and $50 for wiring which I installed to save a little.) 

 

One thing thou, maybe your trailer weight's a lot less. If you put a pictures up, folks here can guesstimate the weight better...just a thought.

[BrianSnat]

I think you are way overestimating the weight of your trailer for a boat that size.  I can pick up my trailer and lift it fairly easily off the ground so I doubt it's more than 200 lbs or so. I suspect you aren't near breaking 1,000 lbs with your setup. 

 

I have a 14 ft aluminum V hull with a plywood floor, a 9.9 Yamaha and trailer. The whole things probably weighs roughly what your setup does and I'm towing it with a 4 cylinder Subaru Forester without issues, so I'm sure your V6 can handle LT 1,000 lbs

[EvanT123]

I've been looking at SUVs for the past two weeks trying to keep it under 7k people want a ton of money for SUVs with 100-150k on them so I'm still searching. Anyways here's a pic of the boat.

[Loop_Dad]

Tracker site says Approx. package weight 1129 Lbs for current model, assuming package weight means boat + trailer.

[Big Fish Rice]

Your car would pull it, but it doesn't necessarily sound like you aren't comfortable with purchasing a new tow vehicle. With that being said, you could always tow it to a recycling center and have it weighted (boat, trailer, etc) to see how much it really weighs, or any weigh station along the highway. If you're taking the time to be safe, most people will probably let you do it for no charge.

I doubt you're over 1,000 pounds by looking at it, but you just never know without checking. Play it safe...and be safe in my opinion!

[NJKen]

Package weight is usually boat, trailer plus motor.  Depends a lot on the HP of the motor.  The OP noted that he has a 9.9 which is 72 pounds and the boat at 500 pounds.  He can look up his trailer weight online, but I'd guess it is less than 350 pounds.  As noted by others, taking the rig to a scale and weighing it will give the best answer.

[Way2slow]

Depending on the terrain, I think you will find if you use some common cense, you can tow it. If it's relatively flat and not pulling a lot of hills is the main concern. Constantly going up and down hills would kill it rather quickly.

As mentioned, the weak point in your package is the transmission and it will overheat rather quickly with all the up shifting and down shifting it would be doing.

The next thing would be to never tow in overdrive and limit your speed to about 55mph, even on the expressways. Going any faster and extra strain of the load, even though it may seem to be pulling just fine, like it's not even back there will cause the transmission to overheat. A transmission only has to get to about 210 degrees and it will start cooking the seals, causing them to harden and pretty soon they no longer function as seals, and a rebuilt/replacement transmission will cost more than the vehicle is worth.

Now, if you really want piece of mind, you can have a temp gauge installed in the transmission and a larger, external cooler, but that may be a little pricey in your neck of the woods. That way you can see what's going on and if its starts getting too warm, just slow down and take it easy until it drops back to normal.

You are not looking at that much weight, but your car doesn't have a whole lot of transmission and heat is the death of one, so be smart about it.

[EvanT123]

Guys,

I appreciate all the feed back. Took the car to a mechanic and they said all the fluids are leaking and the brake lines are shot. Been on the hunt and took this home today

03 pathfinder in immaculate condition. Good car fax service history. Put it up on the lift clean as a whistle. Appointment on Wednesday at uhaul for a hitch and I'm in business. Thanks again for the comments and concern.

[Brian Needham]

I am late to the party........ but in my mind here is the golden rule:

Don't worry so much if you can TOW it, worry if you can STOP it.