towing with a small suv?

[jbmaine]

Hi all,

  I'll be picking up my new boat come spring, and will need a better vehicle to tow it with. It will be a 16 ft tin boat, and boat, motor, trailer, and gear should come to around 1700-1800 lbs. We can only afford one vehicle in our family, so I'm looking for a smaller size SUV that's all around good on gas. I've started to look at the Ford Escape with a towing package. The towing package will allow it to tow up to 3500LB .

Before I get to far into this, I was wondering if anyone could tell me if they see issues with towing that much with a vehicle that size. The trailer does not have brakes of it's own, and I don't plan on towing more than 50 or so miles.  

    your input would be appreciated.

                             Thanks

                                     Jim

[CroakHunter]

There should be 0 problems towing that light of a load with a modern vehicle of any size. Even at 2000 lbs that's barely half of the load suggestion in the vehicle. 

[RPreeb]

I don't think that towing a boat that size should be a major issue.  You may find it a bit slow on hills, but otherwise it should pull okay.  

 

Having just bought a camping trailer last year, I've gone through this discussion a few times now, and I ended up having to buy an F-150 with tow package to pull my 5500 lb max trailer.   You are a lot lighter and don't have that drag chute behind to have to overcome.

[moguy1973]

Might want AWD if you put in on steeper ramps.  FWD doesn't like slippery steep ramps.  My buddy with a FWD Explorer has had issues on sloppy ramps before and have had to call someone with a 4WD to get him out.

[burrows]

Will you be buying new or used?

[WIGuide]

On something that small you should be fine, if you launch at any dirt ramps or any that can be rather steep I'd definitely opt for the 4wd version as mentioned earlier. 

[jbmaine]

Thanks for the replies,

I'm going to be looking at used vehicles and definitely AWD. I'd love a full size SUV, but as our only vehicle I need something more efficient. I'll be replacing a Subaru Forrester. I was looking at the Escape because of the towing package, but am open to something different if it does the job.

                                                                      Jim

[CroakHunter]

Depending on how used you're talking. Take a look at the Ford's with the ecoboost twin turbos. I have a f150 with the 3.5 v6 ecoboost and regret not getting one sooner. I average about 22mpg on the highway, and 16 city driving, have 365hp (really fast truck) and the truck didn't blink when I pulled my wife's full size car sitting on top of a 22 ft dual axle trailer with no trailer brakes. Any other v6 wouldn't have cut it

And btw, I'm not a Ford guy...at all. I actually work for and build toyotas

[BrianinMD]

It should be fine, just remember to take it easy. Stopping distance is going to be noticeably longer. Try to get a tow package which includes a trans cooler also.

 

And have to agree with CroakHunter, the ecoboost option is great. My 2017 with 470ft lbs of torque is great, and getting 20.8mpg in all driving, have not been able to check highway miles do not spend much time on them and usually towing.

[TOXIC]

Whatever you get make sure it's set up to tow if you want it to last.  No matter what, I would put a transmission cooler on whatever vehicle you get if it doesn't have one.  Step up your brakes when it's time for new pads and don't go cheap.  Make sure you change the oil in your tow vehicle on a regular basis and for whatever duration the owners manual calls for with extreme driving (usually city/dusty or towing).   

[MickD]

I tow about 2500 with a V6 Terrain and the handling is fine, and you should have no problem with the Escape or any other of similar size.  The 2018 Equinox has what I think the ideal engine for your application (and mine), which is a 175 HP 2.0 liter turbo 4 cylinder.  It will tow your load fine (I used to tow with a 175 HP minivan and it was fine) and will get great fuel economy without the trailer.  Take a look if buying or leasing new.

[3dees]

a few years ago I pulled my VT 19 with a Ford Edge. never had a problem. a 16' tin shouldn't be a problem.

[TheRodFather]

A buddy of mine just bought a brand new Tracker 170 with a heavy 4 stroke jet, total package weight with gear is 1830lb.  He is towing with a Honda CRV.  It's working, not too sure about longevity though, hard on breaks and trans, like everyone else mentioned.

[boostr]

I would opt for the AWD Ford Edge with a tow package. It's bigger than the Escape, but smaller than the Explorer.

8 hours ago, CroakHunter said:

Depending on how used you're talking. Take a look at the Ford's with the ecoboost twin turbos. I have a f150 with the 3.5 v6 ecoboost and regret not getting one sooner. I average about 22mpg on the highway, and 16 city driving, have 365hp (really fast truck) and the truck didn't blink when I pulled my wife's full size car sitting on top of a 22 ft dual axle trailer with no trailer brakes. Any other v6 wouldn't have cut it

And btw, I'm not a Ford guy...at all. I actually work for and build toyotas

That's what I'm looking into this winter, when the dealers want to get rid of their older models.

[Further North]

I tow an '05 Crestliner CMV 1850 with a 2014 Ford Escape (SE model, 2.0L, with tow package).  That boat is probably around 1,000 lbs. heavier with an average load that what you are proposing to tow.  The CMV is an 18 1/2 ft. boat, 8 ft. wide, with a Johnson 140 four stroke (really a Suzuki DF140 with a Johnson logo)on it and it has a 40 gallon fuel tank.

 

I've been towing the CMV for three seasons now including round trips to Canada every year and two or three hour trips closer to home.

 

Zero problems, it works just fine.

 

Make sure you get one with the factory tow package, that is what gets the tow rating up to 3,500 lbs.  With an aftermarket hitch, it is only rated at 2,500, IIRC.  Also remember to tow in Sport Mode, it makes a huge difference.

 

Mileage wise, I see mid 20s day to day (country roads, mostly), higher 20s on the highway as long I don't have to be the fastest guy on the road, and on the annual trip to Canada I've averaged just above 16 MPG all three years.  On that trip, after I fill up with gas in International Falls, the whole rig is probably pushing 3,000 lbs.  Pulling the boat at 60 MPH on a flat, level raod, the engine is runnign about 2,000 RPM...I'm amazed every time I do it.

 

BTW, the built in anti-sway is really, really good; I had a deer jump out in front of me this summer in the middle of a curve with zero warning...and I flinched a bit...I could feel the anti-sway kick in right away.  Between that and just under 40 years experience pulling trailers, we were nowhere near losing control.

 

 

[BrianinMD]

1 hour ago, boostr said:

I would opt for the AWD Ford Edge with a tow package. It's bigger than the Escape, but smaller than the Explorer.

That's what I'm looking into this winter, when the dealers want to get rid of their older models.

They are dumping 2017 models now....trucks of 2018 are coming in....how I got my 2017 f150 3.5 eco with an msrp of 52k for 37k. Deals are out there now.

[jbmaine]

Thanks everyone,

This is just the kind of input I was looking for. I'm not picking the boat up until spring, so I'll have plenty of time to find what I need.

                             Jim

[NHBull]

You will be fine, but remember that stopping is harder than pulling, plan accordingly 

[Further North]

2 hours ago, BrianinMD said:

They are dumping 2017 models now....trucks of 2018 are coming in....how I got my 2017 f150 3.5 eco with an msrp of 52k for 37k. Deals are out there now.

Yeah, they are.  There's a bunch of 2017 Escape SE models with tow packages sitting at my local Ford dealer.  Prices look good to me.

 

1 hour ago, NHBull said:

You will be fine, but remember that stopping is harder than pulling, plan accordingly 

Yup.  Learn to look waaaay further out than when you're driving normally.

 

1 hour ago, BaitFinesse said:

It's impressive that a focus platform can tow up to 3500 lbs.  No way my forester could do that.  

Yeah, it is.  I was extremely skeptical, until I tried it.

 

Dealer didn't quite know how to take it when I showed up with my current rig with the boat hooked up...told him I needed to do a test drive pulling my boat...

 

"I'm not sure we can let you do that?"

 

"OK, I'll find someone who will..."

 

We were pulling the boat down the road 10 minutes later...

 

1 hour ago, jbmaine said:

Thanks everyone,

This is just the kind of input I was looking for. I'm not picking the boat up until spring, so I'll have plenty of time to find what I need.

                             Jim

This time of year is a great time to score a good deal on the vehicle (new and used) if you can swing it

[gim]

I used to tow my Ranger RT178 with a Ford Escape and it worked fine in terms of safety.  The issue I had was that the actual weight of the vehicle wasn't very heavy so it was always "laboring" to tow the boat with efficiency.  My mileage went down significantly when I was towing the boat too.  I upgraded to an F-150 that has some balls and now I don't even notice the boat is back there, plus my mileage is the same now whether I'm towing or not.  Your boat is lighter than mine and you will probably have a newer Escape than I was using.

[jbmaine]

I'm going to have to go used, $$$ just to tight with buying a new boat. But I have all fall, winter to find what I need. Truth be told it will be nice to get rid of my forester. I've been less than happy with it.

                                                                               Jim

[Further North]

I just looked at the inventory at my local Ford dealer...they have Escape SE models with the trailer package going for $26K - 27K, while used Escapes are fetching between $17K - $21K...

 

I'm a die-hard "buy used" guy...but $5,000 to get no miles and a longer warranty might have me checking my numbers for overall cost of ownership.

 

...but then again, if new Escapes are going for $26K in NW WI in October...that's gonna put a hit on the selling price of used ones in pretty short order...

[boostr]

If anything go with Certified Pre Owned. Those are ussualy returned leased models with low miles, and you can get them for a really good price because the depreciation has already been paid off on them during the length of the lease.

[Lures'n'Liberty]

By "16' tin boat," do you mean a tiny little Jon Boat with a tiller drive 5hp or a decked out 16' bass boat with a deck, console, bigger motor, live wells full of water, etc? If you're talking about a small Jon, your numbers are way off on the weight. Unless you've got way more trailer than you need, you're probably well on the low side of 500 lbs and with surge brakes I could safely pull that with my motorcycle, although I'd probably have trouble coming up a launch ramp. You could also flip that boat over and haul it on the roof like a canoe if you're really weighing all the options. 

[Further North]

6 hours ago, boostr said:

If anything go with Certified Pre Owned. Those are ussualy returned leased models with low miles, and you can get them for a really good price because the depreciation has already been paid off on them during the length of the lease.

Good advice - two of our three cars are like that, the third was driven by the car dealer's wife*.

 

*How do I know that?  He lives three houses down the road and we share a passion for upland hunting...