Towing 21' bass boat with midsize truck

[BassnChris]

Is anyone here towing a 21' bass boat (4200LBS and surge brakes) with a midsize truck like a nissan frontier?

 

If so, how does it handle on long inclines on the highway (1 mile)?

Any regrets using this to tow a 21' boat?

[Hammer 4]

Towing capacity of the truck..? 

[Sphynx]

Towing capacity of a frontier is showing between ~6250 and ~6750 pounds

[Jig Man]

Towing isn’t the most important part.  Stopping is.

 

 I have a 20’4” boat that weighs in around 4500 lbs.  I’ve had 3/4 ton trucks for a long time.  I recently sold my 5th wheel camper and don’t need the big truck for towing so I bought a 1500 size truck.  Even with a smaller engine it pulls these MO hills just fine.

 

What I have noticed is the stopping distance is at least 1/3 greater because the braking system is not as good.  

[Russ E]

I pull a z175 ranger  with a Chevy Colorado.

The total boat trailer package weighs in at a little under 3000 lbs. 

The truck is putting out 310 horsepower and has a 7500 pound towing capacity. It also has a towing package. Trailer also has surge brakes

The truck handles my 17 foot 10 inch boat fine. 

I would not want to pull much more. 

Even though the truck is rated for quite a bit more, I don't think the engine and transmission would last long.

Plus even with trailer brakes a small truck pulling a large boat, can be dangerous when trying to stop in a hurry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gim]

Something to keep in mind when estimating the weight is all the extra stuff in the boat that adds additional weight. Gear, gasoline, add on accessories like a talon or power pole, etc can add a fair amount of weight.

[moguy1973]

1 hour ago, Jig Man said:

Towing isn’t the most important part.  Stopping is.

 

 I have a 20’4” boat that weighs in around 4500 lbs.  I’ve had 3/4 ton trucks for a long time.  I recently sold my 5th wheel camper and don’t need the big truck for towing so I bought a 1500 size truck.  Even with a smaller engine it pulls these MO hills just fine.

 

What I have noticed is the stopping distance is at least 1/3 greater because the braking system is not as good.  

With the trailer having brakes it helps a lot. 
 

The thing the OP may have issues with is that boat will weigh as much or more than the truck so it’ll be pushing it around a lot while being towed.  I’m not a towing expert but I was told to keep the weight of the trailer at no more than 70-80% of the towing capacity of the tow vehicle. If the Nissans have a 6000+lb  tow rating it should be fine to tow a boat like that.  It might be on the edge of what is safe though. I’d definitely keep a majority of the weight added to the boat like fishing equipment towards the back to keep the weight off the tongue. 

[BassnChris]

My truck weighs in at a little more than 4600 lbs.

The boat, trailer, gear and fuel weigh just under 4000 lbs.

Trailer has surge brakes.

I was just wondering if anyone was pulling this size boat and what their experience was.

I got to checking last night and the weight is only about 500 lb heavier than the old Procraft 185 Pro DC I used to pull way back when with a 2011 frontier.

So I think I will be ok, especially with the trailer having surge brakes that I did not have on the Procraft trailer.

 

Thank you for you for your input and information.

Chris

[TOXIC]

3 hours ago, Jig Man said:

Towing isn’t the most important part.  Stopping is.

 

 I have a 20’4” boat that weighs in around 4500 lbs.  I’ve had 3/4 ton trucks for a long time.  I recently sold my 5th wheel camper and don’t need the big truck for towing so I bought a 1500 size truck.  Even with a smaller engine it pulls these MO hills just fine.

 

What I have noticed is the stopping distance is at least 1/3 greater because the braking system is not as good.  

Exactly my experience.  I originally bought a 2500 HD Silverado 6 liter V8 with 4.10 gearing because I tow across country and never wanted to worry about over working my truck and for sure didn’t want any transmission problems.  That was in 2004 and I tow a 21 foot Ranger.  When I was looking to upgrade the truck in 2016, my dealer who is also a fisherman told me the new (at that time) 1/2 tons would be just as good if not better.  I bought a High Country Silverado 1500 with the 8 speed transmission and tow package.  It is a better tow rig over the same roads I drove with my 3/4 ton and gets between 12-16 mpg towing whereas my old truck got 8-10.  The reason I posted this long way to get to your question is this:  The one thing I do miss from my 2500 is the braking and that’s where your problem will be.  Let the roads be less than perfect and you get into an emergency stopping situation and I guarantee you a mid sized truck will get totally manhandled by a 21 foot boat even with surge brakes.  The only way I would do it would be if I had 20 miles or less to the ramp and didn’t plan on towing long distances.  And just as an aside, I pulled my boat through the mountains in West Virginia and managed to get a CEL in my 2500.  I imagine the catalytic converters were red hot.  

[Way2slow]

Depends on how far and the terrain.  Short trips is one thing, long trips will greatly shorten the life of the transmission and is hard on the differential if you try towing at legal highway speeds.  With manual or automatic transmission, you absolutely can not tow in overdrive.

The greater danger is having to make a panic stop, even with surge breaks, that can be very dangerous.  Been there, done that and don't never care to go through that experience again.  I keep a 2,500 HD just for towing my 20' Javelin.  

Rather than listen to a bunch of people on the e-net, stop by a couple of transmission repair shops and ask them their opinion  on how the transmission will hold up under the conditions you plan to use it.  That still does nothing for stopping, you will have to be put in a panic situation, and hope you come out safely to understand that problem.

[Shimano_1]

I know 2 guys that pull big bass boats with tacomas. One has a 21 ft bullet so it's lighter than others. Other guy has a 20ft ranger. They seem to do fine but I personally wouldn't want to do it. As already stated the stopping power and such would be my concern.  If it were short travel times I'm sure it would be fine but if it were hilly terrain and hour or more trips I'd suggest upgrading the truck or down grading the boat. I tow a 19 ft aluminum rig with a hemi and sometimes it seems like overkill but id much rather have too much truck. Truck should last longer and I never feel like I'm in any danger. I actually just pulled my rig 2 hrs to a buddies last night to put new graphs on. A blizzard came while I was there so I towed home in a snow storm. Never had a problem.  I wouldn't have wanted to have had to pull a big glass boat in that with a frontier or tacoma. 

[Way2slow]

I should have also mentioned, if your truck is an automatic, I would strongly suggest you install an auxiliary transmission cooler, and a temp gauge in the transmission.  You might find that if the truck already has an auxiliary cooler, you will probably have to go to a larger one.  Now, if you are one of these that trades for a new vehicle every three years, you might not have as much to worry about.  The vehicle warranty might take care of it if you fry it before then.

You will be surprised just how fast the fluid temp can get above 200f when you start towing up hill or very fast.  Even at 200f, you should change the fluid every 50,000 miles, and when you start hitting 220f, the fluid life and transmission life is cut in half.  Even at 210f, you are cooking the seals and fluid in the transmission.  

Even with a manual transmission, I think if you check the manual, they will tell you not to tow in high gear (which is an overdrive gear), almost everyone I've seen does.

[Bassattackr]

I towed my Phoenix with a 2016 4Runner for a while.  Did just OK.  Upgraded to a Tundra and not looking back!