Towing a boat on an aluminium trailer

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sun 5 Dec 2010 15:51
Towing a boat on an aluminium trailer - JIK

Hi,

We need to buy a car which will be able to tow our small cruiser 750kg plus outboard and luggage, (say 800 -850 kg) on a new aluminium trailer, with one axle. Don't mind second hand or new but budget 14 - 15 K. We haven't towed before and will need the car to be comfortable for some local and motorway driving . Any thoughts? Thank you JIK

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Sun 5 Dec 2010 16:14
Towing a boat on an aluminium trailer - injection doc

You need to give some thought to a car suitable for going down a slip way, especially some that are slippery ! cars with electronic handbrakes fiited to rear wheels forget !! as they won't like dipping in salty water and cars that get sufficent grip going back up a slip way !

Most average cars will tow the weight no problem at all, so think about mirror width, strenght of handbrake, & plenty of grip. Some FWD cars are too soft at the rear whcih will make the front "boat" and will make traction on a slipway difficult

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Sun 5 Dec 2010 16:19
Towing a boat on an aluminium trailer - Collos25

You need to find the gross weight of the trailer add to the weight of the boat then look at vehicles which are capable of towing the combined weight ,if you buy the vehicle first you could end up with a vehicle not allowed to tow the combined weight.Braked and unbraked weights are listed in all vehicle specs.

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Sun 5 Dec 2010 20:07
Towing a boat on an aluminium trailer - fordman1

It is not advisable to tow a trailer that exceeds 85% of the cars kerbweight, especially if you have never towed a trailer before. It is also dangerous to tow a trailer that ways more than the car.

Bear in mind that some vehicles towing limits are higher than the vehicles kerbweight. A 4x4 would probably be more suited to use with a boat trailer, they are higher off the ground, and will cope better if you have to reverse the trailer into water.

Edited by fordman1 on 05/12/2010 at 20:11

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Sun 5 Dec 2010 20:15
Towing a boat on an aluminium trailer - dieseldogg

Sorry Fordman, you are wrong, a FWD car will be perfectably good & legal with that trailer, just check the plated/stated weights. i.e RTFlippingM

A Galaxy type/weight vehicle would "eat" it

It is in no way dangerous, IF one can drive and remembers one is towing.

However the slipway could be an issue where RWD or indeed 4*4 might be better.

Sommat like a Yeti would be more than adequate.

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Sun 5 Dec 2010 20:42
Towing a boat on an aluminium trailer - fordman1

Yes, I Know a FWD car would be fine. I used to tow caravans, I know about weights.

I just wanted to point out that it is dangerous to tow a trailer that weighs more than the towing vehicle.

You should aim to have at least '40bhp' per tonne available when towing.

In this case the poster estimated the weight to be around 850 kilograms.

So a 'Ford Focus' sized car or equivalent would be capable of towing the trailer, but might struggle if the boat trailer has to be reversed into the sea.

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Mon 6 Dec 2010 09:57
Towing a boat on an aluminium trailer - injection doc

Quite agree with Fordman, now the other issue is that a lot of boat trailers are unbraked ! now that puts it all into a whole new dimension, my Boat trailer for a Jet boat weiging in at nearly 2 tons wasn't a braked trailer from the supplier !

I used a galaxy to tow one of my boats out the thames and the slip way was wooden and it just couldn't move the boat and a fellow boat enthusiast got his 4x4 & pulled it up the slip way! although I have to say most are concrete these days. The biggest problem is some slips are shallow and the trailer needs to go a long way in the water and with a saloon car this means giving the rear a deep wade and I have known salt water to flood in the boot! so 4X4 can be better.

some slip wys to have a tractor to launch, so even better

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