Question about towing a drifter

[gstump]

So I recently purchased a drift boat and my better half is selling her truck that I tow it with. Fine timing! So I’m in the market for a something that I can pull a drifter with but won’t break the bank the other 99% of the time. Unfortunately, I spend my entire week driving around the city for work. I cannot just get something with the balls I’d like without filing for bankruptcy.

I’m looking at a Subaru Forester or a Honda CRV. Both are AWD. How feasible is it to rely on either of these in the wintertime? They will both tow down the road just fine but I’m worried about how these little crossovers might do on a snowy/icy Michigan boat ramp.

Anybody have any experience with this sort of thing?

[FMJ]

LAst year coming home from the lake towing an 18' Bravo ski boat, with an F-350 power stroke, I had one of those Honda CRV's pass me quite easily, starting from a dead stop towing an 18' bass boat. I suppose if i was worried about it i coulda stepped on it and kicked in the ole turbo charger.

Dunno 'bout the whole snowy/icy hill climbing thing....but i would guess (ice and snow equalizes ALL 4x4 vehicles) it would do fine

[Carpmaster]

Those subaru wagons get around awesome, my neighbor has 2 and I am impressed with them....

[TheSteelheadBum]

My buddy tows his Hyde around with a Subaru wagon without any issues what so ever. The all wheel drive is very nice and it gets good gas mileage.
There is one issue, their automatic transmission will not handle the towing very well at all. Subaru doesn't have a very durable automatic transmission to begin with, but you start towing stuff and you will really shorten the life of it. Luckily he has the manual transmission and it handles it just fine.

My other buddy has a Honda CRV and tows his 16' Fishrite Powerdrifter jetsled with a 60/40 Yamaha jet on it and it handles it no problem. One thing I will say is that it is terrible at climbing hills with that boat though, but that boat weighs about as much as 4 drift boats would so you should be good to go with just a drift boat. I have driven it and was not impressed with how the vehicle handled myself, but that is personal preference.

Both would climb a boat ramp just fine...

Personally I would go with a Toyota over anything Subaru or Honda has to offer.

[TheSteelheadBum]

One thing is, his wagon is the Impreza so the Forester auto trans may be capable of towing a drift boat, but I know for a fact that the weight of a 14'6" Hyde is over the towing capacity of the auto trans on the Impreza wagon which is just a little smaller than the Forester. You will need to contact Subaru on that, but is definitely something you need to make sure of before you buy. Like I said though, they are not known for having the greatest automatic transmissions durability wise "not the worst by any means either though"...

Good luck on your choice...

[Empty Nets]

Seriously, BUY American! The quality of the american automobile has surpassed the oversea's vehicals. Check out the top recalled vehicals of 2006, 2007 & so far in 2008. The top 15 worst vehicals each year are nissan, honda & toyota.

If you want a people hauler, that can pull a drift boat, The Acadia or the Enclave crossovers get good milage and can pull your boat & much more.

If you want a truck...a Chevy Tahoe Hybrid is the way to go. 20 miles per gallon IN THE CITY!!!!!! & can pull a small cruise ship.

There are huge incentives & 0% financing on all most GM vehicals right now.

Good Luck, Tight Lines

[TheSteelheadBum]

Seriously, BUY American! The quality of the american automobile has surpassed the oversea's vehicals. Check out the top recalled vehicals of 2006, 2007 & so far in 2008. The top 15 worst vehicals each year are nissan, honda & toyota.

If you want a people hauler, that can pull a drift boat, The Acadia or the Enclave crossovers get good milage and can pull your boat & much more.

If you want a truck...a Chevy Tahoe Hybrid is the way to go. 20 miles per gallon IN THE CITY!!!!!! & can pull a small cruise ship.

There are huge incentives & 0% financing on all most GM vehicals right now.

Good Luck, Tight Lines

Now if they could only get rid of the labor unions they could start having them built here in the states again...

There was a time and place for those unions that is definitely true, but that time is gone. Those unions are doing nothing but hurting both the manufacturers and the workers and if the manufacturers end up failing they will be the cause of it.

GM/Ford/Chrysler can only sustain these losses so long before they close the doors. Then what do you do when you need stuff for your vehicles? You can only get so much of it aftermarket...

[Gunnar]

Another vote for Toyota :cool:
My '98 4Runner does everything I need it to very well. I have a 14' 6" Hyde, and I don't even notice the weight of it when towing.
The 4WD system is awesome! I've never had an issue when launching/retrieving my boat from the nastiest rutted out Michigan boat "ramps."
With 157,000 miles, she's running strong, and I wouldn't hesitate driving it anywhere.......and I'm still getting 19mpg city, 22mpg Hwy.....not awesome mileage, but pretty good for a 10 year old V6 4x4.

[djm]

We forget what made Michigan a great state. The domestic automobile companies put billions of dollars into the Michigan economy, down from the hundreds of billions. When I travel to Japan I do not see any imported product, right down to the No. 2 pencils that could be purchased cheaper from China...We should all think and act responsibly...........I just brought a great GMC Acadia made in Lansing, engineered and also world headquarter in Michigan. New or used we should stop look at foreign product being better because it is not the case.....If you travel to china and Japan you will find this to be more true than you might expect.

[Fox]

There was a time and place for those unions that is definitely true, but that time is gone. Those unions are doing nothing but hurting both the manufacturers and the workers and if the manufacturers end up failing they will be the cause of it. ...


Amen to that!

[gstump]

Thanks for all of the great insight guys. This is exactly the stuff I need to know. Unfortunately there isn’t exactly a wealth of information out there on the subject.

I’m leaning towards the Forester right now. I’ve heard nothing but great things about them. (Apart from the potential transmission overload)

I hear and struggle with the “American company” thing too. On the other hand, Subaru’s are made by Hoosiers 50 miles north of me in a factory that has produced exactly zero waste in the past several years. In fact they introduce their energy surplus into the Indianapolis power grid.

Lean left or right or whatever, that’s pretty damned respectable.

Anybody have the rough towing weight of a 14’6” lowside Hyde and trailer?

Secondly, I’ve heard of guys installing some sort of transmission cooler in this situation. Would this alleviate such problems?

[Steeldrifter]

Lets not get into the whole "Buy American" thing here guys. Sure that would be nice if we could do that but in this day and age this is a Global Economy when you "Buy American" anymore theres no telling how much of it is USA or if it was just assembled here but parts imported etc etc. Theres Toyota and Honda plant in America with Americans working there just like any other shop were a guy is tryin to make a living. And honestly its a bit of a stretch for people to say "Buy American" then they go home and watch a japanese TV, Radio, CD player, wearing cloths made in Bangledish while tying flies with materials from Kenya...yadda yadda yadda you get the idea.

I'm a big Chevy guy myself so I'm no fan of overseas items but we have to be realistic and let people have their own opinions here because in this day and age as I said earlier, its a global economy and you never know where you dollar will end up.

So if he wants to buy a Toyota or Honda or GM or Ford, thats his choice.


gstump trans coolers help to extend the life of the trans by lowering the trans fluid temps and are always a good thing to have. But the towing weight of a drift boat and trailer is almost nothing compared to a normal boat towing weight so a cooler really isnt even a must have item if your just gonna tow a drift boat. Pulling a large boat, plowing snow and that sort of thing that stresses a trans is when a cooler comes in useful.

[TheSteelheadBum]

gstump,

My buddy who owns the Subaru is gone for the next few days on the upper Manistee, but when he gets back I will ask him what the exact weight is of the 14'6" low profile Hyde and trailer as that is exactly what he has. I know he has all the exact numbers as he had to have it all to make sure he could tow it with his Impreza wagon. I was with him when he was researching it and when he realized that he would not have been able to tow it if he had the automatic transmission. He will not be back until Tuesday though so if you want to know sooner just call Hyde. They would be able to tell you.

[Steeldrifter]

I was with him when he was researching it and when he realized that he would not have been able to tow it if he had the automatic transmission.

Kory I cant hardly see how that could be. A 14'6" LP hyde weighs in at just about 250lbs, the trailer maybe another 350'ish so your looking 600 maybe700lbs tops (thats the same as having 3-4 people in the car).. and tounge weight is a heck of a lot less than the actual weight of the set up. Anything can pull that auto trans or not. After I sold my pick up I even pulled my 17' Hyde with a mini van and a cavalier for two seasons with zero stress or trouble. With the exception of not being able to see over the boat through the back window of the cavalier lol...I could hardly even tell it was back there weight wise.

[tightlined]

a drift boat of that size, or really any size for that matter, could be towed by pretty much any car on the road wih zero issues when it comes to enough power for the job, so I don't think the weight is an issue at all. Rough terrain, snow, and ice create a few problems that a vehicle with higher ground clearance and 4wd comes in handy.

[ianmccririe]

i agree with thesteelheadbum and fox unions served a purpose and helped the "working man" for a number of years however for the last few decades they have donenothing other than push industry to its limits untill it finialy began to leave for cheaper labor. but aside from that my dads f-series superduty could pull a house off its foundation:cool: , but the cost of diesel is also killer :eek:

[FMJ]

The unions Did and still DO take money out of the pockets of greedy fat cat owners/CEO's and puts it in the pockets of the working man. Also, look to working conditions and safety....safe working conditions, and a decent wage scale doesnt really matter to ANY of us, does it?!?!

G.M./ Ford/ Chrysler need to buck up and take some pay away from the big shots at the top.

I find it rather funny how Honda and Toyota can employ as many Americans as the big three AND pay them comprable wages and STILL show profits and turn out a quality product.

For the redord (having been raised in the thumb) Generous Motors (Saginaw steering gear) fed, housed and made it possible for my dad and i to go trout and deer hunting in the U.P......I'm personally a Ford guy. With the G.M. truck plant in my back yard...and a Toyota plant down state.

Done ranting............sorry guys (and Steve) I just get angry with the whole Union/non-union/"foriegn/domestic" crud

Buy what you want, need and can afford..... and ENJOY.

Lets go FISHIN!!!!!!! THATS what this is about.

Mike

P.S. I suspect if could get out/gotten out fishing more this season i wouldnt be quite as "cantankerous".

[TheSteelheadBum]

Kory I cant hardly see how that could be. A 14'6" LP hyde weighs in at just about 250lbs, the trailer maybe another 350'ish so your looking 600 maybe700lbs tops (thats the same as having 3-4 people in the car).. and tounge weight is a heck of a lot less than the actual weight of the set up. Anything can pull that auto trans or not. After I sold my pick up I even pulled my 17' Hyde with a mini van and a cavalier for two seasons with zero stress or trouble. With the exception of not being able to see over the boat through the back window of the cavalier lol...I could hardly even tell it was back there weight wise.

Steve,

I see what you are saying, but I was standing there after he got off the phone with Subaru. His exact words to me were that he was lucky he had the manual transmission as otherwise he wouldn't of been able to tow the boat. Just was going by what Subaru told him when he told them the exact weight of his rig. It didn't make much sense to me, but that was straight from a Subaru dealer or 1-800 number or something. Not sure what he called, but it was a number he got out of his owners manual.

[TheSteelheadBum]

The unions Did and still DO take money out of the pockets of greedy fat cat owners/CEO's and puts it in the pockets of the working man. Also, look to working conditions and safety....safe working conditions, and a decent wage scale doesnt really matter to ANY of us, does it?!?!

G.M./ Ford/ Chrysler need to buck up and take some pay away from the big shots at the top.

I find it rather funny how Honda and Toyota can employ as many Americans as the big three AND pay them comprable wages and STILL show profits and turn out a quality product.

For the redord (having been raised in the thumb) Generous Motors (Saginaw steering gear) fed, housed and made it possible for my dad and i to go trout and deer hunting in the U.P......I'm personally a Ford guy. With the G.M. truck plant in my back yard...and a Toyota plant down state.

Done ranting............sorry guys (and Steve) I just get angry with the whole Union/non-union/"foriegn/domestic" crud

Buy what you want, need and can afford..... and ENJOY.

Lets go FISHIN!!!!!!! THATS what this is about.

Mike

P.S. I suspect if could get out/gotten out fishing more this season i wouldnt be quite as "cantankerous".

FMJ,

Honda & Toyota don't have to pay or deal with unions is why they can pay comparable wages & still show profits. They don't have any type of union and they still have safe working conditions. You ever here of OSHA? They are going to have safe working conditions no matter what bud! The unions are not taking money out of the CEO's pockets and putting it into the working man's pocket's, they are taking it out of the manufacturer's pockets and putting it in their own. I suggest you do some research as your comments are outdated by about 30+ years...

They were all true statements at one time, but not anymore man...

[FMJ]

Steelheadbum,

respectfully, not the time or place.........P.M. sent.

LETS GO FISHIN!!!!!

Mike

[TheSteelheadBum]

Steelheadbum,

respectfully, not the time or place.........P.M. sent.

LETS GO FISHIN!!!!!

Mike

Thanks Mike.

Anytime you want to fish, I am game buddy. Definitely agree not the time or place...

Kory

[Rvershk]

Don't rule out the Saturn VUE in your search. I just go rid of my 2003 3500 crew cab duramax (I hated to because I loved the truck but the price of fuel was killing me:eek: ). I bought an all wheel drive V6 that will tow up to 3800 lbs. The big six I bought uses more gas then the smaller 4's but I can still tow a boat and I like the AWD. GM had a 60 months 0 down going - don't know if they still do.

[Btrout24]

2006 chevy equinox awd pulls my 2005 14'6" hyde just fine. no problems at all.

[Steve@BBT]

a drift boat of that size, or really any size for that matter, could be towed by pretty much any car on the road wih zero issues when it comes to enough power for the job, so I don't think the weight is an issue at all. Rough terrain, snow, and ice create a few problems that a vehicle with higher ground clearance and 4wd comes in handy.

What he said... :D

Steve