Towing large boat..are these safe to tow???

gaa07 · Oct 22, 2008

Hey guy,

I am looking into buying either a Hydra-sports 2900vx or a Robalo r305, both with trailer have a weight just under 11,000 lbs. My titan has the tow package, is this safe to pull, if not what mods can i make to make it safe.

I will be towing the boat from my house to the marina 5 miles away and every once in a while from my house in miami to the florida keys.

Thanks!!!!

mjw357 · Oct 22, 2008

Do you know what the tongue weight is?

How many axles? Electric brakes?

gaa07 · Oct 22, 2008

um not sure what the tongue weight is gonna be but three axle trailer definately to hold most of the wight on that trailer and not on the truck. and when i say 11,000 lbs i do not mean dry weight i mean with engines and figuring 1,000 lbs of fuel.

Yahooligan · Oct 22, 2008

gaa07 said:
um not sure what the tongue weight is gonna be but three axle trailer definately to hold most of the wight on that trailer and not on the truck. and when i say 11,000 lbs i do not mean dry weight i mean with engines and figuring 1,000 lbs of fuel.

I'd double-check your numbers. The Robalo is 9300lb dry and w/o engines.

Add 500-600lb per engine, so 1,200lb worst-case.
1,000lb fuel
Trailer - 2400 to 2600lb for a trailer with the capacity to carry that boat
Gear - Food, vests, tackle, fenders, water, batteries, etc - 1200lb

9300 + 1200 + 1000 + 2600 + 1200 = 15,300lb trailer weight.

WAY over capacity, I'd even say that's more than most 3/4-ton trucks are rated to tow and a 1-ton is required.

The Titan is a great truck, but towing that boat is way out of its league.

gaa07 · Oct 22, 2008

some solid figure there very true bout 14,000 to 15,000 with trailer.

I mean i have no choice here. i have pulled boats of this size before with my titan and it does very well for a half ton, i guess really i was just wondering if anyone out there was doing this with there titan and how it was going for them. i understand the numbers are way higher than what the truck is intended to do, but hey we all push the limits and i dont think i'd trade my titan for any other truck i love it and my family loves riding in it.

So any of you out there do this with large boats???????

Yahooligan · Oct 22, 2008

Man, you wiped out the other numbers in your edit! What gives?!

Your 11,400lb number with the Hydrasports is still leaving out a key piece of equipment; The trailer. You're looking at 2400-2600lb for an aluminum I-beam Load-Rite, so you're back up to 14,000lb with trailer as you said.

How far are you from the keys? COULD you do it with the Titan to the marina 5 miles away? I'm sure you could if you kept it slow and smooth. Is it advisable? No.

I understand your point that it seems crazy to have to get rid of the Titan and get a beefy 1-ton truck just to move your boat a few miles. What about friends or family, do any of them have a 3/4- or 1-ton truck that you can borrow or have them tow the boat for you?

There are options that don't involve getting rid of the Titan, I just don't see towing 14,000+ pounds with it as a good idea. It's ultimately up to you. :cheers:

gaa07 · Oct 22, 2008

thats why i ran the numbers got the figures again but didnt include the figures of the trailer. So i had to redue them a third time (my bad on that one)

The boat i tow now, which i am going to trade hopefulle for the robalo or hydra sports, has a hull dry weight of just under 3000 lbs of the hydra sports (maybe as u can tell im leaning on the hydra sports as the boat i want to get) with no engines so figure the same things im running at 12,000 lbs loaded and it pulls the boat just fine without ever screaching at the marina ramp (it is a beauty i loved this truck and how well it trailers my current boat. But it was time to get a walkaround to fit my families needs, so im upgrading 3,000 lbs. Now i trailer it mostly just to marinas to either go out at home, or i leave it in the keys at my house there sitting in the water.

Yahooligan · Oct 22, 2008

If you end up going this route I'd look into ways you can reduce the weight while towing. A couple of examples...

Fill the boat with fuel close to the marina instead of close to home, there's 1000lb savings.
Make a 2nd trip to get people and gear if it's only 5 miles. Sure, it's an inconvenience but that's another 1000lb or so savings.

A little extra time and/or planning and you could be pretty close to the weight you're already towing.

vilim12 · Oct 22, 2008

Yahooligan said:
If you end up going this route I'd look into ways you can reduce the weight while towing. A couple of examples...

Fill the boat with fuel close to the marina instead of close to home, there's 1000lb savings.
Make a 2nd trip to get people and gear if it's only 5 miles. Sure, it's an inconvenience but that's another 1000lb or so savings.

A little extra time and/or planning and you could be pretty close to the weight you're already towing.

Weight reduction mods, carbon fiber hull! jk lol

gaa07 · Oct 23, 2008

Great points yea i have decided that im going to have eliminates keys drives if i have to because running the boat over there on the water is just a safer option than trailering it. The marina is not so far and we always take two cars, since theres 6 in the fam its just natural having to take two cars. Im not so worried about driving it to and from the marina because that can be done well if one drives smart (slow and steady and leaves good room for braking). My real main concern is going to be pulling the boat out of the water- my current boat i have no issues with, but i dont know how much a difference these 3,000 lbs or so will make on traction and such. any idea on mods or anything that will help ease me before my first test?? (i will be buying the boat in two weeks so it's getting to be crunch time)

Yahooligan · Oct 23, 2008

2wd or 4wd? Assuming 2wd, if you time it right with the tide so you're not putting your rear tires below the high water mark on the ramp (Wet, slimy, slippery) then you should have enough weight on the rear tires from the boat to give you sufficient traction. In that sense a larger boat usually helps when pulling up the ramp, smaller/lighter boats don't put as much weight on the truck so they don't get very good traction.

Also, a Detroit Truetrac will help a lot if you have a 2wd Titan that's an '07 or older (I believe '08 is when they made the change to the rear). If you have an '08 then someone else will have to chime in on traction mods.

Good luck and congrats on your future new boat! I love being out on the ocean.

gaa07 · Oct 23, 2008

yea 2wd and it is an '08. Well i guess this one we r gonna find out with some outdoor tests. Thanks for the help buddy although im not completely sure how it is gonna work either the truck pulls great or your gonna hear bout an ad for an '08 titan soon...hope not though

thanks man i appreciate the info

SaltyTitan · Oct 24, 2008

So you want to be penny wise on towing a 100k ++++ boat. In all honesty, you need a dual wheel 1 ton. Just for looks, you'll look like a VW towing the QE II. You can do it with short trips but anything longer,,, you won't be happy. For what you're looking at the cost of filling either boat you looking at,,, 2 fill ups will provide you enough money to by an used F350 or a friggin school bus. I think what you're asking to do is all balls no brains... keep your family safe and have the boat launched by the Marina or get yourself a Semi. Sorry if I'm blunt, but you have a family to think about, I'm on your side, notice I didn't even hint at getting a smaller boat

FLA-Titan · Oct 24, 2008

It's not the towing I would be worried about, it's the stopping power of the Titan. A HD Truck is what you want with boats in that weight range.

DeadRiver · Oct 24, 2008

I pulled this 1 mile from my dad's shop to the marina 1986 Welcraft with twin 260 merc cruisers:

The Titan can't safely stop this load @ speed. I had one hell of a time slowing from 35 going down a bit of a grade, the boat ended up sliding forward a bit toward the tongue causing this:

we were only 3 blocks from the marina at this point though. My truck is non-big tow. The total package there we're guessing is around 13-14k including fully loaded with fuel.

I will attempt to pull this out of the water soon to winterize the boat... most likely in 4lo with my fingers crossed.. if not we'll grab the 3/4 ton to get the job done...

I would not do this over any great distance or at any high rate of speed... the Titan is awesome but does have it's limits.

HRTKD · Oct 24, 2008

DeadRiver, your second picture could be in the titan brochure! That's a sweet pic of the Titan and the boat looks good too.

DeadRiver · Oct 26, 2008

HRTKD said:
DeadRiver, your second picture could be in the titan brochure! That's a sweet pic of the Titan and the boat looks good too.

thanks man! minus the door open, dents, and green funk that showed up, it's a decent pic! :cheers:

looks like we'll be pulling it out next weekend.. should be interesting!

helomech · Oct 26, 2008

Pulling it out of the water with a 4X4 will be no problem. Just yesterday I pulled a pine tree through sand that my 50 hp tractor could not do (because of traction) The pine tree was cut in 3 peices, and each peice was over 30 feet long by over 3 feet diameter.

I used to tow a 26' robolo with twin 150 mercury's on it with a 86 dodge D-100, that was WAY OUT OF THE TOW RATING. I had to use the engines on the boat to get the truck and the boat out of the water. The rear of the truck was completly bottomed out. My brother towed a 32' custom aluminium hull with two 225 yamaha 4 strokes 30 miles with a 2001 4X4 toyota tacoma, and it would pull that boat of of the water and down the road at 50 mph.

Yahooligan · Oct 28, 2008

DeadRiver said:
The Titan can't safely stop this load @ speed. I had one hell of a time slowing from 35 going down a bit of a grade, the boat ended up sliding forward a bit toward the tongue causing this:

What was the reason for not having the boat on the trailer correctly in the first place, just trying to keep some of the weight off the tongue to prevent your rear-end from sagging?

Momentum and shock loads are killers, the rollers make it extra fun.

Teh Wicked · Nov 3, 2008

I personally know a guy who is towing a 29' DOnzi with twin 300 Yamaha 4-strokes, fully loaded with dive gear!!! A boat loaded with dive gear is WAY heavier than any fishing boat will be with the same amount of people.

He usually brings 4 people on the boat for a comfortable weekend. 4 divers bring 4 tanks each, each tank weighs in at 50lbs. all the gear needed to dive with wetsuits and such is prolly around 150lb per diver. Then take into account the spear guns, prolly 20lbs each with extra shafts and such. probably at least 400lbs of ice or not 600, then add in the fishing poles and such cause you cant dive in the mdidle of the night. Food, water and BEER! you talking close to 2000lbs of gear not including the people themselves or the fuel which is around 1200lbs.

All this is towed down the road by a Big Tow equiped Titan, never had a problem with it once. But FL is flat and most of the boat ramps are pretty good shape. But that boat is easily into the 13000lb range loaded and on the trailer. and im being generious here. he does tow it with a triple axle trailer with disc brakes all around.

I have personnally pulled many a boat in the 25' and less range with my NON-tow titan. I had a Sea-doo 23' something another. sold it and got a 23' Hydra sports center console. and now im about to upgrade to a 25' Mako Walkaround with twin yamaha 150's hanging off the back. dry weigh is 3800lbs on the boat.

Towing large boat..are these safe to tow???

gaa07

mjw357

gaa07

Yahooligan

gaa07

Yahooligan

gaa07

Yahooligan

vilim12

gaa07

Yahooligan

gaa07

SaltyTitan

FLA-Titan

DeadRiver

HRTKD

DeadRiver

helomech

Yahooligan

Teh Wicked

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