Serious Thoughts About Safe Towing - G-Series Nautiques

[Neverenough]

I have wanted to do that for years. I agree that it would be a great idea. Maybe I'll check into that next week.

Weve got bags in ours... It helps some but not sure id spend the cash on it again. It helps with really tongue heavy loads but my boats have been pretty balanced so far.

[xxrb2010]

I see boats constantly in my area being pulled by vehicles that have no business being used. There are many factors that go into towing limits. Engine power is probably the least important. The limits are set based on emergency stopping and handling. If when you're braking on a wet road your front wheels don't have enough weight on them to steer the rig without slipping you will not like the result.
I do commend Nautique for starting to use real weights in the manuals in 2016. The Nautique weights now include options normally installed. Other boat manufactures list the basic boat. The G23 weighs 5800 lbs. Now add gas at 400, trailer with spare tire 1800, gear you load in boat at 200 lbs and then add any lead, extra stereo gear, batteries etc. The basic G23 tow weight will be 8200lbs. That's the minimum.
Now take your tow vehicle and look at your basic limits with the hitch and ball you use. Subtract whatever the adjustment is for the upsized tires almost every vehicle is sold with and I suspect not 1 in 10 G23's is being towed within published limits. Many are being towed by family SUV's with a 5000lb rating that's really about 4000 with the big tires!!!

100% agree,

I do not tow when raining or snowing, only when it is sunny and warm, my lake is 20 minutes away on 45 mph road, I only do tow 1 hour max on highway to drop the boat to the dealer and I do not tailgate, my trailer/trunk are horizontally leveled (no squat) , so this my reasoning to why a F150 max tow package with stiffer rear for a G21 should be ok for such towing habit.

Funny story, when I took my f150 on the lot I compare the tire rating among many and I was surprised that the bigger tires had a higher load rating that the smaller ones. I went with the bigger ones

Other "funny" story I saw an Axis towed by an Acura MDX........

[HVL2010]

I saw someone referencing full fuel in their towing weight? Do you all tow with a full tank? I do not. That is several hundred pounds of weight that is geenrally unneccessay to tow around. We stop at one of the stations in Somerset when going to Cumberland or in LaFollette when going to Norris. Might be a little more expensive to fill up, but its worth it in my mind. There is so much other stuff that goes in the truck and boat for a weekend at the lake already.

[surroundsound64]

How come no one is taking about hitch pin ratings? I recently had to cut one off and couldn't for the life of me find a replacement at 3 stores in town that was rated for over 7k or something. And that's for my class V receiver!!!

[distinguishedmotorsports]

I saw someone referencing full fuel in their towing weight? Do you all tow with a full tank? I do not. That is several hundred pounds of weight that is geenrally unneccessay to tow around. We stop at one of the stations in Somerset when going to Cumberland or in LaFollette when going to Norris. Might be a little more expensive to fill up, but its worth it in my mind. There is so much other stuff that goes in the truck and boat for a weekend at the lake already.

6.345 lbs per gallon of gas. 07-09 had a 51 gallon tank X 6.345 = 323.595 lbs topped off. running the boat low on fuel before putting it on the trailer is helpful, a little peace of mind too. i tow mine with full gas for a short distance because my boat stay on a hoist, and gas is much cheaper off water.

[xxrb2010]

How come no one is taking about hitch pin ratings? I recently had to cut one off and couldn't for the life of me find a replacement at 3 stores in town that was rated for over 7k or something. And that's for my class V receiver!!!

yeah, order online, very hard to find 10K rated stuff locally.

[JD ski]

Weve got bags in ours... It helps some but not sure id spend the cash on it again. It helps with really tongue heavy loads but my boats have been pretty balanced so far.

Balance, that is the key. If it is set up well from the factory/dealer "balance" should be right with 10% on the tongue. All full size 1/2 ton trucks made in the last 7 years have approximately 10,000 lb. tow rating (exclusion some limited edition specials Raptors, Lightings, R/T-10 and such). As has been mentioned all manufactures will be required to follow the load and tow ratings eventually.

When I purchased my 1975 Century Resorter in 1999 the previous owner told me he swapped out the stock trailer to a tandem axle and he always had a 3/4 ton to pull it as it is a heavy boat. About 50 miles into my trip home I stopped to check the load and realized the trailer tongue was cracked on both sides. When I got home I pulled right into a local welding shop and had repairs made. Then looked into why the tongue was cracked. The load was not balanced. I moved the front trailer mount back 8 in. which also had the back of the boat at the back of the bunks. This achieved balance for this boat and trailer.

Jeff said he added lead to his boat but did not say where the lead is located. In his photos his set up is causing a 3/4 ton to squat, possibly tongue heavy. Also it is a huge barge he is towing and it is over 8000 lbs.. When I tow my car trailer and car around 3500 lbs. you do not even notice it is there, the same for my Century. When I tow my 1999 Air Nautique loaded it is around 5000 lbs I will add 15 lbs of air to the bags. At 5000 lbs load distribution is the law in California. When I tow my Airstream loaded approximately 8600 lbs I have 1000 lbs load distribution bars for my load distribution hitch. I also put 45 lbs of air in the bags. This amount of air keeps the truck /trailer combo to be level and not bottom out the suspension on rough roads. This is what works for my towing set ups. I also am OCD about trailering. My family is with me when I am on the road and your families may be around me. I also calculated out tire pressures for the load increase, my BFG A/T2 in size 285-65-20 have a 80 lbs max air pressure, as they are a E rated tire. That ride is like driving with tires made out of stone. Base on my calculations when I am towing 8600 lbs., my tire have 48 lbs in the rear and 45 in the front. This causes a balanced ride. Ah, balance weed hopper.

[Cpan13]

How come no one is taking about hitch pin ratings? I recently had to cut one off and couldn't for the life of me find a replacement at 3 stores in town that was rated for over 7k or something. And that's for my class V receiver!!!

If you look at industrial supply stores for the pins with handles they typically are rated higher than regular bent pins found at auto parts stores.

I did notice the new fords have 21k stamped right on their hitch pins so you could also just swing by your local ford dealer.

[jjackkrash]

I just ordered a 32k rated locking pin to go with my shiny new hitch.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[surroundsound64]

Ha yeah. That's where I had to go. But I was surprised tractor supply didn't stock anything more substantial.

[gmdog2]

Well, this is off my Denali 1/2 ton. Now just to verify the receiver in ball...very confusing I must say..

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[Tallredrider]

That proves that Ford puts a weak hitch on the F250 trucks. So lame.

[Longhorn1186]

I did not like the limits on my older F250. Our new 17 F350 has zero issues. Ford got their towing numbers up finally.

[ffmedic74]

So can a regular 2014 Chevy Silverado (has hook up for electric brakes) safety tow a G21 or G23 with or without a weight distributing hitch?

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[jshack01]

ffmedic74 - You mean can you "safely" tow a G21 or G23 with or without a weight distributing hitch. Engine size (4.3, 5.3, or 6.2)? 2WD/4WD? Rear axle ratio? Max trailing package? There were lots of options and configurations that come into play and we aren't even talking about the hitch/receiver yet.

I'd say you'd need at least the 6.2l to get into the ballpark.

Can you actually tow one around "unsafely"?. probably.