Towing 2014 G23 with a Nissan Armada

[mooneywa]

This is the way I am leaning, but at the same time, I would prefer a g23, so another way of asking what I’m getting at is, are there a bunch of people towing g23’s with tahoe’s, expeditions, sequoias, etc? They all have around the same towing capacity and if they work fine, an armada should work fine. If everyone who has a g23 uses a 3/4 ton truck, then probably I shouldn’t be assured by being under the limit and should stick to a boat that is well under and get a 230. It’s a big enough purchase that I want to get what I want if I can, but I don’t want to get a bigger boat than I can handle and feel like I can’t actually do what I want with it. Hoping to hear from g23 owners who have towed with similar vehicles.

Between Possum Kingdom where we boat, lakes around Houston where we live, and the occasional trips to the Highland Lakes all here in Texas, it is rare I see boats bigger than 21' towed by anything less than a 3/4 ton. A lot of that has to do with "everyone" in Texas having gigantic trucks, but I rarely see full size SUVs pulling 23' and up. I'll add that I see the last model of 2500 Suburbans fairly often, and I'll see what likely are max-tow optioned half tons pulling boats of size, but it isn't as frequent.

[greggmck]

Bad idea to tow a G23 with a 2017 Nissan Armada? Would be mainly 20-30 minutes to the lake locally. I am happy to drive slowly to not have wind be much of an issue. Would occasionally want to drive 1.5 to 2 hours to other sites. Should I expect ramp issues or highway issues? I want the G23, but do I need to get a smaller boat (like a 230 or a g21)?

Thanks

I believe it really depends upon the terrain. If you live in an area that is flat I would not hesitate to tow a G23 with an SUV that had 8500 lbs of towing capacity. I have done this for years without ANY concern. But I always order my trailer with electric over hydraulic brakes. If on the other hand you live in the mountains I would prefer a truck with greater capacity to increase my margin of safety.

[Tallredrider]

I believe it really depends upon the terrain. If you live in an area that is flat I would not hesitate to tow a G23 with an SUV that had 8500 lbs of towing capacity. I have done this for years without ANY concern. But I always order my trailer with electric over hydraulic brakes. If on the other hand you live in the mountains I would prefer a truck with greater capacity to increase my margin of safety.

I was waiting for anyone to comment on what does the 25 minute drive to the lake look like. Is it a sparsely populated 30 MPH country road? Is it a crowded freeway, but still moving at 70MPH? Hills?

Getting it out of the ramp would be a piece of cake with 4 wheel drive, which I think most Armadas are. That would be the last of my concerns.

[liquidforce133]

Coming from a 25year Firefighter/Paramedic who also has a lot of experience towing anything from a lawn trailer to operating Tractor trailers,(and seeing/responding to some pretty gnarly accidents where the tow vehicle wasn't appropriate, I would not tow that much with an Armada any further than maybe just down the road to a ramp. As has been hashed out many times in these and other forums, the issue at hand is stopping and handling at speed, more importantly, braking and handling in a panic situation. Some will tell you that engineers build extra into the GVWR and GCWR, but 8K-10k moving at highways speeds is a lot of weight and will push around anything that is not a substantial tow platform. As stated above, you also need to add the weight of the trailer. My guess is you would be approaching the weight rating with an outfitted 230 on trailer, although well less than the G. 230's are great boats and I like the look better, but you will lose some storage over a G.
In the end, it is your family's safety and safety of those on the road that should guide your decision. Best of luck.

This was a really helpful perspective. I wasn't really understanding the weight issue or vehicle weight issue as the armada weighs as much as a truck and has the same engine, so why would a boat pull an armada back down the ramp while launching? If you tell me that a truck is better designed to maneuver with a trailer in tow and can stop better and handle better in a dangerous situation, I could be convinced of that.

Really helpful perspectives. Thanks all. I am pretty risk averse and so I do not want to make a dangerous decision, nor invest a lot of money in a boat I can't use properly or tow to a lake further away.