Trailer tongue weight on 230?

[Jonesky]

AFter search, no joy.

I'm heading down to the boat storage to check owners manual but in the meantime does anyone know the actual tongue weight of my 2008 230 with standard trailer?

Considering downsizing my tow rig and wanting to be safe. THX.

[AirTool]

RE: Trailer tongue weight on 230?

It won't be in your owners manual....you need to weigh it on a truck scale...by axle / tounge....with and without the vehicle.

A tandom axle 230 trailer will probably have about 300 lbs on it. I don't think you can get 230 on a single axle. If you do, that tounge will be up at 500.

My 206 single axle has 450 on the hitch....**** heavy but it sure does tow nicely.

AirTool

[Jonesky]

Yeah, you're right it's not in the owners manual. Or anywhere else I can find. I emailed CC and their response was to give me the total weight of boat and trailer so I asked again with a 3 paragraph email this time. Lots more detail. Yellow_Flash_Colorz:

Anyway boat is in storage and it would be a pain to move now. One of the SUV's I'm looking at has a max tongue weight at hitch of 650lbs. I guess I need to cross that one off.

Thanks for your help.

[Jonesky]

Just FYI, I got their answer. They don't know. Since they have stopped building trailers I should contact the trailer builder. errrrrrrr I can just hear the trailer builders response........ call CC. Yellow_Flash_Colorz:

Like you said..find some way to weigh the darn thing.

[AirTool]

Just FYI, I got their answer. They don't know. Since they have stopped building trailers I should contact the trailer builder. errrrrrrr I can just hear the trailer builders response........ call CC. Yellow_Flash_Colorz:

Like you said..find some way to weigh the darn thing.

Please don't be offended by my tone here, but quit asking people and just weigh it. that is the ONLY way to know. It'll cost you a few miles to drive, a few hours of time, and about 20 dollars. You'll have fun doing it. I can tell you the sequence and/or mistakes to avoid.

Note that most hitches are limited to 500 lbs w/o an equalizer hitch....and most pleasurecraft boat/trailer combos are under 500 under. So this SUV you are looking at might be okay. How do the other weights compare?

[sstexan]

I have a 2007 236 team on a Eagle Tandem. I towed my boat home over 1,000 miles with a Chevy Trailblazer when I bought the boat. It was a rental. I flew to meet the seller; I was not driving both ways! It was hating life, but got the job done. I had the tongue weight weighed at the Cat weigh station and it was about 600 lb of toungue weight. 6000 all in. The biggest was not power to move, but the weight of the suv when other trucks drove by or needing to stop or manuever quickly.

I now tow with a 2007 GMC denail XL and you would be hard pressed to find a better tow vehicle with room for7. I tow long distances, so this is the only way to go.

Saying that, anything with a V8 will be adequate, the Trailblazer I was driving had an I-6 in it...

What vehicle are you looking at?

[MikeC]

Saying that, anything with a V8 will be adequate, the Trailblazer I was driving had an I-6 in it...

I have to disagree with that - I had a V8 Explorer, it pulled a direct drive fine but when I went to the vdrive 211 it was no match. It had plenty of power but the boat weighed more than the truck and it felt like the boat was pushing the truck anytime I got to highway speed or when I tried to stop. I can't imagine what it would be like to pull a 230 behind a truck that small. My advice: rent a truck like the one you are looking at and try it out or ask people with the vehicle you are looking at.

[EarlyRiser]

Have to agree with AT, weigh it! And , "Please don't be offended by my tone here", but quit blaming someone else because the information is not readily available. Just Do It!, "Get Er Done", etc... ER

[Jonesky]

Guys, didn't I just come to that conclusion prior to the two of you chiming in? However, I do appreciate your attempts to not offend. It was nice of you........

I hope you can understand that as a newb to towing and boating it took me a while to come to terms that something as vital as these tow limits are not immediately available. I still am amazed that it's not in the OM one way or the other. I'm not really interested in "blaming" someone but rather to document this in the thread to inform the next newb that comes along with the same question so he won't bore you guys, too. That being said I will discuss this with my Dealer and CC to see if we can improve the OM documentation. It can't hurt and, at the outside, could conceivably save a life.

I realized that towing could be risky so my current tow vehicle is overkill so I could be safe with the huge margins I knew it gave me but when I got to looking at smaller suv's and towing in detail I was surprised at the whole thing and how much you are left to your own devices. You guys didn't realize all that, of course, just like you weren't privvy to the fact that getting it out of winter storage now would be problematic and so I will find some way to weigh the tongue where it sits. If possible.

What I have found out so far is that a desirable tongue weight is 10-15% of the total tow package so that puts me around 600 lbs anyway which is probably too close to the one suv with a max tongue weight limit of 650lbs. When I find a reliable number I will post it here for the purposes of the forum.

[saceone]

it's all about transmission temp!!!!!!!!!!

[AirTool]

Saceone - I pulled a load of lumber in a flatbed trailer with my 93 short bed regular cab v6 Chevy. The weight was well under its limit. It was raining....my transmission was quite cool while I slid through nearly every red light. So it ain't "all" about transmission temp.

Jonesky - For CC especially, they can't publish the data because they don't provide the trailer. The trailer setup comes from the dealer and the trailer vendor controls the tongue weight. I can draw you a sketch of a scheme of how you can weigh your tongue with a bathroom scale and a few pieces of lumber. Post back if you are interested.

[saceone]

of course braking is just as important but IMO, oil temp is the one thing people often overlook when shopping for a tow vehicule ''but the brochure says it can tow it'' yes it will tow it...for half an hour on flat roads....long trips going uphill is another story.

but yeah I totally agree with the braking part..

[Teleman]

I tow the Sport (216) on an Eagle single axle trailer with a Tacoma V6 standard. Go about 1000 miles a summer. Still OK.....

[saceone]

jonesky- what kind of truck are you using to tow your 230?

[SkiTower]

I have a 5.4L F150 for my 211. It does fine but I wouldn't want anything smaller