car or van to tow my boat

J

jccurrie

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Guys what vehicle would be best for towing and more so slipping myboat ( 20 footer ) I have a Lexus Is 250 and for work a vauxhall Vivaro , neither have tow bars at the moment so i`m wondering which route to go down , i`d rather tow with the van, that would make snaeky get aways a whole lot easier :-) however i`m not sure if the van would be a good option, are there any downside to towing with a van

:-)
 
jccurrie said:
Guys what vehicle would be best for towing and more so slipping myboat ( 20 footer ) I have a Lexus Is 250 and for work a vauxhall Vivaro , neither have tow bars at the moment so i`m wondering which route to go down , i`d rather tow with the van, that would make snaeky get aways a whole lot easier :-) however i`m not sure if the van would be a good option, are there any downside to towing with a van

:-)
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A lot of folk seem to suggest 4 wheel drive as being very preferable for slipways - is your IS a 4wd or 2wd model?

Failing 4 wheel drive, rear wheel seems to be preferred, which would be the IS rather than the Vivaro which will probably be FWD?

That said the IS250 tow limit seems to be around 1500kg depending on model - what's yours? Will that easily cover the boat and trailer (trailers can be surprisingly heavy)?

The vivaro tow limit is likely to be more like 2000kg.

The next question is which of your vehicles has the higher kerb weight - heavier the better in general.

Just in case you are new to towing do you have the correct licence? If you passed your test post 97 then you are very limited on trailer weight without doing the b+e test.
 
yachtorion said:
A lot of folk seem to suggest 4 wheel drive as being very preferable for slipways - is your IS a 4wd or 2wd model?

Failing 4 wheel drive, rear wheel seems to be preferred, which would be the IS rather than the Vivaro which will probably be FWD?

That said the IS250 tow limit seems to be around 1500kg depending on model - what's yours? Will that easily cover the boat and trailer (trailers can be surprisingly heavy)?

The vivaro tow limit is likely to be more like 2000kg.

The next question is which of your vehicles has the higher kerb weight - heavier the better in general.

Just in case you are new to towing do you have the correct licence? If you passed your test post 97 then you are very limited on trailer weight without doing the b+e test.
Click to expand...

i`m afraid I past my test pre 97 :-/ ...nevermind eh , surprisingly the kerb weights are roughly the same, and indeed the van is front wheel and the car rear wheel , i was hopeing front wheeldrive was best as they wont be in the water lol , im sure the combined weight is under 2000kg but i will check as you`re right in stateing the cars limit to be around 1500 kg .... nothings ever simple in boating is it , as i`mquicly finding out :-)
 
I would avoid rear wheel drive as a slipway tug. Had a BMW 5 Series some years back and whilst a great general tow car it was very poor on a wet slipway as often the rear wheels failed to get grip on the green slime often found at the bottom of slipways. Never have this problem with current 2WD.
 
The issue with front wheel drive is that the weight on the towbar helps lift the front wheels, reducing further the grip. Recovering is often the worse as you are trying to pull the boat up the ramp, full of gear and water and often from a deeper starting point.

Make sure you have a long heavy duty strop with you so that your car can be out of the water and even off the top of the slip when recovering, this will help greatly.
 
If the towing is mostly local take the van for all the reasons said (some people won't buy à used car with a towing hitch).
But if I were using it to go on long exotic holidays with my boat, I'd take the car. There aren't too many more comfy cars for the family on a long haul than a Lexus, as for all your holiday gear don't forget you are in effect towing a skip, plenty of storage. And after you launch and stash the trailer you have a nice car for the family to explore with.
 
The most important info is missing from this thread. How much, exactly, does the boat and trailer weigh? What, exactly, is the official tow limits of the two vehicles? Without this info, you can't make the best decision.
 
Van are not always good tow vehicles. I have one with a GVW of 2300kgs, but its tow rating is 800kg! Even my old Mondeo could tow 1800kg.
 
The other thing is that AIUI to some extent the ACTUAL weight of the trailer and boat doesn't matter, it is just the Gross Vehicle Weight on the trailer data plate that counts (unless of course it's less than the true figure should be). My boat and trailer combination weighs less than 1750kg, but as that's the figure on the plate that's the figure my car must be allowed to tow.
 
Another vote for checking the weight you can actually tow with each. I think it involves gross train weight as well as towing limit. If you are close it won't maybe matter but your van will probably have a lower speed limit.
What you are launching on is relevant too, as mentioned if the rear wheels are in slime you will have traction problems with RWD but if not then traction will probably be better. If it is a concrete ramp or similar it probably doesn't matter though, beach would be different.
Is the car, and van manual or auto? The van will probably have a low first gear, better for towing.
 
Just to let you all know I put a tow bar on the van , might even come in handy for work amd it might even be tax deductable !! just a thought :-)
 
Yes I did notice that and sure you are not wrong,
How would you describe its usage when it sold

Have to say it does get the brand in the press, similar to when the drove the 919 endurance car through Central London early in the morning with the roads still open
 
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Towing with a van is ok so long as your weights are legal. I used to tow with a VW TD4 front wheel drive with no problems, boat was 20' with a 150hp outboard, 2 batteries + 100 litres of fuel. Just make sure you have some chocks and a long tow rope then, if you lose traction on the slip you can chock the trailer off and use the tow rope with your tow vehicle further up the ramp away from the slippy/weedy stuff. Just remember to stop before you reach the top of the slip or your tow vehicle may end up wearing the boat :o
 
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