Do I need a 4x4 for towing?

One technique if you have a marginal car/gearing for the boat weight/slip steepness and a fairly wide slip is to end up with the trailer square on to the water but the car at 45deg to the trailer and full steering lock on towards the direction the car and trailer will turn to, as you get the rig moving (which will be much easier than a straight pull up the slip), you straighten the whole rig up.

Shirley that means your car will be half underwater? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
I can't work out what you are trying to suggest in your posts. Trailer has to get boat on, car has to drive up ramp which is limited in lateral width, unless you know some very wide ones?
 
'its only money' on page 1 of this thread wrote:

One technique if you have a marginal car/gearing for the boat weight/slip steepness and a fairly wide slip is to end up with the trailer square on to the water but the car at 45deg to the trailer and full steering lock on towards the direction the car and trailer will turn to, as you get the rig moving (which will be much easier than a straight pull up the slip), you straighten the whole rig up.

And I'm asking how you can do that,get the boat on the trailer,and not have the car half-submerged..
As I'm possibly going to start trailing mine behind a fwd saloon car..
 
don't try, most slips are not wide enough. If you are not sure of ability to get up slip, get a heavy rope to trailer, and have the car up on the dry level bit, and tow from there
 
[ QUOTE ]
I was glad of the selectable four wheel drive system.

I would buy a Grand Cherokee 2.7 crd diesel.
Not the 2.5 or 3.1 they have the VM based unit which is Garbage.
The 2.7 Common Rail is good for 30 to the gall/ maybe 35 if not thrashed.
Solo that is.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just to confirm as I've owned all three of those Jeeps. The 2.5 was manual only and the box is like that from an old lorry. Not nice in traffic but certainly towed and launched 20' grp Cod Master with 75hp on the back loaded with 4 passengers.

The 2.5 was gutless as a road car though. The 3.1 Grand Cherokee is also naff on the road and thirsty low 20's mpg and no mid range over taking ability. The last one I had was the 2.7 CRD. This is a much better car all round, steers, stops and reasonably quick compared to the others. Fuel best was 30 on a run averged about 26ish.

Jeeps are UNDER braked in my opinion, the 3.1 had discs replaced 3 times. The cars are too heavy for their tiny under sized discs. Btw, I drive lightly on brakes and never wore the pads out in 50k miles, but the discs distorted often, even the loan car had a bouncy pedal and grabbed at final stop. The 2.7 was better, but I would def. want a braked trailer if towing with a Jeep.

Oops, forgot, The 2.5 was selectable 2 or 4 wheel drive. The Grand Cherokees' are full time 4x4. Good in the wet and ice but use more fuel.
 
Quite agree Brendan. I fact I agree so much I said as much on page 2

"Better to use a long strop between the car and trailer and keep the car on the level ground above the slip. This avoids the risk of slithering down and also reduces the effort required as the car's weight doesn't need dragging up the slope, in addition to the boat"

I sense an attempt at lakesailoring /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
One technique if you have a marginal car/gearing for the boat weight/slip steepness and a fairly wide slip is to end up with the trailer square on to the water but the car at 45deg to the trailer and full steering lock on towards the direction the car and trailer will turn to, as you get the rig moving (which will be much easier than a straight pull up the slip), you straighten the whole rig up.

Shirley that means your car will be half underwater? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope a quick straighten up as soon as rolling does the trick, you can do it in a 1.5 car-wide slip or so, depends on how quick you are on the wheel.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I can't work out what you are trying to suggest in your posts. Trailer has to get boat on, car has to drive up ramp which is limited in lateral width, unless you know some very wide ones?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know of any not wide enough, it doesn't take as much space as you'd think. I also know plenty of slips where high tide restricts the ability to use a long rope, or the angle of the slip would cause a long rope to chafe on the ground - which is definitely not safe either.

Anyone interested PM me and I'll concoct a diagram, its not a technique I'd want to rely upon to make up for a known difficult combo but if you have a fwd and find, once the boat is loaded, that its a bit marginal getting back up then it might quickly let you recover the situation.

Mercury is wide enough, Calshot would be miles wide enough. You don't have to tow the boat up the whole slipway at 45deg (although that would obviously give you an apparantly shallower slip and be easier on any tow vehicle, it is just a technique for giving you an apparantly shallower slip for the first 1-2m of movement to allow you to overcome inertia and avoid wheelspinning and clutch burning. Oh and it works.
 
Here's a piccie of what I mean
CaronSlip.jpg


Mod the angles to suit the space available....even angling the front (driving wheels) while the car is straight makes some difference and might mean recovery or not...
 
The Laredo had a different system to the Ltd.
Same as the Wrangler.
2H 4H and 4L.

Ltd had 4H (kinda lmited slip) and 4 L (difflocked). So there was no real "On Road" 4 wheel drive in the Laredo's case.
 
The GRAND actually had a better off road (and on road, for that matter) performance than the Cherokee.
More axel articulation and better grip all round.
Roger, there was a Recall ref the Brake Discs.
3 sets?
Summat was up.
Dealer must have dropped a Bo%%ock.
Modified discs were issued.
Tyres would last Me 35k.
Discs 100k, that's the 2.7 crd Grand.
That's towing a lot of the time too.
Driving a 4ltr (97 Cherokee) at the Mo, taken in PX recently.
97k on it's second set and performing OK.
Also got an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Converible.
92 K reg done 61000 , on it's second set of front discs at 56000!
Don,t think they brake much in the US oF A!
Love it to bits though.
No rust everything works, Air con , cruise the lot!
Reminds Me of Me.
Thirsty, laid back, over the Hill and Dead Cool /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
In reply to no one in particular, if you do not have a 4x4 or have a faux 4x4, or even a proper 4x4 and a sttep slip with slippery surface, the easiest and cheapest way to make sure you don't get stuck is to fit a £150 front tow hitch like this one.

It turns launching and recovery into a doddle, especially for those who do not like backing up with a trailer.

When not in use, the ball hitch detaches.

Watling - no connection - can supply DIY kits, or can fit in one visit, with an appointment.
 
Good point, Caravan parks always have a Landie with a front tow hitch for moving static homes. The Warden's launch tractor only uses a front tow hitch. Is also helps with weight distribution on FWD vehicles, increasing grip on the driving wheels.
 
All very interesting stuff on 4x4's but as it is only a 6m RIB (not say a 24ft sports cruiser) so not very heavy and you appear to have a perfectly servicable car in your VW Bora I would suggest a long length of rope and leave the car safely at the top of the slip on the nice grippy dry bit and reverse the boat/trailer in / pull it out from there. This will save you loads of money by not having to buy a new car which means more money to spend on fuel for the boat!

Check the hand book of your car but it is likely reverse is a lower gear than first gear, so attaching the rope to the front towing eye and reversing up the slip gives you better visability of the tow and more gearing/pulling power to work with.
 
Quite agree
brendan.jpg
Mike. I fact I agree so much I said as much on page 2

"Better to use a long strop between the car and trailer and keep the car on the level ground above the slip. This avoids the risk of slithering down and also reduces the effort required as the car's weight doesn't need dragging up the slope, in addition to the boat"

I sense an attempt at lakesailoring /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
If you do not have enough space to use a long tow strop there is another possibility.

You can get small (2000kg pulling power) hitch mounted winches.

Keep the car on the flat and winch the trailer up, then just lift it off and hook up to trailer, advantage is that you save the cost of buying a 4x4 and you can put it in the back of the car easily then keep in garage at home when not required.

Note I have not tried one of these, just heard about them, as I already have an old land rover with hitches mounted both front and rear. (also have a 9000lb winch) but never needed it due to having the land rover. (winch was for self recovery when off roading)

There is a sailing club on the Thames Estuary (I forget which one) where I believe the members clubbed together to buy an old landie just for launching and recovery. OK they did have the advantage that the slipway was on private land and had access to the local Pub back yard where they could keep it without need for tax MOT etc, If I recall the pub was know as the "Nearly Inn" as it was built on the sea wall and the gents toilet used to flood if they left the window open when there was a high tide and the wind was in the wrong direction.

/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
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