A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
Anyone use any of the smaller/midsize SUVS (such as Jeep Liberty, Mitsubishi Montero Sport) for towing your boat? We need to replace our '95 Explorer and wouldn't mind having something a little smaller. It would tow a 19-foot Bayliner, about 3,500 pounds without the day's catch.
Also: if we have to attach a hitch to the SUV, which other upgrades would you recommend? I'd prefer a factory tow package. But for some reason that's hard to come by in a vehicle my wife would want to drive around town for work. So is 4-wheel drive.
We rarely tow more than a few miles. PC to Carrabelle is as far as we've ever pulled the Bayliner.
Thanks guys. Keep that good advice coming.
The 3,500 estimate is boat/trailer/motor, the best I can tell. I'm ruling out anything rated for less than 5,000, just to be safe.
I don't think anything smaller than a midsize suv or compact truck will do. My midsize Honda Pilot is the same size as your Explorer and pulls 4500, so no change there, and my wife's Honda CRV will only tow 2000 lbs. I think you need to stick with midsize suv or maybe a full kingcab truck like a Toyota Tacoma. None of these vehicles is for heavy duty towing, but a few miles with 3500 lbs would be fine, IMO. I would get the towing package, though, no matter what you do.
I tow about 2500 lbs with my Pilot now, and plan to go up in a couple of years to a 19' boat, which would weigh in about 3500, with all gas, ice, and gear. I think it will be O.K.
My dad uses a Oldsmobile Bravada to pull a bass rig up and down the mountains of WV. Says he can't even tell the boat is back there. They stopped making the Bravada this year with the demise of Oldsmobile; but, maybe a used one or something comparable? The ride is nice too for the wife.
The Bravada is nice, just hard to find. We're considering the GMC Envoy and Chevy Trailblazer, though. Those and the Explorer/Mountaineer seem to have all the goodies we want. It just depends on how much car payment you can stand.
We've also looked at the Nissan Xterra and Jeep Grand Cherokee. Any good/bad luck stories with any of these?
The Bravada is the same vehicle as the Chevy Blazer. They're rated to tow 5000 Lb. The new Trailblazer and Envoy are a little heavier than the Blazer. Should be better for towing. The ones I looked at were a little pricey.
You mentioned the XTerra. All of the XTerras I've seen have a class I hitch. That's not enough to tow a 3500 lb. rig. You're gonna need something with a class III hitch.
Problem is once you buy one of those new breed SUV's like the trailblazer with any options on it at all, you are at the same payment as a real tow vehicle like a Chevy or Ford crew cab. Just my $.02.
If you're looking at a Trailblazer, Take a look at the Tahoe. Not that much difference in price, and the fuel consumption is about the same. Then you'd have something to pull 3500 lb. with.
I use a Honda Pilot to tow my 21' Boston Whaler and it does an excellent job. Bought it two years ago with the tow package (4500#, $1000) and have enjoyed it more than any vehicle I've ever owned. Gets an average of 20 mph (most of my driving is in the country) and have had zero problems.
Thanks, everybody. We settled on an 03 Mercury Mountaineer on Friday. The price was good, the manly tow package is there and it's womanly enough for mywife to use every day as a work vehicle.
