Will I be okay towing all this?

[bluebombersfan]

I have a 2006 Ranger Sport 3.0 5spd 4.10 gears. I want to get a palomino pop top camper, Weight 1000lbs. But I want to be able to tow my boat with it as well. The boat is a 16 aluminum with 35 hp (2 stroke). I am guessing the weight of the boat trailer and motor is about 1100 lbs aprox. I hope to install air bags to support the rear and am going to try to adust the boat trailer tongue weight to close to little or nothing.
My truck says 1400 lbs max people plus cargo so I should be okay. The camper is a pop top so it will be fairly aero dynamic compared to the hard tops that stick up a lot higher.
My truck says 2200 lbs towing so I think I am okay there as well. I might be over with everything for my truck but not by much and I think the airbags will take care of the sagging.
I like my truck so I don't want to damage it but I think I should be okay because I will only be towing 100-200km trips flat praires. I think as long as I don't have to drive into strong winds it should do fine.
opinions?
Also I wanted to add that I know this will be tough on the clutch on the ramps but I'm really good with the clutch so think I should be fine there as well.

 

[Frank The Tank]

Yes you will be fine. Especially with a 5spd. I used to haul my Camaro around on the bumper of my 97 stepside reg cab 4cyl 5spd. No flat land around here.

 

[RonD]

Yes, you should be fine as far as the truck is concerned.

Use the brakes a bit more than the clutch to slow down, brakes are cheaper and easier to replace than the clutch, and there will be more wear as the weight goes up.
You still use the engine as a brake just brake a bit so the RPM change isn't as high for the clutch.


Tow rating for a vehicle has a lot to do with state law and insurance as well, if you go above the tow rating it can come back at you, if you are involved in an accident(knock on wood), doesn't matter if it's your fault or not, doesn't matter if it had nothing to do with towing or weight, if it is determined that a vehicle was above it's tow weight it can cost you.
Just a heads up.

 

[bluebombersfan]

Should I be using fourth gear on the highway with all this? I have been using 5 th gear beacuase I can get an extra 2 miles per gallon. I just drop it in 4 th gear if I want to accelerate or sometimes I leave it in 5th and just accelerate really slow until I get to the right speed.
I was surprised at how well my truck towed all this. Think I was getting 14-19 mpgs which I think is reasonable for all this.
According to my scanguage I can get good mpgs towing one thing at a time but when I tow both a tank of gas can goes pretty fast.

 

[Frank The Tank]

It's a manual do your good. It's autos your not supposed to tow in OverDrive.

 

[bigtruck94]

You'll be good in 4th or 5th. I'd stick with 5th just because your hauling a bunch of weight behind you. But 4th is a good gear too. I stay in 5th when I haul the jet skis to the lake.

 

[Earl43P]

"and am going to try to adust the boat trailer tongue weight to close to little or nothing"

^This is a mistake.

You need "some" tongue weight to keep it from swaying.
You should distribute any additional weight so that it is mostly over the trailer axle. That should keep the tongue weight about where it was designed to be by the trailer manufacturer. I would never reduce "standard" tongue weight, but it can be OK to increase it.

My additional 2 cents is to minimize clutch slippage when pulling out. I use just above idle to get the load moving with minimal slippage, then let off the gas and let the clutch all the way out. Then accelerate.

The other key is to decelerate by letting off the gas well in advance. Anticipate stops like lights so you can keep it rolling until it turns green.

Although 1100 lbs really isn't much.

What I described above was how I saved my clutch when towing vehicles (like an Explorer, which I towed for hundreds of miles, several times) on a dolly.

 

[bluebombersfan]

"and am going to try to adust the boat trailer tongue weight to close to little or nothing"

^This is a mistake.

You need "some" tongue weight to keep it from swaying.
You should distribute any additional weight so that it is mostly over the trailer axle. That should keep the tongue weight about where it was designed to be by the trailer manufacturer. I would never reduce "standard" tongue weight, but it can be OK to increase it.

My additional 2 cents is to minimize clutch slippage when pulling out. I use just above idle to get the load moving with minimal slippage, then let off the gas and let the clutch all the way out. Then accelerate.

The other key is to decelerate by letting off the gas well in advance. Anticipate stops like lights so you can keep it rolling until it turns green.

Although 1100 lbs really isn't much.

What I described above was how I saved my clutch when towing vehicles (like an Explorer, which I towed for hundreds of miles, several times) on a dolly.

I know what your saying about the tongue weight but when you have a 1000lb camper on the back of your truck already I don't think I need anymore. Which is why I was going to try to make the tongue as close to nill as possible then that way my truck should handle it all okay.
I have a total 1400 lbs for cargo and passengers. Its usually just me and a friend (400lbs) plus the camper (1000 lbs) then hopefully I can get the trailer weight next to nill like I said and I should be okay.

 

[Surrey]

Again, you want tongue weight. at least a hundred pounds. Otherwise the trailer wont be stable... hit a bump and it will try to tip backwards.

 

[bluebombersfan]

I'm no pro a towing stuff but even if it tips backwards from a bump wouldn't that be effect be nill if I have a 1000lbs camper on the back of my truck already?
I'm not sure what to do because I don't want to much weight on my rear axle either.

 

[RonD]

If you don't have positive tongue weight the trailer will wiggle, faster you go the more wiggling, not a good thing to try and fix out on the road, lol.

Tandem axle is a little more forgiving but still should have some positive tongue weight.

If you have to lift the tongue to put it on the ball then you are good, if you have to push the tongue down to get it on the ball you will have the wiggle.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

I believe you want around 12-15 % of the weight of the trailer on the tongue. It will keep the trailer from flopping around. Have you packed the bearings lately a good set of bearing buddies and new seals and give them a shot of grease before you launch the boat? You dont want to lose a wheel during the trip.

 

[4.0B2]

the 1000 pounds is total weight of the camper... most of which is held up by the camper axle, NOT your truck...

you want 250lbs or so tongue weight, period... otherwise you are unsafe and risk your own life and the life of others. There is a reason every towing company, trailer company, truck company tells you to have tongue weight. I'd drove with to much and to little tongue weight and I'd much rather have to much and waste the gas than ever have to little again...

 

[4.0B2]

the 1000 pounds is total weight of the camper... most of which is held up by the camper axle, NOT your truck...

you want 250lbs or so tongue weight, period... otherwise you are unsafe and risk your own life and the life of others. There is a reason every towing company, trailer company, truck company tells you to have tongue weight. I'd drove with to much and to little tongue weight and I'd much rather have to much and waste the gas than ever have to little again...

 

[bluebombersfan]

Camper axle? The camper is on the back of my truck. Which is why I am trying to avoid more weight on the back on my truck. I am hoping I can lighten the tongue weight of my boat trailer to about 50lbs. This way my rear wont drag down so low.

That would still be about 5% tongue wait. I agree 10-15% is ideal but when you already have a load in the rear of a truck then I would think lighter like 5% would make more sense and be safer as well.