Well, guys, I have couple of questions about towing a boat. I am thinking
to buy a boat.

I have a 97 Nissan quest mini van which has 152HP with towing capacity of
3500lbs (on manual). It does have a trailer hitch for boat.

Thequestion is: is the Nissan Quest able to tow the boat? I am living in
mid-west so there is no mountain or anything. Many ppl told me that use a
mini van to tow a boat is a very bad idea. But I dont want to spend more
money on a new truck or SUV. How bad will it be to use a mini van to tow a
boat?

Thanks very much

Sorry, the boat i am trying to get is Larson 17ft, 2200lbs

"Aaron Bootz" wrote in message
...
Well, guys, I have couple of questions about towing a boat. I am thinking
to buy a boat.

I have a 97 Nissan quest mini van which has 152HP with towing capacity of
3500lbs (on manual). It does have a trailer hitch for boat.

Thequestion is: is the Nissan Quest able to tow the boat? I am living in
mid-west so there is no mountain or anything. Many ppl told me that use a
mini van to tow a boat is a very bad idea. But I dont want to spend more
money on a new truck or SUV. How bad will it be to use a mini van to tow
a
boat?

Thanks very much

How bad will it be to use a mini van to tow a
boat?

It should be fine. Check the oil more frequently, make sure you have the
transmission fluid changed according to the schedule.

Also, see if there is a transmission cooler installed. If not, have a local
shop do it. It's inexpensive.

2200lbs. is reasonable for that vehicle to tow. It will be pokey, you need to
be careful to allow plenty of space for stopping, but it should handle it just
fine.



-- Rich Stern
www.nitroowners.com - The Nitro and Tracker Owners Web Site
www.mypontoon.com - The Pontoon Boat Web Site
www.fishingreportdatabase.com - The Fishing Report Database
www.mysporttrac.com - The Sport Trac Web Site

On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 01:58:18 GMT, "Aaron Bootz"
wrote:

Well, guys, I have couple of questions about towing a boat. I am thinking
to buy a boat.

I have a 97 Nissan quest mini van which has 152HP with towing capacity of
3500lbs (on manual). It does have a trailer hitch for boat.

Thequestion is: is the Nissan Quest able to tow the boat? I am living in
mid-west so there is no mountain or anything. Many ppl told me that use a
mini van to tow a boat is a very bad idea. But I dont want to spend more
money on a new truck or SUV. How bad will it be to use a mini van to tow a
boat?

Thanks very much



Aaron- a little more information would be helpful, like "what size
boat?". What size engine? Do you have the "tow package"? )

I regularly use a 4.0L Aerostar van to tow a 2000 lb. Starcraft, with
no problems. I use the same van to tow my camper to Maine every year,
with no problems. It's not a *big* tow vehicle, but I always smile
when it accelerates uphill to pass a truck.

Based strictly upon your information, you should be able to tow a
3,500 lb. boat/trailer combo, but I wouldn't push it to the upper
limits if it's a long tow.

noah

Courtesy of Lee Yeaton,
See the boats of rec.boats
www.TheBayGuide.com/rec.boats

Thanks very much for reply, noah. The boat i am trying to get is a Larson
SEi 180, 2150 lbs without trailer. I have no idea how much it will weigh
for trailer plus fuel everything etc. My Nissan is 3.0L 152 HP with towing
capacity of 3500 lbs.

Will it be good to the van if I drive slowly when towing the boat? or it
doesnt matter if you drive slow/fast?

Thanks again


"noah" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 01:58:18 GMT, "Aaron Bootz"
wrote:

Well, guys, I have couple of questions about towing a boat. I am
thinking
to buy a boat.

I have a 97 Nissan quest mini van which has 152HP with towing capacity of
3500lbs (on manual). It does have a trailer hitch for boat.

Thequestion is: is the Nissan Quest able to tow the boat? I am living in
mid-west so there is no mountain or anything. Many ppl told me that use
a
mini van to tow a boat is a very bad idea. But I dont want to spend more
money on a new truck or SUV. How bad will it be to use a mini van to tow
a
boat?

Thanks very much



Aaron- a little more information would be helpful, like "what size
boat?". What size engine? Do you have the "tow package"? )

I regularly use a 4.0L Aerostar van to tow a 2000 lb. Starcraft, with
no problems. I use the same van to tow my camper to Maine every year,
with no problems. It's not a *big* tow vehicle, but I always smile
when it accelerates uphill to pass a truck.

Based strictly upon your information, you should be able to tow a
3,500 lb. boat/trailer combo, but I wouldn't push it to the upper
limits if it's a long tow.

noah

Courtesy of Lee Yeaton,
See the boats of rec.boats
www.TheBayGuide.com/rec.boats

On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 05:35:37 GMT, "Aaron Bootz"
wrote:

Thanks very much for reply, noah. The boat i am trying to get is a Larson
SEi 180, 2150 lbs without trailer. I have no idea how much it will weigh
for trailer plus fuel everything etc. My Nissan is 3.0L 152 HP with towing
capacity of 3500 lbs.

Will it be good to the van if I drive slowly when towing the boat? or it
doesnt matter if you drive slow/fast?

Thanks again


Aaron- you will be at, or near, your maximum towing capacity. If it
was me, I would do it, and drive safely. It is often overlooked in
towing that stopping is more important than pulling. )

As long as you have a good hitch, and the boat/trailer combo does not
exceed 3,500, I would give it a try.

It is better to have a bigger, more powerful tow vehicle, but we can't
always do that....as long as you do not exceed the ratings, and drive
carefully, you should be OK.
noah



"noah" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 01:58:18 GMT, "Aaron Bootz"
wrote:

Well, guys, I have couple of questions about towing a boat. I am
thinking
to buy a boat.

I have a 97 Nissan quest mini van which has 152HP with towing capacity of
3500lbs (on manual). It does have a trailer hitch for boat.

Thequestion is: is the Nissan Quest able to tow the boat? I am living in
mid-west so there is no mountain or anything. Many ppl told me that use
a
mini van to tow a boat is a very bad idea. But I dont want to spend more
money on a new truck or SUV. How bad will it be to use a mini van to tow
a
boat?

Thanks very much



Aaron- a little more information would be helpful, like "what size
boat?". What size engine? Do you have the "tow package"? )

I regularly use a 4.0L Aerostar van to tow a 2000 lb. Starcraft, with
no problems. I use the same van to tow my camper to Maine every year,
with no problems. It's not a *big* tow vehicle, but I always smile
when it accelerates uphill to pass a truck.

Based strictly upon your information, you should be able to tow a
3,500 lb. boat/trailer combo, but I wouldn't push it to the upper
limits if it's a long tow.

noah

Courtesy of Lee Yeaton,
See the boats of rec.boats
www.TheBayGuide.com/rec.boats



Courtesy of Lee Yeaton,
See the boats of rec.boats
www.TheBayGuide.com/rec.boats

The boat i am trying to get is a Larson
SEi 180, 2150 lbs without trailer.

Oops, new info. I am changing my earlier opinion. The Nissan will be very
marginal for towing that package.


-- Rich Stern
www.nitroowners.com - The Nitro and Tracker Owners Web Site
www.mypontoon.com - The Pontoon Boat Web Site
www.fishingreportdatabase.com - The Fishing Report Database
www.mysporttrac.com - The Sport Trac Web Site

In addition to adding a transmission cooler, make sure the boat
trailer has surge brakes, no one has mentioned stopping power on ly
"go" power.

One other important fact is that only the tow vehicle will have brakes
when backing down a steep/slick boat launch ramp!







On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 01:58:18 GMT, "Aaron Bootz"
wrote:

Well, guys, I have couple of questions about towing a boat. I am thinking
to buy a boat.

I have a 97 Nissan quest mini van which has 152HP with towing capacity of
3500lbs (on manual). It does have a trailer hitch for boat.

Thequestion is: is the Nissan Quest able to tow the boat? I am living in
mid-west so there is no mountain or anything. Many ppl told me that use a
mini van to tow a boat is a very bad idea. But I dont want to spend more
money on a new truck or SUV. How bad will it be to use a mini van to tow a
boat?

Thanks very much

What about a weight distributing hitch for this problem? Draw-Tite makes the
claim in their catalog that my 2001 Chevy Venture LS with the towing package
would jump from 3500 lbs. capacity to 5000 lbs. with a weight distributing
hitch. This seems far fetched to me. Some of the tongue weight would go to
the front wheels, helping with traction and handling; but you still have to
start, stop and move the vehicle at speed, which seems to me to be putting the
same stress on the engine, transmission and drive train.

Regards,

Stu

The biggest concern I would have is your front wheel drive. If you get
2-300lbs toung weight you will unload your traction wheels. A few years
back I tried to pull a "pick-up bed" trailer with a fwd Taurus wagon, in the
rain and at 55mph with 70% gone tires, lost traction up the xway hills.
I've also seen fwd vehicles unable to pull a boat/trailer out of the water.
LD

A weight distributing hitch won't increase a towing vehicle's maximum
capacity. Some ratings assume a WD hitch. Others list the capacity
with and without a WD hitch.

Here is a good source of information to check the towing capacity of
cars, truck, vans, and SUV's.

http://towrating.trailerboats.com/

You can omit the vehicle information and just enter the parameters for
the capacity and it will list all vehicles that fall into that range.
There are notes regarding fuel, WD hitches, auxiliary cooling systems, etc.

Dan


Stu wrote:

What about a weight distributing hitch for this problem? Draw-Tite makes the
claim in their catalog that my 2001 Chevy Venture LS with the towing package
would jump from 3500 lbs. capacity to 5000 lbs. with a weight distributing
hitch. This seems far fetched to me. Some of the tongue weight would go to
the front wheels, helping with traction and handling; but you still have to
start, stop and move the vehicle at speed, which seems to me to be putting the
same stress on the engine, transmission and drive train.

Regards,

Stu



The biggest concern I would have is your front wheel drive. If you get
2-300lbs toung weight you will unload your traction wheels. A few years
back I tried to pull a "pick-up bed" trailer with a fwd Taurus wagon, in the
rain and at 55mph with 70% gone tires, lost traction up the xway hills.
I've also seen fwd vehicles unable to pull a boat/trailer out of the water.
LD