Joe Blizzard wrote:
"V Crenshaw" wrote

You do NOT want anything with front wheel drive

Thanks, this helps a lot.


Don't forget to take free advice (including mine) for what it's worth. I
regularly pull my portly old 18' runabout up a steep ramp using my front
wheel drive Taurus wagon with no trouble atoll. When the pickup truck guys
have traction trouble, guess which wheels they lock in to get things going?
This is not to say you shouldn't get a big truck or suburban or something if
you can afford it, (I'd love to have one just for towing), but if you have
to make do with a compromise, you can. I don't take my boat on long trips
behind the Taurus, by the way, just ~10 miles to and from the ramp to plop
it in and pluck it out of the water.



Ditto.

Our 2 Taurus wagons have been superb tow vehicles including launch ramp
performance.

Rob

"Joe Blizzard" wrote in message
...
"V Crenshaw" wrote
You do NOT want anything with front wheel drive
Thanks, this helps a lot.

Don't forget to take free advice (including mine) for what it's worth. I
regularly pull my portly old 18' runabout up a steep ramp using my front
wheel drive Taurus wagon with no trouble atoll. When the pickup truck guys
have traction trouble, guess which wheels they lock in to get things
going?
This is not to say you shouldn't get a big truck or suburban or something
if
you can afford it, (I'd love to have one just for towing), but if you have
to make do with a compromise, you can. I don't take my boat on long trips
behind the Taurus, by the way, just ~10 miles to and from the ramp to plop
it in and pluck it out of the water.



Just before I decided to get rid of my Taurus, my mechanic suggested simply
changing the physics of the car a bit by adding air shocks in the rear. My
experience was like yours - the car did pretty well, maybe due to its
weight. Not great in all conditions, but not too bad, either.

Also Sprach V Crenshaw :

We are going to buy a new vehicle and we are trying to decide what kind
would
most closely meet our criteria of
1) hauling misc things like building materials, tools, an occasional
sofa or washing machine
2) Holding 4 or more people
3) towing the boat
4) As fuel efficent as possible

Easy. You want a diesel Suburban. To me, "building materials" means the
ability to carry multiple 4X8 sheets of plywood or drywall or
whatever. You're not going to do that with a minivan or short SUV. 4 or
more people means a standard pickup won't do, and a full-bed crewcab is an
ungodly huge vehicle. A 3000 lb boat is really stretching a minivan to
it's limit, but will be very comfotable behind a 'burb. As far as fuel
efficiency goes, a friend of mine with a '97 Diesel 3/4 ton 2WD gets 21
MPG, which Is far better than the 17 MPG I used to get with a much
smaller Nissan Pathfinder. Now, I have a 1990 Suburban, regular gas, 3/4
Ton 4X4 and get 12-14, or 8 if towing the boat... but's that's why I keep
my VW as a daily driver.


--
I shoot for the moon, but sometimes I hit London

-- Werner von Braun

Toyota Four Runner with the V-8.
2 wheel drive nice. 4 wheel drive perfect.

I think you should re-check the weight. It is hard to believe a 21'
boat + trailer + tare (all the stuff inside including gas) is only
3000 lbs.

Bob


On Sat, 15 May 2004 15:49:16 GMT, "V Crenshaw"
wrote:

My husband and I have a 21 foot Searay. We have it in a slip at a marina
now.
Together it and the trailer weighs 3000 lbs.

We are going to buy a new vehicle and we are trying to decide what kind
would
most closely meet our criteria of
1) hauling misc things like building materials, tools, an occasional
sofa or washing machine
2) Holding 4 or more people
3) towing the boat
4) As fuel efficent as possible

Truck would be great for everything except the people and fuel. We were
thinking about
a minivan, but don't know how good it would be at towing the boat and more
specifically
launching the boat. I say minivan because he likes them better than SUV's.

Any advice would be appreciated.

V Crenshaw

Also Sprach Not:

I think you should re-check the weight. It is hard to believe a 21'
boat + trailer + tare (all the stuff inside including gas) is only
3000 lbs.

I tend to agree.. My pop has a 21' Whaler Outrage center console with a
175 HP Evinrude OB and two 18 gallon fuel tanks, on a galvanized EZ
Loader. Fully fueled, the boat and trailer weigh 3450 lbs on a certified
scale. I would think a 21 foot cuddy cabin with a sterndrive would weigh
more than a 21' center console with an outboard. FYI, he used to tow it
with a Dodge Caravan, which was on it's third transmission when he sold
it. He "upgraded" to a Lexus RX300, which now has mysteriously lost it's
overdrive.

Dan

--
It seemed to me that any civilization that had so far lost its head as to
need to include a set of detailed instructions for use in a package of
toothpicks, was no longer a civilization in which I could live and stay sane.

--Douglas Adams, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish (Wonko the Sane)

Marshall Banana wrote:
Also Sprach Not:


I think you should re-check the weight. It is hard to believe a 21'
boat + trailer + tare (all the stuff inside including gas) is only
3000 lbs.


I tend to agree.. My pop has a 21' Whaler Outrage center console with a
175 HP Evinrude OB and two 18 gallon fuel tanks, on a galvanized EZ
Loader. Fully fueled, the boat and trailer weigh 3450 lbs on a certified
scale. I would think a 21 foot cuddy cabin with a sterndrive would weigh
more than a 21' center console with an outboard. FYI, he used to tow it
with a Dodge Caravan, which was on it's third transmission when he sold
it. He "upgraded" to a Lexus RX300, which now has mysteriously lost it's
overdrive.

Dan


The RX300 is supposed to be a pretty decent tow vehicle.

Please post back and let us know how he did with the transmission trouble.

Rob

Also Sprach trainfan1 :

The RX300 is supposed to be a pretty decent tow vehicle.

Please post back and let us know how he did with the transmission trouble.

It's been an ongoing issue for a few months now. Dealer keeps throwing
parts at it hoping to fix it. He seems to think it is a problem external
to the tranny, apparantly there are several things that can cause the
computer to go into a limp mode and not engage the OD... but it hasn't
stored any trouble codes, so who knows. I know for sure that so far, they
have replaced two temperature sensors that are supposed to keep the tranny
from going into OD until it is warmed up. Each time, the OD seems to work
when the dealer is done with it, but stops working, sometimes in 30
minutes, sometimes a few weeks.

Dan

--
I bet even my own urine would taste good in Seattle.

-- Chris Sidi

"Marshall Banana" wrote in message
...
Also Sprach Not:

I think you should re-check the weight. It is hard to believe a 21'
boat + trailer + tare (all the stuff inside including gas) is only
3000 lbs.

I tend to agree.. My pop has a 21' Whaler Outrage center console with a
175 HP Evinrude OB and two 18 gallon fuel tanks, on a galvanized EZ
Loader. Fully fueled, the boat and trailer weigh 3450 lbs on a certified
scale. I would think a 21 foot cuddy cabin with a sterndrive would weigh
more than a 21' center console with an outboard. FYI, he used to tow it
with a Dodge Caravan, which was on it's third transmission when he sold
it. He "upgraded" to a Lexus RX300, which now has mysteriously lost it's
overdrive.

Does the Lexus have a transmission cooler?

Also Sprach Doug Kanter :

more than a 21' center console with an outboard. FYI, he used to tow it
with a Dodge Caravan, which was on it's third transmission when he sold
it. He "upgraded" to a Lexus RX300, which now has mysteriously lost it's
overdrive.

Does the Lexus have a transmission cooler?

I assume so, he bought it with a towing package. It's the older body
style, BTW. 2001, I think. I know the Caravan had one, because I
installed it.

Dan



--
It seemed to me that any civilization that had so far lost its head as to
need to include a set of detailed instructions for use in a package of
toothpicks, was no longer a civilization in which I could live and stay sane.

--Douglas Adams, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish (Wonko the Sane)