Towing a boat with a 95 ex

[norville]

Hey folks,

The wife and love our 95 ex. xlt. It only has 50k, auto, In the spring I'll be putting a class 3 hitch on it to tow our 81 renken 18 i/o boat. The total package is way less then 3000#. Prolly 2300#-2500# range.

Will the ex hande this amout of weight?? I won't waiste the time and $$ putting on a hitch if not. We only go boating 5/6 times a year. The lake is about 30mi up and down some pretty big hills.(eastern Pa)

The vehicle fits 90% of our needs I just hate to wreck it. Any thoughts? We're thinkig about the newer V8's but big bucks is scaring us away.

thanks for the input

norville

 

[Excell]

Yes, it will definitely handle that. I have towed just over 5k with mine on a few occasions and it handled it just fine. I have 154k also.

The one thing you might want to get is a set of Supersprings. I am about to purchase a set for mine. The rear suspension will load itself pretty well even with a small trailer. Not a big deal, just looks stupid and hadles a little strange. Definitely manageable, but I'm tired of towing like that. They look pretty simple to install and I was quoted $250 from a specialty shop here. I'm sure I can get them for less online. http://www.supersprings.com

Goodluck!

 

[dman726749]

i tow about the same size boat with mine. just keep the overdrive turned off when not on the interstate and get yourself a tranny cooler if you dont already have one.

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

I towed a 3000 pound U-Haul trailer from Milwaukee to Lawrence, Kansas with no problem other then my engine being a bit lacking on power.

 

[james t]

get an extra tranny cooler, the biggest one you can afford. also, change the tranny fluid (preferably to synthetic) and filter.

 

[Tom G]

Tow w/ OD off.

I've got a dollar that says you are gonna be towing more than 2500lbs.

In round #s you have as a minimum:

boat- 1500 lbs
engine/outdrive- 750lbs
trailer- 750lbs
gas- 200lbs
stuff- ???lbs

First time you get up to speed, try the brakes. After that you will want to keep a good distance between you and the guy ahead.

 

[Excell]

Originally posted by Tom G


First time you get up to speed, try the brakes. After that you will want to keep a good distance between you and the guy ahead.

Ain't that the truth!

I tow with OD on, but I'm careful to click it off before going up a steep grade.

 

[norville]

Thanks for all the input. I feel better now. I normally drive locally with the O/D off, so I'm i'm aware of that. One of my conserns was the "cart driving the horse" if you know what I mean. I'll look into a tranny cooler come spring.

Any thought on an aftermarket class III hitch (jc whitney) ?????

norv

 

[checkedout]

I agree with everyone else. Get the trany cooler. I towed a boat with my 96 for years with no problems.