Question

Boat Trailering Guys:,

My father in law gave us his 18 foot 1977 Chrysler boat with a new engine. Very generous. He always towed it with a Chevy pickup. All I have is a 2000 Toyota Siena. He says the front wheel drive makes it a bad towing vehicle, especially on a wet ramp. Do I need to buy a new vehicle?

Matthew

Answered on: 1/2006

Your father--in-law is correct. Front wheel drive doesn't work as well as rear wheel drive on a boat ramp. This doesn't necessarily mean you need to buy a new tow vehicle---try it out a few times and see. The ramp's incline may be gradual enough to allow a front wheel drive tow vehicle to operate successfully. But in general, the weight of a boat and trailer are on the rear wheels at the bottom of the ramp. When you have the boat loaded on the trailer and put the tow vehicle in gear to go up the ramp, the weight will be on the rear of the rig while the drive will be on the front of the rig---therein lies the problem. Every ramp and boat and boat trailer is different though.

Boat Trailering Guys: