Thinking about getting a small boat

[randy73]

What is the towing capacity of a 73 Charger, cannot seem to find it anywhere.

Soon as I asked the question, found the answer - 6,000 lbs

[Mike DC]

 
It's a unibody car, it's a classic bodystyle, and it's very rust-prone.  Are you seriously considering towing something big with it? 

[Troy]

That guy invincibleextremes tows a Charger with a Firebird.

My friend's dad pulls their 22' boat with his early 70s Buick.

My friend tows his pair of Jet skis with a Mazda.

I guess opinions of "small boat" can vary. Around here we have bass boats that I could tow behind a bicycle. I can't imagine something like that would stress the unibody much. Of course, the usual precautions should be taken to inspect it all to make sure it's sound!

To be fair, I wouldn't think of sticking 6,000 pounds behind one of our cars. I'm barely comfortable with that behind a 1/2 ton pickup! It's the brakes...

Troy

[Mike DC]

           

To be fair, I wouldn't think of sticking 6,000 pounds behind one of our cars. I'm barely comfortable with that behind a 1/2 ton pickup! It's the brakes...

This.

With so many towing weight questions it's not the pulling power issue, it's the ability to stop.  That takes a lot of brakes and a lot of raw tire size to make them stick. 

[randy73]

I was looking for tow capacity, which is 6,000 lbs, the boat I am looking at is around 1,800 lbs, I posted the capacity so that others who might tow something would know.

And I have upgraded brakes, so braking is not a problem.

[alfaitalia]

All trailers (except the smallest box trailers) have to have surge operated brakes over here so they effectively brake themselves so the brakes on the car don't get much extra load....surprised it's not the same over there. I'm sales manager at a caravan dealer so have to know this stuff!

[Troy]

All trailers (except the smallest box trailers) have to have surge operated brakes over here so they effectively brake themselves so the brakes on the car don't get much extra load....surprised it's not the same over there. I'm sales manager at a caravan dealer so have to know this stuff!

Each state is different. Small trailers rarely have brakes though. I am not familiar enough with boats trailers to know where the cut off is. I don't remember any of my friend's boat trailers having brakes (but I don't know anyone with a giant speedboat or yacht either). Car sized trailers typically have at least one axle with a brake. Mine has electronic brakes on all wheels. Even if the trailer has brakes there is still load on the tow vehicle. And surge brakes don't work in reverse...

Troy

[alfaitalia]

Hell...how fast do you reverse? The extra load is minimal. I towed a 7000 lb plus load behind my 04 Grand Cherokee ( Nissan Navara on a heavy twin axle trailer)...no separate chassis....and it stopped pretty much the same as without it. Surge brakes on both axles. Acceleration was a little lacking though! Anything over 750kg ( about 1650lb) must be braked here.

[Troy]

Hell...how fast do you reverse? The extra load is minimal. I towed a 7000 lb plus load behind my 04 Grand Cherokee ( Nissan Navara on a heavy twin axle trailer)...no separate chassis....and it stopped pretty much the same as without it. Surge brakes on both axles. Acceleration was a little lacking though! Anything over 750kg ( about 1650lb) must be braked here.

You don't usually have an issue reversing - but my old driveway was on a steep slope (steep enough that front wheel drive cars struggled in the snow) and I wasn't thinking the first time I backed down it with a big block Charger on a trailer with surge brakes. It pretty much pulled me backwards with all 4 truck brakes locked! I have a friend who was backing one over a small embankment in the mud and got surprised as well. Surge brakes are better than no brakes. Just be aware that they aren't always helping to stop.

Usually the tongue weight is about 10% of trailer weight so 7,000 pounds should have been about 700 on the tongue. If I put 700 pounds in the trunk of my car it's not going to handle all that great. As I said, I like overkill, I pull with a 3/4 ton or 1 ton WITH a weight distributing hitch AND full trailer brakes. Usually I don't have any weight in the tow vehicle either (just me and gas and sometimes my dog). If I was pulling a boat I wouldn't be that careful. If someone would buy me a boat I could prove it!

Troy

[JB400]

Lets consider this fact:  The gas tank on a 73 Charger fills up behind the license plate.  On the boat ramps that I've witnessed,  to launch a boat, usually means you have to almost submerge the rear wheels  to get the boat deep enough to launch.  Even if the cap is on right, wouldn't you be getting water in the gas tank through the vent?

[alfaitalia]

Hell...how fast do you reverse? The extra load is minimal. I towed a 7000 lb plus load behind my 04 Grand Cherokee ( Nissan Navara on a heavy twin axle trailer)...no separate chassis....and it stopped pretty much the same as without it. Surge brakes on both axles. Acceleration was a little lacking though! Anything over 750kg ( about 1650lb) must be braked here.

You don't usually have an issue reversing - but my old driveway was on a steep slope (steep enough that front wheel drive cars struggled in the snow) and I wasn't thinking the first time I backed down it with a big block Charger on a trailer with surge brakes. It pretty much pulled me backwards with all 4 truck brakes locked! I have a friend who was backing one over a small embankment in the mud and got surprised as well. Surge brakes are better than no brakes. Just be aware that they aren't always helping to stop.

Usually the tongue weight is about 10% of trailer weight so 7,000 pounds should have been about 700 on the tongue. If I put 700 pounds in the trunk of my car it's not going to handle all that great. As I said, I like overkill, I pull with a 3/4 ton or 1 ton WITH a weight distributing hitch AND full trailer brakes. Usually I don't have any weight in the tow vehicle either (just me and gas and sometimes my dog). If I was pulling a boat I wouldn't be that careful. If someone would buy me a boat I could prove it!

Troy

Good points...max tongue in my Grand is only about 300 lb so that's what I aimed for. Towed ok at 50-60 (the limit for towing in the UK depending on road type. Weight distributing hitches are illegal in the UK...so you need to get the tongue right...or close enough.

[HPP]

Lets consider this fact:  The gas tank on a 73 Charger fills up behind the license plate.  On the boat ramps that I've witnessed,  to launch a boat, usually means you have to almost submerge the rear wheels  to get the boat deep enough to launch.  Even if the cap is on right, wouldn't you be getting water in the gas tank through the vent?

Very salient  point.

[Troy]

Hell...how fast do you reverse? The extra load is minimal. I towed a 7000 lb plus load behind my 04 Grand Cherokee ( Nissan Navara on a heavy twin axle trailer)...no separate chassis....and it stopped pretty much the same as without it. Surge brakes on both axles. Acceleration was a little lacking though! Anything over 750kg ( about 1650lb) must be braked here.

You don't usually have an issue reversing - but my old driveway was on a steep slope (steep enough that front wheel drive cars struggled in the snow) and I wasn't thinking the first time I backed down it with a big block Charger on a trailer with surge brakes. It pretty much pulled me backwards with all 4 truck brakes locked! I have a friend who was backing one over a small embankment in the mud and got surprised as well. Surge brakes are better than no brakes. Just be aware that they aren't always helping to stop.

Usually the tongue weight is about 10% of trailer weight so 7,000 pounds should have been about 700 on the tongue. If I put 700 pounds in the trunk of my car it's not going to handle all that great. As I said, I like overkill, I pull with a 3/4 ton or 1 ton WITH a weight distributing hitch AND full trailer brakes. Usually I don't have any weight in the tow vehicle either (just me and gas and sometimes my dog). If I was pulling a boat I wouldn't be that careful. If someone would buy me a boat I could prove it!

Troy

Good points...max tongue in my Grand is only about 300 lb so that's what I aimed for. Towed ok at 50-60 (the limit for towing in the UK depending on road type. Weight distributing hitches are illegal in the UK...so you need to get the tongue right...or close enough.

Illegal? Why? Just curious.

Lets consider this fact:  The gas tank on a 73 Charger fills up behind the license plate.  On the boat ramps that I've witnessed,  to launch a boat, usually means you have to almost submerge the rear wheels  to get the boat deep enough to launch.  Even if the cap is on right, wouldn't you be getting water in the gas tank through the vent?

Very salient  point.

That would make for a baaaaad day.

Troy

[JR]

Im sure the car can tow 2000 pounds down the road, and stop well enough without issue. I understand concern about braking performance,  but Americans tend to drastically overestimate how much tow vehicle they actually need. Most people wouldn't hesitate at seeing a 3200lb single cab Ford Ranger tow the same boat, so I dont see the issue here outside of perception.

The rule ive always heard, is make sure the weight of the trailer doesnt exceed the weight of the tow vehicle by no more than 20%. OP wants to tow a trailer weighing less than half the weight of his car. (Assuming it isnt rusty) he should be fine. The car probably wont even drive much different.

But like JB suggested, I would be concerned about water getting in the tank. Maybe install a sealed gas cap, and also getting traction off a wet boat ramp. If I were gonna launch a boat with a 2wd vehicle, an LSD would be a must!

[alfaitalia]

Interesting....over here its illegal to tow a trailer heavier than the tow car....pretty good advice imo.

[JR]

The differences in U.K. vs U.S. towing laws are interesting.  Heres a random site I found discussing the differences when I checked my facts.

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/tow-me-down-1609112611/1609771499/+ballaban

Really interesting read on the differences in towing laws.


I also had no idea weight distributing hitches were illegal there, why is that?

[alfaitalia]

...well....not wanting to get into an argument....like I did on the Jeep forum (LOL)...its because they are based on a rather flawed engineering and do not really distribute the load anywhere. the powers that be here deemed we would be safer without them. As a semi professional tow-er ( I do it lots in my job) I tend to agree. That's all I'm saying....not going through another silly argument about it. If you don't agree that's your prerogative and I wont be arguing back!! LOL!

[JR]

I dont really have a strong opinion on them either way, I was just curious.

No argument necessary. 

[randy73]

Lets consider this fact:  The gas tank on a 73 Charger fills up behind the license plate.  On the boat ramps that I've witnessed,  to launch a boat, usually means you have to almost submerge the rear wheels  to get the boat deep enough to launch.  Even if the cap is on right, wouldn't you be getting water in the gas tank through the vent?

If I have to back into water deep enough to  come halfway up my bumper, I will have a lot more to worry about than just water in my tank. 

[XH29N0G]

You need a longer trailer.  I didn't read this thread until now.  We used the charger I have now as our main boat trailer towing vehicle in the 1970's and 1980's.  The problem was that the trailer would smash up the rear license plate and it also had a bunch of towing related dents in the tailpanel.  The hitch was bolted onto the frame and I had it taken off when restored. 

I never asked my dad if it was a factory installed hitch or installed later.  I think he also used it to haul a large trailer from the farm in florida to the apartment in Chicago, and it must have come back. 

But that was in the 70's.

[70sixpkrt]

I use to tow a 21' jet boat with my 1970 Charger for 10 years. That was when I was young. Today, I would not do it.

[toocheaptosmoke]

I've hauled around 2000 lbs. of trailer and gear with my '70 a few times, it does it fine but you do know it's back there.  3000 lbs. total load & trailer is about the max I would feel comfortable hauling.  Side mirrors are also lacking. 

[v21hemicharger]

Here's a few pics of mine back in the day

[XH29N0G]

Nice pictures. 

I think I have a very similar boat but in an outboard version (a 19 foot sleekcraft from the 70's), and lost a picture of it behind the charger.  The car no longer has a hitch (as above) and that boat takes a lot of power to get it out of the water compared to our others, but ran flat and was stable.  The first one we had behind the car was a smaller glasstron (14 foot with and 80 HP) than the one above.  We also had boats made by action marine out of Hollywood florida.  They ran very nicely.

I love seeing the older pictures of the cars towing the boats.   Thanks for posting.

[randy73]

v21, you look a little young to be driving!