"Smallest" vehicle to pull a Nautique with..

When we bought my Nautique 8 years ago 10 Years ago I was able to finagle a used Tundra out of the deal as well. I had a small tacoma that I knew would not be able to pull it(4 cylinder).

I always wondered what was the smallest vehicle someone has seen pull a boat with? I have seen cars old Lincolns, Caddi's, and such pulling boats out of the water.

You can even add what is the strangest vehicle you have seen pull a boat out.

There's pic or video on the web somewhere of a Honda S2000 pulling a boat out of the water.



A couple years ago I had a buddy who wanted the cheapest tow vehicle ever, just to get his boat a few miles back and fourth to the ramp. It was like an early 90's/late 80's Ford Ranger- the old boxy one- 4cyl, manual trans pulling a 2001 Response LX. Pulling the boat out with that tiny engine and truck, with stick, was an exercise in clutch toasting. Ridiculous.

2002 ford escort 1.8 4 cyl turbo Diesel


I drove the boat 200 miles to uruguay....braking was little hard.
When we got there had a tractor help us put the boat in the water..
Then at the end of the weekend no tractor so we had to recover the it using the car...had to put the car far deep in the water..so far water made it to the floor pans in the rear...

Old fogey response: Believe it or not, back in the day, nobody had SUVs* and very few people had trucks. Most everybody actually used cars to pull boats around. So it can be done. Admittedly, cars were a little stouter back then and most had V8s. I pulled my rather substantial stevens jet boat with an impalla, a friend of mine his Ski Supreme with a olds 88 and another frield a substantial sea ray with a cutlass. How did we ever survive???



*Side note on SUVs. Back in the 80s or so, it was a big deal to figure out who came up with the idea for SUVs, a modern transportation marvel. Truth is, chevy came out with the suburban in 1939 and Jeep had the Wagoneer in 1964 and the Willys station wagon in 1946.

Edit: of course back then not too many people had SAN 230s weighing in at 4300 lbs plus trailer either. Boats did tend to be a little smaller back then. I used to pull the mustang with a 65 mustang and once in an emergency a toyota corona with a standard.

I used a Jeep Liberty and it's not ideal, but it does the job for the limited distances I go. It has the V6 though, and it will do the job. I basically wanted the shortest vehicle that would tow a boat, not necessarily the best tow vehicle. I have to parallel park far more often than I have to tow.

Last year I saw a Chrysler 300 towing a 2001 hull Ski Nautique. It was heading the other way. If he had the Hemi, that could be a better tow vehicle than mine, with it having the longer wheelbase and stuff.

Then I saw a Subaru Forester pulling a really large Pontoon boat, but that was only on dirt backroads, not sure how far he had gone like that.

I hooked my 86SN up to my 96 Tacoma 4cyl and it about dropped the rear to the ground. your dads must have been a little stouter than my 96.

mglines wrote: I hooked my 86SN up to my 96 Tacoma 4cyl and it about dropped the rear to the ground.

Not given,
What's your tongue weight of the trailer?? 10 to 15% of the boat and trailer? That puts it between about 250 to 350 pounds. Your Tacoma couldn't handle that? Put the jack stand on a bath scale so you can to check it out.

BTW, Did we ever ask you to fill in at least your first name in your profile? You may have noticed most here do use them instead of screen names.

I us an '02 Tacoma...does the job just fine...it's a 5 speed and was real fun launching the boat on a steep ramp when the pkb cable snapped...had the wife keep her foot on the brake while I warmed up the boat then we switched and she drove the boat home while I pulled the truck out...good times. the pontoon boat really makes it look dinky though.

I use our lawnmower with a front mount hitch....just to shove it around the house. I have pulled out boat to the ramp with our 06 grand prix. The monocoque bodies of today's cars don't lend themselve's well to towing, unlike the cars of the past with bigger/heavier frames.

mid 80s Chevrolet Celebrity
81 Datsun 2WD pickup
late 80s Chevrolet Lumina
86 Toyota 4WD 4Cyl 5speed pickup
used the above to pull the boats below during the 80s

2001 hull SNs and an 87 MC Prostar

Michael, your rear suspension must have been needing some help as typical tongue weight alone wouldn't drop the suspension down that low on a taco.   Those taco's are very tough trucks and can stand a ton of abuse. Having driven gen 2 and 3 4runners that share those chassis with the tacoma I find that a bit out of the ordinary.

I think I can! I think I can!

horkn wrote: Having driven gen 2 and 3 4runners that share those chassis with the tacoma I find that a bit out of the ordinary.

IIRC the 3rd Gen 4R is a unique chassis relative to the Taco.

Those old Caddies were built heavier that most trucks in their day.My Dad pulled a 27 foot Airstream all over the country with his '71. He only added a trans cooler,never had any trouble.Sold it to a a guy who pulled his Airstream to Alaska and back only because he got a great deal on a friends '76.At the time I don't there was another car or light truck out there with a 472 or 500ci in them. 13 mpg alone,9 towing

I used to tow and launch with this 4 banger and didn't even need a ramp