Towing too fast

Yesterday, I followed some guy down I 80 in Indiana. He was pulling a newer Ski Nautique on a single axle Prestige trailer with a new Expedition. I was having a hard time staying with him at 85. The Nautique was fishtailing all over the lane. Coming back from Green Lake over the summer, I touched 81-82 a couple of times outside of Chicago, and the trailer never fishtailed. Don't you think 90 (which he had to be going at times) is a little excessive with boat in tow? I try to stay at about 71-72 with mine on the interstate, but I have a tandem, so it doesn't bounce around at all. How fast do you guys normally tow? Just curious.

(Bet that Expedition was getting GREAT gas mileage!)


Rob

What's important is the tongue weight. Too much is bad and not enough is bad. With too much tail weight, you hit a bump in the road, the load starts bouncing which picks up on the back axel of your vehicle and causes you to fish tail. I never go over 60 or 65, there's too many idots out there. But mine isn't on the road that much,I usually take it to the lake, leave it all summer, and bring it home at the end, unless a huricane is coming.

What boat? Where?
that is exactly why when someboby says "can I pull this boat with my toyota POS?" you have to remember how alot of people drive. Just like that guy. I'm sure he wasn't a CCF but there are probably more of them than there are of us- vent over!

Hell yeh that's too fast - had to be a kid driving. Anyone who has ever had a trailer get away from them will know better - a trailer can pull you right into a ditch or a lane of oncoming traffic and when it happens there is nothing you can do about it except hang on. BTW, the age of the driver is directly related to the distance between him and the vehicle in front of him.

Thats the first J_I_H post I have seen in months. WELCOME back Jim. We missed ya!

john

I think something else to remember is these are trailer tires or you SHOULD have them. If you have just a radial tire on your trailer, you will have sway problems. The sidewalls are 2 ply with standard tires or LT tires may have 4 at best. These tires are not speed rated either. That guy was absolutely stupid. I would love to see the yardsale if he would have blown a tire at that speed. Probably didn't have them inflated at max either.

Now I am very anal and tow a bunch other than my boat. I have a heavy flatbed and have load range E for safety. On my boat trailer I have load range D and they are balanced perfectly.

Now I do tow at 70 mph. Never thought twice because I know my equipment. Now if I see a putz driving like that around me I get back in a safer speed becaue my trailer brakes don't work.

Back to safety though. If you have the proper trailer tires in good condition and your weight is distributed properly and have a good tow vehicle.....70 shouldn't be any problem. Anything over that is a little bit crazy. Heck, I don't drive my sports car much faster than 75 on short blasts and I have speed rated tires.

Just my .02

I am with 79 on this.On the way back from Texas with the 87 we stretched the limit more than once.No one on the road but us at 3 AM.

I only drive fast in reverse however I do know to slow down when I pa$$ the boat.

65-70 max, cruise is usually on at 63 or so. If I set the cruise at 55 I can't use the overdrive cause it keeps downshifting . With the cruise on 63-65 I can run in overdrive without any downshifting and I cruise pretty comfortably, I tow with a Jeep Liberty.

I think anything over 70 is asking for trouble expecially on some of these older boats that have trailers without brakes like mine, you really need to be driving heads up because stopping these suckers in a hurry can get your attention pretty quick.

Ps, When I tow with the motorhome it's 60 max. You should try stopping that thing in a hurry when towing a trailer without brakes, that will really get your attention.

When I purchased my '93SN and pulled her home from California, I found that the most comfortable speed was 65-70 mph maximum pulling with my '02 Suburban. Tandem axle trailer (brakes did not work, but do now).

Above 70 mph, the Suburban would hunt in and out of overdrive on the slightest grade which was annoying. Of course, I could have used the tow feature on the Suburban, but all it really does is keep the transmission out of overdrive which effects fuel economy. So, I believe I set the cruise at 68 mph the entire trip home without incident.

I was lucky. I had no idea the condition of the trailer and upon rebuilding it some months later, discovered that the tires (automotive) were shot (in fact lost a tread pulling the empty trailer from storage yard to home). And the brakes sure do make a world of difference when trying to stop from any speed. With brakes, you can almost drive as if the trailer were not even back there.

So, my take on this is only drive as fast as you are comfortable AND what the equipment can handle. I really do not think there is speed that "works" for every trailer and every driver. Just know your quipment and drive/pull accordingly. Most importantly, be safe and get there in one piece.

I would say the important thing is to keep your gear in good condition and go the speed of the traffic in the slow lane. Going to slow can also be a problem with rear enders.

I've seen the aftermath of a few U-Haulers losing it in a fishtail. Pulls the car out too. If you don't kill yourself, the kids or the guy next to you, you've at least killed the boat and the car.

It just doesn't seem worth the extra 20 minutes gained. It doesn't even seem worth the extra $20 bucks spent on gas to go 80 or 90 mph.

Alas, some guys have more guts or money than brains.

Those whaler's are about the strongest boat made, guess that's why there so expensive for the size.

sorry guys you may think I am nuts but halling the 87 BFN behind a 2005 F-350 and a single axle trailer, as long as the road is empty the hammer is down running 80-85. If there is traffic 75 at best not worried about me or my equipment I know it is loaded propperly it's all those other that scare me

05 210 wrote:     I will haul the sleds 80-85 mph no problem in good conditions.

How hot do those bearings get with those "lawnmower" wheels on those trailers?