Can you tow a CD-25 with a Ford F-150?

Avidmagnum12

Avidmagnum12

Member
Other C-Dory owners and other boaters often ask what I tow my 25 with. When I tell them I tow with a F-150 they generally are quite surprised. I tell them that you can easily tow a 25 long distances with a F-150 but NOT every F-150. Saying 150 is like saying airplane. An airplane can be a cub or a jet or something in between. Some F-150's can tow well over 11,000 lbs with the correct engine and gearing. Some older ones way less than 5,000 lbs.

So when someone says that they were scared or nervous towing with a 150 I'd sure like to know what the towing capacity, wheel base, gearing, engine, tow package or lack of one and the other weights that apply out of the owners manual or sticker. The truck they were using may not have been up to the task.

I tow with a 2012 F-150 with the 6 cylinder twin turbos 3.5 liter eco boost engine, 9,600 lb towing capacity. Towing package with extra cooling. Normal transmission temp about 195 degrees. The highest I've seen is 205 on a real hot day. I'm usually towing about 8,000 or so lbs. Sometimes more. When I first got the C-Otter it was scaled with a full load. All the weights came out well within Ford factory specifications.

I do highly recommend EOH brakes although I towed over 4,000 miles with surge brakes with no problems. There were a couple long wet ramps that I passed by. Towing from Florida to Lake Superior and back every year puts on more than a few miles on the rig including over 400 today.

I guess all I'm trying to say is that it can be done safely with some F-150s but not all.


If you prefer a bigger heaver truck...You can't go wrong.

Enough...heading home to Florida after the great Meet in the Middle gathering. Had a great time. Also got to help launch a 25 named Dragonfly that was towed in on a NEW F-150. Nice ride Joyce and Wolfgang!
 
The one think I would add to Tom's excellent post, is that under long steep grades that you may have more chance of transmission over heating than on the level towing, or gradual grades. I suspect that almost all modern trucks have digital transmission gauges. I always add a SCAN-G or SCAN-D gauge to my truck's OBD ports--which gives multiple perimeters of the trucks performance to monitor. Also I make sure my trucks have synthetic transmission fluid.

I also found that my 25 towed better, with less tire wear and better steering control, using a equalizing hitch. Many of the trucks were (I cannot speak for the most recent years), are rated at the highest ends with the equalizing hitch. There are several which can be used with surge brakes, but E over Hydraulic is by far better--and the way to go.

There is a truckers atlas which shows both Eastern and Western grades. Of course there is also an "app" for that.
This is great for planing trips if you want to avoid or at least be-aware of the grades.
 
While I now tow with a 2016 F150, I put quite a few miles on a 2010 Toyota Highlander with the 3.3L V6 towing my C-22. Boat & trailer weighed in at 4800 lbs, which was just under the Highlander specs for 5000 lbs. I also ran straight electric brakes on the trailer. The Highlander had no problem pulling over the Rockies two round trips. (Well, I did overheat the tranmission one time...long story, but accelerating from 30 to 60 three times on a 6-7% uphill grade above 7000' elevation within several miles caused that...) I kept my top limit speed at 60mph. Now I am quite happy also with the F150, and after using it for over 12,000 miles of towing, it's just not the same using the Highlander... I've got the 5.0L V8 in the Ford, with high gear ratio in the rear end (for highway traveling, great mileage...), and it's specc'd to haul 7900 lbs I believe. I've towed over the Rockies one round trip with it, and it worked great also. I upped my max limit speed to 65mph towing with the F150. Either the Highlander or the F150 could pull faster, but I chose not just for comfort and fuel, along with wear and tear. Having the electric brakes also makes a big difference in stability of braking with the trailer. I assume the EOH brakes work well also. But as with anything, preventive maintenance causes for less stress while towing. Colby
 
Sure, you can do it, but here's my take

We towed our 25 up to the Chesapeake from our home near the NC/SC borders last year with a big block 150. It was awful. 18 wheelers blew us all over the place, and the braking (even with trailer surge brakes) was less than safe.

As soon as I got back, I bought a F250 diesel. Towed is down to Naples Fl (I hope they're okay down there post Irma) and it was a night and day difference.

In my opinion, it's the braking that's most important
 
Ferg sorry that you had a bad trip with your big block F-150. But can you tell us what your towing capacity was on the truck? What year was the truck? What kind of tow package did it have? If you had enough tow capacity could converting your surge to electric over hydraulic have made a difference? As you've stated "it's the braking that's the most important". Could as Dr. Bob suggested a equalizing hitch help?

I was talked out of buying a 25 by a C-Dory dealer that I highly respect because he said that a F-150 could not tow it. I decided to take the time and investigate the "numbers" and they worked out. Bought my boat from a nice guy in Virginia and proceeded to tow it back to Wisconsin. Lots of 7 percent grades climbed with no problem. Never had to use the truck lanes. The 18 wheelers have never been a problem for us. I don't tow in high winds and a bigger truck would not change that.

There is a fellow I know that tows a Tom Cat with his F-150 and his truck has the capacity to do so.

My point in the first post was you need to know your trucks numbers not just a model number.

enough.....time to get on the road home again....be safe....Tom
 
An important part of the tow equation is that new, and newer, low miles trucks will get the job done...for awhile... .

Heavier truck, better braking and less affects of wind and trailer wagging.

Heavier truck, longer lasting drive train.

I consider any truck that can't go 200,000 miles on the drive train towing at 75% of capacity to be a bad financial investment.

For the extra 5 or 10 grand, three quarter ton trucks tricked out for towing with the biggest V8 that can be tucked in would be the minimum for towing the 7000 or more pounds on a cruise ready 25.

You really can buy a low mileage three quarter ton diesel for the price of a new gasser. I've owned a V8 half ton, V10 three quarter ton gasser, and a diesel. The later is hands down safer, and is towing my 5000 lb boat and trailer which is at less than half of the tow capacity of the truck. Right where I want to be for long life an worry free trailering over hill and dale.
 
I hope I don't sidetrack this thread, but I can't resist......

I know little about trucks, cars, engines, brakes, etc (I'm more a computer guy), so I don't understand much of this talk. However, I know in my gut what I feel when I tow my 8000 pound CD25 with my 4Runner (that's right, a 4Runner!)......it makes me real nervous!

Now to be fair, I only tow it 1/2 mile at 15 miles per hour with zero other cars on the road to a ramp I know well (some minor hills tho). However, I still don't like it. I don't know how engine size, braking systems, etc would change how I feel, but I do know that it feels to me as if the boat is in charge......it's a tail wagging the dog situation.

I've always assumed that the biggest problem I have is that the boat weighs 8000# and the 4Runner weighs 4000#. To me that explains it all on a purely physics basis. None of you have mentioned relative weight as an issue. Am I right that the biggest issue is relative weight, or can these other elements (such as braking) mitigate the fundamental issue of the boat out-weighing the vehicle?
 
smckean (Tosca)":1kjnelld said:
I've always assumed that the biggest problem I have is that the boat weighs 8000# and the 4Runner weighs 4000#. To me that explains it all on a purely physics basis. None of you have mentioned relative weight as an issue. Am I right that the biggest issue is relative weight, or can these other elements (such as braking) mitigate the fundamental issue of the boat out-weighing the vehicle?
Click to expand...

I didn't mention this specifically, but absolutely feel that tow vehicle weight is an issue. Once you get to larger boats, there are cases where the tow load may weigh twice the weight of the tow vehicle, but in many of those cases you have a 5th wheel, or pole hitch, where the hitch is over or even in front of the rear axle--which makes a huge difference.

There are also anti sway devices for the weight distribution hitch (cannot use surge brakes with these). Similar is the "Hensley-Arrow towing system". There used to be a system, which the weight was taken by the hitch carrier attached to the rear axle of the tow vehicle, and then a "sweep" holder for the weight under the rear frame. Not sure it this is still available.

I have towed the 25 with a lawn tractor...in the yard. I towed a 12,000 lb boat with the Honda Pilot--a few hundred feet....but the more mass in the tow vehicle the better. When I tow with one of the RV's--it is going to from 4x to 10x the mass of the boat I am towing. Far more stable!
 
I towed my 26 Venture (about 8500#) with a Ram 1500 (7.4L V8 4WD). This
had about 400 ft lbs torque.
No problem; marginal in the mountains. Loved fuel.

Ideally, I'd liked a diesel over 600 ft lbs torque. It wasn't meant to be 4 me.

Aye.
 
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