Will my truck pull it?

The tow rating of that truck is 4,000 lbs. The all in tow weight of a C Dory 22 with fuel, minimal gear and an aluminum trailer is very near that weight.

I think it will be ok for short tows, but not long distance and particularly not in mountains.

David
 
2008 Trailer Life Towing Guide for a Chevy/GMC Colorado/Canyon regular cab is 4000 lb. with 4 x 4, ZO8 Suspension Package and 3.73 axle ratio. If you have the extra cab truck it increases to 5,500 lb. tow rating.
 
Add in the fact that a CD-22 with a steel trailer fully loaded for cruising for two or more weeks can weigh 4500+ lbs. The margin is shrinking!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
The fact that with the crew cab (longer wheelbase) and heavier suspension the Colorado is good for 5,500 lbs tells me that the engine and basic drive train is up for it, but the standard wheelbase and suspension is what limits towing capacity to 4,000 lbs.

So strip it down of all gear and fluids and keep it down to 65 or less and you should be ok for that run.

David
 
My 08 22 with our normal stuff in it, but not fully loaded for long range cruising weighs 4400# on an aluminum trailer. I don't think I could get it below 4400# just by taking our stuff out of it.
 
Well, Florida to Maryland is flat and here's a couple of quotes on what people do to get from here to there.

ssobl wrote:

"I tow mine with a 2nd gen Sienna. I live on the east coast so there is not much in the way of hills compared to the west. There was a poster on this forum that lived out west and towed his 22 all over the place with a 1st gen Sienna."

South of Heaven wrote:

"I towed my 19 with my Volvo S60 turbo, front wheel drive. It was fine."

And I towed Journey On, a 25, from Bellingham to San Diego, over the mountains with a short bed Chevvie V-8.

So it can be done.

Boris
 
Some advice from some previous discussions like this-

Just remember the bigger issue is not simply towing, but stopping in a true emergency.....

Thanks for everyone's contributions! :wink:

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
You guys must have some pretty light CD-22's. Midnight Flyer on a tandem axle aluminum trailer, weighs in at around 5150 lbs. That's with mostly full tanks, a kicker, and some supplies. I suppose if you are traveling empty you can get it down to closer to 4000 lbs. Colby
 
I enjoy this topic every time it comes up. It all depends on just how much risk you are willing to take.

Behind me on the dock at Jones Island (San Juan Islands) one time was a Cutwater 28. The owner lived in Chilliwack, BC. The road is mostly level and he said he carefully picked his time to tow to launch in Bellingham WA. He towed it with a older Dodge Dakota, which by my guess has a towing rating of about 4,000 lbs. I suspect he was towing close to 10,000 lbs. No electric break controller. He insisted he was safe.

Takes all kinds.

Chuck
 
Two Bears":2pavuvnw said:
It all depends on just how much risk you are willing to take.
insist[ing] he [is] safe.

Takes all kinds.

Chuck
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, on the road, it's not only the driver and occupants of a deficiently
rated rig hauling too large a payload who are taking the risk (despite "it's safe").
Obviously to some, it puts everyone this bozo comes close to at risk too.

Aye.
Grandpa used to say, "You have every right to ruin your life. Just don't ruin mine
in the process."
 
I bought my van for towing boats. The boat I had before the CD22 was smaller and lighter. However, I have had the 22 for 6 years now. Any towing in the that time has been with the van. In the 50K miles or so that I've had the van, I have not had to replace the brake pads. They get inspected every year by the state and have only at the last inspection (yesterday) was it mentioned that the pads are down to about 25% remaining.

My trailer has brakes.

I only mention this because it would seem that towing my boat with my van does not seem to put abnormal load (and thus wear) on the vehicle brakes.
 
My 22 Cruiser (05) on a pacific tandem steel galvanized trailer is right at 4950 pounds. That's the max for my truck, (5050). The towing is the easy part, although I do slow some in the mountains, and the stopping is doable, But I drive like an old Montana rancher -- I like lots of acreage all around me -- all the time. Kind of goes well with riding a motorcycle too.

You are talking Florida an up the east coast. No mountains. So, Empty the tanks, fuel and water. Take all canned food goods, the extra oil, fuel treatment and drinks off the boat, take the inflatable dingy out, and keep 6 - 10 seconds between you an the vehicle ahead of you and you should be OK.

I drove Dodge vans for years and loved to tow with them, but I never towed anything that outweighed my van then.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

IMGP1107.thumb.jpg
 
Not to belabor the point, but there's no greater feeling of helplessness than suddenly finding out you have to brake at a full emergency level while towing, and once you your foot on the pedal, discovering that your braking rate is far too little to get you stopped before a big collision is going to occur right on the your nose.

(BTDT!)

It's like having a freight train bolted to your bumper and both of you are on the tracks lined up with the collision target. Hope it isn't a cement truck!

You owe it to yourself to try an emergency stop or two with your boat & trailer combo just to see how long it takes and how much room you ought to provide in your towing practices.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Sea Wolf":30yvrygm said:
You owe it to yourself to try an emergency stop or two with your boat & trailer combo
Click to expand...
Good advice!

When I picked up my boat on the east coast, while waiting for a new trailer to be built, I put new ceramic disk brake pads on my truck. They were more $, but the parts store guy convinced me they were worth it because they wore so well. What he didn't tell me was that ceramic brake pads do not grip as aggressively as regular brake pads.

Everything was fine for over 3,000 miles of towing until I was just 20 miles from home and had to do an emergency stop in heavy traffic. I was able to stop soon enough, but was alarmed that even when applying all the pressure to the pedal that I could muster, I could not lock up the wheels and activate the anti-lock system.

So, yes, the above advice is spot on.
 
The payload Capacity for this Truck is1535 lbs. Gross Vehicle Weight for Truck is 5150 lbs. With a tow capacity this means that the gross vehicle combined capacity would be 9150 lbs. The tongue weight (8 to 10% of the trailer weight) is put on the truck--So you have to add that to the truck weight. (320 to over 450 lbs) Add weight of driver--and this is decreased by another 150 to 250 lbs.. Gear etc in the truck--all decrease capacity. If the boat on trailer weight is closer to 4500# (which I think is the minimum--depending on trailer) you are getting pretty close to total capacity..

I agree with those who feel braking is the biggest issue. Florida law requires brakes on all axels. It is imperative that the brakes are working at peak performance.

Although it is "flat" between Florida and Md--there are some hills (depending on which freeway is taken--including some high bridges over bays, rivers etc). Towing on I 75 or I 95 can be rather hairy--there can be heavy traffic, accidents and sudden stops. I have noted that towing the C Dory 22 with brakes on both axels, with the Yukon (rated for 8,000 #) and a much heavier vehicle than the Colorado these sudden freeway stops can be nail biters...In any case the C Dory 22 on the trailer will weigh more than your truck (which weight is 3650#)

If I were trying it--and not sure I would--I would tow at no more than 55 mph.
 
I had a Tacoma I believe was rated to pull 6,500 lbs. Starting and stopping seemed fine, but on the interstate I once encountered a strong side wind. The boat catching the wind was pushed around making it hard to control the truck and stay in the lane. The weight of the truck was, in my opinion, way too light and it was a white-knuckled drive to and from the lake that day. I sold the Tacoma a few weeks later and got a used F250 diesel 4x4 adding over 3,000 lbs. to the weight of the towing vehicle.
 
tomherrick":3ltjrlcp said:
I had a Tacoma I believe was rated to pull 6,500 lbs. Starting and stopping seemed fine, but on the interstate I once encountered a strong side wind. The boat catching the wind was pushed around making it hard to control the truck and stay in the lane. The weight of the truck was, in my opinion, way too light and it was a white-knuckled drive to and from the lake that day. I sold the Tacoma a few weeks later and got a used F250 diesel 4x4 adding over 3,000 lbs. to the weight of the towing vehicle.
Click to expand...

That is a good point. When the weight of the TV approaches the weight of the trailer, which it did in your case, stability issues result.

These can be minimized as they are in 18 wheelers with a very stiff suspension, but your Tacoma wasn't stiff enough. And you wouldn't like how the Tacoma drives alone if it somehow were stiff enough.

Safety in towing is dependent on a lot of factors: braking, wheelbase, relative weight of TV and trailer, suspension stiffness, drive train robustness, engine power and displacement. All of these come together to make for the manufacturer's recommended tow rating.

It sounds to me that Toyota was pushing the limit with your Tacoma's 6,500 lb rating.

David
 
I've not done this myself, but a friend of mine added several 100-lb sacks of sand toward the rear of his van when he 1.) towed a heavy loaded boat, 2.) in windy conditions, 3.) or when he needed extra traction on the ramp, etc.

As long as it doesn't make the towing vehicle under powered or overloaded suspension wise, this seems like a legitimate way to "beef up" your towing vehicle.

You'd have to do some experimentation with different amounts of added weights to get it right for each tow vehicle and towed vehicle combination.

Worth a a try, at least. (IMHO)

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
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