Towing capacity question

bigtrucker52

bigtrucker52

New member
Hey everyone. I'm looking into getting a new wakeboarding boat soon, possibly in the next few years or so, and most of the smaller ones made after 2000 and to the present day are between 2500 and 3500-4000 dry with trailer if i'm not mistaken. I know that the 2-door jk, my jeep, can tow safely and soundly up to 2500 lbs. and even 3500 but not nearly as safely as the 4-door since it's rated for 3500 lbs. I was wondering if y'all think i could potentially get away with towing a 3500-3700 pound boat safely with my 2-door as long as i drive extremely cautious and try to be as safe as possible. If it helps i'm looking into the older wakeboard boats like '06s and older since after that they just get heavier and heavier. Most of the ones i've seen are right around 3-3.5k lbs. on the higher end. Thanks for your input
 
bigtrucker52

bigtrucker52

New member
Oh and if it helps i'll just be towing it a short distance. Mainly from the house to the ramp so basically within 10-30 miles and where i'm at now it's a small private community with some steep hills but not extremely steep and the ramp is like 5 or 6 miles from the house at most
 
ClarksAdventures

ClarksAdventures

New member
Honestly, I think it depends on your comfortability. The tow rating comes from several factors. Engine,transmission, tongue weight, and braking power(vehicle+trailer).
Most wakeboard boats I've hauled have some kind of passive or active braking system. Between that and cautious driving, I personally wouldn't hesitate hauling a 3500-4000lb trailer with my 2dr.
 
bigtrucker52

bigtrucker52

New member
ClarksAdventures said:
Honestly, I think it depends on your comfortability. The tow rating comes from several factors. Engine,transmission, tongue weight, and braking power(vehicle+trailer).
Most wakeboard boats I've hauled have some kind of passive or active braking system. Between that and cautious driving, I personally wouldn't hesitate hauling a 3500-4000lb trailer with my 2dr.
Click to expand...

Are you still stock though. Right now i'm stock but plan on lifting it sometime within the next year or two if i keep it
 
ClarksAdventures

ClarksAdventures

New member
bigtrucker52 said:
Are you still stock though. Right now i'm stock but plan on lifting it sometime within the next year or two if i keep it
Click to expand...

I'm lifted with 35's. The tongue weight may be your biggest challenge seeing as how your boat trailer will likely come with a passive breaking system. It depends on how stiff or soft of a setup you go.
However tongue weight can be balanced.

An idea before you actually buy the boat, is to rent a uhaul trailer and load it up, or maybe borrow a trailer from a friend. It will give you a pretty good idea of what it's going to feel like.
 
xrocknrollx

xrocknrollx

New member
I used to tow my 20' boat with my Tj. Which was not rated to the 3500lbs the boat and trailer weight, but it towed great at 65mph.

I honestly cannot tell that the boat tows any better with a jkur than it did with my old Tj. But I keep it at 65 so the worst part is people with the 3/4 tons passing me to the lake
 
bigtrucker52

bigtrucker52

New member
ClarksAdventures said:
I'm lifted with 35's. The tongue weight may be your biggest challenge seeing as how your boat trailer will likely come with a passive breaking system. It depends on how stiff or soft of a setup you go.
However tongue weight can be balanced.

An idea before you actually buy the boat, is to rent a uhaul trailer and load it up, or maybe borrow a trailer from a friend. It will give you a pretty good idea of what it's going to feel like.
Click to expand...

I've towed my jetskii back home from the lake this past weekend and it handled it like a champ. I was going about 65-70 for most of the way
 
Tree squirrel

Tree squirrel

New member
What state are you in? I'm selling my 1990 Malibu skier 19' I think it's about 2500lbs. I'm the second owner.
I'll post a pic. ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1426752237.329085.jpg
 
Bryan__howell

Bryan__howell

New member
I had a 2 door black jeep jk. It was EXTREMELY hard on my jeep for me to pull my dad's tigé wake boarding boat. Going up hills was almost impossible. It kept downshifting and redlining.
 
bigtrucker52

bigtrucker52

New member
Thanks man! Good luck on selling your boat too. I may be trying to get a watersports team club at memphis started next year to take part in the collegiate circuits and we may need a ski boat for the skii team so
 
Jk909

Jk909

New member
Go for it, just take it slow and learn how the jeep handles under load. I use mine to pull my boat all the time. If you can find an aluminum trailer it will help reduce some weight. ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1426819256.098328.jpg
 
bigtrucker52

bigtrucker52

New member
Just saw a newly listed boat at my local dealer and i'm gonna try to buy it soon. It's a 2006 moomba mobius v. Very nice boat lots of options on it. It will stay out at the lakehouse so not a long drive from the ramp to the house at all. It's about 3000 lbs. and from what most of y'all are saying i should be able to tow it safely. I drive carefully whenever i tow with my jeep anyway so we're good there
 
USMCvet

USMCvet

Banned
Towing capacity is a funny thing. So is the item to be towed because it's usually based on a "dry weight" - not accounting for fuel, gear, water, etc. Take the actual weight of the item to be towed and add 20% to 25% then compare that to your vehicle's towing capacity. If you are below 10% of that capacity, you are good to go on s non-Max Tow rig. If you're running wheel spaces or a spring spacer lift kit, you've diminished your capacity a bit - more so with the wheel spacers since it creates a fulcrum situation with the axle and outer bearing.
 
RjSkippy

RjSkippy

New member
Depends on your gearing too... with my 3.21's hauling an open 10ft'er when I was moving was fine (~1500-2500 lbs between trailer and furniture). Not sure I would want to go too much more until she's re-geared (eventually). I had a few "hills" with decent grade and it wasn't a struggle but had to work the clutch a little more than I was expecting. All in all I was surprised about how well it towed, but it's not my old F-250, and I have to remind myself that too! haha
 
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