biggest boat to safely tow with V8

KBToys

New member
I wanted to see what kind of boats you all are towing with your 4runner. I currently have an 07 V8 SE and have been towing my 19 foot wellcraft. I have been thinking of moving up to a bigger boat. Been looking at 22-24 foot mini crusiers but am not sure if that would be too much for the 4runner. I would guees the weight of the boats would be in the 5-6k range.
 
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I have an 08 V8 4Runner and pull a 21 ft Cobalt with a 350, pulls the boat great! Used to pull it with a 3rd Gen 4Runner and the 3.4l really struggled but plenty of torque with the V8.
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If you have the towing package 5-6k # would be ok. With proper hitch the v8 is good for ~ 7k#. But depending on ramp I hope you have 4WD though.
 
Tommy nice boat. Don't have any experience with cobalts but have been told they are an awsome boat to have.

Yes my 4runner is 4wd
 
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I tow my 21' Caliber 1 with my 2wd V6. It tows great, rides well and launches and retrives the boat off the launch ramp perfectly.

The boat is light, at 3200 lbs and probably 4500 loaded with the trailer. Just wanted to throw it out there.. Even the V6 can do ok with moderate loads.
 
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Thanks, yeah Cobalts are really great boats, built very solid and has a real deep hull that takes waves good. You'll be fine going up to a 22'-23' boat, these V8's are great for towing and already have a tranny cooler from the factory.
 
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This is an 18' Crownline, probably about 3500 lbs, and I tow it like it's nothing. I wouldn't be afraid to go up to 6,000 lbs, but I don't think I would go over 22-23' with the wheelbase of the 4Runner.
 
I only bring up the 4wd as I have seen a few 2wd trucks not being able to get up the wet slick ramps. Some locations are worse than others.

Watched a truck last year slowly spin it's tires sliding back down the ramp till the cab of the truck was taking on water.
 
We've towed our 20 foot Mastercraft Prostar with mine. I think it's like 4k pounds trailer and all. Did fine. Haven't pulled the 24 foot pontoon boat with it yet though..
 
I wanted to see what kind of boats you all are towing with your 4runner. I currently have an 07 V8 SE and have been towing my 19 foot wellcraft. I have been thinking of moving up to a bigger boat. Been looking at 22-24 foot mini crusiers but am not sure if that would be too much for the 4runner. I would guees the weight of the boats would be in the 5-6k range.

You need to factor in the weight of trailer, fuel , equipment and include the weight of the people and equipment in the 4Runner. That being said I towed a Canyon Bay 2475 Canyon Bay 2475 - Florida Sportsman easily with mine. In fact, I towed the same boat with a 2003 Yukon with a 5.3 liter V8 awe and it was working harder and felt less happy to haul the boat than the Toyota did. I had a high end Ameratrail aluminum tandem trailer with electric brakes which was custom made for the boat. Don't cheap out on the trailer, get one with a torsion axel suspension as it will give your boat a lower center of gravity. My boat had a larger walk in console and the combined weight of the boat, trailer , gas etc was about 5500lbs. You might be a little optimistic about the weight with trailer and fuel for a 24 mini cruiser . You definitely want to get an accurate total weight before you purchase it. Forget about the "dry weight" published on the boat manufacturers sights, those are notoriously inaccurate for real world applications.
 
I tow a 23ft mastercraft x30 regularly and haven't had an issue. I burn through gas but it ovules like a champ.

I will saw my air life 1000 system helps stabilize everything but isn't necessary. All in all I would say with gear, fuel, etc, we are pushing 6k lbs
 

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