Unsure if this the proper area, but I hope so. I have a 17ft foot Angler boat with a aluminum Ventura trailer. I would estimate that I am around 3300 lbs.
I normally pull the boat with my truck or my wife’s Nissan Pathfinder. I am thinking of downsizing her car because the kids are growing up and moving out. Thinking of getting a Rav 4 or a Nissan Rogue. The towing capacity is 1500 lb on both vehicles.
Do you think the vehicles can handled the boat putting in and out of Lake Marion? We are located about 1/4 mile from the landing.
How steep is the ramp? How steep is the quarter mile to where you launch the boat? Does your trailer have working brakes?
see, towing capacity isn’t always about pulling something, lots of times its about getting it stopped. That Rav 4 weighs about 3300 pounds too, just like that angler boat.
so anyway, it its not too steep and you don’t go too fast its doable. Not safe, but doable.
If the rav 4 or rogue is 2wd any slick or wet ramp will be a challenge. Your chances of success are more than doubled with 4WD.
It depends on which Rav 4 yourre looking at. The 1500 lb limit is because of the cv transmission in some models. The adventure model has the 8 speed automatic and is rated at 3500 lbs. Id be more concerned about the transmission than anything else.
The Rav 4 Adventure is rated for 3500lbs “IF” you have brakes on the trailer. Otherwise your towing capacity goes back down to 1500lbs, so theres that to consider.
Like I said, almost any vehicle will actually pull a boat and trailer, its just a matter of physics. But where the rubber of physics actually meets the road of reality, stopping a trailer that weighs as much or more than the tow vehicle is where your biggest problems will arise.
Overwhelming/disregarding the towing capacity of any vehicle is never a good idea.
I can only imagine the litigation involved after running over an unattended child, darting out from nowhere, at the boat ramp, by someone, knowingly, overloading their vehicle’s capacity.
Do you know what the max towing on a F350 without the trailer having brakes ? In this state its 3000lbs. I owned a construction company and towed back hoes , man lifts , forklifts etc so I know something about towing. On an older rav 4 I would nt tow a little red wagon but the new ones are much bigger. But towing a 17 ft boat a 1/4 mile to the boat landing ? Id do it in a second. I personally would buy a Tacoma or something but thats not what the person asked about.
The point Im trying to make here is that in order to tow within the law you need trailer brakes whether its being towed by a big truck or a Rav 4 that is rated for the towing weight with brakes.
In other words, put brakes on the trailer and buy the Rav 4 that is rated for the load you are pulling.Brakes dont really cost all that much and in fresh water they are not too much of a problem. Salt water is a pain but I have them on my larger boat because of possible law suits and I dont want anyone to get injured.
A ford maverick can be ordered with a cv or automatic. A rav 4 can be ordered with a cv or automatic. In both cases only the automatic version is rated for the towing this person wants. So either one is fine if ordered with the automatic.
Regarding down sizing… I just spent the last couple years watching SUVs and small pickups in preparation to replace our 2004 Saturn Vue. I was very interested in the Ford Maverick when it first came out because it was priced so far below anything else. The AWD and the 4k tow package, the XLT was just over $30k and would do everything I wanted. Job ended up going to full telework and not driving much so the purchase was pushed back. A few months ago, started shopping again. Maverick prices had gone up and were flirting with Hondo Ridgeline prices - much more vehicle for only a little more money. Settled on the Ridgeline as the target in the low $40k range. Then, saw a Starling Chevy advert for a 2024 Silverado Custom 4x4 for $41,600. Much more vehicle, again for the same price as the Ridgeline. I’d have been happy with a Ridgeline. But, nearly twice the towing capacity. Much more interior room. Conventional 4x4 vs Honda’s AWD (good system but can over heat when pushed). So far, the Chevy is getting around 16mpg city (stay out of the boost) and on flat highway gets 27+mpg doing 70mph. So, the Honda may do a little better fuel wise, but, not much. Lose the 4x4 if you don’t need/want it and the Chevy gets a little cheaper.
Side note. I got a quote from Hendricks Chevy on Savanah Hwy for a Silverado Custom 4x4 with the only addition of a auto-locking rear diff and they said almost $53k. Claimed the Starling advertised price wasn’t real. No thanks. Drove the 15 min over to Mt. Pleasant and the Starling guys sold me a truck for their advertised price. They did try a little up sell briefly. But, once they understood I was going to buy the Honda if they couldn’t talk me out of it (basically match the price), they were very straight forward and easy to deal with.
The 5.3 is a great all around motor and sounds like it’s more than enough for what you’re asking it to do. I’ve had several of them. The last truck I bought I got the 3.0L diesel in the half ton. Fuel economy is great. Average 26-28 all around. Can push it to over 30mpg if i keep it around 60 (I do a good bit of driving up and down Hwy17). And it tows like a champ.
Actually, the ‘Custom’ trim only comes with the 2.7turbo. But, it is doing everything I want. It puts out 310hp (with 20 of the 5.3 V8) and 430 ft lbs (more than the 5.3). GM says it is making 90% torque at 1500 rpms so once it is barely moving, you have no idea you’re driving a 4 banger except that it does sound different. Even with the 2.7T, the 4x4 truck is rated to tow 9000 lbs. A little more if 2 wheel drive.