grand caravan towing

[hosenfeffer]

I was looking at the manual for a grand caravan we use for deliveries and noticed that it is rated for 3800 lbs towing capacity with optional towing package. Which turns out to be a tranny cooler and slightly larger radiator.
I tow a fairly light center console with a 10 mpg monster and was thinking huh how bout that?
Not for serious road trips but local non highway trips. Any one have any experience with this? Other than sliding down a steep ramp into the water I dont really care about the vehicle. We even let customers do their own deliveries with it sometimes if that tells you anything.

[spitfisher]

Not because it's a minivan, yes you will need the transmision cooler, maybe a power steering cooler- all can be had at uhaul. Depending on the weight will determine if you cheat this for some local launching.

add up the weight of the boat, the weight of the trailer, the weight of the motor, add up the gear you have in your van(passengers are considered gear)
add up or guestimate the amount of gear on the boat, anchors to life jackets.
Next add up how many gallons of gas you'll have on average @ 6 lbs per gallon. Next add in an additional 400 lbs (200 lbs for tongue weight and 200 for fishin gear and other stuff that you forgot to add).

If this all adds up to 2200lbs or less- you should be good to go......Local traffic only, slow speeds and absolutly no steep ramps. Wet ramps, algae can and will be a problem. By the way this where your transmission fails. Chrysler is not known for transmissions or brakes- they're are known for selling you an new vee-hickle though.

good luck, I'd stay with the truck- if it's local launching, gas shouldn't be that much of an issue. better safe than sorry.

[gf2020]

If you decide to tow with it, please take some pictures.

Everyone loves a good boat ramp picture! :)

http://www.dailypress.com/media/photo/2008-07/40591214.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l291/n1riw/sa121106a.jpg

http://users.mo-net.com/flotilla6/IMAGES/Trailer%20accident%2001sm.jpg

[fishingdan]

Depends on the size/weight of your boat. The great majority of my towing has been with mini-vans and similar vehicles (ie Honda Pilot).

Must haves:
- accurate weight measurement of boat, motor, trailer and typical load
- brakes on the trailer
- transmission cooler on the tow vehicle
- If the vehicle only has front wheel drive, need good tires
- knowledge of the tow vehicle's tow ratings paying close attention to ratings with/without passengers

I think up to a 19' boat of reasonable weight is ok. I never had a problem getting up ramps, but then I tend to only use nicer ramps.

One thing to note is that the gas mileage of one of these vehicles drops considerably when you start towing anything of significance. A larger truck's mileage probably doesn't change that much when towing a smaller boat. Any real savings would occur if you are switching from the larger truck as your everyday driver.

[amarshall]

We used to tow our 22 Ft Hiliner Center console with our grand caravan. Hiliner's have a ton of glass and are about 4k lbs. We towed it with no problem for years. That was back in the early 90s too when it had a small V6 engine.

[maineguideman]

FWIW I pulled my flats boat with a Nissan Quest Minivan for years the Van had the same engine as the pathfinder and the front wheel drive worked great on a decent ramp. The big issue was the rear end is low so it kills the entry angle of the boat. My boat weighed 1200# the motor was aprox 220# the traier was lite and gear fuel etc I dont think it was to much over 2000# but it was a flats boat with a shallow V and I did have guide slicks on the Bunks
Good Luck