Towing pontoon boat cross country

[jimmarco]

I just bought a 2100 pound pontoon boat and plan to tow it from Florida to Massachusetts and back each year. I haven’t bought a trailer yet but I’m guessing that will add a thousand pounds or so to towing weight. I realize that the expected towing weight is within the gladiator specs but I’m concerned about stability on the highway and climbing hills of Pennsylvania (maximum elevation about 3000 feet). I would like to hear from owners with experience.

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[Freems]

This is my tow, about 3500 lbs loaded (fuel, coolers full) w/ trailer. I live in Idaho, so 3k elevation is no problems, I’m out with it just about every week since retiring, all year long. I can hold about 50-55 mph up a nasty 5-6% grade not too far from home, it’s about 4.5k elevation. Get air bags for rear, it really helps with the extra weight with the soft coil springs. They will really help with your pontoon boat and the wind, keeping it stable. My mileage drops while towing it to about 12-14 mpg, around town empty is 17 mpg on 35” w/ stock gearing 3:73s. Hope this helps…Any other questions on it, let me know.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Congrats on the new boat. Let's see some pics of it.

Have you owned a pontoon before, and if so, are you familiar with towing them?

 

[robburns76]

I towed our 22' bennington tritoon from Northern Colorado up to Bear lake in utah. with all the hills and trying to no go super slow on the freeway, the jeep did it ok, but my mpg dropped to like 6.

 

[Zachanadandy]

Towing at half the rate capacity through the hills of the east coast? You'll be fine. Fuel economy will suck but otherwise no issue. Even pulling 5k pounds through the Sierra's the gladiator does fine. I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[Wildtoad]

This is my tow, about 3500 lbs loaded (fuel, coolers full) w/ trailer. I live in Idaho, so 3k elevation is no problems, I’m out with it just about every week since retiring, all year long. I can hold about 50-55 mph up a nasty 5-6% grade not too far from home, it’s about 4.5k elevation. Get air bags for rear, it really helps with the extra weight with the soft coil springs. They will really help with your pontoon boat and the wind, keeping it stable. My mileage drops while towing it to about 12-14 mpg, around town empty is 17 mpg on 35” w/ stock gearing 3:73s. Hope this helps…Any other questions on it, let me know.

Have you thought about towing the boat with the top down? Seems it would catch a lot of side wind.

 

[Mark JT]

Regardless of length of the boat, buy a tandem axle trailer! We have a 20’ TriToon and replaced our single axle With the tandem. MUCH more stable .

 

[RJinPV]

You didn't mention which Gladiator model you have and what the tow rating is. I have a Rubicon with the 3.6L Pentastar. The Rubicon's rating is 7000 lbs I tow a 5800lb trailer (with tandem axles) in California. It has handled Hwy 395 in the Eastern Sierras at altitudes as high as 8000+ft. I does well if I take it easy and keep speeds down around 50-55 mph on the grades. You should be fine. Just watch your weight with all of the extras you bring. You can easily exceed the payload rating on the Gladiator if you're not careful. Consider using a CAT scale to check your weights just to be sure.

 

[ross neill]

This is my tow, about 3500 lbs loaded (fuel, coolers full) w/ trailer. I live in Idaho, so 3k elevation is no problems, I’m out with it just about every week since retiring, all year long. I can hold about 50-55 mph up a nasty 5-6% grade not too far from home, it’s about 4.5k elevation. Get air bags for rear, it really helps with the extra weight with the soft coil springs. They will really help with your pontoon boat and the wind, keeping it stable. My mileage drops while towing it to about 12-14 mpg, around town empty is 17 mpg on 35” w/ stock gearing 3:73s. Hope this helps…Any other questions on it, let me know.

You didn't mention which Gladiator model you have and what the tow rating is. I have a Rubicon with the 3.6L Pentastar. The Rubicon's rating is 7000 lbs I tow a 5800lb trailer (with tandem axles) in California. It has handled Hwy 395 in the Eastern Sierras at altitudes as high as 8000+ft. I does well if I take it easy and keep speeds down around 50-55 mph on the grades. You should be fine. Just watch your weight with all of the extras you bring. You can easily exceed the payload rating on the Gladiator if you're not careful. Consider using a CAT scale to check your weights just to be sure.

You didn't mention which Gladiator model you have and what the tow rating is. I have a Rubicon with the 3.6L Pentastar. The Rubicon's rating is 7000 lbs I tow a 5800lb trailer (with tandem axles) in California. It has handled Hwy 395 in the Eastern Sierras at altitudes as high as 8000+ft. I does well if I take it easy and keep speeds down around 50-55 mph on the grades. You should be fine. Just watch your weight with all of the extras you bring. You can easily exceed the payload rating on the Gladiator if you're not careful. Consider using a CAT scale to check your weights just to be sure.

Yes you can but it will be a nightmare you will need a weight distribution anti sway system it will take twice the time and three times the fuel and more maintenance on vehicle you might do better of premium fuel I would be looking for a different boat that light and easy to tow. pontoon boat trailers are expensive and have small wheels which makes them over heat there bearings and not made to tow that far . Look to see if you can rent a boat up there and you will have to get the boat cleaned before and after to make sure not to transfer unwanted parasites

 

[robburns76]

Yes you can but it will be a nightmare you will need a weight distribution anti sway system it will take twice the time and three times the fuel and more maintenance on vehicle you might do better of premium fuel I would be looking for a different boat that light and easy to tow. pontoon boat trailers are expensive and have small wheels which makes them over heat there bearings and not made to tow that far . Look to see if you can rent a boat up there and you will have to get the boat cleaned before and after to make sure not to transfer unwanted parasites

doubt you need a weight distribution and anti sway unless the boat is really heavy. even with mine (2200 lbs) and the dual axle trailer, wasn't required or needed. Also, my trailer had standard 17" rims and normal tires.

 

[Freems]

Have you thought about towing the boat with the top down? Seems it would catch a lot of side wind.

Short trips, bad weather top up. All longer range trips, top always down. 80 mph beats the hell out of top.

 

[XJhawk]

I am in the boat business.
Unless that pontoon boat is 16' that weight seems really low.
Are you going off of the wieght listed in a brochure?
If so, it isn't accounting for the engine, oil fuel and batteries.

 

[Dave-in-RI]

Just don’t exceed the towing speed of the trailer tires (often 55mph), keep your tires fully inflated (max cold), do your bearings, and bring a spare tire + bearings kit. And bring a real jack plus a small piece of plywood to put the jack on if you break down at a spot with a soft shoulder (which is a lot of places— we don’t always get to choose). Also, don’t launch when you get there or your bearings will most likely suck in lots of water from the temperature differential (even with bearing buddies since most people overfill them and blow out the back seal). Some states say trailer brakes for over 1k lbs, but many trailers under 3k don’t even have them, so just plan ahead and assume everyone will give you a break job. And ditto the payload, check your sticker. Some of these trucks have 900lbs. That’s 200lbs (-ish) tongue (don’t load the boat poorly; preserve the ratio), plus bodies, plus gear— goes quickly. Exceeding it opens up a negligence case if someone causes an accident you’re involved in, as dumb as that might sound. If you can use a weight distributing hitch, do it; always better and safer to have a level rig even if regular hitch can hold it. Don’t be afraid to run the gears out on the 3.6 (hopefully you have an auto; boat launching a manual isn’t ideal), that’s where the power is; high revs aren’t bad despite the noise. And lastly, know your height and beam.

 

[Crazy Wes]

I just bought a 2100 pound pontoon boat and plan to tow it from Florida to Massachusetts and back each year. I haven’t bought a trailer yet but I’m guessing that will add a thousand pounds or so to towing weight. I realize that the expected towing weight is within the gladiator specs but I’m concerned about stability on the highway and climbing hills of Pennsylvania (maximum elevation about 3000 feet). I would like to hear from owners with experience.

Only concern I see is windage force moving down the road. Its a brick pulling a much larger brick. Other than that no problems. I added the Airlift bags to the rear springs and the airlift compressor in my bed.

 

[Blade1668]

I've not towed my 16ft. pontoon boat that far regularly, but from IL. to AL. with my 05 Wrangler.
Definitely keep up on bearing maintenance, have a spare tire and bearings / hub assembly, jack and tools. Correct air pressure check before driving. Slow down it might be the I-state and 70 mph speed limit but wind is a bitch towing pontoon boat. My 16ft Scamp tows better in the wind in some way. Mine was my father's he towed it with full size mini camper van 3/4-1 ton chassis setup for heavy tongue weight. I reset axle to 70/30 weight to tow better with lighter vehicles. Don't forget the width of the boat trailer on secondary roads. After a trip or two you will probably want to store it close to where you use it most. A friend of mine stores his boat in Destin Fl. then tows his jet-skis down. Check out a few threads listed in similar threads below.

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