Towing with a minivan
I am considering purchasing an '06 175, which when on a trailer with
gas will come in at about 2,400 lbs. My Windstar has a towing capacity
of 2,000 lbs. As I will be using the boat at a ramp about 3 miles
away, do I run the risk of fishing my van out of the river?
Thank you. |
Richcosta
Dec 5
2006
|
| Towing it should be fine if you take it easy, but I'd think twice before
going on a boat ramp in a FWD vehicle, especially one that's overloaded.
As the boat slides down the ramp, the front wheels will get lighter
and you might not have the traction to get out. |
James
Dec 7
|
| The manual transmissions were decent, they were made by Mazda. Hard to
find in a van though. |
James
Dec 7
|
| That's good to hear - the 3.4 Venture is 185 published hp. In 1995 the Ford 3.8 was 155, then 200 in 1996 when the 3.0 became
available(at 150hp). I didn't realize it was that high for the 3.8.
That kinda' kicks the GM 4.3(Astro/Safari) at only 190hp. Rob |
trainfan1
Dec 7
|
| And if it is like my nextdoor neighbors POS Windstar, it will fail without
towing. |
Calif
Dec 7
|
| duh, I think your dry humor will be lost on the original poster. Since
it was such an idiotic question I wonder if the original poster was
either unstable or trying to get a rise. |
Linkd
Dec 7
|
| The Sienna & Odyssey are 240/245 hp beasts, though. The WindStar is
only about 145hp. Rob |
trainfan1
Dec 6
|
| My 3.0 liter Voyager is 142hp and the Ranger pickup I leased to tow my
boat has a 148hp 3.0 liter engine.
Guess it's in the gearing/engine torque as the Ranger easily pulls the
2000 lb load. |
Don
Dec 6
|
| At their best, Er...maybe...? |
Tim
Dec 6
|
| The horsepower on my 95 Windstar was 156, but this was upped to about 200
the following year. I'm not sure what the rating is on my 03 but it's at
least 200 and the van has far better power to pull the boat than the 2000
Chev Venture it replaced. |
Denis
Dec 6
|
| Not near a POS as the Aerostar and it was Rear wheel drive. same basic
drive train as a dinky POS Ford Ranger pickup. the Windstar is
better, with the basic drive train as a Taurus. a three mi. tow shouldn't be bad. on the tranny IMHO especially w/ an
extra cooler, but the ramp Idea is still giddish. |
Tim
Dec 5
|
| The Aerostar was OK except for the POS tranny. I got 85k before I had to
have it reworked. But I only towed a 14' Aluminum skiff with a 15 hp
Mariner on it. |
Calif
Dec 6
|
| The AeroStar tows like a truck. The 4WD AeroStar had a HD version of
the A4LD as found in the Explorer and tows very nicely. The last WindStars, & subsequent FreeStars, have most all of the bugs
worked out and can tow well with the 3.8/3.9/4.2 and the AX4N
transmission. A cooler is a requisite. Going over a ton will
eventually torture the van, though. A good friend did tow a heavy older pop-up camper with the early 3.0
Windstar. Everything went wrong with that POS EXCEPT the transmission(&
nothing relating to towing). They had to give it away - running, no
rust, but so many little problems including the CEL/MIL/SES DTC light
coming on for so many things it wasn't worth fixing. Rob |
trainfan1
Dec 5
|
| My Aerostar was an 89. Had a lightweight Mazda tranny. |
Calif
Dec 6
|
| Interesting about the Aerostar, a friend of mine had one, and after the
second bog $ tran. rebuild, he finally went to a junk yard and got one
out of an '87 Ford Crown Vic. fit right in, only thing is he had to change the speedo gears. |
Tim
Dec 5
|
| I sold the van. |
Calif
Dec 6
|
| All V-6 Aerostar automatics were Ford A4LD models, originally a
French-designed 3 speed slush box, and modified to provide a 4th OD
gear. It was also used in Explorer, Ranger & (similar)Mazda pickups &
Navajo, & Merkur. Ford modified the gear train clutching again to bring about a 5 speed
auto, still available today in the Explorer as the 5R55. Rob |
trainfan1
Dec 6
|
|
And still a POS |
Tim
Dec 6
|
| I have been towing a 175 with a Toyota Sienna minivan for two years
with no issues. The Toyota is rated to 3500 lb towing capacity. In
addition to the the boat I have towed (ocassionally) U-Haul trailers at
or very close to the 3500 lb limit, with no problems. Front wheel
drive has never been an issue to pull the boat out of the water, even
on steep and wet ramps. I don't think there is any fundamental issue with using a minivan to
tow a boat, as long as the engine has enough power and the transmission
is strong enough. I don't know about Ford, but I have seen many Toyota
and Honda minivans towing boats around here with not problems.
Richcosta wrote: |
katekebo
Dec 6
|
| Maybe, but my first concern would be a combination of : 1- Towing something beyond the published capacity of the van
and
2 - doing so with a transmission of dubious durability
and
3 - You didn't mention how many miles you have on the van, and whether you
had done (or were even aware of) the scheduled maintenance for the tranny. If your maintenance has been perfect, AND you add a transmission cooler, AND
you know how to change your driving habits to baby the vehicle while towing,
you'll probably get away with it. |
JoeSpareBedroom
Dec 5
|
| yes, you should add a transmission cooler, and the Windstar should tow
ok, but front wheel drive isn't really recommended for pulling away
from a ramp, especially a steep one. Richcosta wrote: |
Tim
Dec 5
|
| Exceeding the vehicle's tow rating is generally unadvisable, but I'll admit
that I towed my Thunderbird S-18, at what's probably close to 3500 pounds,
with my 94 Taurus wagon for three years. Short, infrequent trips, babying it
all the way. Never had a problem. |
Ernest
Dec 5
|
| Since you don't know how to subtract 2,400 from 2,000, I say GO FOR IT! |
Alotta
Dec 5
|
| Not highly recommended and it will accelerate the wear and tear on
your tranny and drive train, but for that distance, it's will do fine. The problem comes in when you want to go further, farther, faster. And, as Tim pointed out, FWD isn't a happy camper with steep launch
ramps. But if all the conditions are acceptable, then by all means - go for
it. |
Short
Dec 5
|
| Almost all vehicles have a published "tow capacity" for the simple
reason they prolly couldn't sell it without one. This does NOT mean the
vehicle has an "Implied Warranty" of actually being able to tow the
rated capacity without damage or failure. As a rule, wimpy tow ratings
of 2K basically indicate the vehicle should not be realistically
considered for towing anything over, say, a garden trailer to the dump.
Look for your trans to fail, and keep up on your tow insurance and
friendship with the local trans shop.
PS: your Windstar is a POS. And you know it.
JR
|
JR
Dec 5
|
