Chevy Equinox tow vechicle

I am getting a 06 Chevy Equinox for a company car and I am hopeful that it will work as a tow vechicle. The Equinox is rated for 3500lbs and I calculated that the boat and trailer is 3700lbs. It may not be pretty, but will it work as a tow vechicle? Does anyone eles tow thier boat with a compact SUV? Thanks for the help

how far are you towing? if it's down the street, be my guest, if it's across town or farther, looks pretty sketchy.

bad idea.....dangerous too. Be careful if you do and be prepared to burn up the transmission. The tow capacity's are put on trucks for a reason.

Used to tow my ski nautique with a Jeep Cherokee. It did pretty well until the boat started pushing the Jeep down a gravel hill one day. Luckily I had enough room to make a quick U turn otherwise it would have been very ugly.

Probably not recommended but maybe OK if you are careful, be ready for a very bumpy ride.

I got 117K miles from a Chevy Astro rated for 5,500 pounds, before the trany went out. My boat dry weight is 2,900, add 1,000 for the trailer, 250 lbs for fuel and another 250 for gear (maybe more for gear) and my trailer weight is 4,400 pounds. Don't forget that you're supposed to subtract the weight of the people and gear that you have in your tow vehicle from your trailing weight. When I took the family on vacation with the boat I was probably very close to the rated limit.

I was asking too much from my tow vehicle and should probably be thankful we never had an incident on the road and thankful that the van lasted for over 100K miles. Be safe and don’t put others on the same road, your family, and friend in harms way.


(Message edited by bigshow on October 10, 2005)

Way too small of a tow vehicle. Bigger is best. I know you can't have it all, but go with something a little bigger. Manufacture LBS tow rating mean nothing, till you hook a trailer up and tow for yourself. You will have some kinda problem with a tow vehicle that small/light (either breaking something on it, or getting sunk on a launch ramp.)

Where's everyone getting the weights for their boats? They seem kinda low. I'm near 7000 with trailer, gas, gear, and hard ballast. Doesn't phase my Excursion, but can kill most half tow trucks.

Jeff,
You must be hauling around alot of gear. I'm just over 7k with boat, trailer, and fuel.

4000(boat), 1000(trailer) 350(gas), 250(gear), 1000(pop bags). Your boat is huge Ryan, understand the big weight. Mines 22ft, and just a little beefer than most vdrives. Never noticed it untill people started posting their weight figures here.

I pulled my boat maybe 5 miles with a 1979 station wagon. It sagged like your grandma's tata's but did the job. If you tow with that vehicle just be careful. I was going to put some air shocks on it to help out with the sag and then I got a good deal on a truck so I just bought that.
There is only one way to know. Try it.

(Message edited by jon4pres on October 11, 2005)

well its a company car, the company pays for a new transmission and brakes right? as long as you have surge brakes on the trailer, I would give it a try, without the surge brakes you better be very careful especially going downhill or quick stops!

Be aware of the danger you are put you and everyone else in. You will be towing a 3700 LBS boat and trailer with a 3700 LBS car (3668 for FWD, and 3796 for AWD). To be honest, 3700 seems low ball for boat/trailer/gear/gas.

Furthermore, that car is only 15 3/4 feet long, with a wheelbase of under 10 feet (numbers from chevy website). I'm guessing your trailer is atleast 23 feet or longer, probably over 25 feet (tongue to swim platform.) I don't care if you are just going around the block, this isn't safe.

Let us know what launch ramp you're going to, so one of us with a heavy truck and a winch can pull you out when you get stuck. If you even make it to the launch ramp.

Sorry, for my harshness, I wish you luck. I hope on so many levels this works out for you. I recommend not trying this AT ALL.

Just an fyi... maybe this will keep everyone away from where I ride...
I tow my boat with a jeep wrangler, have been doing so for two years now. never had a problem but am not even a mile from the boat launch. I definately would not recommned highway driving however. It takes a lot more situational awareness, and regular vehicle maintenance helps like changing the transmission fluid and the differentials...
anyways stay clear of my launch site.... wouldnt want to put anyone in danger!

Towing with the vehicle and boat mentioned is a bad idea and has a great deal of risk. You will burn up the vehicle prematurely as you set yourself up for potential liability if there is an accident or incident. In a worst case scenerio if there is a death and your trailer and vehicle are involved, what do you think the plaintiff attorney will do? As soon as he/she investigates and finds out your vehicle was not of sufficient towing capacity they will use that against you. And by the way if its a company truck your employer will likely be named as well in the lawsuit. They will be looking for every deep pocket to sue while they plan a premature retirement at your expense.

I tow by bayliner 175 which weighs about 2600 with trailer with a 2000 chevy blazer, I can sure feel that something is back there. The weight limit on the blazer is 3500 and I don't think it is a conservative number. I wouldn’t do it!

Thanks for all the honest feed-back. I will be picking up a cheep Chevy 1-ton pickup soon. We currently don't own a car since they are both company cars, so it sucks to buy something to tow the boat 4-6 times per month in the summer and have it sit the rest of the time for a 10min trip to the lake, but it is better to get a truck than to put people at risk.

I guess i must really be putting people in danger when I tow my 32 foot 11,000 lb trailer with my 18 foot 6500 lb Excursion. You don't need a one ton truck to tow a 4k boat 10 minutes. Jeeze people relax a little.

Would you tow almost 4000 LBS with an Equinox Troy? Remember the thing is about the same size as RAV4, Esacape, or CRV.
You are right about the one ton, isn't needed. A half will do it. I'd go with something with an extended cab, or long bed. A little extra wheelbase helps out.

I find this discussion to almost be oxymoronic... think about it, wakeboarders that load the crap out of their boat, way beyond the 'load capacity' but are so strict on other weight limits....?????

anyways just making me laugh!!!

can it pull it? yes, you can pull your boat with a chevette if you really wanted to, is it the safest thing to do? no, but then again neither is wakeboarding or putting 3000lbs of ballast in your boat!

Gordon I agree. Dont waste your money on a 1 ton truck to pull your boat 10 min. Just be carefull.
TRY IT. If it pulls it fine around the block than take it to the lake once being careful. If you feel comfotable save your money if you dont think it can handle the weight buy an F-750.

Are you sure you want to exceed the recommended tow rating with a vehicle that doesn't belong to you?

You can be as "careful" as possible, but you can't control what everyone else on the road is doing. What will happen when you have to get on the brakes hard in an emergency? The tail will wag the dog, and you'll have to explain to your boss why you stacked up the company wheels while towing a boat that exceeds the tow rating.

Just go have fun and be safe! Thats what we live for.... Use your own discretion.

If you drive only 10 minutes to the ramp why not get an old peice of crap F100 or Chevy C/K10 or what ever they where called and pull the boat with that? Your only driving 10 minutes I'm sure you could afford the gas taking 2 cars that distance.

you could tow a jet ski with it.

Troy, the Excursion is rated for 6,100 pound to 11,000 pound trailer. What is your rig rated for?

I can get a 1990 Chevy C3500 (1 ton) from my father-in-law for $2500.00 The paint is trashed, but it runs fine with new tires, belts, radiator, alternator, breaks, ect. with 110,000 mi. Good tow truck for a 10 min drive to the lake. I can get it insured for $500 per year.

there you go, problem solved... if you ever have a problem with the truck you can use the equinox as a backup!!!

My v10 excursion has a rating of 10500. But you bring up an interesting point. How many of us have a tow hitch to tow a tag that ways that much? I pretty sure my stock Ford one won't handle 10000 LBS.

i just installed a hitch on my tricycle so we'll see how that goes....

Must have some built legs

Class 5 here on the f-250

04 and 05 Excursions (maybe others) have a factory hitch rated for 12,500 lbs with a weight equalizing tow bar, 9,500lbs with a standard tow bar. (class 5)

Jeff, yes i would tow that 2,500lb (plus trailer) direct drive centurion 10 minutes out of chico to the lake. At least i would try!
Hey, don't i owe you a bag?

I know you're good for it. Hey and cash my check already, your making me think I have more money than I do!!!

Is it really true when people say not to exceed more than 85% of your vehicles tow capacity? Or is it just a myth? I hear that it puts excess wear and tear on your vehicle (i.e. transmission). I tow a '06 Malibu VLX with my 6 cyclinder Nissan Pathfinder which has a towing capacity of 5000 lbs. Am I really hurting anything?

I got a jeep cherokee. is it a good tow vehicle 4 an Air Nautique 211?thanks