Boat advice

I have a ‘20 1794 4x4

harrop blower, sway bar and traction bars, trans cooler

can/should I tow my new mastercraft x26

9600lbs loaded on its tandem trailer. Or thereabouts

Would like to drag it from houston to Austin some time

y’all be kind as I’m new to towing

 

Isn't your towing capacity either 9200 or 9400 lbs?

 

Yes. Or thereabouts

I have access to a 1ton ford

it rides like it has square tires

I suspect that will be my tow vehicle

 

Pull the drain plug. Lose 400 pounds of ballast and you're golden.

 

I’m shocked if it is really that heavy. I’m towing a 22’ wake boat and am about 6,000-6,500 loaded on trailer.

FWIW, I see a Tundra towing a X46 all the time at my lake and it doesn’t seem overloaded or struggling.



ETA the tongue weight on the big wake boats is usually under 10% so they don’t seem to squat nearly as bad as other trailers. A big v8 hanging behind the axles helps.

 

I suspect it will ride better with 10k lbs behind it.

 

Yeah but his boat is a legit yacht. 26’ I believe. Assuming his tundra is 7200 lb GVWR, a boat GWR of 9600 puts his GCWR at 16800, which is prob 1000lb north of what his truck is rated for. I’m over a bit at times but not that much.

I might do it until I figured something else out. But I would definitely upgrade brakes and rear suspension.

@nobodyintexas check your manual for your truck’s code. It’s on the door jamb on the black and white sticker. Then look at your GCWR for what your truck code is. These are listed in the manual. This is the code you’d be lookin for:

 

Just saw the dry weight is 7,000 lbs - you might be over 9k. Damn that’s a big boat.

 

Yup, I was thinking of an X23 which is about 3’ shorter and 2500 lbs lighter…

 

And an expensive one to risk pulling with a half ton IMO.

 

Also get a brake controller if you don’t have one. I towed my dump trailer very heavy one time and I could not stop. Very scary and dangerous. Bought a brake controller immediately after.

 

99.9% of boat trailers don’t use electric brakes. I’d bet OP’s trailer has surge brakes making a controller useless.

 

Ahem...

Tundra is pulling champion.

 

yup. love it.

and only to prevent @hagrid from jumping my sh1t.

 

if your gonna be a bear, be a grizzly bear.

 

yikes...just found this....I don't think I'll be risking it.

and it has a 108 gallon gas tank! and all our gear.

easily approaching 10k lbs

 

just checked...@AZBoatHauler is right...i have surge/hydraulic system....or, it's not electric.

 

I'd like to volunteer my services as a guide vehicle to assure you stay safe between Houston and Austin. Of course, this also includes being on board said boat when in the water to assure nothing was damaged during my guide duties...just to assure safety and thoroughness.

Seriously, you may be pushing your luck a bit here. Especially considering the traffic challenges we have between these fair cities.

 

I may need you. I reckon we'll have 10 college kids on board + me and my son.

 

You’re going to want to upgrade to an electric over hydraulic system.
In essence you’ll remove you surge actuator and add an electric pump which is controlled by your electric brake controller.
It’s a complete game changer when it comes to stopping a heavy load.
Air bags will also help with rear end squat.

 

My bad, didn’t know. The P3 also controls electric over hydraulic but I don’t even know what that means.

 

https://www.boattrailerparts.com/Ti...ic-Over-Hydraulic-Kit-Disc-Brakes_p_1275.html

I’m assuming you have disc brakes of course. If not you’ll need to upgrade.

Its not inexpensive, but after towing with an electric over hydraulic set up, you’d NEVER go back to a surge.

You can use your controller to apply as much braking force as you’d like. No more feeling like 9k lbs behind you is pushing you around. You can actually make the trailer slow the truck down if you wanted to.

The breakaway kit is added insurance if the unthinkable happens.

I’ve towed a pretty heavy set up all over the Northeast chasing tuna, and the EOH setup has saved my rear in a couple of emergency stop situations.

 

That’s probably with a triple axle trailer but still…

 

I wish...

 

They show the triple axle weighing a whole 5 lbs more than the double…


can’t wait to see some pics of the wake/wave.

 

once this monsoon season passes here in Houston, I'll post.