Towing Pontoon on interstate

[gcan]

My truck is a 2019 lariat FX4 with tow package and I found a 18’ bass buggy pontoon at a dealer about 180 miles away. I’ve never towed anything with my Ranger and know the specs all say towing less than 2000 pounds should be a breeze but …. I’ve never towed anything this big and never towed anything on the interstate either . I’ve made this drive in a car before and interstate is by far the best route.

thoughts?
will a pontoon on the interstate get blown around?
any experienced pontoon towers?

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[cfhgarza]

Never towed a pontoon boat but just towing in general you want to keep your speed down and give plenty of space for stopping.

Check trailer tires speed rating.

Check your state laws on what trailer wieght requires trailer brakes.

Might need some clip on tow mirrors if the boat is wide.

Other then that the Ranger tows like a champ

 

[BiilyJones]

I towed a 20' harris float boat back in the day with a much less capable 80s mitsubishi engined diesel ranger. The wind will wag you around, but it wasn't awful. The diesel had decent power early in the morning before the sun came up, but was a slug on the way home.

 

[Aonarch]

As Ranger Pride said, do you have a trailer brake controller?

Also just to double check, do you have the factory towing package?

Some boat trailers have surge brakes, so you won't need a controller. Check this.

Just take it easy you will be fine.

 

[gcan]

Yea I have the tow package and yes the trailer has surge brakes. There is a 2 lane route but it goes through numerous small towns and for sure would be more congested and have people wanting to pass and such which is why I’m favoring the interstate route.
My thinking is the interstate will be less congested mid morning and people are free to pass if necessary which should take some pressure off me

 

[JesseS]

Unless things have changed from when I towed my boat most all boat specific trailers have surge brakes due to electric not playing well with being submerged in water. Pontoons are wider than V-hull boats so will sway more, and you will need clip on mirrors most likely. Just keep your speed down and minimize sudden lane changes.

 

[gcan]

Duplicate post

 

[GTGallop]

What is the wheel size on the trailer? Normal size or those little Dilly-Wheels?

 

[gcan]

I haven’t picked it up yet but it’s new so should be standard wheel and tire size

 

[GTGallop]

If it's a standard size like you would find on a ar - you are OK. Those tiny little bagel wheels used to have to spin so fast to go 55 that they would burn up bearings and wear the rubber down. I still see them on pontoons from time to time.

 

[gcan]

Maybe I should go the scenic route through the country

 

[BiilyJones]

Maybe I should go the scenic route through the country

I'd be 4 lane no doubt.



Edit: unless it was bad weather, then I'd just reschedule.

 

[JohnnyO]

Main problem I see with a pontoon boat is that they take up a lot of space AND they don't weigh a lot, so if it's windy you will have problems. If it's not windy I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Trigganometry]

That was going to be my suggestion, pick any other day but a windy one and hopefully you don’t encounter tractor trailers flying by you. Otherwise, you got this…

 

[P. A. Schilke]

I towed a 20' harris float boat back in the day with a much less capable 80s mitsubishi engined diesel ranger. The wind will wag you around, but it wasn't awful. The diesel had decent power early in the morning before the sun came up, but was a slug on the way home.

Hi Billy,

I can tell you that I am the guy behind this Mitsubishi Diesel. I was on loan to the Automobile Emissions and Fuel Economy activity in World Headquarters. AEFEO... I was the California Liaison for their inspection maintenance program. So when the stint was over in 1980, which I did okay but the political environment of WHQ sucked. So I headed back to Truck Engineering after this 3 year stint that my higher ups had me do on loan, I was assigned to an area that had a program for which I would be in charge. The HPC diesel program for Ranger. HPC Is High Power Compact diesel. I was to search the world for such a diesel engine. I had a matrix of diesels from Onan, Renault, AVL and so on. All in all there were about 52 compact diesel engines. Most were discarded but we did have meetings with several but the Mitsubishi bubbled to the top and we entered into negotiations with them. I made 5 or six trips to Japan as the Technical Expert in the negotiating team. Since the Ranger did not exist at the time, the first engine was installed in a Flairside Short Wheel base F150 with manual trans. I helped the mechanics in the X garage do the install. Truck was not bad for performance.... so Negotiations progressed and I got a prototype 1982½ Ranger in which to install another Mitsu Diesel but with auto trans.... Build took much longer as it was given to Milford Fabrication and they were just flat not able to accomplish this without hand holding. I was so frustrated I called MilFab as they were known at the time, MilBolt...they could not fabricate their way out of a wet paper bag... Testing showed the automatic trans version was a slug, but our top brass signed the contract and thus the Ranger with Mitsubishi Diesel was launched... I can't say I was proud of the package, but I got a promotion over the course of this program....Then the Oldsmobile 350 diesel debacle killed consumer interest in diesels and we abandoned the Mitisu diesel.

I still have contacts from Japan on this program, especially Akira K... We still keep in touch... The other thing as Ford and Mitsubishi agreed on rear axles and transmissions and the Ranger with the diesel you had also had a Mitsubishi transmission...

First time I have told this back story I believe...

best,
Phil

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