Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

[300grain]

Our boat and trailer combo weighs less than 2000lbs. and wonder how it will work on a boatramp. We have a 1995 Ford Windstar. Thank you in advance!

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

Should be fine, 2K is really light.

Not that I would recommend it but my FIL used to tow a Malibu Sunsetter LXI with a dodge caravan. On some ramps people would have to sit on the hood to get enough traction to pull it out.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

I towed my first boat, a 17 footer, with a Caravan and never had any problems. I think you will be fine.

 

[jkust]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

I towed my over 4k lb boat/trailer for a summer prior to owning three trucks with a 180hp, fwd minivan. Obviously not a smart thing. That was substantially over the limit and think I lived three lifetimes in that one summer with all of the situations I dealt with and encountered. I'll just mention that you will want to shut off your traction control at the ramps. It serves to just rob you of forward momentum when you most need it. Because of their length, minivans lull you into thinking they are better tow vehicles than the numbers would dictate.

 

[zealer]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

On a prepared ramp (concrete, asphalt, cement) you will have no problem. Avoid unprepared (dirt, sand, gravel) ramps.
Also, install (or have installed) a transmission cooler. Well worth it.

 

[theBrownskull]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

No problem on a concrete, asphalt, etc. ramp unless it is wet. Get some tire traction mats if it is a problem they are around $20 bucks.

 

[jkust]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

The popular lakes/accesses tend to have the wet and even slimy concrete ramps. I realize that an under 2k boat is light as a feather but good tires play a huge part in effectiveness at the ramps as well. If your Windstar follows the usual formula and has the 'Optional' tow package, I'm betting it has a 3500lb capacity and generally part of the formal tow package is a Transmission Cooler. Not always but many times that is the case. That then was the case with my particular minivan back when and then in addition it had the automatic air suspension further making the minivan a surprisingly ok tow vehicle even when overloaded, ie the rear end won't sag like a spring vehicle. The biggest surprise to me is how little torque it takes to get a lot of weight out of the water and up the ramp. I only ever needed to barely go above idle with the gas pedal to get out of the water once I got good tires and learned the particular ramps to avoid. Truck commercials over the years lead you to believe something else where power is concerned. The other concern I have is the shear age of a nearly 20 year old vehicle and all that that entails.

 

[chambers1517]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

Go over to Can-Am RV Center. They do a lot of towing test and have some videos. They tow 34' campers with minivans. I think a lot of people have the wrong idea of what makes a safe tow rig.

 

[rolmops]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

I used to tow a 19 foot Starcraft Islander (boat +trailer) around 2500 pounds with a Grand Caravan (3.3 liter). It had the power easy enough on flat ground, uphill just barely and on the ramp I quickly learned to set the van and the trailer on an angle with the wheel turned to the right or left. This gave me just enough extra leeway to get the trailer to roll before straightening out and pulling away.
That was the easy part.
The much harder part is stopping with the extra 2000 pounds pushing you forward. ABS is a must, because regular brakes just lock up and you keep going forward. After I put on some electric trailer brakes it became reasonably safe.
Cornelis.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

Go over to Can-Am RV Center. They do a lot of towing test and have some videos. They tow 34' campers with minivans. I think a lot of people have the wrong idea of what makes a safe tow rig.

People think the vehicle is what makes it safe... Vehicle is 1%. The nut behind the wheel is the other 99%. I know guys I'd trust with a cabin cruiser behind a willies jeep more than some other guys with a tinny behind a 3/4 ton diesel.

 

[jkust]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

Where the minivan really showed it true lack of towing prowess is that 1% emergency avoidance maneuver situations such as braking and swerving. That was the part along with recognizing the minivan wasn't going to cut it long term for us that drove us into body on frame vehicles. The difference between the body on frame full fledged tow vehicle with all the accoutrements was like a car versus a horse in capability but I just didn't realize it having never owned or driven a true tow vehicle prior. Of course my zero to 60 times towing over 2 tons with the low power minivan while trying to not kill the drivetrain were pretty awful.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

Of course my zero to 60 times towing over 2 tons with the low power minivan while trying to not kill the drivetrain were pretty awful.

Just wait till you try towing with something other than a Chev 5.3L

 

[Maclin]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

I towed a 15 foot trihull with a 4cyl FWD Kcar station wagon for a couple of seasons. Every once in a while the front tires would want to unload coming up the ramp and want to lose traction, usually right at the top of the ramp. Just had to finesse it on up. The car pulled it ok down the road, and it could accelerate ok and do normal stops ok , but against the wind you could really tell it only had a 2.6 in it.

 

[jkust]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

Just wait till you try towing with something other than a Chev 5.3L

I'm blinded by having owned three of them. They might totally suck, I just don't know yet.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

I'm blinded by having owned three of them. They might totally suck, I just don't know yet.

They don't suck, the older ones just don't have a ton of torque and you can feel the difference if you tried something else. Although the latest version of the 5.3 has caught up to the Dodge and Ford

 

[jkust]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

They don't suck, the older ones just don't have a ton of torque and you can feel the difference if you tried something else. Although the latest version of the 5.3 has caught up to the Dodge and Ford

All mine have had the same 330 lbs of tq as the current version but 30hp less. Not sure how they added the 30hp to the newest ones. It's not awesome but it get's to 60 while towing fairly quickly.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

All mine have had the same 330 lbs of tq as the current version but 30hp less. Not sure how they added the 30hp to the newest ones. It's not awesome but it get's to 60 while towing fairly quickly.

The 2014's are 355HP/383 Torque which gets them a lot closer to the Ford 5.0L and Dodge 5.7L

 

[jkust]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

The 2014's are 355HP/383 Torque which gets them a lot closer to the Ford 5.0L and Dodge 5.7L

That's a huge increase over the previous generation. I wondered when GM was going to finally gin up the 5.3 a bit. Will be nice when I buy a 2014 in 5 years.

 

[N3UP]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

Start saving now for the transaxle rebuild.
Even with a trans cooler, you only delay the inevitable. You will kill the transaxle.

After towing an MFG Gypsy 15 with an 84 Mustang GT, I will never tow anything more than 1000lbs with a unibody vehicle.
The MFG was a bit waterlogged and probably weighed at least 2000 with the 65hp Merc and cox trailer.
The Mustang had the horsepower being a GT with a 5.0L V8, and I didn't hot dog it when towing, but I have the floor pan and door opening cracks to prove that unibody vehicles are unsuitable for towing.

Do yourself a favor and get something with a frame.
Something like a Ranger, S10, Explorer even with a V6 ought to be able to handle that weight.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Does Anyone tow with a Front Wheel Drive Mini Van?

Start saving now for the transaxle rebuild.
Even with a trans cooler, you only delay the inevitable. You will kill the transaxle.

After towing an MFG Gypsy 15 with an 84 Mustang GT, I will never tow anything more than 1000lbs with a unibody vehicle.
The MFG was a bit waterlogged and probably weighed at least 2000 with the 65hp Merc and cox trailer.
The Mustang had the horsepower being a GT with a 5.0L V8, and I didn't hot dog it when towing, but I have the floor pan and door opening cracks to prove that unibody vehicles are unsuitable for towing.

Do yourself a favor and get something with a frame.
Something like a Ranger, S10, Explorer even with a V6 ought to be able to handle that weight.

You towed with a boy racer car rated to tow nothing - not exactly the same thing as towing with a vehicle the manufacturer says can tow 3500lbs.