towing empty or full

[Dignity]

When towing long distances e.g. sunny coast to 1770 or further do you load everything into the boat that you need or preferably load up the vehicle and reduce the gross weight of the boat and trailer, which is better.

I have been away to the Daly River where the guys were quite happy to load the boats up as much as possible, the only hitch being where one of the guys replaced the bearings before hand and they failed - was this a result of overloading or in this case I think he didn't go for a run and then check the tightness of his bearings.

On other occasions where going to 1770 or Fraser we load as much into the vehicles and transfer at the other end, this is my preference as once travelling to Gladstone for a trip out to North West Island we lost a wheel and the tojo tray back was solidly loaded and the 17' fiberglass half cabin boat was totally empty and we didn't even know the wheel had come off until we saw it race past the car.

DOH! - I think I just answered my own question.

[goat boy]

i just recently towed my boat (4.6m ally run-about) approx 7000km, I preferred to unload as much as possible into the back of the ute. It was a good drive and it towed really well. However, the bloke I went with towed a 4.5m open tinny, had it loaded up and the difference performance-wise at least was negligible. Both vehicles were running scan guages and the fuel economy was pretty much same same. I guess the real test would of been a blow out or lost wheel? thankfully that never happened but I would of rather had been the empty one had that happened.

[JEWIENEWIE]

Through my experience, See Boating chat, i feel you want as much weight in the car as possible. I feel this is what saved me from having a complete roll over while towing the camper. The extra weight in the Pajy helped me keep it on all 4 wheels, well most of the time....
JN

[battleon]

I always loaded the Wagon as much as possible, firstly for security of all my stuff when parked and second to keep the weight over the wheels of the car for the reasons the guys outlined above. I always towed long distance without much fuel in the boat also to reduce weight a bit too.

[Dignity]

Through my experience, See Boating chat, i feel you want as much weight in the car as possible. I feel this is what saved me from having a complete roll over while towing the camper. The extra weight in the Pajy helped me keep it on all 4 wheels, well most of the time....
JN
JN, saw your post but didn't want to hijack your thread.

[Owen]

Heavily loaded boats on rollers trailers can cause cracking if the road is rough.
I stick light bulky items in the boat and heavy gear in the vehicle for that reason alone.
As long as the trailer is rated for the load and hitch weight and brakes likewise then there's no real drama there albeit that it's always going to be easier to control the extra weight in an emergency if it's between the axles rather than acting as a lever out the back.



Cheers
Owen


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[NTMID8]

We towed our 4.7m haines signature from Adelaide to Coffin Bay with 4 adults and stored items in both car and boat. I put most of the heavy stuff in the centre of the boat (over the axles) we had two blow outs! First one on the boat trailer (old tyres, tread delaminated) which we safely stopped (from 100km/h) with slight trailer wobble. The second was the rear tyre of our car (vx ss commodore) we had just overtaken a semi and as i merged back the tyre let go. The trailer kept the car straight stopping it from fish tailing.

when you speak to truckies and caravan owners most will tell you to evenly spread the load/weight across vehicle and trailer as it creates a more stable vehicle. Too much weight in the back of the car or front of the trailer reduces your steering, conversely too much weight in rear of trailer reduces traction/grip at your rear wheels. Ive always loaded my boat/trailer with heaviest items over the axles.

[Noelm]

I guess in a way, there is so many variables, if you have the cheapest trailer that would fit under your boat, it will probably be near on the limit anyway, load half a tonne of crap in there, and your on the back foot before you even leave the driveway. On the other side, lets say your trailer is capable of anything you can throw at it, but your tow car is on the limit for just the boat and trailer... then your car is the weak link after you throw in a months food, gear and so on, so it needs to be an educated guess as to which way you go, depending on the car, the trailer, and your capacity!

[gruntahunta]

Exactly as Noelm has just said...it all depends on the towing vehicle... I always use the extremities or if you like the best or worst case scenarios to give myself the most likely correct answer....hence this comment....If you had a 12 tonne truck as the tow vehicle, where would be the best place for the load...of course in the 12 tonne truck, not the boat.

I also believe that the gross weight of your trailer should never exceed the gross weight of the towing vehicle.