Tow vehicle advice for my X2

I'm trying to make a decision about what to do for a tow vehicle for my X2 and I'm looking for advice from others who own boats and have had a similar dilemma.

My problem is that I have a 2006 X2 that weighs about 4450-4600 lbs depending on whose word you take and an Acura MDX that has a towing capacity of 4500 lbs, according to the manufacturer. Originally my plan was to store the boat at the lake so I'd only have to take it 200 yards from storage to the launch ramp, but now that I have the boat that idea doesn't make as much sense as it did before. First of all I want to be able to take it to other lakes without counting on a friend's vehicle, plus even though the MDX is 4WD it may have considerable trouble towing out of the water and up the ramp with such a high load ratio.

Does anyone tow their boat with an MDX? If so, what type of boat is it and have you had any trouble towing it? I would just try it and find out, but the Acura doesn't have a tow package yet and if it turns out that it just isn't possible to tow with the Acura I suppose I'll trade it in on a Tahoe, but would rather not spend the money on the tow pkg just to find out that the vehicle can't do the job. I've seen it done in pictures, but never spoke to an owner about it.

I know a lot of you will say to just ditch the MDX and get some monstrosity, but I prefer small cars because I don't want to get 13 MPG and I'm perfectly confident in myself without a huge flashy vehicle J/K, but please keep that in mind when you advise.

Thanks in advance for your comments!

If the boat by itself weighs anywhere near the tow capacity, don't even think about it, because with gear and gas you will be way over. Like it has been said many times on here, the thing will probably tow it, but stopping is going to be very scary, and your transmission is probably going to get trashed. The MDX is a great SUV, but not meant to tow a wakeboard boat. I also agree you don't need a 2500 Duramax to pull it either!

A used F150 Would do the trick. Here is a pick of the set up. Passangers in the front and all the equipment in the hatch works out great for wakeboarding, snowboarding and any other activity with a lot of equipment. Dont have to worry about it damaging the inside of your SUV.

If you are intent on hitting the highway you will want a full size pickup with a V-8. I won't go into any brand preference (FORD) because they are all good (FORD) and everyone has good (FORD) and bad experiences with different rides.

The things to consider when choosing a tow vehicle are how hilly is your drive, mountain passes?? How far are you going?? Are you on the freeway alot?? If your answers are Yes, 100 mi +, and yes, then you most definately want a full size pickup or SUV.

Pulling with an underpowered engine and a tranny designed for highway passenger cruising is bad, you will kill it. You will be constantly reving the engine and redlining the trans up hill, you will see very lousy mileage. You want a long wheelbase for safety and large motor that can handle hills and starts and such. Larger trucks also have larger brakes for hauling loads in the bed, another good safety feature. All of this equals safety as well, and that to me puts a premium on having a larger vehicle.

You may want to consider a nice used truck that you use for boat hauling, plain and simple. Keep your MDX for your day to day stuff if that is your primary vehicle.

As an aside, I recently got an F250 Diesel for hauling the crew and the boat. It's absolutely unreal. Maybe I don't need all that power, but it hauls up the North side of the Grapevine at 65 no sweat and has tow/haul mode which uses the engine as a brake on downhills so you can keep the whole load under control with ease. I average about 13-14 MPG @ 70 mph on the flats and knock an mpg or two off that if there is a headwind or lots of hills, no gas eingine can do that.

First haul with it someone pulled out on me without looking, stopped the rig from 55 in a very short distance, I would have T-boned the guy in a lesser vehicle. I really enjoy the piece of mind that me and my family and friends and our boat are as safe as possible on the road.

I digress, think about a V-8 full size SUV or pickup, there are plenty of good ones out there used that would handle your boat.

If you can afored it get a porsche cayenne. It'll handle bettr than pretty much any suv out there and you can tow over 7700lbs

It all depends on your drive, but I agree you should consider a larger rig. The X-2 may weigh in at a certain number, but when you add a few boards, jackets, a cooler, some food, some clothes, and some friends, you are sure to be overweight.

You mention you'd much prefer a smaller vehicle, but you must consider the safety of everyone involved. By having a vehicle that is over taxed by your boat, you put everyone's life on the line.

If you are looking for a vehicle strictly for towing, a crew cab pickup might be a better choice than an SUV. As Brian said, throw the gear in the back and the people up front.

I have been extremely satisfied with my Sequoia. I initially pulled an X-10 with it and it did very well. I am now pulling an X-45 and it still does well. I have pulled it from Boise to Lake Mead this year as well as other 500+ mile trips. We will use my brother in laws 2006 Chevy 2500 and there isn't much of a towing difference. In fact, the Toyota actually gets better mileage on the tow and certainly without the boat behind it.

Thank you all for the good advice. This is a great forum. I didn't expect such immediate, on-point responses!

Flux, those were great questions you posed. Just what I was looking for since I haven't had much experience towing in the past.

All of you who mentioned the safety implications of a smaller vehicle, thank you! I have a 7 month old and safety is a major concern for me. I hadn't realized how unsafe it would be to load it so much, which, of course, seems stupid now.

Thanks again everyone. I also like all the recommendations for alternative vehicles, especially the Cayenne, although my wife wasn't quite as excited.

Just to clarify one thing, the weight that I estimated for the boat does include the trailer, but of course not fuel and gear. The trailer also has brakes. In fact, my friend says his truck stops better when he's towing the boat. Still, I think it's clear what I need to do.

Maybe this??

That is one BAD set up Zack! Outdoes mine in the looks department, but does it bump?? Haha!

We upgraded to a Denali...just made sense for us from a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

we were in the exact same position as you a couple of years ago with our old boat (m/c 209) we had a honda pilot at the time and we figured it could do it, boy were we wrong... When it took us a whole take of gas to go to one of the local lakes (apprx 100 miles round trip) We end up trading one of our other car up for a Dodge Ram (HEMI) with the towing package. IMO it was a good decision on our part, we would have killed that little HONDA in a year. Still have the Dodge and it pulls our new X2 like nohting back there... IMO a crew cab over an SUV, just a way for the man to get a whole lot more of your hard earned money. Good Luck... Let us know how things turn out.

we bought an 06 denali xl and love it. who wants a truck anyway. no offense, some nice rigs in here, but then you just have to help people move!

not sure if they make anything but diesel for towing

7.3ltr turbo dsl w/ banks kit pulls no prob ... my f 150 w/ triton v8 bareley pulls my bu at 4100#

What do you consider 'barely pulls'?? I had an '04 F150 and pulled good sized boats with it and had no problem. I agree with Bruce about the moving thing, no less than 5 people asked me to help them move in a year period!

Thanks again for all of the helpful suggestions. You guys posting the pics have some nice looking rigs.

Doug P, we must share similar tastes...I'm leaning towards an identical setup, different color-scheme. I found a smokin deal on an '07 Denali on ebay. I'm currently in deliberations.

Zack, that's a pretty sic color combo you picked.

Robert, I dig your custom stylz, and I really like your orange. I almost went with an orange hull/grey transom combo, but I thought resale would be better with my second choice, a white hull/red transom combo. That gesture of practicality actually helped me justify the purchase! LOL...kidding, kidding.

Don't get me wrong, all...you guys have some sweeeeeet wakeboats. I'm just biased toward the X2.

I look forward to more great discussions with y'all.

_josh

I think he means in comparison to his 7.3 Diesel, especially with the tuned up motor.

Once you pull a 4-5000 lb boat with a Diesel you will be absolutely hooked. Only way to know is to drive it. I have the 6.0 and will probably own a diesel truck for the duration, they are amazing.

does the x2 really weigh that much? wheres all that weight come from?

I have pulled with a Duramax before. Nice trucks, but I just don't think the difference in towing a wakeboat is enough to justify it as a daily driver. I just don't like a 3/4 ton as a daily driver. Don't get me wrong though, there are some great setups here and I'm not dogging the 3/4 + Diesels, just not for me.

we were in the exact same position as you a couple of years ago with our old boat (m/c 209) we had a honda pilot at the time and we figured it could do it, boy were we wrong... When it took us a whole take of gas to go to one of the local lakes (apprx 100 miles round trip) We end up trading one of our other car up for a Dodge Ram (HEMI) with the towing package. IMO it was a good decision on our part, we would have killed that little HONDA in a year. Still have the Dodge and it pulls our new X2 like nohting back there... IMO a crew cab over an SUV, just a way for the man to get a whole lot more of your hard earned money. Good Luck... Let us know how things turn out.......................................... (listen to this guy honda pilot and Acura MDX basically the exact same car)..

(Message edited by macdaddy on August 17, 2006)

*Threadjack* When someone asks me to help them move, I let them borrow my truck. I also tell them "Friends dont ask Friends to help them move".....Threadjack over

I'll offer one dissenting opinion, only because I haven't seen anyone else offer it: if you have the patience to drive 55-60 on the freeway, the discipline not to tailgate the people even slower than you, have good brakes on your trailer, and don't have to tow over a lot of hills, you'll be fine towing at the upper end of your vehicle's limit. If you want to be able to pull your boat in the left lane and beat people from stoplights with your trailer on, then get the biggest vehicle you can afford. I get by fine pulling 3500lbs with my Toyota Tacoma a few times a year and it's got a 2.7L 4-cyl. I'd love to have my buddies V10 F250, but 25mpg sure is nice the 60 miles per day I'm not towing a boat. If your MDX has low-4 for the ramp, I'd say stick with it.

I will offer a rebuttal, but it maybe a California thing.

If you tow your boat down the highway doing 55-60 you will have 18 wheelers riding your swimstep and a line of cars, trucks, tractors, mopeds, 18 wheelers, ambulances, and kids on bmx bikes passing you on the left. You will be boxed in at all times, a moving pylon that is constantly being manuevered around, a magnet for idiot drivers. The funny thing is California trailer speed limits are 55 mph, it's a complete joke, you will be putting yourself in harms way at that speed. It is much much better to go with the traffic, otherwise you cause a big knot.

That weight 4500 for an X2 seems high... unless you are including the trailer weight.
the boat starts at about 3300lbs.

Flux, that's fair, and an excellent point. I think it's that way in the south as well; I know it's smokey & the bandit speed or nothing from Knoxville to Atlanta on I75. If the gas trucks are passing you, then yes, you need something a little bigger. Or maybe a set of these to show the people behind you you're not to be messed with: http://www.trucknutz.com/

I just haven't seen people here suggest much other than a full-sized truck for towing, and in some cases, I think you can safely get away with less. I'd suggest to joshua that he pay the couple hundred or whatever it is for the tow package and try it out some saturday morning at five or six and see firsthand how it handles. Seems like a small investment vs. the hassle of changing to a new vehicle.

I have just found that going with traffic is the best and safest, that's all. The slow moving vehicles cause serious bottlenecks, especially if there are Semi's on the road. I drive CA I-5 alot for our trips. The Semi's go 65-70, everyone else goes 80-90 mph. I have seen a ton of manuevering by less than smart drivers at high speed to get around slower vehicles, one bad decision and they would cause major damage.

65-75 seems like a nice speed for my setup and tows right in the RPM zone right for my truck. Optimally I want a hundred yards between me and everyone else. With a bigger truck I can pass to get out of the bottlenecks and into the clear very quickly. I also like to be able to flow with traffic on the hill climbs too, this again allows me to get out of bottlenecks and bad situations where people are doing high speed manuevering.

On a side note, just as important as a safe tow vehicle is keeping your trailer maintained. Keep your bearings greased and your brakes in good working order. Check the break fluid reservoir and fill when necessary. Always have a spare trailer tire and a jack that will work for your trailer, the axles are low and may car jacks won't get under there especially with a flat tire. I got a 12 scissor jack at Walmart that I keep in the truck. Many folks carry an extra hub and bearings for long trips. I also bring my greasegun with me if towing over 100 miles. Check your trailer tires every trip. Always keep them a few pounds shy of the max PSI written on the tire to allow for expansion when hot. If your tires are too low they can get hot and blowout. Check for visible sidewall damage and objects in the treads, replace them if they are damaged or dryrotting before a blowout. Also check your trailer lugnuts for proper torque, I do mine to 90 ft-lbs.

I have a cheapie pancake compressor at home and part of the pretow checklist is filling all the tires on the tow rig and the trailer. I then check all the bearing buddies for proper fill. I also check the brake reservoir for fill. A few times a year I also check the brake pads for wear and the lugnuts for torque. I also look the trailer over when the boat is in the water, check for loose bunks, loose bolts, blown bearing seals, etc.

Maybe I am too careful?? Nah. I want to ride, not call AAA and hope there is a station that could fix my trailer on a Friday night or Sunday afternoon.

The old ones are still the best ones

I tow an 05' Malibu VLX with an 05' Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 (5.7L Hemi with 3.92 gears, 17" wheels). The engine has enough power but I feel the boat a little more than I like to. It tows a Vride, which is only 600lbs lighter better. Maybe if I had a tandom axle trailer it may pull smoother. Right now it has heavy duty single axle trailer (5,000lb rating)

I'm planning to sell it soon and buy a 3/4-ton or 1-ton diesel. Some may call it overkill but here in Texas you'll see 1-tons pulling bass boats. The diesel will last much longer and is better on gas.

Just trying to decide betwwen the Dodge Ram 2500 Quadcab, Laramie 4x4 and the F250 Crewcab 4x4 Lariat. Both nice trucks. I like the look of the Ford, but the interior and size of the Dodge.

No way would I tow a 21' wakeboard boat with an SUV other than a full size, truck based SUV. It's not the power you need to worry about, it's everything else.

my 99'f 150 4wd has the 4.8 triton v8 ...great truck, its just gutless also have a 99' yukon 4wd w/ the 5.7... pulls with no problem... the Excursion was the primary puller for a 40' Hallet (15,000 #).This "Towter" home replaced it

Badbob, I didn't know you were talking the 4.8, I had the bigger motor.

I am looking at getting a new tow rig for my 86 supra. I am looking at getting a diesel or a gas. Now I cant spend a ton of money only about 15 to 17 but I could get a diesel for 12 to 15 with 105 to 145k on it. I am new to diesel and have heard both sides. My buddies dad has had one for a long time and said to not worry about a diesel with 120 to 150k on it. What is your guys take on buying a used diesel??

Do your research on the truck before purchase. There are enthusiast site out there for Dodge and Ford and GMC, they will surely know more about the particular year and model you are looking at and could help you with what to look for.

Diesel engines like to work and yes, high mileage is fine. Most are not fully broken in until 30,000 miles.

Even though I plan to buy a diesel, you really don't need one to pull a wakeboard boat. But it will last longer, be better on gas, have lots more torque, and better resale value... and it will cost more to buy.

If I had bought a 3/4-ton gas truck instead a 1/2-ton gas truck, I may have just chalked it up to a learning expereince and decided to keep the truck. But the difference between a 1/2-ton gas and 3/4-ton diesel is too great. You really could pull the boat well with a 3/4-ton gas truck though.

A friend of mine that drives a BMW thinks that my truck is a monster and that I'm crazy for wanting a stronger truck. It's all relative. He's just considering the power, not the stuff that really matters.

The trucks claim to get stronger with each model update so what I would like to know, is how a late model 1/2-ton truck compares to a 3/4-ton truck of 7-10 years ago?

You mentioned though that you prefer to drive smaller cars and don't want bad gas mileage.

The GM diesel trucks seem to get decent milage but are still big. What you may want to do is buy an older, cheaper truck to pull the boat with and drive a car for everything else.

You also mentioned that you are reconsidering storing it neart the lake. Depending on how often you use it, the distance to tht lake, other storage options and how much the storage is you may want to store it at the lake. My lake is 20-30 minuetes away. My truck gets around 10-11 mpg towing the boat. All enclosed, secure storage 1/4-mile from the ramp costs me $75 per month. I would spend that on gas alone towing it to the lake. Plus it's not taking up room at my house. Not to mention wear on the truck and trailer.

I was getting 18 mpg with my old truck and around 13 mpg when towing the old boat. See pic.

The new boat a 210 is a little lighter and i do a bit better.

We just towed our new Malibu v-Ride with our Honda Pilot, the sister car to the Acura MDX... slightly less power.

We just got back from our first vacation with it.
And the Honda Pilot tows it real well even after exceeding the 4500lb
towing limit on a trip going through the Grapevine pass on the I-5.
(heading up to our first trip from LA to Lake Nacimiento) The Pilot V-tech
variable cam timing works great under load. The transmission is solid
and does not "hunt" on grades.

A pic.
The Pilot is sagging a bit in this pic but recently I've added Air Lift
bags inside the springs to reduce the sag when towing. Eckhart the hitch people say you can go with a weight distributing hitch.... but I don't think it's really necessary. The Acura BTW already has heavier springs and you already have the Rear Subframe Braces. The pilot needs a Retrofit Kit.

The brakes on my pilot are better than my previous Suburban! And with the Extreme trailer's disc brakes, stopping is not an issue.

I fill the bags to 35lbs and the tires to 44 all around and the control is good.

i would like to see you stop that pilot going 65 down the grapevine in an emergency....aint gonna happen i dont care how much air is in the airbags....

Well... I've been towing for the last 25 years and I towed with a 350V8 chevy van, a 360V8 Dodge Ramcharger and a 454 1 ton Suburban and these are the best-feeling and least-fading brakes of all of them! Did you know that the Pilot is the same width as our old 96 Suburban?

While it would be nice to have a dedicated heavy duty tow vehicle, our decision was to have a single vehicle that would would work 99% of the time as mom's kid-transport vehicle while doing weekend and one-trip-a-year vacation towing duty.
The Pilot has been flawless in this scenario.

Now...all that said... The new 07 Cadillac 6.0 400hp Escalade looks like a potential killer luxo towing package... solid rear axle and all!

(Message edited by funkcity on August 20, 2006)

Something tells me just by looking at that picture that that poor Pilot won't have the long trouble free life that most Hondas see!

Jay, I know you are pretty confident it it's towing ability, but if I saw that combo on the highway I would get as far away from it as possible.

Good looking boat either way.

(Message edited by kstateskier on August 20, 2006)

That piolt with the malibu is the stupidest thing I have ever seen.

I knew I should have took the shot after the airbags were installed.

Thanks Phil.

Hey Joshua, are you still hangin' with this thread?
It's getting mighty cold in here.

Maybe I'm wrong but most trailers have surge brakes, my dad towed our Seaswirl boat back in the 60s with a 1968 Camaro with a bumper hitch. You can look at it this way, if you have a vehicle thats somewhat overkill you can go too fast and then get in trouble when something happens, (a wreck, blowout, whatever). It's great to have a little extra rig, but why overkill it. I tow 3500# with a 2000 Ford F150 and I know it's back there. I go 65 (speed limit in Oregon) and have guys flying past me at 75+ going over Siskiyou Pass headed for Shasta with overkill rigs, and a steeper pass than Grapevine, and I think wow I hope nothing happens cause their screwed if it does. Crazy

Jay,
Speaking of stupid, try checking your spelling before you post.

Now if spelling is the deal here... AND IT SHOULDN'T BE, check out Phillip's spelling of Pilot.

Thanks Mike.

I'm a bit perplexed as to the mean-spirited demeanor of some of the posters here.

What's the deal gang?

Go ahead fire away.

Jay,
My apologies, my comment was actually intended for Phillip. I was offended my the mean-spirited comment that he made about the picture of your vehicle and boat. You came to the site to get advice and he slammed you for it.

Truth is you can get away with pulling almost anything with almost anything. I see people pulling stuff all the time, and think, wow that is asking for trouble. The law of averages say that some people will have no problems, and other will.

I cannot blame the OP for a moment wanting a smaller vehicel for DD duties. I have an 05 Ram diesel, and while I am enjoying the mileage over most full size vehicles (20 mpg average, one extreme outlyer tank was 24) I often wish I was driving something just a little smaller.

Larger, yet not full size SUV's will give you a little more comfort when you strap on a trailer, but be prepared to pay at the pump. My wife has a Commander with the HEMI, and it will pull my LSV without complaint. It actually is rated at 7700 lbs, which I don't think I would try. But it only gets about 15 mpg average.

A durango is the optimum, I think. Full size interior room, but only slightly bigger than your MDX outside. Good on-raod manners, but don't expect it to be an Acura! The last one I drove got 17-19 mpg over a 2K mile loop that comprised 4 runs from Reno to Tahoe with the 4.7 v8 and full load most of the time. That impressed the heck out of me.

I agree you dont need a diesel to pull a 4000 pound boat. Its def nice if you can afford it, but it is overkill. On another note, I had a 04 f150 I just got rid of, because it towed like crap, and got terrible gas mileage. Just kept our suburban which tows like a champ.

I see a lot of comments of people having an '04 or newer F150 and how they don't tow very good. I had an '04 Lariat 4x4 with the 5.4 and it seemed to tow great, lots better than my dad's Silverado at the time. He just got a Titan though, and for a 1/2 ton gas, that thing moves with the boat. Both of them only got about 13mpg with the boat though.

I am glad I went diesel when pulling boat,camping gear, wife and 3 kids. Weight adds up in a hurry. Just for kicks before going to tahoe last month I went by the scales while totally loaded out and weighed out at 15,400 lbs. That really surprised me.

Josh
How are the Denali negotiations going?
Great choice.

I have to second the diesels. I've had every gas motor that Ford makes, and they all sucked. I think that the Vortec Chevys do better, but I hauled my old boat down I-57 into a headwind once, and couldn't break 62 mph, and I got about 7 mpg on that trip. That was an F-150 with the 4.6. I then upgraded to an Expy with the 5.4, same crap, horrible mileage, and underpowered. I've had two diesels now, and on a trip to Houston, with the boat I averaged 16 with the old 7.3 PSD. I don't know what the 6.0 averages, because we haven't towed on a long trip yet.

Resale is huge too. I have a local dealer calling me because they want my truck. They offered me 30K for my PSD, which is 3 years old, and has 31K on the clock. If my truck wasn't diesel, it would be worth about 18K.

We have an F-250 at work that is regularly hooked to a 3500 lb trailer with no brakes, and we just put rear brakes on it at 90K miles. Fronts only needed pads.