Has anyone towed a Hunter 260 with a Chevy Astro Van? The Astro owners manual indicates that it will tow 5,800lbs but this may not be true in the real world. Anyone tried it? How does it handle? How about up a mountain pass?
I burned up the transmission in a Ford Aerostar (with a transmission cooler) the first time I towed my H26. Bought a Dodge Ram pickup. Last year, coming home from the lake, I hit the scales at 6,000 lbs. (not including tongue weight). I’m certain that in route to the cruising grounds, it was 7,000 lbs. You have a choice of driving a larger rig all year, or… keep the van and trade the H260 in on a 46 foot – that you can’t haul anyway.
from South Jersey to Burlington Vt/Lake Champlain (about 300 miles) four or five summers in a row I hauled me, wife and four kids, a sunfish on the roof, and an Oday 222 (800 lbs of lead in keel on keel/centerboard boat) and 2 or three weeks worth of luggage and toys, including bikes in the cockpit of the boat. Put the outboard on floor in salon forward to achieve desired tongue weight. Had heavy steel trailer and boat/motor/trailer combo weighed in at something over 3000 lbs. Never had any trouble with two different Astro Vans, although some of the northern hills slowed us down a lot. Also hauled an 18.5 foot I/O speedboat to Lake George NY area with same Astro several times, again with no problems. Need to be patient and keep speed reasonable (50-60) as tow vehicle is longer than van. Trailer had surge brakes which I would say are a must. Good luck!
We have logged thousands of miles with no known towing related failures!! We have towed with a 93 Astro EXT AWD exclusively and have it up around 105,000. We just drove the van problem free from central Minnesota to south Florida and back at slightly above interstate speeds! We towed our H-26 from Denver to Phoenix to Minnesota!! Check the map. That included some steep terrain. There have been several 400 to 500 mile round trips to Lake Superior and many 50 to 100 milers to local waters. 65 to 70mph is the usual for interstates and we have not found it difficult to keep up with most traffic. We do not use overdrive much and gas mileage is between 10 and 15 but the Astro has done the job. A Suburban or full size pick up would be more comfortable but the van fits a lot of our other needs. After three years now and a lot of warnings, I may check into an add on transmission cooler but the fluid still looks and smells good.
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