Towing capacity of minivan

[marcus]

I am looking in to buying a Catalina 25 swing keel on a trailer, and was wondering if I would have trouble (or hurt the engine) towing in with our 1999 Ford Windstar. I didn't have it originally fit with the towing option, but will have a new one retrofit to it if I reach the conclusion I'm hoping forThanks for you help and consideration.

 

[Chris Gonzales]

Not quite

These are the tow ratings with the tow package included. Not a good two vehicle for the job. A C25 on the trailer with minimal equipment plus the occupants of the tow vehicle, etc. will most likely add up to close to 7,000 lbs.Windstar 3.0 V-6 2,000 Windstar 3.8 V-6 3,500

 

[K Cobb]

Smaller boat or bigger truck

Most owners of 25' and bigger boats (lead keel, not water ballast) simply let the annual hauling and relaunching tasks be performed by their marina. They don't attempt to tow those 5000 lb. boats. It is a lot cheaper to pay for the hauling than it is to own a big pickup truck that you don't otherwise need.Your mini-van is really too small to tow even a Catalina 22. If you are bound and determined to tow a boat with your minivan, you should limit yourself to either a daysailer or a very small pocket cruiser.

 

[Scot Mathis]

Towing C22 with Windstar

When we bought it, we picked up our C22 wing with our 1999 Windstar (3.8L w/ tow package). We had to tow the boat from central California to southern California, including crossing the Cajon Pass. The van did fine, but I would not be willing to try it with an extra 2,000 lbs of boat. Same for the Cherokee we normally tow and launch the C22 with. That's one of the main reasons we didn't buy a C25.scot