Mini-vans

[JohnBouy]

Has anyone ever used a Chevy Uplander to pull their boat? Or any kind of trailer? Got a great deal on a FWD(front wheel) Uplander 07 and need to put a hitch.But haven't seen one with a hitch.Anyone ever use one or a similar model to haul there Boat?

 

[yellowfiero88]

I think thats what John Lamon uses.

 

[john lamon]

I think thats what John Lamon uses.

Yup, I got a 07 Montana SV6, same as the uplander, it tows the 18'6" Eluder just fine, I always drive 75-80 mph with it and never had a problem, just make sure to take the over drive off, power wise it actually does better than my F-150 did.

To install the hitch there are front holes there that the bolts thread through but you will have to drill the back two holes and use a nut with a long piece of metal welded to it so you can feed it through, not sure what those nuts are called and they are kind of a PITA to get started but not too bad, it all comes with the hitch when you buy it.

I have also hauled my utility trailer loaded with fire wood, right around 3500 #'s and it did that fine too.

 

[Tx91z28]

just be mindful of braking distance and you should be fine, any vehicle can pull your average boat or utility trailer, but stopping it.. thats where you see the difference between a mini van and a truck

 

[horseplay1]

I think we need a thread for all those that pull there boats with mini vans!

 

[horseplay1]

I use a 1990 airostar rwd to pull my 253 little tricky on some ramps but does fine

 

[atc250r]

I've been meaning to hook my Starliner to the back of the wife's Chevy Venture to see how it does. It pulls our two sit down jet skis 8 hours to Virginia Beach without too much trouble. I know I couldn't use it to retrieve the boat from the gravel ramp I use but it would be nice to know how it does pulling over the mountains that you have to go over to get out of my town.

 

[JohnBouy]

Thanks everyone.Guess it has plenty of motor,was the back end I was concerned about.UHaul discontinued having them,so I was thinking why? Then,there isn't alot of Uplanders running around.My little Ranger pulled it just fine but when my ramp is wet it could spin the tires easy.Maybe the front wheel drive will help.I'll let you all know.Never had a smaller Van.Thanks again everyone.

 

[yellowfiero88]

Thinking about buying this mini-van to pull the 303
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2009...0851647?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2a1465f13f

 

[berto]

hell yea thats a mitty van

 

[jumbofordman]

Thanks everyone.Guess it has plenty of motor,was the back end I was concerned about.UHaul discontinued having them,so I was thinking why? Then,there isn't alot of Uplanders running around.My little Ranger pulled it just fine but when my ramp is wet it could spin the tires easy.Maybe the front wheel drive will help.I'll let you all know.Never had a smaller Van.Thanks again everyone.

I don't think specifically front wheel drive will help, it's just the having more weight on the drive wheels as compared to a light pickup. Plus front wheel drive may get your tires on a drier section of the ramp. Physics means front wheel drive should be worse at pulling a trailer out of a boat ramp because weight will be transferred back off the drive wheels when you apply the throttle.

 

[Mark]

Has anyone ever used a Chevy Uplander to pull their boat? Or any kind of trailer? Got a great deal on a FWD(front wheel) Uplander 07 and need to put a hitch.But haven't seen one with a hitch.Anyone ever use one or a similar model to haul there Boat?

I pull both my Diplomat and Starliner with a Montana but I only haul 2 hours. Your Trv17 will be a piece of cake and no trouble.
I would not do long hauls with my Starliner. I have a fuel monitor and it burns almost twice the fuel as without the boat if there is any wind at all. That tells me it is working too hard.