Fishing Q&A
Am I damaging my Crown Vic?
I bought a 18' Sea Pro center console fishing boat that weighs about 1600 pounds empty plus gear and trailer(two wheel trailer), so my question is am I damaging my 1995 Ford Crown Victoria LX with a 4.7L V8. I usually travel about an hours drive to the beach to go fishing and is turning off the over drive the right thing to do. The only other car I have is a 93' Buick Roadmaster with a 5.7L V8, I began towing the boat with this but it was in such bad condition I put a hitch on the Crown Vic a year ago to go to the Florida keys from central florida for fear of the buick breaking down. The Vic made it I'm just worried if I"ve been damaging it slowly. I have recently had problems with the front end, the steering ball joints but I am not sure that it is because of the trailering. Any help appriciated.
Public Comments
- Ford has had weak front ends for years. You are well within towing capabilities, but make sure your trans fluid is fresh, and you may want to put a tranny cooler on
- I remember my 95 Crown Vic PI being rated for up to 5,000 LB's towing capacity. You should be fine. If you have the air bag suspension (a noteworthy PITA), then this may go down to 2,000 LB's total weight.
- You're gonna hafta dig a little deeper into this one. Is the hitch setup directly on the rear bumper or is it an aftermarket hitch installed to the frame? If so in both cases, check the tongue weight of the trailer compared to the rating of the hitch and your car. If it doesn't exceed the ratings you should be fine. Of course it's going to put a little extra stress on your drivetrain (engine, transmission) and your brakes. But I would think steering wouldn't be affected.
- Since the towing weight is mostly on the rear, I doubt if the boat damaged the ball joints. What I would be worried most about (if it was my car) would be overheating the transmission and wearing it out prematurely. An auxilliary oil cooler would take care of that problem.
- It is a good idea to turn off the OD. The front end wear has nothing to do with the trailer towing. Just be sure to keep the trans fluid topped off and fresh as well as the cooling system in top condition.
- By turning off the over drive it will cause it to use more gas ,but if it's changing in and out of over drive when you pull the boat you need to keep it out of over drive ,so you don't burn the tranny up.I don't think your hurting your car by pulling the boat..You did'nt damage the ball joints by pulling the boat,ford has always had problems with there ball joints. That big o crown will take you any where you need to go, so roll on.
