Anyone ever pull a 20 safari with a toyota sienna (07)?
 

I'm thinking of making the wife's 2007 sienna the primary tow vehicle. It's built on the same chassis, and power plant as the highlander (that has a 5000K lb towing capacity). I've read many travel trailer forums, but they don't have to pull it up ramp now do they :-).

I'm hoping someone on here will have some first hand experience, or knows someone who does. If it's too damaging to your manhood to own up to it, send me a pm :-). It's damaging to mine just to ask!

I've pulled a 23 Sceptre with a '99 Toyota 4Runner, not a long way but it worked.

I pulled a 25 with my Sonoma. No fuel or power
No brakes either...

I towed my tsunami for years with an 04, v6 prerunner quad cab. Fuel, ice and heavy dive loads almost every weekend. The Sienna will be optimal as long as your ok with 10 mpg.

I tow my Seafari 20 with a 96 Toyota T100 extra cab. 3.4L V6 rated @5200 lbs and has a 122" wheelbase. No-posi. It tows fine but I am not very comfortable with the set-up. I slip on the ramps all the time. My trailer is probably 4 or 500 lbs more than yours, being a tandem axle, but that weight is nominal relative to the power available. I have power aplenty but lacking posi is horrible on the ramps. And we have excellent ramps.

I looked into a Sienna and found they were only rated to tow 3500 lbs fully equipped with factory tow package that included transmission cooler and additional oil cooler. They also have an even shorter wheel base and mushier suspension than the T100. I applaud your willingness to reduce your carbon footprint, but I think your life and those around you would be safer with more truck.

I blew a tire on my tandem axle, and I'm pretty sure the other axle is the only thing that kept me from ending up in the ditch. I know you're virtually at sea level, but if you put it to a vote, unless you're a only a couple miles from the ramp via side streets, I'd vote against your proposition and recommend a more appropriate tow vehicle.

Cheers.

My Sonoma is rated for 6k and has a full electronic locker under 10 mph. She thinks she is ready for MMA. Towing that 25 is not something she wants any part of again. Maybe if the trailer brakes worked as was advertised..., but not rigged out.

I towed a 20MA 120 miles on the highway. With a ~2010 Tacoma 2.7L 4 cylinder automatic 4x2. No auxiliary brakes. It was ~40F out. The transmission is still with us.

No ramp, but a driveway as steep as some ramps.

http://www.wellcraftv20.com/gallery/...361_Medium.jpg

Cross country 3300miles with 1000lbs of junk in the bed and boat in 3.5 days. Sienna may give you trouble with front wheel drive on a ramp . . . Otherwise with with a tow package installed you should be "ok".

Honestly . . . I just picked up a 2002 Yukon 5.3 with tow package for next to nothing . I wish I had done it a long time ago. It's a tow, dump and wet dog mobile.

Use to pull an O'day 20' sailboat with an early 80's Subaru. You'll be fine.

Nice.
Good Motah.

The ramp's really close. It's nice to be able to make some longer runs, a couple times a year. It's getting it out at the ramp that I was hoping to get some first hand experience on. Sounds like it should get the job done. If anyone's done it let me know!

You want something like this. 1995 F250 powerstroke diesel with all new parts.

20 MPG and you won't even remember there is a 20 footer behind you.

http://daytona.craigslist.org/cto/4413072040.html

You Floridians have these nice easy ramps it seems, but FWD would be sketchy. At least with RWD in a pickup, tongue weight and weight in the bed helps with traction. I dip my 20 in the Gulf of Maine with broken asphalt ramps where they are "wicked" steep due to the 9 foot tides. That gets really dicey with RWD and no LSD. I don't think any FWD could do it. Unless Kenworth makes one.

That's for sure. I've already got one of those, a 7.3 superduty, but it just sits here, waiting to go to the boat ramp and back...very sad.

Dats' cause we is flats down here....:eek:

No bumps in da road...

Less you get into da panhandle....;)

This is why I drive the 06 Dodge sans 5.9 Cummins. 140k and not much has needed changing... knock on fake wood look plastic. :p

Don't chip it btw unless you have the willpower to not use it. You will blow injectors at minimum.

Love my diesel F-250 6.0 I have had little problems until recently. Got a fuel/pump injector issue right now im trying to figure out but I had it 7 years with no problems till then. It is a 2003 model. The 7.3 is much more bullet proof tho

Tiny,

I figure my Seafari weighs about 3200 lbs with a full load of gas, but I carry about another 600 lbs of gear when I go cruising, and the big EZ-Loader trailer weighs 900 lbs, so I figure I'm towing about 4700 lbs when I head out to the Keys or some other trip around the state. Will e-mail you a spreadsheet from when I once weighed all the gear on the boat . . . it really adds up!

What sort of tow vehicle you can get by with depends on where and how far you want to tow it. I originally towed my Seafari for about 5 years with my old '66 'Cuda with a 340 cube V-8 & HD Torqueflite, mostly just to the North Palm, LP, and Jupiter ramps, never over about 45 mph. At 3100 lbs with a Sure-Grip rear, air shocks, wide tires, and roller trailer that I didn't have to dunk, it did ok, although the east Jupiter ramp was a little tricky at low tide, and I ALWAYS (and still do) chocked all 4 wheels when cranking boat up on trailer! I had to go real easy on the throttle pulling out or it'd smoke the tires! I even towed my previous 18' boat down to Islamorada one time with that rig and no trailer brakes, but I was young and dumb then!

Towed my Seafari for another 19 years (I buy a new vehicle about every 20 years, whether I need it or not!) with a 79 Chrysler wagon that weighed about 3800 lbs. With Sure-Grip rear, air shocks and a 360 V-8 it handled the boat fine at all the local ramps, but I never towed it any distance. In 1998 I ordered a 2WD Dodge Dakota Club Cab with Sure Grip, 5.2L V-8, HD towing/cooling/electrical packages. It's been a great rig and I've towed the boat all over the state with it. Even towed Skip & Carla's old 21' race boat down to the Keys with half their garage piled in it when they moved! With a long 131" wheelbase, front and rear sway bars, and 10" wide 60 series tires, it's very stable towing the boat, even in cross winds at 65 mph. I've yet to have a problem pulling up a ramp, even on the steep Jupiter ramp at low tide.

That FWD SUV still probably weighs more than my 'Cuda, so it might work for local towing, but you might want to look at putting a hitch on the front, where the trailer tongue weight would provide a little more traction on steep ramps. However, if you want to tow it in heavy traffic down the Turnpike to Keys, I'd use the F250 and make sure the trailer brakes are working!

Just bustin your chops. I had a 96 Chevy 1500 V8 before this. Loved the truck but hated the brakes. It had enough trouble stopping the truck alone, small disks in the front, drums in the back. With trailer brakes much better but they would wear fast!

Safari tow vehicle
 

This will show my age -
Pulled my '71 Safari that had a 3.0 Mercruiser with a Toyota Hi Lux pick up that had an R-18 engine (I think) with a 4 speed manual tranny. Used the Fort Desoto ramp whenever I could because you can back down on a long angle across one of the ramps and turn the trailer perpendicular to the shore line when the wheels go in. Then you can just pull out "across" the ramp and not straight up which was hard on everything. The rig was real "spooky" in the rain. Jack-knifed it one day in the rain and ordered a brand new F-100 step-side with a 300 CI six and a 5 speed OD gear box. Marsha was OK with that - I was in Heaven.

Thanks guys, appreciate all the feedback it's helpful.

You should be fine. Back in the day, my dad towed his Wellcraft V-20 CC with an '85 Chevy Celebrity (FWD, 2.8L V6) outfitted with a tranny cooler every weekend from the house to the ramp (10-12 miles round trip). Ramps here in MA typically suck compared to down south and he did just fine. Even towed the boat on our annual summer vacation 120 miles round trip without issue. Was it ideal? No. Did it work? Yes. Eventually he blew the tranny but that was after 5-6 years of towing duty when the car already had 120-130K miles on it.