'83 23CC SeaCraft - Restored Weight

77SceptreOB · #1 01-22-2010, 12:51 PM

Wow. Impressive. I can see a police edition having some extra equipment such as a larger radiator, trans cooler, larger brakes, etc. I was surprised to learn of the rear air bags & 2" reciever hitch though. Maybe they expected to have some BIG fat criminals stuffed in the back of the Taurus and a few more in the patty wagon trailer being towed behind!! LOL.

Police Taurus.....official tow vehicles of CSC!

The Classic Mako guys will NEVER let us live that down.

Rainmaker · #2 01-24-2010, 01:09 PM

I used to have a 1972 25' Fiber Form with a full cabin and enclosure. It had a V6 IO and weighed a pile. I pulled this with a Taurus (I think is was a 1988) with no trouble at the ramp and some trouble stopping if I didn't plan ahead. The poor car was pointing at the sky when I was towing the boat and of course I was always hoping that no one pulled in front of me. Around Port Everglades and Hillsboro inlet in SEFL the traffic and the other folks on the road are not very sane so I had to stay awake. I also tryed to tow the boat at night and avoided the traffic times. It was sort of an adventure getting to the ramp and back after a long day.

I added the hitch to the car and wired up the lights. I had no brakes on the trailer.

The ramps were not terrible but the front wheel drive kept the car from spinning and it actually tugged the boat out of the water with no issue.

The problem was that since this poor car could not really do well with the load it began to fall apart around 50k miles and by 80k was junk. I replaced the transmission at 50k and things just went down hill from there.

I looked pretty funny heading to the water with this rig, but I love to fish and at the time this was the best I could do. I would never do this again, and would buy a cheap beat up truck if needed.

For what it is worth I pull my 23 seacraft with a 09' Toyota Tundra that could pull my house if I needed to.

77SceptreOB · #3 01-24-2010, 02:41 PM

Quote:

For what it is worth I pull my 23 seacraft with a 09' Toyota Tundra that could pull my house if I needed to.

Now thats more like it. I always obey the 1:1 rule.... The Tow vehicle should always outweigh the boat & trailer. Trailer brakes above 3000# is a must.

lost2a6 · #4 01-24-2010, 04:12 PM

Quote:

The problem was that since this poor car could not really do well with the load it began to fall apart around 50k miles and by 80k was junk. I replaced the transmission at 50k and things just went down hill from there.

Nah, that’s not why it was junk at 80k, I think that had something to do with it having the word FORD on the front.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Fr. Frank · #5 01-24-2010, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Nah, that’s not why it was junk at 80k, I think that had something to do with it having the word FORD on the front.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Steve, I've got 180K on my current Ford F250, and I expect 500K. Previous Ford was an '85 Bronco, which had 314K on it when I sold it.
My two '86 Isuzu Trooper II's reached 279K and 284K respectively. My Jeep Grand Cherokee had 242K when I sold it. My Ford Taurus had 202K when I traded it and my Jeep in on the current F250.
I've only had one vehicle in 20 years that didn't reach 200K miles, and it was a Buick. It died at 140K. We buried it.

It's not the brand of car but the character and constancy of the guy who maintains it that matters.