Can I tow my boat and run the ac at the same time with a V8?

Question

I was recently told that it puts too much strain on my engine to tow a 19.5 foot boat with the ac running. is that true, even with a 4.7l powertech V8 engine?

Answer 1

How much can my vehicle tow?  

Check your owner's manual to find out your vehicle's towing capability.  If you tow too much, you could damage your vehicle.  

If I am towing a trailer (or other vehicle) should I include its weight in the GVWR of my vehicle?  

No, you do not have to include the weight of your trailer into your vehicle's GVWR.  However, you must consider the weight the load will put on your vehicle's trailer hitch or 5th wheel.  The weight exerted on the hitch forms part of the load of the towing vehicle and should be included as part of the towing vehicle's load.  

What about the weight of the load in the trailer?  Does that count towards the GVWR of the vehicle towing the trailer?  

Vehicles such as utility trailers, motor homes, and horse trailers usually have their own GVWR.  You do not have to include the weight of the load in the trailer as part of the GVWR of the towing vehicle.

Answer 2

The only strain is worring about it> we tow a 24' With a  Dodge Ram 3.9 auto with the air on>

Answer 3

Ive never heard that one before! tow your boat, you should be absolutely fine

Answer 4

if you are within your towing capacity, and nothing's wrong with the engine, run the fricking A/C, whoever told you that is an idiot

Answer 5

Does your truck have a tow package? A tow package can include on or more of: a lower gear ratio rear end, a bigger battery, a stronger alternator, a transmission oil cooler, an oil cooler and possibly even a power steering fluid cooler. If you have a tow package, running the air while towing will not be an issue. If you do not have a tow package, it could possibly be an issue under extreme circumstances. Your engine should be able to handle the load you describe if your boat is a typical weight for its size. If it weighs 4000 lbs however, that may not be the case.

Answer 6

You should be able to tow a 19.5 ft with the A/C on UP A HILL without a problem.  I have done it with a V6.

Answer 7

No, what you were told was total c**p IF this is a FULL sized regular truck or full sized SUV.  However I will not state this for ANY car, as cars usually don't have the frame structure to haul heavy loads, even with a V8.

I'm curious where you heard this information from exactly...

Unless a certified mechanic told you this, for a small block V8 engine with standard full sized truck running a regular boat load (1500 to 2500) pounds, running the AC should be fine.

The key things to remember however are:

#1.  Know the max towing capacity and max payload capacity.  The tongue weight of the trailer goes into the payload limit, and so does gear and passengers in the truck.

Avoid going over 85% of the towing capacity.

Avoid going over 85% of the payload capacity.

Finally, NEVER tow anything above your towing capacity and never carry more weight than your payload capacity.

#2.  Never tow anything or haul heavy payloads in overdrive, period.  Turn overdrive off on the vehicles with automatic transmissions, if it has OD and has no "OD off" button, find another vehicle to tow with.

Expect to pay a LOT of money for transmission repair, rebuild, or replacement soon if you tow any payload or loaded trailer in overdrive.

#3.  Make sure you have a sufficiently adaquate transmission cooler mounted on your radiator.

#4.  If you get on steep hills or in situations in which the vehicle is under heavy load, turn the AC off then.  When you get on the interestate or fast roads, turn it back on.

#5.  Finally, make sure you provide at least double the stopping time and double the normal distance you keep from vehicles.

Answer 8

I've never heard that.  True, it's less strain than if the a/c is on - but the engine can handle it.

Answer 9

You should be fine running the AC.

The two things you should do are:

1.  Check the towing capacity of the vehicle and the combined weight of the boat, trailer and any gear in the boat to make sure it's within the tow vehicles capability.

2.  If you have automatic overdrive on the transmission of the vehicle you should consider turning that off.  On my Ford truck overdrive is turned off by pushing a button at the end of the gear selector.

Be safe.

Answer 10

You should have no problem except one small one, you had better pull another trailor behind the boat filled with gas for your truck.