Can my 2006 jeep liberty sport tow my 1985 Bayliner Ciera 2750?

Question

the jeep is on gas and the bayliner i researched weights between 5-6000 lbs and the seller of the boat recomended a 3/4 ton truck to tow it, can the jeep do it? can it move it legally, on the freeway, streets, from storage to deck (100 yards) ?

Answer 1

My advice is to sell the Ford and the PT Cruiser.  The Ford will die on you sooner or later and the PT Cruiser is built on a Neon chassis and will crumble like a potato chip if you get in a wreck or get hit by anything.  Use the money from those sales to purchase a Dodge or Toyota truck capable of towing your awesome new boat, and move on and enjoy the marina lifestyle.

In the odd case that you are emotionally attached to either of those other vehicles I would say borrow a truck from a friend or rent one long enough to tow the boat to the marina.

Answer 2

The boat weighs more than the car and probably doesn't have trailer brakes. The towing vehicle has to be capable to handle the weight of anything it pulls and the brakes on your Jeep are not big enough to stop that boat with any margin of safety. If you proceed you will burn the brakes out of your Jeep and when they go out there's nothing you can do. The boat owner is trying to do you a favor.

Answer 3

Not only is it an issue that the boat is heavier than the Jeep, but the suspension and brakes on the jeep just can not handle this. I would not even be comfortable pulling the boat out of the water with a liberty, but you MIGHT be able to move the boat around a storage yard.

I would suggest either looking at 18' boats or having another vehicle to tow with. I knew someone who was pulling with a wrangler once and ended up having to brake hard and the only thing that kept the wrangler from rolling was that the hitch ball broke loose when the jeep went onto two wheels. They were very lucky that the boat was not destroyed and more so that nothing went into oncoming traffic.

Also: As a long time boat owner, you are most likely talking about dry weight in your research. By the time you add fuel, gear, supplies, and possibly trailer - this will go up notably.

Edit: Does the Marina offer slip rental, that might be your best bet to just not take it out of the water unless you are going to be using it in different locations. If you want dry storage, many offer slips with cover and even lifts for additional fees. But that would likely come up much better than paying to have it done each time you use it and having to be at the mercy of having someone to put it in the water as far as schedule.