Boat towing question

[brad25]

I tried searching for this but could not find it. I have a 2019 SCREW and we are in the process of buying a 2021 Moomba Max. It weighs 5700lbs on the trailer with no fuel in it. I am guessing fuel in it will add another 350-450lbs.

I know the Raptor can tow 8,000lbs but the question I have is on the hitch, it states the maximum is 5000lbs and 500lbs tongue weight.

Do I need to replace the hitch to a heavier duty hitch? First time towing and I'm a little nervous.

Thanks for any help.

 

[BroncoAZ]

They recommend weight distribution on anything over 500# tongue weight. The problem is that weight distribution doesn’t usually work with surge brakes on a boat trailer and most boat trailer manufacturers won’t warranty the single beam tongue for weight distribution. If you can find a trailer with electric brakes and that is designed for weight distribution that would be the safest way to go. I’m sure others on here with more Raptor towing experience will have more to add.

My brother just went through this with his standard F-150 and about 9200#of Hewescraft boat. He ended up getting a new F-250 because the F-150 was really undersized for that much boat regardless of the rating.

 

[MileHighRaptor]

We tow our 21’ Tigé with the raptor. Weighs about 6200lbs. It does fine around town. I wouldn’t feel great about taking it on a long trip or up in the mountains (I live in CO) but short trips and dropping it in the water it does fine.

I am working on replacing the rear leafs with Deaver +3s which will hopefully help with the sagging. I have access to a 1 ton that I’ll use for any longer trips.

Also am pretty new to the boating / raptor world so maybe this is all bad practice!

 

[blwn]

Do you know what the tongue weight is? Boats are typically lighter on tongue weight so you can get away with pulling a heavier load vs a normal trailer without needing a WDH which doesn't work well with most boat trailers as mentioned above

 

[brad25]

It should be around 550lbs on the tongue.

 

[dgr810]

I tow a 26’ center console with my 18 screw. It weighs around 7k lbs. I am generally towing at least 100 miles and sometimes up to 300 every other week. I do not use a load distributing hitch. Truck is planted and the squat is not bad at all.


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[Bens Dad]

All you need is a class IV hitch. It’ll tow up to 10,000 lbs. it’s usually a 2 5/16” ball vs. the 2” on the one you have. Just bought this for my boat. The raptor tows like a champ. I’d also recommend a 2” drop hitch.

 

[Jurlilane]

All you need is a good hitch, but it all depends on what kind of pick-up you have. The version of the Ford Raptor with small engines isn't suitable for towing a boat. The engine won't be strong enough to get the boat in the water or the sand. Before buying my boat, I struggled to purchase or not because I would also have to invest money in a pick-up. I rented a yacht from vistayachts.com and spent a day on it. My wife liked it a lot, and I also enjoyed it, so I decided to buy a boat and hope I will make enough money once to buy a yacht.

 

[Don S]

Most trailers are set up to put 10% of the total boat/trailer weight on the tongue. So if the boat weighs 5K, the tongue weight should be 500 pounds. This is a formula used to make the trailer handle correctly. Sometimes you can cheat a little by moving the boat back on the trailer. I did this on a couple of boats to reduce the tongue weight. Just watch the handling afterward.

 

[RivRaptor]

For what its worth I've towed this boat with duallies, H1's & (2) Raptors a 12' and now an 18'. The only issue I ever had was I was using the same receiver for all the trucks and with the way the 18' Raptor squats as you can see in the pic I was getting a little sway at upper freeway speeds or a strong crosswind. A higher ball receiver seems to have fixed the problem. Also I have done thousands of towing miles with a car hauler flat bed with either an old Bronco or a couple of street bikes at a little over 5K weight with zero issue. This boat is at least 8K with 2 big blocks in her. I will say this though, on a slippery launch ramp this Old Warlock likes to drag this 18' Raptor down the ramp if your not careful! Didn't have that issue with the 12' Raptor or the other trucks. Good luck