MacGregorSailors.com

Dear All,

I have a Mac24 with outboard and trailer I guess the overall weight is around 3000lb. I have a single axle trailer with no brakes at all.

Towing car = 2000 Mits. Montero Sport with 5000 lbs tow capacity. 3.5lt with 200Hp (4sp) auto transmission.

My questions, since the car is mid-size SUV with unusally larger towing capacity it does not have transmission cooler, and I wonder if anyone towed mac with this SUV.

Should I install transmission cooling system, if so will appreciate any suggestions and web-links.

Regarding the single axle trailer, I realized that once I put the outboard I got negative pay load so trailer front going up, after rearrenging the load I guess now trailer front does not go up but I got some pay load may be around 100-150 lb. Does anyone has any idea is it an acceptable load distribution on single axle trailer.

Last question is do I surely need break system on the trailer, or I can survive without it.

Thank you so much for all interested parties, and looking forward to hearing from you guys.

All the best for all sailors.
Erol

I will only comment on the question of towing a boat trailer without trailer brakes, and leave the other questions for those more technically savvy.

First let me tell a quick story:

It was about 1997 and I was driving a Ford F250 work truck down California's Interstate 5 heading for the Port of Longbeach. I was towing an Environmental testing trailer with about $200,000's worth of equiptment and weighing in at around 4000lbs. As I was preparing to go down the Castaic grade in the No 3 lane, I heard a BIG BOOM and the truck lunged forward. Looking in my rear-view mirror, I saw my trailer doing 360's in the No 2 and 3 lanes with the trailer brakes fully enguaged. Traffic was parting like Red Sea, and I could just see the trailer killing a family of 4 on their way to Disney Land. It all ended OK, with no injuries (except for the CHP having to remove part of the seat cussions from my rear end from the puckering...).

I have No Doubt that the trailer brakes at the minimum saved the testing rig, and probabally saved someone life as well that day, when my pin holding in the trailer receiver hitch literally broke in three pieces! (The CHP actually recoverd the pieces from the road).


At the cost of about $500 for trailer brakes, I just wouldn't drive the Mac around without them....too many lawyers to sue my posterior off if someone gets hurt do to my equipment failure.

Just my .00005 cents.

Rich

You may be required by state law to have trailer brakes on that weight of boat/trailer.

Wow... Rich... really bad story... certainly glad you and the others were OK... but no safety chains???

Unfortunately, at that point in my life (27yrs old) no one had ever told me to "cross" my chains to make a cradle, so when the trailer pulled out, it hit the gound, dug in and POP the chains actually came unwelded from the trailer!

I now know to cross the chains in an "X" to support the trailer in the unthinkable happens....which it sometimes does.

Rich

Thank you all for your comments, I guess you are right for the brakes, how about the transmission cooler and towing capacity. I would appreciate any comments and suggestions.

All the Best
Erol

Most vehicles factory equipped for towing have oversized radiators and additional transmission cooling capacity built into the factory radiator. They do not require an auxiliary transmision cooler. If the Montero is factory rated for 5,000 lbs towing, it's probably fine.

Trailer brakes are a lot like insurance. Most of the time you don't need it, but when you do, too late.

Get a BIG transmission cooler.
I wiped out the transmission on my E-150 van when I pulled my boat 1500 miles this spring. It had a transmission cooler but the transmision repair shop said it was too small and the lines had plugged. Now it has a large one on there. Trans cooler is cheap insurance against big problems.

You could just install a temp. gauge for the trans fluid and monitor.