The SE was a great model. We built many in the early 80's. If your's was an 86' it may have been the last 33/ SE built. In 86 Jay was focused on the 41's. Great boat... sorry for your loss. Ironically, back in the day we used to haul all of the sonics with Jay's short Ford Bronco. Granted, it was just around town.

As far as your Ace trailer. It's the best on the market in my opinion. Hope you sort it all out man.

T

+1

Not suggested its ok or a good idea to tow with an insufficient vehicle but I'm not sure why everyone acts like its a done deal that the insurance isn't going to pay up. I personally know of one accident that involved a bigger boat than this being towed by a half ton truck and there were no insurance issues. Not saying it can't happen but I lean more towards the insurance having to pay.

I can tell you from experience if this is wind related insurance should cover it under Comprehensive. Good luck. I feel your pain.

YUP and you need a F550 to tow jet skis otherwise you are unsafe.

There are alot of people that tow their toys with vehicles that dont have the proper weight rating. Can it be done, yes, is it done: yes-everyday, Is it the smart thing to do- no.

However better to be safe than sorry and use a vehicle rated to do so. Even if the rating sticker placed there by the manufacturer doesnt accurately reflect the real capacity, Atleast your protected on your end, as you were compliant based upon what the vehicle manufacturer claimed.

I would bet some smart lawyer for an insurance company could make a go of it ( under rated vehicle ) as not being rated to tow the weight a vehicle was towing, lord forbid, especially if a fatality was involved. Someone is going to get toasted over the coals.

Bottom line, there are alot of scenarios. Why open yourself up to the possibility of a claim being denied, or worse.

Just sayin...

If it's wind related the vehicle want matter. But you should have the right tow vehicle for the load you are hauling.

I know of 16 late model used dually's for sale!!!! Gm and ford....:gfight:

No one is claiming the truck is at fault. the undersized truck represents an "out" for the insurance company in some arguments.

My question is, does the sale state FOB Shipping Point or FOB Destination?



Jimminy Christmas. Try spell check
:lolhit:

i think your right on with that statement.a good,slick lawyer will ask what the towing weight of the truck is and from there its going to be a downhill slide.i think that is going to be aissue thats hard to denie.just my 2cents

Why take a chance with a light light vehicle?

hope the outcome is ok, that sucks, not sure I could ever let anyone tow my new toy home

I don't know where you are getting your information from, but you can scratch it off the list as one being accurate.

The auto manufacturers do extensive towing testing for all vehicles with a tow rating. The tow ratings are anything but arbitrary. They are based on frame capacity, axle capacity and cooling, tire capacity, brake capacity, suspension capacity and damping, engine cooling, transmission capacity and cooling, and a series of track and "on the road" trailer towing tests, including hot weather and grade performance.

Michael

The OEM's test and do this, but it is arbitrary what their acceptable limits are (and the safety factor may just decrease based on what a competitor does.....). Each one has different levels of acceptance.

However, in a couple years there will be SAE testing that will be as you describe.

Thanks

Insurance company called today, big suprise boat will be totalled. Good news is I get my purchase money back. The boat will be auctioned off. I will let the board know about the auction, motors, trannys and drives should be good. I am going to visit the wreck to get a few things off the boat and will get a better look at the running gear,

Great! Glad to hear this tragedy had a good outcome.

Great news,look at the bright side you are probably the only one on this site that ever purchased a boat and did not lose money.:lolhit:

Glad to hear.

Who's insurance?????

Bingo

Glad to hear everything worked out for you. Just looking at the pix gives me chills.....especially since I've got the same boat (1987 33SE).

Jim,

Man I'm sorry to hear about the Sonic. I was looking forward to helping you with the engine swap! and going for a ride!
If you need help with anything regarding the new motors and moving them around let me know.
I should have gone down and gotten the boat for you in my one ton Dodge dually, I never have any trailer sway...........ever.

Jon

Why overkill for no reason?

With that said I have never seen a boat destroyed it's always a travel trailer which is due to wind or a horse trailer because most guys that tow horse trailers seem to drive like aholes

Why overkill...... gee I don't know?? :eureka:

Again F550 for Jet skis, because you never know. Better Safe then sorry. Always have a truck that can tow 15 times what your load is, otherwise you will get screwed by your insurance and just wont be a real man.

Are you ever happy? :drink:

Insurance is used more for on the road than on the water. Accidents happen, be prepared.

No, I tow with a truck that is adaquate to do the job. That way, my safety, the safety of my passengers, my property, and the general public sharing the same highway are not at risk.

I don't respond to these silly kind of threads often because it's a pointless pissing match with the ignorant.

glencal1's broker made a foolish decesion.... period.
A decesion that left him (glencal1) holding the bag at the mercy of an insurance company.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why this accident happened?
Who in their right mind would come to the defense of the broker?

Fortunately everything worked out for glencal1..... I'm not going to get into a physics lesson of energy, and how much opposing energy it takes to stop an object going at X speed.
It's pretty FN simple.

Yep, I drive like that when pulling a horse trailer :bsflag:

aggreed I wouldnt tow a 10k boat with a 9 k truck. Point being is its just as rediculous to tow a 10k boat with a 22k truck.

anyone one I have ever seen drives way to slow or drives likes they arent towing anything and going 15 over

I'm still curious as to whose insurance covered this, did I miss the post? Was it yours or the brokers? My fam sold their insurance biz, but I've seen 1st hand cases like this where coverage was denied b/c the vehicle in question was being used well beyond it's limits, no different then getting into an accident with say a 1/2 ton truck towing a 38ft Cigarette... bye bye insurance along with other fines (happens a lot down here in FL lol).

That Tahoe was def not up to the job, they also have very soft suspensions so even if your within it's "limits" any sway or cross wind can still get the T's bucking b/c of how soft they are. What year was the Tahoe anyway?

Either way, congrats on getting your money!

Sorry, Michael, but you are wrong. They do tests, yes. The tests are not standardized, they are not regulated, they are not represented by legal requirements in the USA. The requirements in Europe are legal stipulations, but they are very, very soft: the same vehicles have much higher tow ratings in Europe than here. Therefore, the manufacturers can and do change the ratings to meet competitive demands, and to enable upselling: e.g., bring people in on a teaser priced truck, then add thousands for tow packages.

When towing I always remind myself that the boat/trailer is 12000 lbs and the truck is 6000. I E there is a 12000 lb tail wagging a 6000 lb dog. In this case it was probably 11000/and 4500. And the tahoe probably did not have load range d or e truck tires, so when the trailer started to "whip" there was less there to stabilize the whip (oscillation).