Focus 1.5 diesel for towing?

[GarethD]

Hello! Very new to all this so will appreciate the advice. Will my vintagely aged 1.5 ford focus diesel be ok for launching and recovering my 4m rib or am I going to end up with two vehicles in the water? Thank you.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by GarethD

Hello! Very new to all this so will appreciate the advice. Will my vintagely aged 1.5 ford focus diesel be ok for launching and recovering my 4m rib or am I going to end up with two vehicles in the water? Thank you.

Very much depends on where you plan to launch & the condition of the slipway, a good clean concrete ramp you will be fine, if its slimy or sand you might struggle. May need to use a long rope between car & trailer to keep car on a good surface so your not on the slipway bits.

[Peter_C]

I towed, launched, and recovered a 4.2m Zodiac with a Gen 2 Prius *shrugs* Eventually I put transom wheels on it and never dipped the trailer again though. I did have a far larger wheel size with more contact patch and good quality tires. Tires make or break a vehicle.

[Matt]

I used to launch and recover my Sharpe 19 with a Mercury 150 V6 on the back on the slipway at Northney Marina on hayling island (steep slipway). Tow vehicle was a 1989 Peugeot 405 1.6 petrol, manual. 91hp and a car weighing maybe 1.2 tonnes. It was fine.

If the tide was low I used to sometimes use a tow rope (on the front of the car) to pull back up the slipway if I couldn't get enough grip on the green bit near the bottom.

As long as you're not a beginner at it all.

[jonp]

I towed and launched a 1.7 ton outfit with a ford Focus 2lt diesel which towed extremely well. Only did it once when my 4x4 was having work done but power wise no issue. On the ramp also no issue as ours are pressure washed every few weeks.
Unfortunately that vehicle was one of the Fords with the electronic steering issue, where it randomly spun the wheel into a full left hand lock at 100kph, resulting in a total write off.