Hi, I have a 05 tribute auto with the 2.4 engine. My question is I'm about to buy a 18 ft bass boat that weighs in at 1700 lbs dry, that exceeds the recommended towing weight by 200 lbs but I own a lawn care business and tow my trailer which weighs around 1300lbs with no problem. Could I buy stiffer rear shocks and springs and a transmission cooler and be okay? Just need to pull it every once in a while not a lot and not a far distance. Thanks!

 

The Tribute has pretty stiff shocks and springs to begin with, so I dont think that is necessary. The tongue weight of your trailer should not exceed 10% of your total trailer weight (170 lbs), which is not an issue. I think Tributes have a standard tranny cooler (mine does), which you can see through the air dam under the front bumper. It looks like a very small radiator with two steel or rubber lines going into it. Towing your boat down a flat road should not be a problem, but if you launch at a steep ramp, that might put a lot of pressure on the transmission especially. I used two pull two huge jet skis (~2500 lbs) with a Caravan, and that vehiclehad no problem pulling the trailer out of the launch, but it was a very slight descent.

If you dont already, I would recommend using '3' or locking out OD (not sure how the '05 shift lever is set up; that was the year they moved it to the floor) when towing.