What Type Of Vehicle Do You Tow The Boat With?

[Bobby Light]

LOL.

[nyryan2001]

2010 tundra 5.7 crew. Outstanding truck it's a beast.

Finally had my FIRST issue just today. Owned it for 2.5 yrs now, 44k miles... First issue: burnt out light bulb for the truck bed light.

I tried the buy American thing, several times, didn't work for me. I am probably a Toyota customer for life. I've owned 13 vehicles, 5 have been new, this is by far the best made highest quality vehicle I have ever owned.

[Lance B. Johnson]

2010 Nissan Titan crew cab 4x4 LE. 20k on it now really like it.

[Tims]

2011 F250 Powerstroke crew cab or 2008 VW Touareg V10 TDI

Both will snatch the trailer out from under the boat if I get too carried away at stop lights.

How does the Touareg handle the tongue weight? Test drove a 2012 the other day (V-6 TDI) and was more than impressed with the interior features, ride, torque, and mileage (19/28 mpg). It has the tow rating (7700) to handle the VLX, but was concerned about rear suspension sag. I currently tow with a 2008 F-250, 6.4 Powerstroke, 40K miles, never a problem, just drinks quite a bit of diesel fuel. (15 mpg in town, 19 mpg on highway if you stay 65 or under, 13 mpg towing boat.

[jesutton3]

How does the Touareg handle the tongue weight? Test drove a 2012 the other day (V-6 TDI) and was more than impressed with the interior features, ride, torque, and mileage (19/28 mpg). It has the tow rating (7700) to handle the VLX, but was concerned about rear suspension sag. I currently tow with a 2008 F-250, 6.4 Powerstroke, 40K miles, never a problem, just drinks quite a bit of diesel fuel. (15 mpg in town, 19 mpg on highway if you stay 65 or under, 13 mpg towing boat.

Since it is a V10 it has the air suspension. I don't even use the trailer jack when hitching and unhitching with the Touareg.

Lower to load level while backing up. Raise to off road when under the hitch. Flip up the jack and latch everything. Then back to normal height when driving away. All with the turn of a knob and perfectly level the whole time.

[Deephaven]

Should add gas mileage without trailer and with trailer to the poll

[shawndoggy]

71' F250. Fully restored with a 390 big block and a manual 4 speed.

BTW...I can't believe their are only 4 of us towing with manuals and there are over 90 autos......that is some weak sauce!

http://m.npr.org/story/149398112?url=/2012/03/26/149398112/car-guru-stop-downshift-in-manual-transmissions

[Ottomatic]

Since it is a V10 it has the air suspension. I don't even use the trailer jack when hitching and unhitching with the Touareg.

Lower to load level while backing up. Raise to off road when under the hitch. Flip up the jack and latch everything. Then back to normal height when driving away. All with the turn of a knob and perfectly level the whole time.

[CincyVLX]

Should add gas mileage without trailer and with trailer to the poll

Haha. Mine gets cut in half, maybe more!

[PaulH86]

2008 Trailblazer SS AWD towing a 05 IRide. Has stock bags in the rear. Only tow 10 miles to ramp over relatively flat grade. Haven't had any issues.

[tncumminsguy]

I use to tow with a 2002 dodge 2500 cummins 6 speed manual with over 500 rwhp now I have a bone stock 2011 dodge ram 2500 megacab auto, wish I had gotten the manual version... I hate the slushbox for towing. Also owning a 3/4 ton has it's advantages , can tow at 75mph uphill Little overkill for the boat but not for my gooseneck, love diesel but no the fuel costs

Edited March 27, 2012 by tncumminsguy

[NewMalibu]

Everyone with these high tranny temps...you do know an aftermarket cooler is about $60 and pretty easy to install.

I have the B&M cooler on my Avalanche I put on it when I first got it...141k+ on her now and the tranny is still fine (just did a 700 mile round trip with it this weekend). Good aftermarket tranny cooler is a must have; mine is the 24k GVW cooler. Had it over 6 years and the only thing I've done with it is recently replaced the hoses to it ($4) as they have started to dry out a bit and leak slightly. 10 minutes later all fixed.

Our Denali has the factory trans cooler already installed from the dealer. I asked if they thought i needed something additional or different, but they told me i was good until 250 degrees. i still dont like seeing anything above 200, and try to do what i can to keep it below that, but the dealer was confident that 250 was not a problem.

[MUpde]

MUpde i believe that your trailer can only be 31' if you want to pull dbls. 35' and bigger is too long acording to DMV.

True dat.

I think the law is actually 28 feet for the middle trailer and it must be a 5th wheel. We've been looking at 30 footers or less. I don't think I'd get stopped for 2 feet....

[tncumminsguy]

True dat.

I think the law is actually 28 feet for the middle trailer and it must be a 5th wheel. We've been looking at 30 footers or less. I don't think I'd get stopped for 2 feet....

We can tow 35 footers here without problems

Also I have towed 15k uphill and never seen over 178 degrees on my trans, still not a fan of autos though

[wakesetter23]

Escalade ESV 2007 with liquefied petroleum gas, no problems with the gearbox temperature, speed from 100 to 120 km / h on the highway with trailer...

Greetings from Germany

[RockinRod]

2010 Ford F-150 Lariat Crew cab 5.4L Automatic... Wish I would of waited one more year for the ecoboost, otherwise I am very happy with the truck.

[scott_fx]

i have a cayenne s and it tows like a dream, is comfortable and handles the hot desert weather with ease

[Nitrousbird]

Our Denali has the factory trans cooler already installed from the dealer. I asked if they thought i needed something additional or different, but they told me i was good until 250 degrees. i still dont like seeing anything above 200, and try to do what i can to keep it below that, but the dealer was confident that 250 was not a problem.

Of course the dealer only benefits from your tranny getting hot...either from you getting more frequent fluid changes that they hope is done through them, or a tranny replacement. A cool tranny is a happy tranny.

[rennis]

Tundra with a 5.7. Tows our boat and friend's 23' boat like it's not there.

[ryangb]

I tow my 23 with a 2012 Dodge Ram 5500 dually. It has a 6.7 Cummins and a 6 speed auto. Thing is a towing machine.

[cash]

2009 Z71 2500HD, 8" lift, 35" ProComp All Terrains, Bullydog GT Tuner, AirRaid cold air intake. Pulling a 2011 23'VRide.

[wakeboarder3780]

2002 Chevy Suburban 1500 towing a 23 LSV here. I would say it is certainly sufficient / safe, but I don't like how it struggles on hills with the boat. Even on some gentler grades the tranny needs to drop down a gear. I do wish I had a little more power, but like I said it's certainly a safe vehicle to tow with.

I used to tow a 89 sunsetter with a 2000 blazer. That was downright SCARY. We were plenty far back for a yellow light and hit the brakes and ended up 3' past the line and slightly in the intersection (this was on a 35 mph rd). I couldn't in good faith recommend that vehicle to anyone as a tow vehicle unless the boat was extremely light.

[Hammertime]

We currently have an '08 Chevy 1500 2-wheel drive crew cab, auto w/ 3.42 gearing towing a 23 LSV. The truck pulls it OK, rear ends sags and it doesn't have much power, I'll be upgrade this spring.

[PhishJY]

Pulling with an '09 X5 4.8i. Works, but I'd die over gas bill (requires premium) if we weren't dry storing it. I'm going to speculate that a 2500 Chevy would be more economical.

[Nitrousbird]

I used to tow a 89 sunsetter with a 2000 blazer. That was downright SCARY. We were plenty far back for a yellow light and hit the brakes and ended up 3' past the line and slightly in the intersection (this was on a 35 mph rd). I couldn't in good faith recommend that vehicle to anyone as a tow vehicle unless the boat was extremely light.

Though a bit lighter than an 89 Sunsetter, I had a 17' Sea Ray I/O I had towed with both a 93 S-Blazer and a 95 S-Jimmy. The trailer brakes did not work at all and neither had a problem stopping when towing. I mean they weren't awesome by any means, but nothing scary/concerning either. Actually my S-Blazer stopped very well, but it was pretty light compared to most (stripped down 2-door, 2WD with the only - and I mean only - option being the highest output 4.3L available).

Are you sure the brakes were functioning properly on that 2000? I test drove a 98 S-Blazer that was downright dangerous stopping without towing a thing...not sure what the issue was, and sure as hell wasn't looking into it for the price.