What Type Of Vehicle Do You Tow The Boat With?

[JB-FOOT]

2001 Ford F-150 Lariat Flairside....5.4L V-8 tows the boats over the road when needed.....but Most times I am just moving the boats from the warehouse to the launch ramp about 200 feet and for that I do it with the BobCat (Skidsteer)......much easier than backing it up with the truck....LMAO

[G-Mack]

05 Chevy Avalanche, 5.3 liter, AT, 4.10 gears. Tows great, even with 4 people & a weeks worth of gear to Shasta or Hells Canyon.

The best gas truck I ever owned was a GMC crew 5.5 ft box 5.3 w/ 4:10 gears.... did everything well...no major impact in mileage but it towed awesome and got good mileage towing too... May sound crazy but if I could get our escalade with 4:10s I probably would have.

[Soon2BV]

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.

I had a 19 foot Sea Sprite (slightly like the 17' Sea Ray IO but probably heavier) and that boat and trailer was less than 2000 pounds total weight. The 89 Sunsetter is 2750 without the trailer. Not the same thing at all.

[G-Mack]

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.

What is the tow rating on your X5? when we were looking they were 6000 lbs.. total weight of your boat/trailer/fuel/misc stuff will be up near 7000 lbs

[srintx]

Man, Ford is the truck of choice!

[BorderBoarder]

2003 toyota landcruiser 4.7L full time 4wd last year, towed fine but nothing to get excited about. This year 2011 nissan titan crew cab pro-4x 5.6L

[IXFE]

Primary Tow Vehicle: 2010 GMC Yukon XL Denali AWD 6.2L V8 6 speed (wife's daily driver)

Secondary Tow Vehicle: 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited AWD 5.7L Hemi 6 speed (my daily driver)

[Malibudude]

My next purchase.....

[martinarcher]

My next purchase.....

Boo ya!!!

[martinarcher]

http://m.npr.org/sto...l-transmissions

That is cool.

[wakeboarder3780]

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.

Brakes were good on it. I think the weight difference between an 89 sunsetter (21' 2750 lbs dry weight not including trailer) and the 17' searay was probably much lighter.I wouldn't worry about towing a 17' boat with a blazer if it were me. I would never tow a 21' inboard with it ever again. It also *might* have been a different story if my trailer had brakes(which it didn't).

I do stand by my initial post though of definitely not recommending a blazer to tow a 21' inboard as they'll all be close in weight. I can absolutely guarantee it was sketchy at best and absolutely terrifying when we had the yellow light which was a make-shift "crisis" event. Stopping distance with that setup was far too great.

Edit: You can see here that a 17' searay only weighs a fraction of the sunsetter which is why I would agree you wouldn't have a problem towing a searay with a blazer: http://www.boattest....deo.aspx?id=162

Edited March 29, 2012 by wakeboarder3780

[PhishJY]

What is the tow rating on your X5? when we were looking they were 6000 lbs.. total weight of your boat/trailer/fuel/misc stuff will be up near 7000 lbs

You're correct, it's 6000 lbs.

Boat: 3900

Fuel: 336

Trailer: 1400 (est.)

We don't carry any additional gear on/in the boat because we're right at the limit.

My next purchase.....

Forgive my ignorance, but what is that?

Edited March 29, 2012 by PhishJY

[SmoothWaterMan]

phish, it's Jeep's new Mighty FC concept truck, based off the original "forward cab" Jeep's from the early 60's. FC-150, FC-170 - pics on google. I'll take one in urban axles and wheels, since the portal axles alone are $23,500....not including the 40" tires.

[obski]

I have a 2001 Tahoe with 4WD and towing package. It pulls the 'Bu without any problems. I have thought about getting a newer tow vehicle, but it really works just fine and is in great shape. It has 118K miles on it. I mainly use the vehicle for towing the boat, gettting down off of our hill in the winter when needed, going up to the mountain for skiing in the winter, and occ pulling the utility trailer or hauling around people.

[dalt1]

05 Nissan Titan bought new and now @ 26,600 miles.

[Bozboat]

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.

Holy Smack 250 degrees, that is good to know, I thought 200 was entering the danger zone. Last summer when it was 120 outside I could keep it right at 200 on freeway, ran cooler (just under 200) if I turned off the tow/haul and manually limited it to 5th gear max

Edited March 29, 2012 by Bozboat

[MalibuTime]

My next purchase.....

Those are cool, you can get an all terrain, 3rd world touring camper/rv built on that chassis.

Oops, I stand corrected, that was a small thumbnail. Still cool though.

Edited March 29, 2012 by MalibuTime

[jesutton3]

You're correct, it's 6000 lbs.

Boat: 3900

Fuel: 336

Trailer: 1400 (est.)

We don't carry any additional gear on/in the boat because we're right at the limit.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is that?

If you're that close to the limit does it really matter if that 200 lbs is in the trailer or the truck?

I think not.

[G-Mack]

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.

Done and done... 11" x11" (24 K GVW) .... my big issue is cold weather in the winter... will be interested to see what it does next winter

[nemalibu]

Started with a Ford Sporttrac for my first BU, worked but a bit too small and light. Then moved to what I have now - 05 Ford Expedition with the towing option and the standard 5.4. I am quite happy with it. It is also my daily driver.

[calvinclark]

2009 GMC Sierra 1500 V8. I just placed an order for a 2013 GMC denali 2500hd. We got plenty of hills here in TN and the exhaust brake will be a huge help!