How old is your tow vehicle?

Doc

Doc

Liquid Addiction
Staff member
I am still using my 2005 Chevy Silberado Crew Cab with only 83k miles on it. It runs good but ... it's getting old. Thinking of upgrading next year. My son is hoping to buy the Silverado from my so that might help my incentive to upgrade.

What is a good tow vehicle for towing 8k or so? My boat is only 5800 but I have something besides the boat I'm thinking of towing. :D
 
I am towing a 22ft Chaparral with a 2018 F250 diesel crew cab. My boat weighs right at 6000 lbs loaded with full fuel and stuff for a day at the lake. Tows like it’s not back there. Prior TV was a 2016 Expedition SWB ecoboost. Towed the boat fine, lots of downshifts, but it struggled towing my new hobby (28 ft Airstream TT). This is my first diesel, and I will never go back to a gasser.
Had one way-to-close-for-comfort situation with the new truck coming back from the lake this summer while towing the boat. Idiot in a logging truck decided to swerve into my lane as I was passing him. I had to take the shoulder, right up against a guardrail to keep from getting smacked. Don’t know how I did not wreck - I am convinced that having a heavy TV made the difference.
 

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Nice tow vehicle. :thumb:
Sounds like your quick action kept you from a major accident with the tow truck. Good job!!!!!
 
:lmao: I totally would have missed that had you not pointed it out.
Very nice location you have there. Where bouts are you located. Love the view.
 
West Point Lake, on the Georgia/Alabama line. About 1 hour, driveway to launch ramp, and is our primary lake. It’s about 15 miles long, and does not have the heavy weekend boat traffic that other lakes in the Atlanta area endure. You can always find a quiet cove or smooth bay for water sports.

The campground is R Schaefer Heard, and is an Army Corp location. Great waterfront sites, super people and only $14/day with my senior pass.
 
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Yep, auto correct gets me all the time. Between that and typos' it can be entertaining and confusing.

Nice place you have to float and boat. I'm on the Ohio River, Marietta pool. 45 miles of river damn to damn. Between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati ,. On a fast boat can make it to either town in a day. On a houseboat it takes two days cruising at 12 mph. Love our time on the water.
 
Doc said:
I am still using my 2005 Chevy Silberado Crew Cab with only 83k miles on it. It runs good but ... it's getting old. Thinking of upgrading next year. My son is hoping to buy the Silverado from my so that might help my incentive to upgrade.

What is a good tow vehicle for towing 8k or so? My boat is only 5800 but I have something besides the boat I'm thinking of towing. :D
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You never want to max out the capacity of any tow vehicle. My boat comes in around 8400 lbs dry weight but if you add in the weight of the trailer and say a 1/2 tank of fuel, I’d easily exceed the standard pickup truck capacity of 8700 lbs. It’s why I upgraded to a Silverado HD 2500 series that had a HD transmission, suspension and brakes. The stiffer suspension makes all the difference in handling/confidence. That’s what I would recommend.

I didn’t want to give an insurance company any excuse to not cover me by using something that is marginal safety wise! Plus if I buy a 5th wheel down the road I won’t have any issues there either ?
 
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Sandbar said:
Only 3 years old ... had to upgrade to a Chevy Silverado LTZ 2500 HD to move this unit around safely.
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:wow: nice set up you have there. Your boat looks huge. surprised it is under 9k.
I agree with not maxing out your tow capabilities. Many times the vehicle might be able to tow the load, but more important, can it stop the load efficiently? I've found that stopping is very important. :D
 
Doc said:
:wow: nice set up you have there. Your boat looks huge. surprised it is under 9k.
I agree with not maxing out your tow capabilities. Many times the vehicle might be able to tow the load, but more important, can it stop the load efficiently? I've found that stopping is very important. :D
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Thanks! Stopping and control were the key factors for me. The boat definitely dwarfs the truck at 29 feet overall length lol! And while it is under 9k (barely), when you add the weight of a tri-axle, galvanized trailer, it’s probably closer to 12k. But with the proper heavy-duty brakes, transmission and stiffer suspension, it actually handles in a surprisingly predictable manner...which is exactly what I wanted. The biggest issue for towing is the height of the arch. Got to make sure I’m not taking down people’s hydro/telephone lines on the way to and from the dock ? Plus the beam is wider than the road allowance so a “wide load” trailering permit is required (technically)...
 
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Hopefully with a boat like that you just put it in once a season, and you don't have to tow it to far to the ramp.

I owned a 50' Gibson Houseboat. It never left the yard at the yacht club. What a beast to take out of the water. The yacht club owned a 'toter' that you normally see towing mobile homes. It worked great for launching and retrieving the big boats at that club.
 
Doc said:
Hopefully with a boat like that you just put it in once a season, and you don't have to tow it to far to the ramp.

I owned a 50' Gibson Houseboat. It never left the yard at the yacht club. What a beast to take out of the water. The yacht club owned a 'toter' that you normally see towing mobile homes. It worked great for launching and retrieving the big boats at that club.
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Wow. That’s a lot of boat! We have a few of those around here too.

You are right...I’m typically in the 1st week of June and out the 2nd week of October, so ideally, twice a year.
The tow is about 15km from home to the slip one way (~20 min) and the only time it comes out of the water is if it needs some in-season repairs that can’t be done at the dock.

Around here some house-boaters hire guys with 4WD tractors or even heavy lift tow trucks for a day to pull all the houseboats...usually in one shot. I’m assuming that by hiring the same guy to pull several of them the same day it saves them money. Because the marina winterizes and shrink wraps (if needed) them on location, most owners just keep them at the Yacht club over winter anyway so they don’t have far to tow them.
 
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Yeah, the large boats it's best if you can store at the Yacht club. Worked for me. Was expensive to pay for docking, inside storage winterizing etc. I found out I was not rich and could not afford to keep running the houseboat and my baja, so I sold the houseboat. LOL It was great while it lasted. :D :beer:
 
When I first inherited my boat [2007], the TV [1996 Bronco] came with it. I never really had any problems towing the boat. In and out of the water with ease. Only in extreme slippery conditions did I have to engage 4WD to get the boat out.

One night, I was driving home and two teenagers did a u-turn from opposing traffic right in front of me. It was so close that I panic braked and slammed on the brakes. 11K pounds heading for the passenger door. Amazingly it stopped before hitting the teens. What really surprised me is that there was not a hint of a jack knife in progress. Perfectly straight sliding to a stop. Only damage was the hitch.

Now I have a 2012 F150. I bought it used in Dec 2015. I just took it off the road until April. 41,958 miles. A few years ago, I had to do a hard stop [no boat in trail] and it started to fish tail. The Bronco's weight was more evenly distributed among all four wheels where the F150 a lot more weight is on the front wheel. Not as much weight holding down the back. I'm a little concerned at how this truck is going to handle a panic stop while towing. Boat it 6000lbs combined with trailer. Hope I never have to find out.

This thing loves to fly. When towing from Toronto along the QEW and past Hamilton, its not unusual to look down at the speedometer and see it at 75mph even though I thought I had it at 65mph. She's on speed!

But, I love this truck and I'll not likely ever sell it.
 
Phillbo said:
2006 F250 6.0L Powerstroke. Bought it new and now has 245000 miles on it.
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I've owned Ford dually one ton with the 7.2 diesel. I sold it with 245k on it. I never had any experience with the 6.0 but it sure sounds like a winner. Congrats.
 
Doc said:
I've owned Ford dually one ton with the 7.2 diesel. I sold it with 245k on it. I never had any experience with the 6.0 but it sure sounds like a winner. Congrats.
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The 6.0L can be a reliable engine with the proper maintenance. Mine has been pretty much trouble free.
 
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One thing many folks don't do when towing is to add extra straps for added security. I've seen videos where someone had to brake suddenly and the boat just climbs the bow roller (after breaking the strap and safety chain) and end up on top of the rear of the tow vehicle. I didn't do it in this picture because it was my first attempt at towing the boat and I hadn't yet seen those videos.

Ever since I saw those, I never rely just on the strap and safety chain! Now I slip a 3,000lb ratchet strap through the bow eye (after the the main strap and safety chain are in place) and hook it to the trailer eye loops. I also thread one of those straps through the rear cleats and secure them to the eye loops at the rear of the trailer for added security. I can tell you that it makes towing the boat feel much more secure. No wobbling on the trailer when you hit a bridge expansion joint or a bump in the road!

Remember, you might be able to stop the tow vehicle safely but if something fails, you're not stopping 9,000 pounds of inertia behind you once it gets moving!! The laws of physics will ensure that!!

Between the truck and the boat, there's just way too much money invested for me to risk a "holy f@#ck" when it could easily (and for about $30.00), be avoided.
 
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