Cigarette 28SS and Towing

JohnJan · 06-03-2004, 10:18 AM

Has anybody weighed their 28SS to know absolutely how heavy these things are? I'm looking at a couple of them and am concerned about towing.

How heavy are these things with twin smallblocks?

damdonzi · 06-03-2004, 10:45 AM

I've got a 28 Open that has been converted to a single. With all out gear and 120 gallons of fuel, I weighed it last Summer on an early morning trip. Boat came in at 5,900 Lbs and my Loadmaster trailer weighs 1,500 pounds. So whatever you are planning on pulling your boat with should probably be fine with 8600GVWR or less.
If you haven't been there already, check out the literature over on www.thunderboatalley.com

Wally · 06-04-2004, 10:30 AM

Depends on what you will be pulling it with. My buddy has a 1976 28ss and pulls it with a 1998 k1500 ex. cab pickup 4x4 5.7 engine. It does the job ok but REALLY struggles on hills and it will not shift into OD at all. On our last trip to LOTO from just north of chicago, he burned through 5 tanks of gas just to get down there. Where as i and my dually pulling a 1984 30' scarab with a full 150gallons of gas on a 3 axle made it down there on 3 1/4 tanks of gas. On the way home he drafted off the back of my rig and used the same gas as i did....he also said the truck finnaly shifted into OD and there wasnt as much of a strain on it.

Chart · 06-04-2004, 10:53 PM

Wally, There is something not right about your buddy's rig. Ill is mostly flat, and he should have no trouble getting into overdrive on the interstate, if everything is correct with the truck and the trailer. I pulled my 85 Formula 302 on a steel Myco from Indy to LOTO several times with a 96 1500 Suburban with the same 5.7 engine. That's around 18,000 GCW. It did fine on the interstates, especially in ILL. Now in MO with the hills I shut off the AC climbing hills, but it still did fine. Even held 60 going up Miniola Hill both directions (that's the big valley on I-70 between St. Louis and Kingdom City) if you got a head start. That's about 900 miles round trip, and it took about 100 gal, or 2.5 tanks on the suburban. I know the 28 is heavy, but I can't immage it weighs that much more than the 302.

Liberator21 · 06-04-2004, 11:09 PM

I see you guys mentioning OD and towing. The owners manuals for my Jeep Grand Cherokee, and my 1500 series Jimmy with the 6.2 diesel said not to tow in OD, and I never did. Ever hear of this?

Chart · 06-04-2004, 11:36 PM

Can't speak for the Jeep or the old Jimmy, but the manual for my 96 said fine.

As long as the trany was not hunting for a gear (shifting in and out of OD) there was no reason not to use it, and it is actually harder on the engine to spin faster in a lower gear.

cloudmaster_321 · 06-04-2004, 11:56 PM

and it is actually harder on the engine to spin faster in a lower gear.[QUOTE]

apparently you don't know the theory of manifold pressure

Chart · 06-05-2004, 04:36 AM

[QUOTE=cloudmaster_321]and it is actually harder on the engine to spin faster in a lower gear.

Quote:

apparently you don't know the theory of manifold pressure

Hell Cloudy, you'd be surprised by the volume of things I don't know.

ofshore · 06-05-2004, 07:09 AM

[QUOTE=cloudmaster_321]and it is actually harder on the engine to spin faster in a lower gear.

Quote:

apparently you don't know the theory of manifold pressure

Apparently I don't either, why don't you enlighten us.

I've always been told and have always done exactly as chart has said. Tow in OD unless your trans keeps switching from drive to overdrive. It's just a higher gear, if your vehicle has enough torque to turn it then use it, the new fords don't even have a button to shut off overdrive any more it just switches to tow/haul mode which still uses all five gears it just changes the shift points.

Dangerous Dave · 06-05-2004, 11:06 AM

I hauled my 28 ss from the border of Kentucky/Tennessee to St. Pete FL with my 1995 Chevy K1500 5.7 work truck. At the time it had like 190,000 miles on it. It was fine. A little slow getting going but held 65ish all day. I also kept it in 3rd the whole way. I've had 6 Chevy trucks, always towed heavy stuff in 3rd and never had a problem. I let my friend borrow a 97 Z-71 to bring his snowmobiles to Canada and back, he kept it in OD and blew the tranny on the way home.