which tow vehicle 38' boat
05-23-2007, 12:34 AM
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which tow vehicle 38' boat
Sorry to bring this up again---but that is what this forum is for----For a 13-15k boat trailer what do you guys think(towing across cali desert 4-8 times a year and local L.A. ocean) 1 -7.3 diesel ford f350/450/or 550.2-c4500/ 5500.Also what about 4x4?for wet ramps.4.10/4.30,4.88 gears.Pref no M/T.I found a 2000 F450 2wd with truck bed 115k mi 7.3 auto for about $23k(in redto match boat).but might be too harsh a ride.2002 f350 4x4 7.3 125k mi $24k.2004 4x4 6.0 ford 125kmi (a littly afraid of the 6.0l motor.c4500 4x4 51k for 35-40 k(bling factor).what are your opinions.thanks guys-mike
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05-23-2007, 11:44 AM
#3
speel chekk this fokker!
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Pardon me, while I whip this out!
Pardon me, while I whip this out!
05-23-2007, 08:18 PM
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At the most, get a 3500 Chevy dually or Ford F-350, either in diesel.
I owned an $85k 4500 Kodiak and hated every minute of it. It was the worst vehicle I had ever purchased and I get a new vehicle about 1 time per year. I bought it brand new and put it up for sale after 4 months. I lost about $15k on it, not counting the tax.
I now have an 06 3500 dually and love it compared to the 4500.
Trust me, the 4500s look cool and you want one, but once you own it, you will want to kill yourself.
I owned an $85k 4500 Kodiak and hated every minute of it. It was the worst vehicle I had ever purchased and I get a new vehicle about 1 time per year. I bought it brand new and put it up for sale after 4 months. I lost about $15k on it, not counting the tax.
I now have an 06 3500 dually and love it compared to the 4500.
Trust me, the 4500s look cool and you want one, but once you own it, you will want to kill yourself.
05-23-2007, 08:41 PM
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At the most, get a 3500 Chevy dually or Ford F-350, either in diesel.
I owned an $85k 4500 Kodiak and hated every minute of it. It was the worst vehicle I had ever purchased and I get a new vehicle about 1 time per year. I bought it brand new and put it up for sale after 4 months. I lost about $15k on it, not counting the tax.
I now have an 06 3500 dually and love it compared to the 4500.
Trust me, the 4500s look cool and you want one, but once you own it, you will want to kill yourself.
I owned an $85k 4500 Kodiak and hated every minute of it. It was the worst vehicle I had ever purchased and I get a new vehicle about 1 time per year. I bought it brand new and put it up for sale after 4 months. I lost about $15k on it, not counting the tax.
I now have an 06 3500 dually and love it compared to the 4500.
Trust me, the 4500s look cool and you want one, but once you own it, you will want to kill yourself.
05-23-2007, 10:14 PM
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The motor was too small for the weight of the truck. The 3500 dually is 4000 pounds less than my 4500 was. Next, it rattled a ton. I had a complete Regency custom, and something went worng with it every week.
The ride was horrible. The air seats never worked right. The truck squeaked over EVERY single small bump. It couldn't get out of its own way. The towing power was horrible. I averaged 5-6 MPG towing, where with the 3500, I get 8-9 towing. It is impossible to pass because the power isn't there for the weight of the truck.
I now tow 21,000 pounds with the 3500 and would much rather use it over the 4500. Take the 4500 up a hill towing, and you will want it gone then next day.
The limo lighting inside was cool though.
The ride was horrible. The air seats never worked right. The truck squeaked over EVERY single small bump. It couldn't get out of its own way. The towing power was horrible. I averaged 5-6 MPG towing, where with the 3500, I get 8-9 towing. It is impossible to pass because the power isn't there for the weight of the truck.
I now tow 21,000 pounds with the 3500 and would much rather use it over the 4500. Take the 4500 up a hill towing, and you will want it gone then next day.
The limo lighting inside was cool though.
05-23-2007, 10:39 PM
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your totally stoned....the 4500 runs and breaks like a raped ape...pleeeeze....it will out tow anything....your nuts....I have had most everything out there and they are the bomb!!!!!!....wow!!!....those d maxs make mad torque....allison trans....and the breaks are the silliest of any truck I have had yet.....get a grip on it!!!....and your towing 21g with the 3500.....ok
05-23-2007, 11:55 PM
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I have both an 03 3500 duall gmc duramax/allison and an 07 kodiak 4500 4x4 duramax allison monroe conversion the kodiak is a little slower from the stop light but when I have to jam the brakes from an idiot cutting me off the kodiak handle the load with no probs granted I used the dually for a while, but the room and extra margin i have in the kodiak the dually is now a show truck sitting in the garage collecting dust. I drve the kodiak every day and am waiting for efi live to get my vin set so I can tune this one and kill the exhaust codes. Then it will run like my dually.
05-24-2007, 12:59 AM
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Magic34,I assume you have a chevy D-max/Allison combo in the 3500. I picked up the boat/trailer at the trailer shop(Kustom Trailer in Ontario Ca.).Wow what a difference.No more clunk on takeoff and stopping. I had triple kodiak disk brakes.stainless lines and elec-over-hydraulic master installed.Had surge brakes on one axle only before.Also had electric 3500lb Atwood tongue jack installed-----nice upgrade for us lazy people.It took an extra week and was $500.00 more than they quoted but it was what I expected(my Matco man warned me).Anyhow it drove 5000% better,even with the Excursion.Of course,the boat is still without motors (-2500 lbs)so its like towing my 31' Scarab,an I only tower 15miles to my shop.
05-24-2007, 01:47 AM
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I am not here trying to have a pissing match. I saw this post and thought that I could help someone from the same mistake I had. Losing money sucks!
I had my 4500 as my tow vehicle and daily driver. I don’t drive much, but in 5 months, I put about 5000 miles on it. I bought it mainly to tow my toyhauler. My boat on the trailer was around 14k.
I went to the dealership to buy a 3500 dually and get it all pimped out. Then, I saw what I thought was one of the coolest haulers I have seen without going semi style. It was the 4500 that I ended up buying.
Because of the weight of the thing, sure it towed good on the flat ground as long as you kept it under 70. The truck will not go over 81-82 MPH, and towing it is hard to keep it anywhere around or above 70.
I had issues from the beginning. I had the truck 4 days and took it to Havasu in the middle of June with my 14 month old and wife. On the Friday we were there, the A/C goes out. I had to get the Western Regional Manager for Chevrolet involved to get the dealership in Havasu to fix it. Thanking my lucky stars for that one as Havasu was 117 degrees in middle of June. I know that isn’t a “motor” issue and it could happen to anything, but that is how it started for me.
The Regency kit was crap! I constantly had appointments at the shop to have things fixed. Built in radar detector, fried after the first trip, took 4 months to finally get it fixed. Air lines broke in the seats every 2 weeks. The western hauler bed sounded like wet shoes on a basketball court. The interior doors rattled because of the cheap construction of them. There were issues with the engine brake and recalled.
I had an 05 with the LLY. The truck is just too heavy for that motor, especially pulling. I now have the LBZ in my 06 and love that motor in the 3500.
My 3500 weighs in at 8000#, where the 4500 I had on the same scale was 12,000#. The difference in weight makes all the difference in the world to me for power.
I also had a 40’ Weekend Warrior 5th wheel trailer I just sold. I towed it with the 4500 and 3500. That toy hauler weighed in at almost 19k loaded. My father-in-law owns a moving company and 1 of his offices has a full scale located about 2 miles from my house. That is where I weigh everything. The scale is checked by Weights and Measures every year.
Now, the 4500 does feel like it has more control of the load, but the 3500 never felt unsafe.
Last year at the Desert Storm Poker Run, we were in traffic on the bridge in our truck, I had just sold my 4500 9 days prior. Pulled up next to a guy in a 4500 identical (regency package and all) to mine near the bridge and asked him how he liked it. He was towing a 38’ Fountain I think. He told me he liked it, and I told him I just sold mine and how I hated the one I had. He then starts to tell me how his has been a pain as well and that he doesn’t like it much either. A lot of the same issues I had.
I am waiting on the F450 to get the bugs worked out on the 6.4L. It is rated at more towing and I don’t want another medium duty custom truck. My brother also has a $250k+ F650 (White Excursion style, 4 doors on each side) that has been a pain in the butt for him as well. He just got I back from rebuild after 2 years of fixing the issues that it started with. The truck is 2.5 years old now and he has had it in his possession for about 4 months total in all that time.
I am not sold on the medium duty truck. This is based off experience, not reading in magazines.
Look, I am just trying to help. I would be happy to share pictures of my set up if you would like to see it. Send me an email address to send them to.
Good luck,
Michael
I had my 4500 as my tow vehicle and daily driver. I don’t drive much, but in 5 months, I put about 5000 miles on it. I bought it mainly to tow my toyhauler. My boat on the trailer was around 14k.
I went to the dealership to buy a 3500 dually and get it all pimped out. Then, I saw what I thought was one of the coolest haulers I have seen without going semi style. It was the 4500 that I ended up buying.
Because of the weight of the thing, sure it towed good on the flat ground as long as you kept it under 70. The truck will not go over 81-82 MPH, and towing it is hard to keep it anywhere around or above 70.
I had issues from the beginning. I had the truck 4 days and took it to Havasu in the middle of June with my 14 month old and wife. On the Friday we were there, the A/C goes out. I had to get the Western Regional Manager for Chevrolet involved to get the dealership in Havasu to fix it. Thanking my lucky stars for that one as Havasu was 117 degrees in middle of June. I know that isn’t a “motor” issue and it could happen to anything, but that is how it started for me.
The Regency kit was crap! I constantly had appointments at the shop to have things fixed. Built in radar detector, fried after the first trip, took 4 months to finally get it fixed. Air lines broke in the seats every 2 weeks. The western hauler bed sounded like wet shoes on a basketball court. The interior doors rattled because of the cheap construction of them. There were issues with the engine brake and recalled.
I had an 05 with the LLY. The truck is just too heavy for that motor, especially pulling. I now have the LBZ in my 06 and love that motor in the 3500.
My 3500 weighs in at 8000#, where the 4500 I had on the same scale was 12,000#. The difference in weight makes all the difference in the world to me for power.
I also had a 40’ Weekend Warrior 5th wheel trailer I just sold. I towed it with the 4500 and 3500. That toy hauler weighed in at almost 19k loaded. My father-in-law owns a moving company and 1 of his offices has a full scale located about 2 miles from my house. That is where I weigh everything. The scale is checked by Weights and Measures every year.
Now, the 4500 does feel like it has more control of the load, but the 3500 never felt unsafe.
Last year at the Desert Storm Poker Run, we were in traffic on the bridge in our truck, I had just sold my 4500 9 days prior. Pulled up next to a guy in a 4500 identical (regency package and all) to mine near the bridge and asked him how he liked it. He was towing a 38’ Fountain I think. He told me he liked it, and I told him I just sold mine and how I hated the one I had. He then starts to tell me how his has been a pain as well and that he doesn’t like it much either. A lot of the same issues I had.
I am waiting on the F450 to get the bugs worked out on the 6.4L. It is rated at more towing and I don’t want another medium duty custom truck. My brother also has a $250k+ F650 (White Excursion style, 4 doors on each side) that has been a pain in the butt for him as well. He just got I back from rebuild after 2 years of fixing the issues that it started with. The truck is 2.5 years old now and he has had it in his possession for about 4 months total in all that time.
I am not sold on the medium duty truck. This is based off experience, not reading in magazines.
Look, I am just trying to help. I would be happy to share pictures of my set up if you would like to see it. Send me an email address to send them to.
Good luck,
Michael
