I towed my 212 Baja one time with an escalade and could not to get where I was going. The shift points were terrible, stopping was terrible, mpg was horrendous, and the boat pushed the "truck" all over the place. I would keep looking.

While we're on this topic.. I don't own a trailer but someone I know is willing to make one available to me occasionally so that I can take my boat to poker runs, etc. What would I need to pull a 38' Fountain Lightning (approx 9,000 lbs dry weight)...

Your 38 with a trailer even Aluminum is probably 11k not including Fuel. In my opinion you need a dually, or 3/4 ton at a min.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/t...uch-truck.html


Read this before you tow with a under rated vehicle.

I hear ya. Depending on what you mean on staying. Is it just you and an old lady, kids, one night here and there, whole weekends? I mean a night here and there or even a Friday and Saturday the 29-32s will be serviceable, but not great. 35-42 will give you a lot more specially the 42, but even a 35-38 fountain is still fountain and fountains are not known for great camping out rigs. Another model to maybe look at is the Formula SS they make them in from 25ft all they through the high 30;s, very heavy and have a wide beam, high 30ft range is probably not going to be a fun trailerable thing to do.

You can always get older fountains even a 35 or 42 cans be found for under 50k if they are older.

Just to give you a few specs the 35 ft fountains fuel tank is around 160 x 4 dollars plus for premium gallons depending on year. Each engine is 8 qts of oil each drive is 3 qts plus. Bigger boats are going to have triple axle trailers which means 6 tires to replace, brakes the whole works. With a boat the size of a 35ft with the trailer your going to need a space that is roughly 42ft long and 12 foot wide to store it. Many guys tow big boats like this, but it gets unwieldy to some, and they dock it which is probably 2-3 grand for the summer maybe more in some areas.

I went from a 08 Diesel to a 2011 1/2 ton F150 the cost savings with fuel, registration and insurance is close to 4 grand a year, yes the insurance and reg is cheaper on the newer truck. So if throw out the capital investment of a new truck its going to run you 3-4k a year just to drive a diesel compared to your chevy.


If it were me get a 29 or 32 they can be had in great shape for 25-35k. See if you like it and after a year sell or trade and move up without much of a loss in the wallet. Your going to find in the performance world throwing a fishing line over board, tubing with kids, storage, is not the flavor of the day, its either impossible or real pain in the but. On a fountain depending on size its going fit 6 maybe 8 people in the cock pit tops, and its nuts to butt and one person moves over so the other can get up or get through.


Don't take this as I am talking you out of it, im not I own a fountain. Just a lot people sit from the beach or pier and see a hot boat that's loud with hot women on the sun deck(yes its nice) and that's all they see. I suggest whatever you buy take a look at the boat, sit it in with a few people. Just know that if your looking for a boat that will be good for water sports, a little fishing, having tons of people on comfortably this really isn't the boat.

And I truly mean it a boat like this will run you double most likely triple, then if you add in the cost of a truck to tow it, it can be a lot. But the boats are fun as hell and totally worth it.

I would agree and something that size your probably closer to 12 grand. 3/4 ton diesel would do it fine. But if your talking long trips tons of gear and people in the truck Id go dually

I think a 38 is more then 9k. Advertised dry on a 35 was 9500 or 9800 for the last ones.

As for the trailer my myco steel dual axel is 1800lbs ( 32 fever) That info is straight from myco.

2006 38 Lightning on Aluminum Myco tri-axle is 12,500 to 14K depending on load in boat. No way I would attempt pull with a 1/2 ton.

I can relate to what the OP is looking at...

I originally had a Crownline 225. Boat and trailer were right around 6k and I towed it with a Z71 Tahoe. The Tahoe could handle the load but the 5.3 didn't have the power and I struggled with grades to and from the lake let alone some of the local ramps. Downshifting, terrible mileage, and soft ride.

I moved up to a 288 Sunsation. The sunny had a 700lb heaver layup and the trailer was aluminum versus steel. All-in-all, the new setup weighed out at 500lb more (appx) than what the old boat was. Crowns have a heavy layup for their size.

While the Tahoe was within "spec" for being able to handle the Sunny, there was never enough truck in front of the boat for what I felt was safe and necessary to travel with.

I looked at everything on the market. Landed on Ecoboost and the new 6.7. For the money, I liked what the F250 Lariat with a 6.7 offered as far as ability but also loved the looks of the truck. Ended up finding a slick deal on a '11 F250 Lariat I couldn't pass up.

Looking back, I would never want to tow a 25ft+ boat with a half ton. Period. Ecoboost or not. Take into the consideration the overall footprint of a half ton vs a 3/4 or 1 ton. Put the trucks side by side and you'll be blown away at the difference. My girlfriend has a '13 King Ranch Ecoboost and it looks like a Cadillac next to the 250.

Think family, safety, comfort, and overall objectives and you'll end up going for a bigger truck. Also, I've learned that I have never had a regret with going larger as I have always wished I'd gone bigger when I hadn't.

Just my .02 from having moved from a similar setup and having similar questions as you have with your OP.

Well written and good advice. But I wouldnt corner yourself on length, but more or less weight. Some 25s out there weigh as much as 22's or 28 and so on. The key factor like you said is what you were comfortable with can afford and is legal. Where I started with a crown 225CCR as well, towed it with the 07 silverado 1500, to me personally thought it was fine not going to win any race, then again I have been towing travel trailers and boats since 16. I then got a 07 F250 6.0 power stroke towed the crown once or twice, mainly got the truck in preperation for the Fountain I was going to get, and Ill be frank again for me at least the truck was way over kill and a waste for a 22ft boat that weighed around 5k with trailer was it nice sure, necessary ehh IDK.

So I bought the fountain weighs 95-10k, towed it with the 07 F250 no issue towed nice. This is now 2010, wife went to car shopping and while I was there saw an 08 F250 6.4 same thing as my 07 black XLT extended cab, 4x4 etc. Saw the price tag 30k, looked at miles 14k miles on it, got to asking about it and warranty and what not, truck was not sold until may of 2009, so it was really one year old, carfax was clean. Well the 07 didnt come home that day, changed my payment by 5 bucks, and only thing that was stupid was the 08 had 17 in steel rims which for a grand I found 18in lariat rims and put new rubber on. Either way that was a marked difference in power between the 08 and 07, handling about the same but the 6.4 was much more power


Anyways towed the fountain for a year and half with these diesels, my trip is 26 miles one way to the river and 38 miles to the lake, which is 99% of my towing. But the truck was also the daily driver and the double swipe $150 fill ups got old once a week sometimes twice. So I pulled the trigger on the eco, I'll admit I was very scared on that purchase, didnt know what it was going to be like. Bought in late 2011 and drove it all winter until the big day in the spring. I felt bittersweet as this new truck is going to cost me or save me. Either way Hooked up and havent looked back. Perfect world would I rather have the diesel, yes and no, for towing yes, for all around use, no because they are hard to park, hard to find fuel sometimes, oil and fuel filters suck, and they ride like a brick. But for what I do is the towing capability that much diminished, ehh IDK, but enough to make a difference in what I do, probably not. But I will say this I did tow the boat on a 600 mile one way trip last year. Cruise set at 68 I got 12.6 and 13.8mpg there and way back respectively. Truck did not like going over 70 Ill admit that, but even when I had a F250 I went 65 so again nothing lost there for me. So for long trips I would not want to be in a 1/2 ton thats honesty, and a long trip on a load like that to me 3-4 hours or more. But with a load that weighed 6-7 grand Id tow it to hell and back with that eco. This winter partial blizzard drove to clevelend 500 miles with a 26ft enclosed v nose unladen 3900lbs moved some guy back here had to be 2-3k in gear, whole trailer was full. Got 14.6 empty and 14.4 full and I could have written a book while towing.

Would I reccomend the eco bost to tow over 11k, NOPE, would I reccomend a novice to use the ECO and tow at its upper limits, NOPE, would I reccomend it for the guy that wants to load a wheeler in the back, hook up to a 30ft boat, put 4 people in there and camping gear, NOPE. But it works me, will it work for everybody, no. But throw out the capital cost in buying the trucks, on a one year basis the eco saves me roughly $4 grand. And for vehicle that is going to tow 12 times a year and has to drive me to work the other 350, diesel was not adding up anymore just wasnt. Guys can say they have a tuner and get 20mpg doing this, but with the upcharge on diesel, initial investment of the vehicle, and costly maint, do the math on ownership cost you lose every time, BUT thats fine your buying the diesel for its capability, and people say the same thing about my eco why pay that for something that gets the same if not less than other half tons, I say lets hooks up to something and you drive, then you will know. Im not arguing an eco is better than a diesel its not, its impressive and if you tow with one you will be surprised. But there are lots of misconceptions on 1/2 tons 3/4 tons etc. You dont need a F450 to tow a row boat, but you shouldnt be towing 35 foot boats with old tahoes(yes I have seen it). The newer trucks in the last 4-5 years have made huge strides specially the 1/2 market, you look at the suspension, brakes, towing equipment they are vastly improved then what they were 10 years ago.


As many have said as well as myself. You have to figure out a budget for boating, what you want to spend total, that means tow vehicle. Then look at operating cost, once you figure that out go to the manufactures website to figure out what model suits your needs and can safely do what you need it do. Lots of good advice in here, better than most forums, but if one were to listen to everybodys advice in here, well I lets just say I would hate to see it, lol. But I will agree with having more than what you need is good practice, now determining how much more is in the eye of the beholder.