Help a Newbie with some decision making...
 

Hey guys love the site, been on for a while but this is my first post so do me a favor and go easy. I owned a Baja 232 and got the go fast fever but have been back in grad school drooling over potential boats for the past 2 years. I will be done in a year and pretty much spend any of my free time shopping for potential boats. I had originally thought I wanted a 35 Fountain but since I don't want to do more then the Sierra Denail 1500 it appears that I need to go down to closer to a 30-32 footer for safe trailering. I frequently made 1-2 hr trips with my 232 so safe towing is important. I would love to have a twin with at least 500's but 525's would be awesome and then of course there is the wife who only thinks about bringing her friends, how selfish I know. So lets hear it guys... what are your thoughts? Thank you in advance.

Buy it, make sure you have disc brakes on the trailer axles, and a good actuator on the trailer (Tie-Down), I am a risk taker, so go ahead do it. I would be more worried about stopping than towing. Your truck has a V-8 with 355 hp right?

If you're wanting twin 500/525s, then you should go ahead and upgrade your truck now! Gonna be tough to find a boat with twins under 30. You mentioned that SAFE towing in important, so you have two choices: 1. Upgrade truck and get that 35 Fountain, or 2. Lower your expectations on the boat (single under 30) and keep the truck. This is jut MY opinion, I'm sure there are others......

I am currently driving my little trailblazer into the ground so I will likely be purchasing the Denali immediately after school. It will be my daily driver so I really have to stick with the 1500 for both budget and wife reasons. If I showed up with two older vehicles (one to tow and one to daily) I think she might kill me lol. The new Denali with the 6.2 is rated at 12000lbs and shouldn't have a problem pulling AND stopping a 30-32 foot boat. I would really like to step up into the 32 range with twins.

We're gonna need pics of the wife in order to correctly answer this thread.

Thanks for your cooperation,

Signed,
Offshore Only

Spend the extra $ and get a duramax Denali. After a couple seasons your going to want a bigger boat, so get the truck now. Seriously though, I think that 1500 would probably be ok with a 35 fountain as long as you have good trailer brakes. I would not go any bigger or heavier though without having a 3/4 ton truck though.

I have grrrreat news for you!

A 35 Fountain really is a 30-32 foot boat. :party-smiley-004:

Oh no, you didn't! :food-smiley-007:

:)It took an hour though

I almost put a disclaimer in my original post lol... poor little fountains. But it does bring up an interesting point... are there any other boats in the 30-35 foot range that you would suggest for increased cockpit size... I'm sure the wife would enjoy a bigger cockpit :eekdrop::eekdrop:

Here we go with another Fountain vs every other boat thread again. :food-smiley-007:

33 Outlaw poker run series, better build than standard 33OL
And your in luck, we have a freshwater boat a member here has for sale which is knocking the door on 100MPH
It was reduced in price several months ago but I don't know if it sold or not.
I encouraged him to keep it as a tender but with his new Cig I don't know!!!
Welcome to the club, it's a lot of fun here.
Congrats on your continuing education, getting back into boats, and most espcially having a wife.
Many of us jackwagons seem to forget whats important and let their love of the sport over run a great relationship.
Don't fall victim to that booby trap!!!
Did I really type booby and not mean tits LOL!!!

See ya,
Kelly

29 OL is another good choice, just a tic under 30', you can find them in small & big blocks, pics of her friends are a requirement also ( female friends ) :santa:

I had an Escalade EXT which is basically the same truck as the Denali and there is NO WAY that it would handle a 32'twin SAFELY. It barely handled my 27' Advantage and wanted no part of my 28. I have a Duramax now and wouldn't even think about going back.

I agree, I towed my 33 OL with my F-150 crew cab long bed four hours to the lake, didn't care for that at all

I was you 1.5 years ago and swore up and down I am keeping my escalade and my wife would be unhappy if I didn't blah blah blah.


Then I showed her the boat would buy to keep that truck (29 fountain) and then I showed her the Sonic I now have.


I now own a diesel excursion and couldn't be happier. Upgrade the truck to get the boat you want. Trust me, your wife will still be happy and so will you.

I work a professional job too and have never got a complaint about what I drive. Usually a "hey that's a big truck". Tell them you have a boat to tow and that is the end of that convo.

That what I had. I loaded the sonic one time and sold the Escalade the next day lol.

Towed my 33ol back from Va to La and it did ok for an 1100 mile trip, but you had to baby the hills so as not to heat up tranny!! One good downshift and the temp would spike!

So get a2500 Yukon and change the decal on the side of the truck to say 1500. If you ask any of us if you should get a better boat than the truck I'm sure we will all say get the boat

I know I threw the first shot over the bow with Fountain, but I really like the 29 Fever with a single big block. A 500EFI will get you around 73 mph and they are a blast to drive. They ride very well and are a good boat to trailer also. Another thought is a 292 Formula Fastec with twin small blocks. If you want to tow with a half ton I'm not quite sure a twin big block boat is realistic.

Had a 35 cafe, a 35 fountain, and a 311 formula side by side in the lot yesterday. The 311 still looked big lol. 35 fountain is a small boat. But I agree just upgrade the truck. No reason to buy a 1/2 ton, they don't get that much better mileage, they have smaller brakes, lighter suspension etc. why bother?

You will have no problem with pulling a 32 with twins as long as the brakes on the trailer are in good working order. Safety is all about breaking ability/stability not about how easy you can get up to speed and climb a grade because you have a diesel. I would even go as far to say if the Denali is rated at 12000 pounds towing capacity I think a 35 lightning is in that neighborhood but I could be wrong. In a perfect world everyone who tows a boat would have a 3/4 ton or bigger diesel truck but it's not in everyone's budget. Just would hate to see someone not get the boat they want when they could have.At the end of the day you need to be comfortable pulling whatever you buy down the road.

I tow a 98 35 Fountain Lighning with a Toyota Tundra with no problems, the trailer is equipped with surge brakes all the way around. And gets 11mpg at 65mph. The cockpit and cabin on my boat are small, I had a 27 Formula with more usable space in the cabin, but this boat is much faster than the Formula.

He said Sierra Denali, which is the pickup truck. The Sierra Denali is a TRIM level, which can now be ordered on 1500-3500 trucks.
Additional details are needed on many aspects here.

Twin BBC in anything = 3/4 truck in almost every single case; whether the specs say so or not.

How far do you tow on average?

if you're sticking with a 1500 then stick with a smaller boat. There is nothing wrong with getting an older duramax for the same price as a new gas 1500, and you will be way happier that you did. Plus, in 5 years the new 1500 will be worth less than the used duramax.

[QUOTE=Sydwayz;4211741

Twin BBC in anything = 3/4 truck in almost every single case; whether the specs say so or not.[/QUOTE]

+1

OP stated Sierra Denali 1500

Missed that. Thanks.

I agree with most people here - get a Duramax 2500! I have a 33' Scarab with twin 500's - similar to what you're looking for. Dry weight is 8,400lbs, and trailer is exactly 3,000lbs. So, if you add in all the other crap in the boat (some gas, an anchor, etc.), you're at or over 12,000lbs. I tried pulling it with a half ton Yukon a couple of times, and it didn't do well. I would assume the 35 Fountain will be pretty close to this. Even if you downgraded to something in the 30 foot range, the twins are still going to command a lot of weight. Get the diesel now and save yourself the headache!

I do have a 35 fountain. I pull it with a duramax with Allison trans. It works really well. I couldn't imagine pulling it with the family truckster. I have a gmc Yukon for the family.

Thanks for all the posts guys, looks like I'm gonna have to hide a 2500 somewhere until I can get the wife out on the water with a couple of beers in her to do some explaining... somehow the expenses seem so much more justified when we are out there enjoying them! I'll post a picture of her and some friends if these pregnant moms will ever stop getting me paged!

Telling you....once it is all together she will get it.

My wife sounds just like yours and the day I sold the escalade I don't think she talked to me at all, not a word.

Now she not only gets it but loves it and understands. She will never let me own a non-diesel truck to hull our fun.

I towed my 8500 lb boat 1 summer with my 1/2 Ton Silverado. I had to install air bags on the suspension. It was not fun at all. It got loose over dips and bumps due to the suspension being overloaded. And going up hills really worked the truck. I upgraded to a 2500 Duramax and will never go back. I also finally convinced the wife that I needed to buy a car as a daily driver. My truck is lifted with 35s so it's a beast to drive 50 miles every day.

So if you want a boat around 32', twins with space, how bout a Sunsation MCOB? I also really love the Sonic 31SS. Or and AT ..... So many options.

What's your budget?

That there's an RV Clark :ernaehrung004:

I'm definitely a Sunny cheerleader but with my F-150 EcoBoost and EOH brakes, it tows the boat fantastically. I've towed it with 250s and they definitely do an awesome job, just not worth the extra expense for me. I don't feel THAT much better towing with a 250.

Don't let all the tow natzies scare ya, there are alotta experts, and yes I agree with some of there thoughts, Ive been towing my 303 Formula with my 05 1/2 ton for 3 years now, 90% of my towing is within 5 miles, the rest consist of 2 45 mile trips for winter storage, and I do 1/2 trips a year that are around 100 miles each way, leave extra room and be prepared, yes I know there is always that what if something happens, the new half's are way different compared to what i got, tranny wise, brake wise, there a different animal, as far as fuel economy my buddy just bought a 13 Silverado 6.0 and he's getting 11, I used a new sierra 5.3 last weekend for a test and I was getting 19, so there is a big difference, my buddy went from his 04 duramax to the 13 6.0 and yes the power isnt the same but unless your towing all the time I just don't see how you can justify the cost of the new diesels, and the headache, go buy your dream boat, unless you are towing 100+ miles just to get to the water get what u want,

Take a chance Columbus did...

http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...5-27110354.jpg

this was my fuel mileage on a 200 mile round trip last fall, not bad

http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps52132529.jpg