Towing with gas trucks
 

For those with 25-30 footers towing with half tons… I have a 6.2 1500 that pulls my 27’ Fountain. It does pretty good from a suspension perspective, but when I get into areas with rolling hills, the motor is working!

I’ve looked into diesels, but I just don’t want any to pay the premium. I like my half ton and if it had a little more juice, it would tow just fine.

Seems heat is the issue with most gas/turbo tow setups. Has anyone done a low comp setup with a small turbo for a tow application?

A 150 is equivalent to a Toyota Camry. No reason to not move up on to an acceptable tow rig.

How much gear does your truck have? 3.42? That boat and trailer probably weighs around 6500 lbs. The 6.2 is better than the smaller 5.3 and I believe if you get the max tow package it comes with a 3.73 rear, but perhaps you already have that. If you do, you could swap in aftermarket 3.90 or 4.10 ratio gears if you tow a lot in hilly terrain. Those ratios would of course reduce your non towing fuel mileage some.

With all due respect, what’s an acceptable tow rig for a 5k boat? A 2500-3500 gas engine nets me nothing. I could throw money at a new diesel, I just don’t want to. My trucks paid off, lower personal property taxes, insurance, sales tax, etc.

I’d rather put 6-10k into an upgrade on my existing truck and accomplish what I’m after. Just curious if anyone has done something similar.

If I had a bigger boat, without hesitation, I’d go bigger and diesel.

Why not just install a Magnuson style blower? Low maintenance and relatively cheap kit with plenty of bottom end grunt.

I towed my Tiger for years with an 01 8.1/Allison dually, while towing up to lake Champlain we compared fill ups, i had to stop more but in the end the cost of diesel made my tow less expensive. also how good is the trailer, I made the switch to 14 ply tires and it was night and day, i also used equal in the tires for balance. I would think there is a tune available as well for your current setup to optimize it.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...bcbcccc4e9.jpg

just put 8.5 gallons of diesel in the truck yesterday at $5.99 a gallon.

sadly gas trucks are looking more attractive.

I have a 2016 YukonXL Denali w/6.2 8speed and pull close to 7000 including trailer, 270 Checkmate.We tow a few times a year to Central Pennsylvania with one hill 1000 ft up and down. That said I thought of going diesel but will pass as vehicle does well. Home elevation is about 1000ft and peaks to 2500ft and lake is back to 1000ft.

I towed all the Cigarette's I had with 8.1/Allison trucks and I still have one that I tow the Concept with. Never skipped a beat. Gas trucks are fine, Diesels are great, but you do pay a premium and if you don't tow all the time, sometimes the numbers don't justify the purchase. Good luck, for what you are currently pulling, I would not worry much. Could always step up to a 2500, but again its going to cost ya.

I think a 6.2L 1500 is more than enough truck for towing a 27' Fountain. I towed similar sized/weight boats for years with 1/2 ton vehicles from 5.3L 1500's to 6.0L Denali XL's (Suburban). I'd throw a tow tune at it if you can still get your hands on a tuner (thanks EPA). Made a big difference on a 5.4L F150 I had a few years back. My engines also didn't like the hills when I towed to LOTO but no longer than they were screaming over 4K to climb the hills I just lived with it. I did have a 2500 DMax ('04.5 LLY) for a couple years and of course the difference was night and day with towing but this was back when diesel was $1.99 - $2.39/gal and the truck new stickered for $44K and I think I paid about $33K for it as it was still sitting on the lot in September as the '05's were rolling out. I always thought I was dumb for getting rid of the truck but if I still had it the rockers, fender well lips, cab corners, and brake lines would all be rotted away by now.