Question for those boat towing with a lifted pickup
 

Hi , so I need an old pickup to tow my 24' speedboat. My family misses our 4" lifted jeep and asked me to look for a jacked up pickup. For those of you towing your speedboat with a 4-6" lifted pickup. Any issues with that ? I'm particularly wondering if pulling a 6000lb boat and trailer up a boat ramp is a problem for these types of trucks. Not sure how the drivetrain responds in that type of situation in that set up. Looking at F150 or Ram only and only 5.0L or more engines. Thanks!

I've never towed with a lifted gas truck of my own. I drove a friends gas 1/2 ton pickup towing a 25 outlaw on the interstate and it seemed to downshift alot going up inclines. I have only towed our boats with a diesel truck some lifted and some stock height. I'd be more worried about stopping with a lifted gas 1/2 ton truck more than towing power.

Like Bencini231 said, remember the taller tires will change your effective gear ratio and normally take more to stop because of rotating mass/ diameter.

Is it enough to matter on a 6K boat trailer, IDK.

Never thought about stopping issues, but with all that softness in high suspension and big fat tires makes sense as a point of risk. I was thinking initially along the lines of that same softness causing issues in grip to pull the boat up a ramp or possibly something breaking in the drivetrain during that process.

dont know the effects at that weight but I can tell you I towed a 38 baja with the owners lifted single rear wheel one ton crew cab and that was the only time. told him never again, at every curve in the road the trailer tried to shove the truck around and it just wallowed around too much for me. I towed the same boat with my crew cab dually and other than feeling the weight back there the truck didnt care that it was there. personally I would never again tow any weight with a lifted truck again

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You just have to have the truck setup properly. I had this dually back in the early 2000's towing my 30' Scarab
It was on 35's with a sky Jacker 5.5" lift....truck came with a 4:10 gearing...swapped it to 4:88 and installed the pro-comp trac bars. Dual shock mounts in the rear. Truck didn't feel any different then stock...actually the ride was smoother!
Only other thing i did was upgrade the brake lines to braded stainless instead of the rubber lines and got some carbon/ceramic pads for the brakes. 4-low at the rams and she crawled right up the steepest ramps no problem...i miss that truck too :(

I've towed a triple axle 7k boat with a 6" lifted ram 1500. It did just fine up the boat ramps. Like mentioned earlier it's the brakes at high speeds that would be the worst part. Like curvy mountain roads etc. I put airbags in it for more stability.

Now I tow with a 6" lifted F350 single rear wheel and it does just fine with the same 7k lb boat.

The less knowledgeable will jack their trucks up, stick some big wheels and tires under it, and call it a day. They forget about gear ratios, brakes, and overall stability. It's funny (well not so funny really) watching some of these guys come in with their bad azz trucks thinking they can tow whatever only to find them struggling to pull the a boat out of the water.

If the entire setup is paid attention to (appropriate wheels/tires, gearing, brakes, and hitch drop), then it probably will do just fine. OP, since you've asked, I guess it's safe to say that you'll make sure it's right. Nothing scarier than towing with a truck that isn't up to the task.

My Tundra is lifted 3" and has 37" tires under it... so effectively 5-5.5" of lift over factory height.

It came with 4.30 gears in it... so it does just fine with 8000lbs of boat and trailer behind it.
Biggest issue I had was the pathetic rear leaf springs... so I added a pair of Firestone air bags over them. Made all the difference in the world and tows like a beast with only 8-10psi in them.

Obviously the taller tires made it pretty sluggish, but not enough for me to worry about. It will still run faster than its safe to tow. lol

When I need to back up my fairly steep driveway, I just drop into 4-low and it practically idles right up the hill.
Boat ramps are no problem at all. I always use 4wd when dragging the boat out just so I don't have any slipping issues.

Main thing you need to keep in mind is the hitch drop. I had to play around with a few hitch inserts to get the truck/trailer level and balanced so everything ran down the road properly. I ended up with a solid forged 6" drop hitch. The big mudflaps keep rocks off the front of the boat.

I towed my 8000 lb. boat with a Chevy 2500 & 6" lift. Never a problem. Just make sure it's a quality lift kit and not some butcher job