I keep seeing all these crazy stories and pictures of folks pulling the Space Shuttle behind their S-10 pickup, and like comparisons.

While at a store's parking lot on my way to the lake the other day, some woman verbally accosted me due to my boat and where I was planning on taking it; a lake she felt my boat did not belong in part due to a recent fatal accident. My point is, she made a horrible statement of "It was just a matter of time before y'all killed someone." (At that point I lost my temper, but that's not important.)

However, just seeing what I mentioned above about those exceeding your tow ratings... it IS a matter of time before something BAD does happen, and we performance/power boaters are going to get another bad wrap. Take a moment to look up the labeled rating of your VEHICLE, and your HITCH (receiver, drawbar, ball, and coupler); as those ratings are on there for a reason. Learn what WC/Weight Carrying means, and what WD/Weight Distributing is, and make sure you are setup correctly. We can sit here and debate who has the strongest truck all day long, however, when something DOES go wrong; blaming the POS truck, etc is not going to help. Your insurance company is going to deny your entire claim if you are not setup correctly, and you are liable to get sued for everything that is yours when you mess up due to negligence.

And yeah, that was a soapbox speech, but needed to be said. Done.

you mean like this?

What is wrong with that picture?

Good post, it is a harsh reality. As you know, I upgraded this year for the very reason you list. It won't matter who's at fault, if you get into an accident and are found to be over your towing limit, you're going to find yourself uninsured. It's like driving around with a BAC of .09. You may be just over the limit and fine to drive, but if some idiot hits you and the cops smell alcohol, you're screwed. It only cost me around $200 to get me from a listed weight carrying limit of 5K to 12K, but the piece of mind is priceless.

Bill272 - what do you have to do to get your listed tow capacity changed??
What kind of truck, and what modifications did you make?
I had a thread going here about the gearing in my Chevy. I'm good to 6500#'s (but as Sydwayz points out, I really do need to check all the other equipment before I undertake that endeavour). Currently starting to "Kick tires" - or "Prop's" in this case. I know what I want, and know what it weighs, but don't want to have to buy a new tow vehicle if I can modify my current truck.

I've got a 2500 Avalanche with 4.10 gears. The truck with the stock hitch was rated for 5K weight carrying and 12K weight distributing, and I was towing between 11K and 12K with it and a 6K# reciever and ball. I replaced the stock hitch with a Putnam XDR rated for 14K# WC, 15k# WD, along with a heavy duty receiver and ball. I did call GM and ask if that would raise the truck's weight carrying tow rating to the 12K max of the truck and they said it does. Sydways has the same truck and went the WD route, I believe using the same hitch.

If you have a Super Duty, the stock hitch is only good for a pop up camper I am pulling close to the max for my F-350 Powerstroke so I replaced the hitch with the correct weight one and also have a solid forged receiver and a ball rated for 30K. I also replaced the cheesy safety cables on the trailer with some heavy duty chains in case it does come off the ball. Also make sure your tires are inflated up to the maximum psi so that they don't overheat and blow out. Also remember to increase the rear tire pressure on the tow vehicle when towing because the rear is now carrying some extra weight. You can never be too safe.

I'm just guessing with my setup, and i'm afraid it's kind of shaky. 27' fountain on tandem axle trailer behind a '91 suburban with a tbi 350. I don't know for sure what it weighs, and i don't know what the tongue weight is, but by my estimates i'm pretty close to the limit, maybe over by a couple hundred pounds. I believe the suburban is rated to tow 6000 lbs.

The question is, how soon can i afford a real truck. I hate towing with this suburban. Maybe by next spring, but i kind of doubt it.

The 2006 Chevy Silverado half-ton has a new optional 6.0L 345hp engine ( Extended Cab with Vortec Max Performance Pack ). With the 4.10 rear-axle ratio you can tow up to 10,000 pounds! Add in the Z71 (4x4) and the LT3 trim (leather heated seats, XM radio, 6-speaker Bose stereo, 10-way driver seats, power retractable side mirrors, and more) and you are looking at my next truck!

I drove a 3/4 ton (2500) and I didn't like it. I love the smooth ride of my current 2004 half-ton Z71, and the 3/4 ton was just too stiff for a daily ride.

3/4 ton+ probably smooths out with a TG in tow

I was guilty of this also, had the stock pos hitch on a F-350. But after advise from oso I found out how to fix the problem. Now I have a 14k Curt hitch and piece of mind....BZ

That's the only reason I upgraded to a 3500 Dually. I didn't want any legal hassels if something was to go wrong, my fault or not. Also it's great peace of mind. I will say that it pulls like it's not even back there. (382 Formula) Good post!

isn't the "vortec max performance pack" only available in 2WD ext cab short bed model? 6900 tow package... (think SS models and the like....)

http://www.chevrolet.com/silverado/specifications/

Dukenrock, remember that you need to check the ratings on the factory hitch. Its probably only a Class-III hitch.

Clay, if your are going to get into the arena of a Top Gun, you are at MINIMUM going to need a 2500HD with the 8.1L or Duramax. Remember, fuel is 6lbs/gallon. Your trailer is going to be at least 1250-1500lbs and couple that with tools, coolers, gear, etc, it adds up FAST. I have driven the higher HP small-blocks from GM. The 6.0 with 345HP is available in the Denalis and Escalades. While it does have a decent HP rating, it does not have the torque numbers with it. Those HP ratings come VERY high in the RPM range. When you drop the pedal to make a pass, even NOT towing, it has to wind up to a good 4500+ rpm to scoot for a pass. That's just a fact with a small-blocks, which translates to less fuel mileage, a lot harder worked engine, and more apt to grenade when run at such rpms.

Sean, click on the Trailering tab of your link and look for...

1500 4x4 Extended Cab with Vortec Max Performance Pack 6.5 10,000 4.10 15,500



Brian (Sydwayz), just ignore coin. I'm only looking at boats that weigh 10,000 pounds or less. Plus, I can't afford a TopGun!

Here's a trivia question for you guys.

Who owns the boat that is being towed in post #9????

i have seen that formula before.... the question is, does it have whipples in that pic?

i must of skipped that the first time....

i had a GMC sierra denali with the 4WS and the same 6.0 and was rated like that and i wouldn't recommend it if you are gonna really pull anything more than 8k or so... it is still a half ton truck... the tongue weight will almost max out your payload before you even put coolers in the bed... the brakes weren't bad on the denali (the rear steer axle uses bigger brakes i believe....) but not nearly as good as my super duty is....

Sean,

I only plan on towing the boat a couple of miles each way (from the storage facility to the ramp and back.) But, the "tow truck" will also be my daily driver (after the Harley), and I just love the ride in my Z71!

isnt it R addiction or rippem?

The thing that surprizes me is the fact a 3500 duramax dually,2500 8.1 avalanche and 2500hd 8.1 & duramax are all rated to TOW THE SAME AMOUNT! I recently had a argument with a guy who insisted everything was heavier duty on his 3500 duramax dually then my 2500 hd,he just couldn't believe they both use the same 11.5 inch ring and pinion,same size brakes,same transmission,frame,radiator etc. The only real difference is the overload springs on rear and extra set of tires,slightly narrower rear axle housing, Smitty

Post #9 Pic #3 is Phantom Chaos' (Norty's) 382 Formula. Apparently his Pink Excursion was not cutting the mustard anymore.

It's a class IV, but I'm probably right on the bubble. Should consider a V? Class IV is rated at 12,000.

As Performance Boaters you raised 2 issues:
1. The woman felt high performance boats do not belong on her lake.
2. Towing over your capacity

The first is a tough issue and a stigma we must avoid. The woman's comments remind me of what people think of gun owners. Simple rules of boating safely notwhithstanding, we must realize that having a high performance boat puts you into a class where you WILL be judged to a higher standard. If as a boater you cannot accept this than BUY A BAYLINER. You must also constantly remind yourself when behind the wheel of an 8,000 lb plus missle not to get lulled into a false sense of security. Stay away from the shore & other boaters when operating at high speed, obey speed limits, etc.

The second issue, is don't do it unless you are prepared to get stuck with the consequences. I.E if some little #%$@ing car pulls out in front of you and you smash into them YOU COULD be held at fault for unsafe operation (over limit).

Wannabe

Here is another thought. If your registered gross vehicle weight is lower than your actual towing weight can you get an over weight ticket or even worse in the event of an accident be declined by your insurance? I know that commercial trucks can get over weight tickets.

Mike

duke,
http://www.putnamhitch.com/ can probably hook you up with a Class-V (as I have) for less than $250 bucks. I'd spring for it. I bet your Class-IV hitch is rated for 12K lbs. ONLY with a Weight Distribution setup. Weight Carrying is probably significantly less.

wannabe,
Thanks for your thoughts. They emulate mine to the T.

Cool Trips,
I dunno--good question. I wish we had our resident Occifer to update us with an answer. If he sees this thread, and wishes to answer me via PM or email, I will post the reply.

remember "class" means little or nothing, and has little or no connection to the actual weight ratings.
You want weight ratings of the hitch in lbs.

My Putnam XDR was $180 or less. It has big WC rating.

Me too.

You guys should stop playing with your little trucks and get one of these. 160,000 lb. GVW in Michigan, 12 3/4" X1/2" frame 14,000 lb steer axle, 44,000 lb rear axles, 625 hp. Cat @2050 ft.lb.tq. 18 speed trans with a .62 in the last overdrive, and 3.36 rears. You could pull that boat in post #2 (and 10 others) up Lovland Pass at over 125 mph and stop it going down the other side without using the trailer brakes. $175,000 new or buy a used one with 200,000- 300,000 very reliable miles left in it for less then a new pickup and get more MPG while towing. JB