Good Morning

I recently purchased a 29' Fountain Fever with twin 454's on a steel Myco trailer and I'm looking for some input on towing/tow vehicles. I currently drive a lifted 2008 Yukon 2wd with a 5.3 liter with 3.42 rear end gears (not the best for pulling). I dont plan on doing any long distance pulling with the fountain, just a few miles back and forth to the boat ramp and back. I initially thought of changing the rear end gears to 3.73's but after talking to a friend with a 32' Fever, he suggested going with a 3/4 ton diesel. I otherwise have no use for the pulling power of the 3/4 ton truck, but dont want to find myself in a bad situation with using the Yukon. Any input is appreciated and I thank you all in advanced.

Oh, GM listed towing capacity at 6500lbs for the Yukon and NADA lists the 29 Fever's weight as 6900lbs, if that helps..

If you're not going much long distance, I don't know why you would bother buying a new truck... That's just my .02.. 2 wheel drive might get sketchy at the boat ramp though if it's it wet...

I think you answered your own question. Weight listed for 29 Fever is 6,900lbs DRY...add fuel and gear PLUS trailer and you will be near(or over) 10,000lbs.

If you want a 'Big Boat" you MUST have a Big(er) Truck.

Cheers,

Dave

I think your are 100% correct, I guess I was hoping to "get by" for a short time but need to take the plunge. 315Duramax made a great point about being a 2wd on the boat ramp too, eek!

Thanks for the input

There was a guy last weekend trying to get his top Gun out of the ft Myers ramp with a 2wd. Wasn't working out too well for him.

We had the Excursion with the boat behind her......hooked up the front of his truck to the boat trailer and the old 7.3 pulled her right out.

Wish I would have got a pic of that.

I'd say a slippery steep ramp would be your enemy, but if you are using a launch that you know the condition of all the time, you probably won't have any problems with what you have. If you can, set the trailer up so you can have a little additional tongue weight. Lake slime is slippery....good luck. At least the Yukon has some weight in the rear, unlike a pickup. That Yukon probably has a lock in rear end anyway

Find a used 3/4 ton 4wd suburban/yukon xl. They are easy to drive everyday and will pull the boat no issue. It will have to be 2006 or earlier but they are easy to find.

I had an older Banana boat 3700 lbs pulled it with a Chevrolet 1500 how it was not good at towing my 31 sonic listed at 7000 pounds then add the fuel and trailer it was up there. I looked for a long while but this year found a 2005 F-250 with only 29000 miles for 7K.... pulls my boat with no issue. I would worry at the boat ramp especially if it is wet and low tide.. you will need a little more power than what you are driving. look for a used 3/4 ton they are out there.

I'd be mostly concerned with the 2wd on a wet ramp.

If you have to tow anywhere at highway speeds you won't like the short wheelbase of the Yukon. I towed my 30 with a Yukon Denali, but it was AWD and had the 6.2. But it wasn't fun on the highway. I had a F150 FX4 with the EcoBoost and 3.73's that did a much better job, and now I've got a new Sierra 4wd Crew Cab with the Max Tow package. Bottom line, is that you can get away with a 1/2 ton truck, just needs to be properly equipped.

It's not the going.
It's the stopping.

You don't have enough truck.
I'll bed the trailer has Surge Brakes too.

This question comes up nearly every single week.
When it comes down to it, you want too much truck for your boat; not too much boat for your truck.

You need a 3/4 ton truck. Search for an older Suburban 2500 or something with the 8.1L if you want to keep an SUV platform.
And Electric over Hydraulic brakes will be THE best money you ever spend on a towing setup.

Do a search for old posts in this section. TONS AND TONS of info.

Oh yeah, you want 4x4 too.