towing a MCOB 288
 

I wondered if anyone is towing a 288 with a 1/2 ton suv like a 2007 Suburban. The tow rating of the truck is 7100#.

Thanks,

Fin

My 04 suburban tows mine like a dream!

1/2 ton truck/suv is plenty for a 288.

I pulled ours with a 03 1/2 ton Silverado Ext Cab. To me the boat handled the truck more then the truck handled the boat. Tried spring stiffners and that did stiffen it up a little but the ride was horrible. Enough power with the 5.3 though I 'd not want to make a lot of long distance travels with the power.
Sold it and bought the 2500HD. MUCH better tower for the 288IMO. Braking , ride and everything is a 100% better.

Plenty of guyz tow 28 ft'ers with 1/2 tons. I did it for a few years and the rear suspension on my Z71 Avalanche was just to soft the 5.3 pulled well. Upgraded to a diesel and then a 32' dominator.

i pull my 288 MCOB with a 09 tahoe no problem.

For those of you with a 2007 or new GM truck did you replace the hitch. I noticed the hitch on my 2007 yukon xl says 5000# weight carrying. I figured the boat/trailer/fuel and gear would be at least 6000#. I have not been able to find an aftermarket class IV hitch for my yukon.

Fin

Just go diesel 3/4 ton and you'll never tow with a gas 1/2 ton again. Get ready to start buying transmissions if you keep the 1/2 ton. You will get buy with it for a year or two then bam. Just my two cents.

The FB is probably heavier than the 288. 1/2 ton should be fine.

Here's the deal:

Your Sub is rated for 7100 lbs. towing, give or take. That's if you have the 4.10 gears and the right option package.

Boat: 4700 lbs. (WITH A SBC, not a BBC)
95 gallons of fuel: 570 lbs.
Midwest guy; probably prefer a steel trailer: 1700 lbs. ?
Gear, coolers, anchor, spare parts, etc. etc. 250 lbs. ?

So now you are at 7300 lbs. before we start talking about spare tire, jacks, etc. etc.

Your Sub is rated to tow 7100-ish lbs. EMPTY. With one driver and no passengers, and no cargo in it. Now you are going to want to put 4, 6, 8 passengers in it, and luggage, coolers, weekend gear, etc. etc.

Would I do it? Nope. You want to tow at about 75% of your maximum ratings, both tow rating, and GCWR. There is no such thing as too much truck. You want to have some "excess truck in reserve" in case of emergency.

Oh yeah, you need a Weight Distributing hitch to get that tow rating, and your factory hitch receiver is not up to par either. It's only a Class-III.

Oh yeah x2. The coil spring rear suspension on 1/2 ton GMs SUCK for towing. Air-Leveling-Ride helps, but does not compare to a solid leaf spring setup.

The MAX I would tow with a 1/2 ton anything is about 5500-6500 lbs. total.

The total package adds up FAST, and until you sit down and figure it out, you never realize such. Try taking your setup across a scale for a real eye opener.

Sydwayz is correct and pretty close I'd say in his estimate.

I weighed ours when we had the half ton (2WD) on our way home from the dealer back in 04 with the 03 Silverado ext cab.. No gear on board the boat, and maybe a 1/4 tank of gas in the tank from the shakedown run. (this was with a Manning steel trailer) Gross weight of the combo according to the cat certifired scale was 11460# I did not split the truck/traielr apart to get seperate weights but I'm pretty sure I remember it being within 300-400#'s of my legal tow limit with the 1/2 ton 03 2WD.

There was a night and day diffrence in towing with the 1/2 vs the 2500HD we sold it for. Just felt much more in control.

thanks for all the info. I drive a 3/4 ford F250 but I use it to pull our camper out to the lake. My wife has the yukon xl and currently tows our wakeboard boat to the lake. We have considered finding a permanent place to leave the camper at the lake and then I would use the 3/4 ton to tow the 288 with no worries.

Thanks again,
Fin

That would be your best bet not to mention the issues you might encouter if something ever happened while towing with an overloaded truck.

Another question. Does anyone know what the length of the boat is on a trailer from the tip of the drive to the tongue of the trailer?

Thanks,
Fin

34~35' depending on your trailer setup.

With the drive in the down position on a Manning steel trailer it's 32'10" give or take a inch.