Question for G23 owners

[Nautie]

Greetings!

I'm looking at G23 and am curious to know what those of you that have one tow it with?

I have an 08 Armada with a V8 and 9000 lbs of stated capacity, but wondering if a G on the trailer with the gear for a week long trip (or two) to Powell will mandate something with more guns.

Thanks for the insight!

[OKWAKEBDR]

Which direction will you be coming from on your way to powell? Will you have to pull it over the Rockies (Colorado - Vail pass, Loveland pass)?

[Nautie]

Which direction will you be coming from on your way to powell? Will you have to pull it over the Rockies (Colorado - Vail pass, Loveland pass)?

Typically through Vail pass; I'm in Denver so the I-70 corridor is the way down. Thanks!

[shawndoggy]

This isn't a direct answer but may be illustrative. We have a MB TWB 23 (a big boat, but lighter than the G to be sure), and I tow with a QX56. We tow over Donner pass quite a bit (7k' compared to Vail pass's 10k').

The QX can do it but it struggles to maintain 50 up the steepest pitches and will get hot if you try to just mash your foot to the floor and hold 4500 rpms in second. If it's hot, we will generally have to turn the AC off on the way home to keep the rig cool. Towing mileage is atrocious, but you know that.

Which is too bad because the chassis is fine. But I'm just on the cusp of adequate power for towing over a mountain range. If I lived in Texas or Florida, I'd say that this rig would be ideal. But for big mountain passes in the west, you can never have too much power.

I've been lusting over old 7.3L diesel excursions on CL for the past year. A co-worker has a bu 247 and does the same tow over the pass a lot with a gmc 2500 truck with the 8.1L motor. It yanks that heavy boat really well and his mileage really isn't any worse than with the QX, so an early 2000s suburban or yukon 2500 with the 8.1 would be a good choice too.

FWIW, we did the same tow a lot with a malibu vride and the QX never missed a beat.