Best tow rig?

[patoloco]

Airnautique211 - I ended up getting my first ever ticket on the water at Monroe last year for pulling too close too shore, about 125FT ,(the only safe place to be at Monroe ironicaly). So watch out for DNR and its random enforcement.

I just caught a glance of the boat I thought was yours since I was in a big hurry to get to work. Probably a different boat as there are several that kind of look like it from a distance. They are usually really good about that sort of thing.

[Christopher-W.-Becker]

What about the Ford. Now thats a TRUCK!

[hsmunoz]

this ol' girl get's the job done!

fatboy, gotta love sitting in a superduty , admiring your 211 in the rear view...

[FatBoy]

The only way to tow Buddy.

[Brad_K]

I tow my 1980 barefoot with a Land rover Defender 130 crew cab, over here in the UK where Mr Brown completely shafts us on fuel tax I make do with a 2.5 turbo Diesel and it does the job just fine. Did have to put it in the low box last week when pulling her out of the water. What I do find comical is how inefficient American engines are, European designed engines probably achieve just as much power if not more with an engine half the size, but then when fuel is as cheap as it is over there who cares.

[dragonryder]

2002 GMC Yukon

Pulls like a champ

[AirNautique211]

RE: 2002 GMC Yukon

HS,

Do you ever have trouble backing that monster up on the ramp? Can you see the boat?

[FatBoy]

Best Tow Rig

The truck really isn't that big, Henry is only 4 foot tall. J/K hehehe

[Daytomann]

Wow, we got some good looking rigs on here!

I tow with a 2001 F-150 4x4 SuperCrew.....5.4L with 3.55 gears. Does great and with the taller gears I get pretty decent milage when towing on the highway.
I considered trading in for a F-250 with the Deisel but unless you tow more than 15,000 miles a year (which I wont) it doesnt pay off.
i also considered trading in for a 04/05 F-150 with more power but my truck seems to tow just fine and it gets the same milage when towing as my buddy's 04 F-150...so I didnt see the point.

[Daytomann]

Well, I passed my ten minute time limit to Edit.... :???:
Heres a few pics...

[redelf75]

Hemi!

The Durango pulls the 216 effortlessly.

I used to tow my '82 SN with an '87 Cherokee with a 4.0 I6. While it had a 5000 lbs tow rating, I had to add all the goodies like enging oil cooler, HD altinator, new springs, etc. It could hardly keep at 55 up any decent hill and slowing down suddenly on the highway was never dull.

When we dumped that old thing, I swore I'd never tow again without a suitable vehicle. Do you think today's midsize SUV's and pickups with 5000 - 6000 lbs rating would tow a SAN properly and safely? There seem to be a lot people doing it. I'm asking because I have a friend that's considering a new (used) vehicle, like a Ford Sport Track or Pathfinder.

[hsmunoz]

hey guys,

launching is a breeze. What's nice is that up here in the delta, the tide can have a significant impact on how far down the ramp you have to go, and so the lift keeps the truck out of the water. When I raced jetski's , we launched right from the beach , so I needed higher clearance (that's what I told the wife , anyway) . It's just been a great truck. Yea I can see the boat, I watch the tower, and my mirrors.

now launching the boat with my 32ft class A, that's tricky.

hey now Floyd, that's 4ft 1in!,

[Alan-S]

My first tow vehicle for my SAN was a 98 GMC Sierra extended cab 1500 with the V-6. It was a great truck and towed my SAN as fast as I wanted to go, with great gas mileage. Then I upgraded to a 2004 Chevy Silverado Quad-cab 1500HD Quadrasteer w/6.0 vortec v-8. Could not tell the boat was back there at all, horrible gas mileage though 8-10mpg. Fell in love with the BMW M3 competition package, sold my truck and Audi A4. Currently tow the boat with my friends v8 durango or mostly with my girlfriend's v6 Xterra with a 5,000# rating. Taken the boat from Richmond down to a lake in NC twice with my new trailer(tandem Boatmate) and no problems, it holds speed fine and the trailer's disc brakes are amazing. Only wish the xterra had a little more mass, the boat does push it around a little on bridges and bumps, awful on gas too 8.6 mpg, I would say that it is safe, but glad that I have experience with towing, would be a little scary for a first timer.

[skiswm]

I tow with a '01 silverado v8ext cab with a 4" lift...tows great my boat is a '97 S/S. I tow to the Lake Tahoe area 4-5x's a year from the SF bay area (about 200 miles each way). I have plenty of power going up and over the 7k ft elevation usually. Only issue is when the guy with the old VW van or SUV with no power decides to try to head up the mtns. Overall the best to tow I have found is later at night....semi drivers are great, flashing lights to let u pass etc. Much easier to keep the speed up on the long uphill mtn runs. A side note on the lift....I love it I can look from my rearview mirror directly through the boats windshield and see behind it. Really maks passing A LOT easier. I use to tow yrs ago with my dad's old jeep cherokee...now that wheelbase was way to small and it seemed to move all over the road.

[jeffsv211]

Love my Avalanche and it tows my new SV211 better than my old I/O that I had.. but I am sure it's the tandem axle with brakes that makes the difference...