Trailering G23

[Infinity]

I have a 2019 Ram 1500 4x4 with the 3.92 gears. It has 11,500 towing and 1,540 payload. My 24ft boat weighs between 7500-8000lbs fully loaded (depending on if my 500lbs of lead is in the boat or not). This truck does great and has impressed me. Most of my towing is not long distance but I take a couple trips that are between 3-4hrs, part of it thru some mountains going from NC to TN.
Never felt unsafe but I drive defensively and don't exceed 65mph. Electric over Hydraulic brakes would be even better just cause it will control things a bit better and you also have braking in reverse, but my surge brakes work great and I stay on top of trailer maintenance.

[xxrb2010]

I have a 2019 Ram 1500 4x4 with the 3.92 gears. It has 11,500 towing and 1,540 payload. My 24ft boat weighs between 7500-8000lbs fully loaded (depending on if my 500lbs of lead is in the boat or not). This truck does great and has impressed me. Most of my towing is not long distance but I take a couple trips that are between 3-4hrs, part of it thru some mountains going from NC to TN.
Never felt unsafe but I drive defensively and don't exceed 65mph. Electric over Hydraulic brakes would be even better just cause it will control things a bit better and you also have braking in reverse, but my surge brakes work great and I stay on top of trailer maintenance.

Yes, a lot depends on the speed. I am 70-75 when I tow my boat long distance empty and I am 50-55 when I tow it full of gears on short distance.

[kylant]

I have a 3500 Ram/Cummins and tow a GS22. Weight of that boat is 4750# dry, so probably around 5500# loaded on an at least #1500 trailer. So at minimum 7K#.
There is no way I would tow an even heavier boat with anything less than a 3/4 ton truck. Been there, done that.
I had a Tundra and towed my 2000 Air Nautique over Siskiyou pass in oregon. That was awful, the boat controlled the truck. The next day i bought a 3/4 ton Silverado with a Duramax. Over the years I have had several tow vehicles. Nothing ever feels as safe as a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

[options123]

After researching trucks and towing capacity, I'm really surprised the variation within each model. To get to those max numbers you have to have essentially a 4×2, no crew can, and the best engine. On top of that you may need a special torque engine or towing package. I contend most are ignorant, as I was, about what their particular truck can tow.

I'm going to upgrade to a truck that can tow 9650. Hoping this is good enough to tow the 2019 g23 and trailer. I saw a different thread where someone weighed trailer,gear, and boat and it was 8500 pounds. I'm mostly going a very short distance but usually take a 4 hour road trip once a year to a lake cabin is wisco.

[thedude]

WI is pretty flat, you'll be fine with about a 10k tow rating - just be smart and don't drive like you are in a Honda Civic. I'd recommend a Phoenix trailer with their 17" wheels minimum! I've had Boatmate, Phoenix, and Ram-Lin trailers for various G23's. The two Phoenix trailers I had loaded better than the other brands. Never any issues with the boat not loading centered. Phoenix uses more bunks and boxed steel bunk supports. They also use leaf springs which I feel trailer better than torsion axles. I unload and load the boat by myself most of the time, about 4 times each week. No issues. Find a good ramp that works well for your boat. Too steep and its hard to get the bow up over the roller, and then the roller to the bow eye hook, too flat and you have to back in until your rear wheels are halfway under water. The ramp angle will make your life easy or miserable at the end of the day.

[Master-Spud]

1. I tow with a 2012 f-150 with the eco boost and max tow package, my G23 is on a triple axle trailer and sags my truck way less than my 5500lbs travel trailer. Now as for how it handles, the triple axle trailer keeps it pretty straight and true, but forget passing anyone, and breaking is a little more iffy for sure, so definitely need to be smart about it. Is it possible to tow with a 1/2 ton, sure... But my next truck will be a diesel 3/4 or larger for sure. As for loading at the ramp, I power load, so isn't too bad.

[Specialized]

I have a G21 which would be close to a G23 in total trailered weight. We tow the boat with two different vehicles, a 2010 Ford Expedition and a 2011 Ford F250.

2010 Expedition has plenty of power to tow boat and launching and trailering are simple. One bad experience occured on a steep boat ramp. The boat basically pulled the Expedition into the water. All four tires where skidding until the boat hit the water and began to float. Very unnerving! We no longer use this ramp if we tow with Expedition. We get around 8-9 mpg towing with 5.4 triton motor. Also, feels like the boat is in control at speeds over 65mph.

2011 F250 is a much better towing experience. The truck is heavier and commands the boat better than the Expedition. On the ramp that the Expedition slid the F250 has no problems. we get around 10MPG pulling at highway speed.

If I have the option I would always choose to tow with the F250 on long trips. We have a small lake in our neighborhood and I tow the boat with both cars to it. If you plan on long trips get a bigger truck you will be glad you did.

[72Miles]

This is a great thread on this subject.

https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...ries-nautiques

[Gtsum2]

I see so many of these threads on camping forums and they usually end up all over the place. I have a Ram 3500 Srw that i will be towing the boat with, but that will be far and few times as it will stay at the lake house mostly. That being said, I had a Ram 1500 for a year and they are the worst of the half tons for towing performance....mainly because of limited payload capacity and their coil rear springs. If I was regularly towing a 8000lb boat, a 3/4!ton would feel a lot better than a half ton...although some of the ford ecoboost 150’s are stout and would work also.


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[jjackkrash]

After researching trucks and towing capacity, I'm really surprised the variation within each model. To get to those max numbers you have to have essentially a 4×2, no crew can, and the best engine. On top of that you may need a special torque engine or towing package. I contend most are ignorant, as I was, about what their particular truck can tow.

I'm going to upgrade to a truck that can tow 9650. Hoping this is good enough to tow the 2019 g23 and trailer. I saw a different thread where someone weighed trailer,gear, and boat and it was 8500 pounds. I'm mostly going a very short distance but usually take a 4 hour road trip once a year to a lake cabin is wisco.

This is mostly correct. The "max tow capacity" listed usually refers the most weight the manufacture thinks the vehicle can safely tow consistently without holding up traffic or causing premature wear on the drive train, based on an empty vehicle, 1/2 tank of gas, and one 150 pound driver. But this rating does not provide an excuse to ignore other more specific ratings, like max payload, max hitch carrying capacity, max hitch pulling capacity, max axle weight, and max tire carrying weight, which are usually the limiting ratings that get exceeded well before the max tow rating gets hit, and are specific to each vehicle based on options and configuration. Every truck other than a base 2WD, regular cab truck is going to be rated less than the advertised ratings. Payload, axle, and tire ratings are big ones to pay attention to. Things like trailer tongue weight, passengers, and gear stowed in the truck all go against the payload, axle and tire ratings (which usually can be found on a yellow sticker in the door or glovebox).

[Sailfun]

Make sure when you check the tow rating for your vehicle it does not require a weight distribution hitch. To get to the higher tow ratings most lighter trucks and SUV’s require it. It’s a rare item to find towing boats.

[xxrb2010]

Make sure when you check the tow rating for your vehicle it does not require a weight distribution hitch. To get to the higher tow ratings most lighter trucks and SUV’s require it. It’s a rare item to find towing boats.

ALL F150 required it above 5000 lbs, I guess this is the same for GM, RAM 1/2 trucks too, but if you talk to trailer manufacturers with swing away tongue they will strongly recommend against. Pick your poison. A boat put way less tongue weight than a normal trailer according to trailer manufacturer that is why they claim this is not needed and not recommended for swing away tongue.

[Jon G23]

I pull a G23 on a tri axle with a 19 F150 EcoBoost mostly short trips 40 km one way truck does great better than my past chev with 6.2 but I do have air bags in the F150 mainly because truck has a front end level and trailer with no bags drop it 1 inch creating a backwards rake on truck.
Now I think the biggest thing to think about is not moving it but stopping it, I did not like the push of surge brakes so converted the trailer to electric over hydraulic therefore I now have control over brake pressure and of course you have to drive like you are a transport truck leaving extra room and driving for everyone around you.
With this said I consider myself experienced pulling trailers having pulled everything from 40 foot 5th wheels and down 10 years as a industrial courrier.
Now I have had HD diesels in past and did not find they are worth it for recreational towing combined as a daily driver with the added cost of both purchase and maintenance and the stiffer ride they have when empty.

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[Mike Fenton]

Most half ton trucks will pull the g23, but can you stop it? I had a tundra and it was a little sketchy pulling my g23. I upgraded to a f-250 with the 6.7 and it pulls and stops it with ease. Went on a 6 hour lake trip over the summer and did 75mph all the way there no problem. Most of the manufacturers flag ship boats need to be towed with a 3/4 ton truck.. Thats just my 2 cents

[options123]

I have a 2019 Ram 1500 4x4 with the 3.92 gears. It has 11,500 towing and 1,540 payload. My 24ft boat weighs between 7500-8000lbs fully loaded (depending on if my 500lbs of lead is in the boat or not). This truck does great and has impressed me. Most of my towing is not long distance but I take a couple trips that are between 3-4hrs, part of it thru some mountains going from NC to TN.
Never felt unsafe but I drive defensively and don't exceed 65mph. Electric over Hydraulic brakes would be even better just cause it will control things a bit better and you also have braking in reverse, but my surge brakes work great and I stay on top of trailer maintenance.

Do you have a weight distributing hitch? I just traded in my 14 ram with towing capacity 7750 for a 2019 ram rebel 1500 with 3.92 gear ratio and now I can tow 11340 with 1840 payload. I'm considered a 2500 but would not fit in garage. picking up new g23 on Wednesday. appreciate all the replies to this thread.