In market for boat, need advice for towing!

[Porkster76]

Hello to all. I am looking at buying a new boat (will be my first boat) and not sure if I'll be able to tow it with my vehicle. All input will be greatly appreciated.
I have a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT crew cab, 2WD, 4.7L V8.
Boat: 2001 Hurricane SD 237 deck boat NADA says boat weighs 3010lbs.
Engine: 2001 Mercury Optimax 225 outboard Mercury Marine says engine weighs 500lbs.
Trailer: 2014 Shorelander Shorelander website says 705 lbs.

The fuel in the boat being topped off at 6.073lbs. per gallon of gas, holding 56gal. equates to 340lbs.
All gear will run around 300lbs.

Will my truck tow and pull this thing out of the water with no incident?

 

[oldjeep]

Tow rating for that truck should be over 5k. Sounds fine to me. I've got the same truck with the 5.7 and it is rated around 8k

 

[Porkster76]

Thanks for the input oldjeep. The dodge website says my truck can haul over 9000lbs. But I was worried that continual hauling of this boat would wear out my tranny over time. I plan on taking the boat out every other weekend this summer from boat storage to the ramp.

 

[oldjeep]

I don't buy 9000 lbs

Chart for the 4.7L crewcab SLT says 5200-7250 depending on gear ratio. The trannys are good in the 2009+ trucks. Mine has 114K on it so far with a lot of heavy towing.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...=SnT7vF9QVbJstbhLARkdBQ&bvm=bv.89947451,d.aWw

 

[Maclin]

Does your truck have the tow package? And what axle ratio do you have?

I would not recommend towing that much without the tow package. You get the extra cooling and heavy duty receiver and the 7 pin plug. If your truck does not have it, and has the 3.55 ratio axle then you will struggle some and tend to overwork and overheat the tranny.

I also am sure your tow rating is more like 5/6k, not 9k. I have a Ram 1500 Reg Cab short bed 4x4 4.7l with tow package, it has the 3.92 ratio. It is rated at 7400. Same truck (3.92, 4x4,reg cab sb) with the 5.7l is 9300. A 5.7 with 3.55 ratio is rated at 7800. A 4.7 with the 3.55 ratio is rated at 6100. Crew Cabs are slightly lower ratings than the regular cab short bed.

 

[Maclin]

I was going to write something good about my tranny at 105k miles, but did not want to jinx it

 

[JASinIL2006]

How far of a drive? What kind of terrain (flat, hilly, urban vs. rural)? If I was going to be towing hard miles (long drives, hilly terrain, lots of start and stop traffic), I'd be much more concerned about having a towing package on my truck. A short, flat drive between storage and the boat ramp, I'd probably be less worried.

I would consider the type of ramps at which you'll be launching... on slippery ramps or natural surfaces (sand, dirt), you may wish you had 4WD. If the ramps are clean, concrete ramps, you'll be fine with 2WD.

Jim

 

[cjjjdeck]

I have the 2012 year of that boat (which I and the family love, by the way) and it is every bit of at least 5,000lbs (mine might be even closer to 6,000 with the I/O and gear). Although your truck probably has the weight rating to tow it, don't do it without at least adding a transmission cooler (if you don't have the tow package, hopefully you do). If you have the higher gears, you will absolutely feel this load, especially when you hit hills. 2WD is not your friend on boat ramps, so be extra careful where you launch, as JASinIL2006 mentions (have a tow strap handy)

 

[Scott Danforth]

your truck will be fine for most ramps. as mentioned, some ramps may require a 4x4.

 

[oldjeep]

Does your truck have the tow package? And what axle ratio do you have?

I would not recommend towing that much without the tow package. You get the extra cooling and heavy duty receiver and the 7 pin plug. If your truck does not have it, and has the 3.55 ratio axle then you will struggle some and tend to overwork and overheat the tranny.

I also am sure your tow rating is more like 5/6k, not 9k. I have a Ram 1500 Reg Cab short bed 4x4 4.7l with tow package, it has the 3.92 ratio. It is rated at 7400. Same truck (3.92, 4x4,reg cab sb) with the 5.7l is 9300. A 5.7 with 3.55 ratio is rated at 7800. A 4.7 with the 3.55 ratio is rated at 6100. Crew Cabs are slightly lower ratings than the regular cab short bed.

No such thing as a tow package on an 09 and up RAM 1500. They all come with heavy duty coolers and 7/4 pin plugs. The only towing options are which hitch you get with it - None(bumper only), Class 3 (little thing that attaches to the already class 3 bumper) and class 4.

 

[MTboatguy]

Another thing to take into consideration, where will you be towing? Even with the engine management systems these days, here where I live most of my towing is above 4000 feet and I had to do some modifications to the air intake system to get max performance out of my tow vehicles, on my main tow rig which is a diesel, we did a chip upgrade and added to the trans cooler to ensure longer life, as I said, we also upgraded the air intake system for better flow.

 

[Blind Date]

A 1/2 ton truck should handle that load just fine. Pictured below is one of best things you can have on a tow vehicle IMO. If your Dodge has a factory trans. temp. gage that is a good way to determine how hard your working the transmission. I watch this gage like a hawk anytime I'm towing with our 'Hoe, no matter what the load or terrain.

 

[oldjeep]

A 1/2 ton truck should handle that load just fine. Pictured below is one of best things you can have on a tow vehicle IMO. If your Dodge has a factory trans. temp. gage that is a good way to determine how hard your working the transmission. I watch this gage like a hawk anytime I'm towing with our 'Hoe, no matter what the load or terrain.

Yup 2009 Ram has factory trans temp, oil temp and coolant temp on the center information screen unless you bought an ST.

 

[98Shabah]

I had the same truck (also a 2wd - no limited slip) and towed my 21' Caravelle with it which is probably roughly the same weight that you're looking at pulling. The truck pulled the load without issue, though I found myself having to lock it in 4th gear or it was shifting too much. I dragged my boat all over missouri, illinois, and arkansas with that truck. I only ever had a problem on a ramp once, it was a majorly steep concrete ramp with moss on it, and it was raining hard, there was no way the truck was ever going to get the boat up the ramp in those conditions. We connected my trailer to a friend's 4wd ram and used it to pull the boat out. Now I have a 4wd truck.

 

[redneck joe]

I was going to write something good about my tranny at 105k miles, but did not want to jinx it

mine made it to 198,754. I had been planning a cocky visit to the dealer to have a 200k mile 'checkup' then ....



you will be fine, read up on tounge weight that will be more important as well as with a 2001 you might want to go weigh it all to see what you have, then recalculate if you have any extra water weight.

 

[tpenfield]

The best way to tell is to find the towing rating for your exact model of truck and then compare to the weight that you listed. If you have got a decent margin, then no worries.

 

[thumpar]

I don't think you would have an issue with towing it. The only problem you might have is with pulling the boat out at a bad ramp since it is 2wd. I am not familiar with Dodge but if it has tow mode it would help.

 

[redneck joe]

I don't think you would have an issue with towing it. The only problem you might have is with pulling the boat out at a bad ramp since it is 2wd. I am not familiar with Dodge but if it has tow mode it would help.

and that is where proper tounge weight needs to happen, maybe even on the heavy side.

 

[Maclin]

Still wondering about the package on the truck, if it is just the basic bumper hitch or has one of the "extra" receiver hitches. Bumper hitch will limit the capacity, to 5k I think.

 

[Porkster76]

Thanks for all inputs. My truck has a frame mounted reese hitch.