Tow Vehicle

[Power Bass]

I will be heading down to college in the fall and I will hopefully be bringing an 18 foot glass boat with me. I am trying to decide on a tow vehicle, with a budget of about $5,000. Will I get better gas mileage with a midsize SUV such as a Jeep or TrailBlazer or would I be better off with a 1/2 ton truck? I will be towing 2-3 times per week, taking the occasional trip to Kentucky Lake(250mi each way). Would a midsize SUV be able to safely stop a boat without trailer brakes?

[BrianinMD]

I would be very concerned with stopping and the transmission on a mid-size SUV towing an 18foot glass boat. An SUV like this which you can get for about 5k would have a lot of miles also, shear wear and tear will take its toll.

[Brocephus Fishing]

While you may get better gas mileage out of a mid-size SUV, I would extremely concerned with the braking and transmission. You've got to stay safe and you don't want to be breaking down somewhere.

All that being said, I would go the 1/2 ton route. 

Good luck in your decision. 

[SchlottyD]

I can tell you from my experience as an auto tech that midsize suv type vehicles don't do well towing. The suspension usually sags causing weight to come off the front end effecting steering ability, and the brakes are usually not up to the task either. You could go that way and probably get by but I personally wouldn't. There wouldn't be enough of a difference in fuel mileage to justify it either. If you want an suv go with a Tahoe or Yukon or Suburban, or maybe an Expedition or Excursion, or Durango also. Those are all based on a 1/2 or 3/4 ton platform. A 1/2 ton truck with a topper is a nice way to go, gives you a place to stow gear and keep it out of the weather. A full size van makes a good tow rig as well.

[Bluebasser86]

I'd go with the truck for sure. The little bit extra for gas doesn't hurt as bad at that new transmission is going to. 

[Way2slow]

Typically, 18' glass bass boat is going to give you a tow weight of approx. 2800 pounds in ready to fish mode.  For little short runs to a lake and somewhat flat terrain, you little mid size SUVs would work ok and yes, they will give you the most gas mileage when not towing the boat.  However, throw a 2,800 pound load behind them and start making 250 mile trip,s they are not going to fare so well.  If there is any hilly country to go through, they are going to fare even worse.  Even with cooling mods to the transmissions, you had better have a spare handy.  Get on any wet roads and forget about making anything close to a quick stop.  As for the gas mileage, there will be not such thing when towing, they might even do worse than something larger because the smaller engines are going to be working overtime trying to get that load down the road.  Also forget about driving faster than 55-60 mph because you will fry most of those smaller transmission, even with the cooling mods.

So, needless to say, I would recommend getting a full size pickup.  Matter of fact, something in the size of a GM 2500 (but NOT the HD, it will kill you on gas) or Ford 250 series.   The full size truck is going to be the worst choice when not towing the boat by several miles per gallon, but will definitely be the best choice towing the boat, and probably give you the best mileage when towing the boat.

[Power Bass]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Looks like I will be getting a 1/2 ton.

[Airman4754]

For mileage and reliability find yourself a Gen 1 Ram with a 12 valve Cummins that has had the killer dowel pin replaced. 

You'll get around 20mpg and have endless power with a reliable 500k mile power plant. 

 

[WIGuide]

I'm going to buck the trend here and say you could get by with the mid-sized suv depending on which one you get. My last two vehicles have been a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Lorado with a 4.7 V8 and my current ride is a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with the 5.7 Hemi. I liked them both but the 05 is a great vehicle. Not only is it comfortable, roomy, and fun to drive, but it's got a few great features that make it stand out. First of all, when equipped with the 5.7 Hemi it is rated to pull 6,500 lbs. That's almost double what a Ford Explorer is rated to pull, and matches what the big engine Taho is rated for. I pull my boat all over the place and haven't had an issue. The Hemi would pull circles around my first gen 4.7. When it comes to stopping it's not an issue. Obviously it takes a little longer to stop when pulling a boat, but it would in a truck too. Another great perk of the JGC is traction is never an issue with their Quadra-drive II system. It probably doesn't apply to you down there, but they are absolute beasts for winter driving conditions. I've pulled my boat out of several questionable ramps up here. Sand, loose gravel, icy slick ramps, and it's walked out like it's on dry concrete every time. I've never even had to shift it into 4-low. Maybe it's for you, maybe it isn't, but I think it'd be worth a looking at a Jeep WK. Plus you can get yourself into one for quite a bit less than a decent truck.

[Further North]

I pull an aluminum Crestliner 1850 that weighs somewhere right around what you are looking at with a '14 Ford Escape...it works great...and I've been towing (boats, campers, car trailers) all my life, so I'm hardly a rookie.  I was on the water at last once a week last season, and took three trips over 500 miles.  The escape buries bigger trucks with day to day MPG and got 18.9 MPG round trip to Canada pulling the boat.

My last two tow vehicles have been a Chevy Trailblazer and a Saab 9-7x (which is a Trailblazer with a Saab badge on the hood).  Both are more than adequate to the task of towing a 2,800 lb. boat.  I guess I wonder if anyone who says they are not has actually tried one...

Base your decision on what the manufacturers rate the vehicles for...they are not going to rate a vehicle artificially high, the liability risks would be insane to contemplate.

That said, the new style Ford Escapes are out of your budget range, but I would expect you could find plenty of Trailblazer/Envoys that might meet your needs.  They are a great vehicle and will do a good job for you if you like them...what they won't do is get significantly better MPG than a full size truck, particularly if a lot of your driving as in town.

A 1/2 ton Chevy, Ford or Dodge will do the job very well for you, but one thing I noticed when I was buying my last three trucks for towing is that prices for used pick-ups were just nuts...I could get a newer small SUV with lower miles on it for the same money as an older pick-up with a ton of miles, or vice versa, spend a lot less for the small SUV the same age with similar miles.

 

[Further North]

I came back to check on something and found I have a question: I am wondering how an 18 fott glass boat winds up around 2800 lbs. when my 1850 Crestliner is about the same?

Here's how my Crestliner works out:

1. Boat, empty: 1300 lbs.
2. Motor (Johnzuki 140 4 stroke): 410 lbs.
3. 4 batteries: 229 lbs.
4. Charger: ~ 50 lbs.
5. Terrova 101: ~ 60 lbs.
6. Two Humminbird units, wiring, network stuff, transducers: ~20 lbs.
7. Humminbird 360°: 15 lbs.
8. Gas (41 gallon tank @ 6 lbs/gallon): 246 lbs.
9. Trailer: 880 lbs.

That's 3,210 lbs, without gear.  My gas tank is normally about 1/2 full or less, so my "around here" weight is right around 3,100 lbs.

I'd expect an glass boat (just the hull) to weigh at least a few hundred lbs. more.

Not a challenge, just curious, trying to learn about stuff...I've avoided glass boats because of weight and my aversion to beating them up on rocks that I fish around a lot...but if I'm off on the weight, maybe I'd consider one if something happened to my Crestliner.

[Ski213]

1 hour ago, Further North said:

I came back to check on something and found I have a question: I am wondering how an 18 fott glass boat winds up around 2800 lbs. when my 1850 Crestliner is about the same?

Here's how my Crestliner works out:

1. Boat, empty: 1300 lbs.
2. Motor (Johnzuki 140 4 stroke): 410 lbs.
3. 4 batteries: 229 lbs.
4. Charger: ~ 50 lbs.
5. Terrova 101: ~ 60 lbs.
6. Two Humminbird units, wiring, network stuff, transducers: ~20 lbs.
7. Humminbird 360°: 15 lbs.
8. Gas (41 gallon tank @ 6 lbs/gallon): 246 lbs.
9. Trailer: 880 lbs.

That's 3,210 lbs, without gear.  My gas tank is normally about 1/2 full or less, so my "around here" weight is right around 3,100 lbs.

I'd expect an glass boat (just the hull) to weigh at least a few hundred lbs. more.

Not a challenge, just curious, trying to learn about stuff...I've avoided glass boats because of weight and my aversion to beating them up on rocks that I fish around a lot...but if I'm off on the weight, maybe I'd consider one if something happened to my Crestliner.

I would expect the same but the claimed dry hull weight of my 20' stratos is around 1500 pounds. I've never put her on the scales though to know what it weighs on the trailer and tournament ready. I'm surprised that the hull weights are that close myself. 

[Way2slow]

My Statos 285 Pro I had years ago with Johnson 150, single axle Stratos Trail trailer, three batteries, 60lb thrust bow mount on the way to the lake to go fishing weighed on a scale at a local feed store was 2827 pounds. 

As for tow vehicles, it's a persons own boat, their own vehicle and their own repair bills when it don't work so if they want to tow the Queen Mary with a Honda Civic, go for it.  My personal feelings are, anyone towing in the neighbor hood of 3000 pounds with mid size vehicles for long distances at highway and interstate speeds are running on borrowed time.   Now, that's not saying that being pretty much a master mechanic with about 50 years experience of doing this stuff has any influence on my feelings but let me just say, I wouldn't do it.  Aside from just hauling it down the road under good conditions, you don't always have control of all the situations you find yourself in and when you get into one of those bad situations with a heavy load behind a small vehicle, you might not care for the outcome. 

[IndyGlockMan]

I'd go 1/2 ton truck.  Probably a Chevy or GMC.  

Get a 4x2 not a 4x4 if you want better gas mileage and lower maintenance.

Also make sure it has the stock size wheels & tires.  Big wheels & tires kill your mileage too.

Chevy trucks are easy to maintain, there are parts available everywhere and they are inexpensive.

 

[BrianinMD]

I would not recommend a 4x2, yes it is a little less mpg for 4x4 but you do not want to put yourself in a position of not being able to get out of a bad ramp. Fortunately most ramps are decent but some are not. It is a minor expense which could be huge one day. One person in my club went the 4x2 route and regretted it rather quickly.

[Bluebasser86]

18 minutes ago, BrianinMD said:

I would not recommend a 4x2, yes it is a little less mpg for 4x4 but you do not want to put yourself in a position of not being able to get out of a bad ramp. Fortunately most ramps are decent but some are not. It is a minor expense which could be huge one day. One person in my club went the 4x2 route and regretted it rather quickly.

Agreed. I've owned 1 4x2 truck, never again. 

[Bob C]

On ‎1‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 6:48 PM, Further North said:

I pull an aluminum Crestliner 1850 that weighs somewhere right around what you are looking at with a '14 Ford Escape...it works great...and I've been towing (boats, campers, car trailers) all my life, so I'm hardly a rookie.  I was on the water at last once a week last season, and took three trips over 500 miles.  The escape buries bigger trucks with day to day MPG and got 18.9 MPG round trip to Canada pulling the boat.

My last two tow vehicles have been a Chevy Trailblazer and a Saab 9-7x (which is a Trailblazer with a Saab badge on the hood).  Both are more than adequate to the task of towing a 2,800 lb. boat.  I guess I wonder if anyone who says they are not has actually tried one...

Base your decision on what the manufacturers rate the vehicles for...they are not going to rate a vehicle artificially high, the liability risks would be insane to contemplate.

That said, the new style Ford Escapes are out of your budget range, but I would expect you could find plenty of Trailblazer/Envoys that might meet your needs.  They are a great vehicle and will do a good job for you if you like them...what they won't do is get significantly better MPG than a full size truck, particularly if a lot of your driving as in town.

A 1/2 ton Chevy, Ford or Dodge will do the job very well for you, but one thing I noticed when I was buying my last three trucks for towing is that prices for used pick-ups were just nuts...I could get a newer small SUV with lower miles on it for the same money as an older pick-up with a ton of miles, or vice versa, spend a lot less for the small SUV the same age with similar miles.

 

My wife has a 2016 Escape. There's no way I would attempt to pull a boat with it. That's a good way to end up on your roof. 18.9 mpg pulling a boat? Not buying that either.

[WIGuide]

19 hours ago, Further North said:

That's 3,210 lbs, without gear.  My gas tank is normally about 1/2 full or less, so my "around here" weight is right around 3,100 lbs.

I'd expect an glass boat (just the hull) to weigh at least a few hundred lbs. more.

I'm not sure which model Crestliner you have as they change hull weight based on the model, but you may have been mislead by how much glass boats weigh. For example the Ranger 1850 LS is an 18' 8" platform that's a pretty deep boat. I don't know if it's quite as deep as a walleye boat, but either way it's a tank. But the hull weight on that comes in at 1900 lbs. Lund's 186 Pro-V GL comes in at 2100 lbs and is listed at 3450 towed. Their Pro-V 1875 aluminum version comes in at 1600 lbs hull weight and 2948 towed. There aluminum is lighter, but it's not half the weight of glass.

If you start talking bass boats,  the Ranger 518C comes in at 1550 hull weight. The RT188 which is pretty much the same dimensions is and is only about 300 lbs lighter in the hull.

[Further North]

10 hours ago, Bob C said:

My wife has a 2016 Escape. There's no way I would attempt to pull a boat with it. That's a good way to end up on your roof. 18.9 mpg pulling a boat? Not buying that either.

Bob?

Any time you'd like to come see it, you are welcome to.  Ice comes off the water sometime between March and May, freezes back up around Thanksgiving.

To be polite, you are wrong.

[Further North]

2 hours ago, WIGuide said:

I'm not sure which model Crestliner you have as they change hull weight based on the model, but you may have been mislead by how much glass boats weigh. For example the Ranger 1850 LS is an 18' 8" platform that's a pretty deep boat. I don't know if it's quite as deep as a walleye boat, but either way it's a tank. But the hull weight on that comes in at 1900 lbs. Lund's 186 Pro-V GL comes in at 2100 lbs and is listed at 3450 towed. Their Pro-V 1875 aluminum version comes in at 1600 lbs hull weight and 2948 towed. There aluminum is lighter, but it's not half the weight of glass.

If you start talking bass boats,  the Ranger 518C comes in at 1550 hull weight. The RT188 which is pretty much the same dimensions is and is only about 300 lbs lighter in the hull.

My boat is an '05 Crestliner CMV 1850...It does not have the typical "walleye" style V-hull, nor do the sides come up as far.  It's got an 11° dead rise, and high decks front and back.

That's what it looks like from above.

 

[dwtaylor]

I have an 06 Explorer with the 4L V6 (5200ish tow capacity).  It tows my Tr-185 and gear (appx 3300lbs) at about 14-16 MPG.  It works her pretty good though getting up to speed. 

With that said, I am actually looking to purchase at least a 1/2 ton truck to pull with for the others' above mentioned reasons.  A Explorer just isn't meant to pull that much weight.  With that said, the furthest place I intend on going is Sturgeon Bay, which is a little over 100 miles one way away.

The more I think about it, I am looking more and more at an early 2000s 7.3 powerstroke superduty.

[Firefish Alumacraft]

I would suggest nothing less than a 1/2ton SUV or truck. 

[flyfisher]

what i wold like to know is how a college kid has an 18' glass boat and is taking it to college and then where is he going to store it once there? Not to mention all the money on gas for the boat and the vehicle.....I was lucky to have a toyota minivan my parents gave me when i went to college.....

[Further North]

3 minutes ago, flyfisher said:

what i wold like to know is how a college kid has an 18' glass boat and is taking it to college and then where is he going to store it once there? Not to mention all the money on gas for the boat and the vehicle.....I was lucky to have a toyota minivan my parents gave me when i went to college.....

I had the same thought...then I thought; "Pretty cool, wish I could have done that."

[Way2slow]

Not all college students have to work their butts off to pay their own way through college like I did, and I still managed to keep a boat but I lived with an aunt who didn't charge me anything to stay there and gave me a place to keep it, so that helped.  You have to remember, not everybody is po folks and have things a little easier that a lot of us coming up.  I think some universities even offer bass fishing scholarships now.