I thought I would share my findings recently on towing my boat. I bought a Hewes Ocean Pro 220 a couple years back. I towed it with my 2500 gm with the 6.5 in it until it blew up last summer. It was a pretty ancient truck and owed me nothing so i decided to look for something quite a bit later model. I figured I'd get another 3/4 ton as the boat seems big and heavy to me. I always assumed I was in the 6000-6500 lbs weight with the rig. When I talked to the dealer they sort of laughed at me and said you don't need that the new 1/2 tons can pull upwards of 10K lbs. So that was interesting, and they even lent me one of their used 1500's so I could go tow my boat around for the day and see how it performs. So I tried it up the Malahat and then back down, but it really felt like it was there with a lot of weight for it especially on the down slope and the back end was pretty low with the weight on it (though you could correct with air bags). So I then decided to take it to the scale and was shocked at how heavy the rig was! It weighed in (boat, full fuel, water, gear,etc) at over 7200lbs! I really encourage most boat owners to really weigh their rigs on a scale fully loaded with gear and fuel as it is likely a lot more than you think. It is true that newer 1/2 ton trucks can pull a lot more than the old ones did, but i think there is some confusion around how much you can actually pull in practical terms with most boat rigs that I've noticed at least around Victoria. For instance:
I saw an old thread on the F-150 and what it can pull. it is true that it can pull over 10k lbs (properly equipped!!) but when talking "weight carrying hitch" the limit is actually 5000lbs and 500lbs on the hitch. This is true of practically all the manufacturers, although I think GM might be 7000/700lbs, I have conflicting data there. In any case, "weight carrying hitch" means that you have no torsion bars to distribute the load, and torsion bars are the ONLY way to get the maximum weight rating of any towing vehicle. Now I've trolled the boat launch lots for some time now and have yet to really see anyone using torsion bars, which really limits your towing capability. And it really doesn't take long to get to 5K lbs with a rig. I know I was surprised, my boat hull only weighs in at 3000lbs according to Hewes, but by the time you factor all the extra weight of the motors (just the two motors and the batteries is 1000lbs), the fuel (320 liters, over 550lbs) then all the extra gear (even the downrigger balls when combined can weigh almost 100 lbs!) and the trailer itself which is heavy, you get there pretty quickly and beyond.
Anyways I ended up getting a nice used 2500HD to tow (didn't go diesel but that is a discussion for another thread!). It's true that it's terrible on gas but I barely drive it (about 5-7k kms a year) and it feels really confident pulling that boat around and it can handle the dead weight on the heavy duty class IV hitch that it has. Likely you can tow with a 1/2 for a long time and nothing bad will happen, I don't really judge those who do but you need to use the Weight Distributing hitch if that is the route you are going and are over the 5K limit. Otherwise you are essentially illegally towing, whether it can handle it or not. And keep in mind your tongue weight too, it's likely way more than you think, and it must be around 10% of your total rig weight. Also make sure your load is level especially if you have surge brakes (I learned the hard way and it cost me two trailer tires!)
Hope this helps!
I saw an old thread on the F-150 and what it can pull. it is true that it can pull over 10k lbs (properly equipped!!) but when talking "weight carrying hitch" the limit is actually 5000lbs and 500lbs on the hitch. This is true of practically all the manufacturers, although I think GM might be 7000/700lbs, I have conflicting data there. In any case, "weight carrying hitch" means that you have no torsion bars to distribute the load, and torsion bars are the ONLY way to get the maximum weight rating of any towing vehicle. Now I've trolled the boat launch lots for some time now and have yet to really see anyone using torsion bars, which really limits your towing capability. And it really doesn't take long to get to 5K lbs with a rig. I know I was surprised, my boat hull only weighs in at 3000lbs according to Hewes, but by the time you factor all the extra weight of the motors (just the two motors and the batteries is 1000lbs), the fuel (320 liters, over 550lbs) then all the extra gear (even the downrigger balls when combined can weigh almost 100 lbs!) and the trailer itself which is heavy, you get there pretty quickly and beyond.
Anyways I ended up getting a nice used 2500HD to tow (didn't go diesel but that is a discussion for another thread!). It's true that it's terrible on gas but I barely drive it (about 5-7k kms a year) and it feels really confident pulling that boat around and it can handle the dead weight on the heavy duty class IV hitch that it has. Likely you can tow with a 1/2 for a long time and nothing bad will happen, I don't really judge those who do but you need to use the Weight Distributing hitch if that is the route you are going and are over the 5K limit. Otherwise you are essentially illegally towing, whether it can handle it or not. And keep in mind your tongue weight too, it's likely way more than you think, and it must be around 10% of your total rig weight. Also make sure your load is level especially if you have surge brakes (I learned the hard way and it cost me two trailer tires!)
Hope this helps!
