Agree on the happi jacks although pricey on my Northern Lite. Wife refused to give me any support on the old camper with the mechanical jacks. LOL. The remote and a side level indicator make it safe and efficient. Similar to having a strong arm electric winch on the boat trailer.
I got the "Godzilla" 7.3 gas engine. Mostly because I really don't need a diesel (I have owned several as we buy a new truck every two years). It is not bad just driving it but I expect it will be expensive to pull with LOL.
After having the manual (pump) jacks, these are a dream. A little tip though... make sure you put new batteries in the wireless remote at least yearly as it improves their connectivity. They are expensive too... almost ridiculous in price... like everything else to do with boats and campers and planes etc etc LOL
Absolutely agree!!! The price is what it is...
The 7.3... will let you all know how it pulls with our bigger boat behind it with the camper. In fact I am going to run the whole thing over a scale and post axle weights shortly...
I think it is a good fit for us. It is "old school" tech so it will definitely be interesting...
I knew that the fuel mileage wasn't a strength with the 7.3 but I definitely needed the power and capability of an F350. I have made the trip to the coast many times and pretty much gas up in the same places. Cost and usage isn't a concern to me at all but your point is well made. This truck (pretty much like all the Godzillas) has a 163 litre tank... or there abouts. At one time I had modified a 9200 Eagle International to a single axle and built an air ride suspension in-house. It got, by and far, the best mileage ever pulling with a 3176 Cat; some pretty heavy weights too. One trip to Thunder Bay and thence to Wisconsin/lake Winnebago was quite reasonable; cost-wise. These gassers do the job though... and are easier to park when going to town and not so noisy in an RV park. Some RV parks don't allow rigs like ours (I found out the hard way) LOL. I accept that there is a cost to take a boat to the coast but it is just a part of the equation. A buddy of mine who also buys a new truck every two years just ordered the Chev/GMC 6.6 gasser. His load is very close to mine as his camper is twice the weight and his boat is less than half the weight. We will weigh in before we leave and run head to head to see where the fuel mileage is (just for giggles)... I will post the results when we get back in August... should be interesting. At 430HP and 475 lbs/ft I hopefully wont hold up traffic... hopefully... If that occurs I will install a pro-charger and then we'll see some real bad mileage numbers LOL
Very interested to know how your buddy makes out with the new 6.6, I have been tossing the idea around of the new 6.6 gasser but I’m just not sure. Since I dumped the Wellcraft I just don’t feel I need the big Duramax anymore but at the same time I’m a power junkie and I’m just not sure the 6.6 would do it for me. I had a 6.0 Vortex in a 2008 and didn’t drive that truck for 24 months and dumped it. Couldn’t stand the fact you had the float the valves in it to pull any hill with even the slightest load let’s not even talk about the mileage it got. Like you I would like to get rid of the extra cost of purchasing a diesel but at the same time, it’s nice to have the power. With a moderate load say 5000# my Duramax still gets easily 700 km a tank and empty at cruising speed (115) 1000km is obtainable. More than once I have driven from work in Dawson Creek, home to Cold Lake, then up town and back, (I live 22 km out of town ) then the next day to Loydminster all on one tank of fuel.
Interesting about the 6 litre... I think the performance of the 6.6 gasser will be good at around 401hp/464 tq. The interesting thing is I always forget the dreaded late 70's and pretty much all the 80's when we were pulling with horribly low horsepower/torque #'s (might be dating myself here). Now we talk about the same #'s; both over 400 and worry... My buddy and I reminisce about this and it brings us back to ground LOL. I have messed with propane injection and methanol (windshield washer fluid) injection in diesels too. I have also messed with nitrous and calved a couple of motors haha... Even my present scooter is turbo'd to the tune of 300 hp... Sometimes I just have to remind myself... it is the journey not (or and) the destination. And to think we do all this to pull our boats/campers/RV's et al for a fish?? Of course, my answer to that would always be... YES!!... and?
