Hauling a tomcat255

J

joechiro30

New member
I really like the Ford F-150 v6 3.5L ecoboost 2015 aluminum frame. I want an everyday commuter truck that can hull a fully loaded tomcat from everett to westport a few times a year. I know there are several good trucks that can do this but I wanted to get input from people who have hulled their tomcat 255 in various ramps and hills.
What truck or class of trucks can you get away with? I am currently hoping that the f150 2015 v6 3.5 Ecoboost can do the job

We have a 2006 tomcat 255 with twin suzuki 150's

I appreciate the input as I am wanting to buy a truck
 
Hi Joe!
Excellent and common question.
I see from google maps you are posting about a one-way under 180 miles jaunt 'a few times a year'. The new Ford 150 is a remarkable truck by all accounts. The tow rating is marginal for a cruise-mode TC255.
http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/specifications/towing/
I am the only TC255 owner to put the damn thing on a truck scale and post about it... I got 11, 800# with 3/4 gas and 1/2 water, empty holding tank and your 'cruise mode' will vary...a LOT!
Full Gas alone weighs 900# in this mother, and your truck bed loading, and passengers, affects your overall tow rating a lot. Perhaps you will want to pump out 150 gallons of gas from the boat to lower your towed wgt. Perhaps you will not want to do that. I sure don't want to.
I would suggest you be honest with yourself and your loved ones you are hauling with this boat and put it on a scale in YOUR Westpoint Cruise Mode with Typical Gas load. If that added to All The Stuff you would put in the F150 pickup bed + the ACTUAL TC255 TOWED WGT is within Ford published limits, then you should go with the F150 3.5 Eco-Boost.
Unfortunately, I give you 95% odds you will be exceeding those safe limits. What you want to do about that is up to you. My impression of the best compromise is to buy an older (but not that much older) HD2500 diesel truck/SUV and be ready to safely tow anywhere in the country (Deisel FUEL here is $1.56 today). It can still be your commuter truck, and even with the diesel fuel, cheaper in the long run than a new F150. Run the math. It's a bear to park at WalMart, but, it tows that rig a LOT better...so much better you will never go back.
As far as 'what you can get away with', I just plain don't advise going there...ever. Not in your towed boy toys, not in your finances, not in your professional life, not in your boat battery bank capacity, and sure as hell not in your love life.
All that said, you should make your own decisions.
Cheers!
John
 
Not positive Joe but I believe that's a no vote from John. :lol:

From what I've read on this forum, don't think you're gonna get any yes votes except maybe from the guys who tow with the Toyota Highlanders.

Jake
 
Joe;

We purchased our 2007 TomCat new and towed it from Portland area to Eureka Ca, with a 2002 Ram 2500 Diesel. Tow rated at 9900 lbs. It did Okay at first. But, the more we used it the weaker it got as a tow vehicle for as much weight as the Tomcat presented. The 1st trip to Blaine Wa. and BC cruise we had to tow up I-5. those long hills had us towing as slow as 10 MPH. I didn't want to spend the $ for a new truck so we tried to find new routes that would eliminate the longest hills. After three times doing this it became to much of a problem and worry, not to mention the extra miles and time to use these alternate routes. So we purchased a 2012 Ram Diesel High output truck, tow rating 13500. The first time going up I-5 the speed didn't drop below 55 mph. My suggestion is to get what ever truck you like that has a tow rating of at least 12500 to 13000 lbs. The diesel Fords all have that or higher rating. You will not be sorry for having more power than not enough power.

Just my two cents.

Gene
 
Thanks you guys for your input. I am now leaning more towards an HD 2500 ford truck diesel with a tow capacity of at least 12500lbs. I want to hull our tomcat to various parts of vancouver island that probably has many hills.
 
The 3/4 ton HD pickup with Diesel power seems to always come up as the final agreed upon non-nonsense answer in these discussions about towing a Tomcat and a CD-25 as well, over varied terrain and longer distances. Fortunately, the price of fuel is making that ownership a bit easier.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Theoretically you could use the Ford F-150 v6 3.5L ecoboost , with 3.55 or 3.75 rear end--but then it would not be all that good a daily driver. (This gear ratio would give you up to 11,700 capacity...but I suspect that is with a 5th wheel hitch, not a class V hitch.)

Agree with the choice of the 3/4 ton Diesel. Also strongly consider electric over hydraulic brakes, with any of the Western grades you may encounter.
 
My vote would be for the Ford F350 diesel truck. The same engine and torqshift trans as the F250, but heavier springs. The cost should be the same for an F250 or an F350. I have this set-up in a 2012 model. last summer we towed our TC 255 to Skagway Alaska with no problems. Loaded for a two month cruise.
 
When we bought our tomcat my 2006 dodge diesel had no problem towing to Bellingham from the Bay Area. Anything less would be sketchy unless it's a couple of miles. We could just barely hold 60 mph going up the pass to mount Ashland with the truck floored, I was impressed.
 
I just bought a 2015 F150 with the 5.0 and 3.73 gears. In crew cab form like mine, it is rated to tow just over 10,000 pounds. I don't think I'd dare try to pull a tomcat with it, but a CD 25 would probably be fine. With the 157 inch wheel base you'd think it would tow stuff like a dream, but I have only hooked the 22 up to it so far and that isn't much of a test. I think with the load of a tomcat, you want a F-250, F-350, or equivalent.
 
Boomer":1nf5nvz5 said:
You shouldn't even think of towing a Tomcat with an F150. You know it, I know it, and everyone reading this thread knows it.
Click to expand...

Never thought of it until they came up with the new 2015 f150 with a max tow capacity of 11700lbs.

Only going to do it once or twice a year and we have done it with a tundra v8 5.7 which has a max tow of 10000lbs
 
T.R. Bauer":20mdi1gk said:
I just bought a 2015 F150 with the 5.0 and 3.73 gears. In crew cab form like mine, it is rated to tow just over 10,000 pounds. I don't think I'd dare try to pull a tomcat with it, but a CD 25 would probably be fine. With the 157 inch wheel base you'd think it would tow stuff like a dream, but I have only hooked the 22 up to it so far and that isn't much of a test. I think with the load of a tomcat, you want a F-250, F-350, or equivalent.
Click to expand...

The f150 with v6 3.5l ecoboost is rated to tow more than the 5.0 v8
 
All great advice, just thought I would weigh in on the Toyota Tundra I I tow my 25 at cruise ready weight of 8500 lbs with a 2013 5.7 it loves the flats but also handles the hills you just can't be in a hurry, good quality truck love the low rear gear.
 
I expect I may/will receive some heat on this response, but yes I pull my 2007 Tomcat with a Ford F150. It has a factory towing package with 12,000 lb rated hitch, a big-bore 411HP V8, and while Ford offers an F150 maximum towing capacity of over 11,000 lbs. my rated towing capacity is less, and I think that's in part because of my 22 inch wheels and softer shocks.

I purchased the Tomcat in Newport Oregon on very short notice so I took my F-150 title with me just in case I needed to buy a ¾ ton diesel on the trip back. Because the Float-On aluminum trailer had electric over hydraulic brakes I also had to bypass the factory brake controller, and add a Tekonsha P3 controller.

I pulled the boat from Newport to north east Oklahoma in August of 2015 with zero problems. The truck handled the 1000+ mile pull fantastically, and I was amazed how many vehicles I passed on Deadman Pass outside Pendleton Oregon. On the long steep grade the transmission heat gauge rose less than 1/8th of inch from its normal position, while the engine temp moved maybe a quarter of an inch higher, both staying well within the normal range, and with an outside temp approaching 100 degrees. I also hit stop and go 5 o'clock traffic in Boise, with a radio station reporting an all-time record of 107 degrees. I was forced to make several very quick stops and was totally impressed how well the truck and trailer brake combination worked. I’m fairly confident I could have made the entire trip using just the trailer brakes had I wanted.

The fuel tanks were at half and I emptied the water tank at the first fuel stop. The owner of the boat had just passed away and it was still filled with his gear and supplies including downriggers, crap pot pullers, crab pots, weights, and lots and lots of fishing rods and reels etc. The certified trailer weight ticket for the boat and aluminum trailer was 9300lbs and I’m guessing the tongue weight was around 800 to 900 lbs., probably because of the heavy crab-pots, puller, and downriggers, stored aft.

The bottom line- While I respect everyone’s opinions and fears, I can honestly say I-have-been-there-and-done-that when it comes to pulling a Tomcat 255 with and a Ford F150. The F150 with a towing package is not your grandpa’s ½ ton pickup. When a US manufacturer builds, rates, and warrants, a truck to pull your given load than I say ‘do-it’ if you wish. If you want more towing margin than do that too. If lived in the mountains and/or did a lot of cross county pulling I would probably buy a ¾ ton diesel for the fuel savings and added towing margin, but I don’t, so I’m keeping my F150 for the ride and comfort of daily usage. I will soon be leaving Oklahoma for South Carolina and Florida, and if you see me at Hontoon State Park, then I guess my F150 made it.

Edit- I reread the OP post and realized I didn't address boat ramps. With AWD and 4-WD I have absolutely no problem on even the steepest of ramps. I have not used 2WD for ramps. I might also add that I traded my F250 diesel for the F-150 because we seldom used the F250 due to the harsh ride and difficulty in parking. I'm turning 69 next month and my joints don't like the bumps
 
I seem to made this point every year, and folks ignore it. It is right there on the hitch of a new truck, and in the manual. You need a weight distribiton hitch for heavier loads:

Off the Ford 150 web site:

For the receiver hitch the weight limit is 5000 lbs, with tongue weight of 500 lbs. To get the 12,200 lb capacity, you have to use a weight distributing hitch and then you get a hitch weight of 1200 lbs.

You may get away with the direct hitch--but the problem comes in difficult circumstances--such as rough road, strong cross winds, eventual break down of the running gear of the truck etc.

I used the Weight distributing hitch on the C Dory 25, and it made a lot of difference. I tried to get Charlie to take the WD hitch when he bought the Tom Cat--later he lamented that he wished he had taken the weight distribution hitch.

You may get away with towing heavy loads with light trucks 95% of the time. We were at a service station, and a F150 was next to us, with a huge "Monster Truck" on a trailer. I asked the owner how much that trailer and monster truck weighed. "About 12,500 lbs". He had towed it about 700 miles with no problems. About 20 miles down th road--the whole rig was on its side in a ditch. Apparently he tried to pass a semi,and the rig got out of control from the sway...
 
I can't imagine towing over 5,000 to 6,000 or so without a weight distribution hitch as they are just flat out awesome. They really do take out almost all of the "fun" out of towing.

While others have posted stuff about the tundra and it's towing attributes; and I looked at it very closely as it is nice truck, as is the chevy 1500, other than the short box SR5 which has a payload rating of around 2,000 pounds, the double/crew cabs only have around a 1500 pound payload rating. This isn't much when you consider a hitch weight of 1200 pounds or more when towing the max - in fact hardly enough reserve for the driver. It's a bit misleading until you analyze it. The sales/advertising department is doing a wonderful job.

On the hand, the 2015 F-150 (like mine) with 3.73s, max towing, max payload, and the 5.0 or the 3.5 EB, has a published payload of close to 3,000 pounds; almost exactly double the tundra. You can actually haul people, gear, and still tow something very substantial and be within the ratings. I don't need that much to pull the 22 around, but I do need it for my car trailer when I put a full sized truck onto it every now and then.

I'm always hesitant to pull at the max rating or above, so the tomcat is out of the picture - its just too damn expensive anyway.
 
thataway":i714yq0z said:
I seem to made this point every year, and folks ignore it. It is right there on the hitch of a new truck, and in the manual. You need a weight distribiton hitch for heavier loads:

Off the Ford 150 web site:

For the receiver hitch the weight limit is 5000 lbs, with tongue weight of 500 lbs. To get the 12,200 lb capacity, you have to use a weight distributing hitch and then you get a hitch weight of 1200 lbs.

You may get away with the direct hitch--but the problem comes in difficult circumstances--such as rough road, strong cross winds, eventual break down of the running gear of the truck etc.

I used the Weight distributing hitch on the C Dory 25, and it made a lot of difference. I tried to get Charlie to take the WD hitch when he bought the Tom Cat--later he lamented that he wished he had taken the weight distribution hitch.

You may get away with towing heavy loads with light trucks 95% of the time. We were at a service station, and a F150 was next to us, with a huge "Monster Truck" on a trailer. I asked the owner how much that trailer and monster truck weighed. "About 12,500 lbs". He had towed it about 700 miles with no problems. About 20 miles down th road--the whole rig was on its side in a ditch. Apparently he tried to pass a semi,and the rig got out of control from the sway...
Click to expand...

My bad! I'm getting old and should have typed "My truck has a factory towing package with 12,000 lb Eaz-Lift hitch"

I had to add a pole tongue adaptor to use my weight distributing hitch on my boat trailer. It also has sway control, and makes for pulling my diesel tractor with FEL and Bush Hog a breeze.....and yes I always read my owner's manual :oops: :thup
 
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