Towing a 25' with what?

B

bshillam

Member
I just sold our family van that would have restricted me to a CD 22. We feel with our growing family that a 25' CD or Rossy would be a good fit. So I thought I would pull from current 25' CD owners as to what you tow with. How do you feel it performs on the HWY and going up mountain passes?

What I am currently looking at are the crew cab 06-09 Ford and Chevys. Many are very proud of the Chevys and so those would probably be a few years older. However, if I open it up to the gas than less miles is probable. Are you running a high mileage Duramax or Powerstroke? Have you been happy enough that you would buy your truck again. My budget is somewhere close to $20k. So far I have found several very nice trucks with less than or close to 100k miles. I use to have a 6.0 but didn't have it long or put enough miles to really judge it. It did however pull like a champ, at one time I had well over 10k in trailer and quads.

Thanks for the suggestions and help!

Here's an example of what I am looking at
(Slightly more than budget..)
https://bellingham.craigslist.org/ctd/4971056857.html

http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/ctd/4996118928.html
 
Well, I have 2 questions.

First, why do you want 4 wheel drive? I've launched at 100's of ramps, from sketchy to wonderful and haven't needed 4 wheel yet.

Second, since it's used, have you considered gas? I have a Ford 250 gas, non-crew cab, but it cost less than either of those 2 diesels, new. And now has only 55K miles towing a 25. The cost difference in the truck price would pay for a lot of fuel.

Also, I keep getting mailings from lawyers to join them in class action lawsuits against Ford diesels. Not a clue why, but it must be worth their time.

The rest of the posts will explain why I'm so very wrong. But those questions reduce the cost a great deal.

Oh, and don't get a 350, that ride would really jerk you around. A 250 is bad enough.

Boris
 
Seen 2 trucks get stuck at the launch we used last sat that did not have 4x4 one while we launched the other when we were pulling out. For majority of the launches I use 80% of the time 4x4 is engaged. I would consider it a must for the places I use.
 
bshillam":20zqhmi4 said:
I just sold our family van that would have restricted me to a CD 22. We feel with our growing family that a 25' CD or Rossy would be a good fit. So I thought I would pull from current 25' CD owners as to what you tow with. How do you feel it performs on the HWY and going up mountain passes?

What I am currently looking at are the crew cab 06-09 Ford and Chevys. Many are very proud of the Chevys and so those would probably be a few years older. However, if I open it up to the gas than less miles is probable. Are you running a high mileage Duramax or Powerstroke? Have you been happy enough that you would buy your truck again. My budget is somewhere close to $20k. So far I have found several very nice trucks with less than or close to 100k miles. I use to have a 6.0 but didn't have it long or put enough miles to really judge it. It did however pull like a champ, at one time I had well over 10k in trailer and quads.

Thanks for the suggestions and help!

Here's an example of what I am looking at
(Slightly more than budget..)
https://bellingham.craigslist.org/ctd/4971056857.html

http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/ctd/4996118928.html
Click to expand...


I babysit a fleet of 40, 2004 -2008 6.0L fords at work, I would not own one! My tow vehicle is a 2006 GMC long box crew cab 6.6 Duramax :wink: <60mph =18+ mpg, >60mph = 12 mpg. My loaded boat & trailer weighs 8,000 to 9,000 #'s you don't know it is there until the surge brake actuator clunks.
Good luck in your search.
:mrgreen: :beer
 
Why a dually? They are wider, and there is less weight per sq inch of tire, and thus less traction (one of the issues in pickups is the light weight in the bed).

If you are willing to go older, the 7.3 Ford is one of the best light truck diesels built. I would check out the "ride" quality in the 1 ton trucks. Often is stiff and harsh. If you can find a Chevy 3/4 ton with the Allison transmission, that is a plus--

Why a one ton, vs 3/4 ton. The 3/4 ton should have plenty of carrying capacity--but if you need more carrying capacity, then stick with the dually.

I prefer diesel for towing, for the torque. The better mileage is frosting. The cost of operation and initial cost would favor the gas, particularly if you don't use the truck a lot. Diesel hold value better than gas.

Good hunting!
 
I tow our C-Dory 25 with a 2003 Chevrolet Supercab 2500HD with a 6.0 L v-8 gas with a 410 rear end. I average a little better than 9 mpg when towing. It does OK on the hills, but I do slow down some. We towed the boat from Bellingham to Phoenix when we purchased it. Other long trips include Phoenix to Lake Powell and Phoenix to Sacramento, CA. So there has been some mountain towing. We've owned the truck since new and it only has 44,000 miles on it. I'm satisfied with it's performance. I routinely use 4 wheel drive when towing up the ramp as the tires spin if I don't.

Tony
C-View II
 
All very good questions,
Crew is a must as we will use this for our family rig, drives to Grandparents, camping, etc. Dually or SRW is open as we are also looking at a camper/trailer. If we decide to pull a trailer than SRW is going to be a good bet.
I don't care if it's a diesel or gas but it appears that diesel is going to be the way to go as I will be close to 10k specifically if I end up with a Rosborough. Don't want to have to go through this exercise again in the near future. I'll probably end up looking at the Chevy gas and diesel as well as the Ford gas. The 6.0 has such a poor reputation even though I am a Ford buyer.
 
We have a 2006 Chevy 3500 Duramax Allison. Great all-around truck for towing fifth wheel or C-Dory. Can't compare it to anything else because never owned the others. 2006 was the last year before they mucked them up with pollution control that adversely affected performance.
 
Bill, Call steve at buds transmission in Marysville. Steve is the owner and forgot more about diesel then most will every know. The shop specialists in them. Steve is also a fisherman as are all his friends. He is also a ex commercial fishing guy. He keeps a slip at friday harbor to park his boat that he tows to Washington park every weekend to launch. Steve and his wife are two of the best fisherman in the islands for salmon.

He will be able to answer all your questions and lead you in the right direction . Only tell him you know me if you want to be charged more.
 
We are using a Ford F 250 V-10 to pull Irene, which is 10000 loaded and including the trailer. We have the 2wd, standard cab, automatic with 3.73. It pulls very well, including grades, and stops very well.

We selected the gasser as it sits for sometimes a week or more without use. I didn't want to invest in the diesel as the buy-in was more, maintenance is more, and they are selling for well over book values in my area.

The V-10 has been good so far. It needed a new transmission as the torque converter failed ($2200), and a $32 oil change. I would probably prefer a Chevy with the 8.1 and Allison if one was nearby. I would enjoy operating the diesel more as well.

Don't skimp on capacity; its your family in there and we are doing this boat stuff for fun. Weight your rig on a scale, yourself, and ensure you are safe.

Best Wishes
 
Asking what to use for a tow vehicle will get the same attention as twins vs a single, or the advantages of a 25 or a 22. :wink: When we weighed our 25 on the trailer, less than 1/4 tank of fuel, full water, and some cruising gear, it was 8,700 pounds. Some of cruising gear (generator, dinghy & motor) was in the bed of the truck.

We decided on a GMC Sierra 2500HD with the Duramax with the Allison transmission. Single rear wheels, 4 wheel drive. Absolutely love the truck. It is comfortable and capable. There have been a few ramps where 4X4 was necessary. But, the best feature of the truck has been the ability to comfortably haul the load. One thing we added that made the towing even better was electric over hydraulic brakes on the trailer - it eliminated the "chunk-chunk" with the surge brakes and gives you better control of the trailer on downhill grades (where the surge brakes may activate as you gear down).

The Duramax has been a champ, but the Allison transmission is the unsung hero of that combination - in the tow/haul mode, the transmission retarder makes for no-pucker towing on all terrain.

We drove a 3500 when deciding, but found the ride of the 2500 was more pleasant when not hauling a load. It has been our daily driver. We saw 12 mpg average when towing the boat, 10 mpg when towing the 5th wheel (heavier and less aerodynamic than the boat), 16 to 20 mpg not towing.

Ours is a crew cab and can carry 5 people comfortably.

The only reason you'd need a dually would be if you are carrying a heavier load in the bed (such as a pickup camper). There is less traction on a slippery ramp with a dually compared to single rear wheels. The discussion of SRW vs dually comes up frequently amongst 5th wheel haulers, too... if you have a heavy pin weight on a trailer (that mounts in the bed, over the axles), you may need dual rear wheels to handle that weight. We picked out our 5th wheel with that pin weight in mind.

We have towed boats with full size SUVs and a one ton chassis campervan; also with a couple different diesel pusher motorcoaches. From my perspective, the pickup is the best tool for that job. The Big 3 all make great trucks; we went with the GMC after looking at the market options, but our experience with the Allison transmission in 3 coaches definitely factored in.

GM vs Ford vs Dodge? Having a good dealer nearby or finding the right deal would also be a factor. I agree with Pat about the 2006 model engines being less encumbered.

Good luck with the decisions. I never considered myself a pickup kinda guy, but we have been delighted with ours. Joan says it is the most secure feeling vehicle we have owned. We sold the boat, traded the 5th wheel... but we still have the truck.

Jim
 
I bought my 2006 dodge 2500 diesel for 25,000 with 50 thousand miles on it. That was the book price then. I was shocked to find out that the book price on the truck with 125,000 miles on it now and 7 years later it is booked at 24,500 dollars. Check out the Ford and Chevy depreciation schedule over those same years and conditions. I think the slow depreciation on the 2006 dodge is due to the bullet proof nature of the 5.6 cummins diesel that year and earlier. I get a solid 12 mpg with my camper and 22 cruiser on the back. My chevy and ford friends are 2 to 4 mpg worse under similar loads. Empty, the truck gets 20 MPG measured pump to pump consistently. I drive at 65 mph. So, don't rule out older Dodges that you can get in the 20 grand category. At 100 thousand plus miles they are just getting broken in. Oh, and my truck is 4wd and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So there is the Dodge view, older are better, depreciation is really slow, and reliability and MPG has been outstanding.

Just another thought for you.
 
Another factor on the Allison transmission, a feature that I was not using until Jim mentioned it - the M mode. I had been just driving and towing in straight automatic transmission mode, but after I started using M6 on the highway, the economy improved a couple of MPGs. M2 is also potentially very useful - the Duramax has so much torque it is easy to spin tires if you press too hard on the accelerator. M2 mode prevents spinning tires (this is from the manual, I have not had to use it, but it is a good thing to know about).
 
A further feature on the Allison transmission 1000 is "Grade Braking". This basically uses the toque converter and transmission gears with the engine compression to slow the vehicle on down grades. In our RV's we also have an exhaust brake, which works with the Allison to provide excellent passive braking. It really saves the brakes. You can add an exhaust restriction brake or turbo brake to the Diesel on the trucks also. This would work best with the electric over hydraulic brake. For the 25, the Surge brakes will not be "legal" in British Columbia anyway.
 
There's a couple of important points that have been listed above if you decide to go for a diesel.

Older is better. The earlier 7.3 ford is far superior to the 6.0. There's a reason you'll find some really great deals on nice 6.0 fords when you go shopping. They're not desirable. Just don't go too old with ford, because the earliest ones were normally aspirated and slugs.

All brands were forced to put expensive emission scrubbers and 'doo-dads' on their exhaust systems around 2006, that robbed power and efficiency. I would avoid and buy a little older truck.

I understand brand loyalty and totally get why a person would only consider a certain brand. If your open to a dodge, the 5.9 cummins is absolutely an incredible motor. Ford chose to use the 5.9 cummins over their diesel engines for their larger commercial application F650 and F750. Why would they do that?

We've had a 96 3/4 ton Ram diesel for over 10 years and its a trusted family member so I might be a little biased. It is great that that I bought that old truck for 9 thousand back then, and its still worth close to that today a decade later.

Good luck on the hunt. All of the big 3 make a excellent fullsize truck.
 
I haul my 26' CD Venture with a Ram 1500 Hemi gas V-8.
It's OK on the flats to about 65 mph but guzzles 9 mpg.
In mountains, it's under powered uphill and mileage is awful..

Wish I had a 2500 Ram w/Cummins diesel for a tow truck as it would
be no sweat for my 6500 lb boat w/1300 lb trailer when it gets tough;
uphill. There is a 1500 Ram V-6 diesel, which my wife has in her Grand
Cherokee, but the GVRW is marginal for my load.

Glad I lease my existing truck and will review what is available to tow
with when the lease expires in a couple years. More diesels are on the
horizon and I'm going in that direction.

Have you noticed diesel fuel is dropping?

Aye.
 
Had a Dodge Crew in my single days - loved that truck, would buy it in a heart beat. But the little door and cramped rear just isn't going to work with a growing boy and extended family that is robust in nature. I am leaning towards at this point looking at the 7.3L Fords or 2005/06 Chevy Crews. I am also finding right now not much difference in gas vs diesel. In fact, it's harder to find a 3/4 in gas than diesel. I have found a few that have struck my fancy, it's just a matter of working numbers to my satisfaction now. I'll post pictures of the new huller.
 
IMO one cannot beat a diesel. That said we purchased a lightly used '05 Ford F-250 Super Duty from a co-worker's parents. It is a 4X4, crew cab, short bed. The truck is a beast in a good way.

Good:
More than enough to safely pull a 25 AND stop a 25
Comfortable, even w/ 4-5 adults
Bought is used so it did not break the bank
Safe. Did I say it's a beast?
Crew cab has lots of interior room and I can haul 4 adults +

Bad:
Lousy gas mileage. Average is 13.6 mpg
The 6.0 has given us "issues". All have been alleviated but it cost us some $$ to "solve" issues Ford should have engineered out from the start. Most have to do with oil temp issues and the design of the oil cooler etc. Aftermarket parts + labor. The engine is now trouble free.
 
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