Saltwater boat towing

You guy will love this.

 

Can't go wrong with a Parker, solid well made boat

 

We live in Central FL and tow a 19ft Sea Ray sterndrive, about 5000# with trailer and never a problem. We live in St Cloud and go to East Lake Toho, Alligator Chain. We'll drive to the Butler Chain in Orlando, which is an hour from us. We haven't driven to the coast yet, but friends always are going to St Pete/Clearwater and they towed a 21ft Regal deck boat with a Highlander!!!! My brother lives in Merritt Island and we would have no problems driving to Brevard and my co-worker invited us to meet him at disappearing island at New Smyrna.
As far as steep ramps, never a problem even with 2wd and even a slimy ramp.

 

Op, what did you end up getting?

 

I tow my 2014 239 ocean runner. 101 gallons of fuel, single Honda 250, bait, ice trailer and all puts me right at 6800. No issues towing at all

 

I have a 2012 lifted 3” on 37” tires. No gearing. I’m not entirely sure what the weight of my boat setup is but it’s got to be somewhere around the 7k lbs mark. I don’t tow far normally but have done a couple hundred miles. All flat NC coast land. The boat is a SeaHunt 255SE so 25ft center console. I pretty much keep it full when hauling it so 120 gallons of fuel and about 55 gallons of water plus all gear.

 

How much body mount did you have to remove to put 37’s on a 3”

 

None



I’m just kidding. It’s a pretty aggressive BMC. Honestly though I’m not sure I recommend my setup. Soon after I put the tires on with the lift my power steering rack failed. Had 100k on it. The inner seals tear because of the angle. I’m going to end up going to a bracket style lift to get the steering geometry back to spec. I’ll end up with a 4” lift. At full droop the tie rod ends are at a pretty good angle and it’s putting too much stress on the rack. It may last and I e seen some guys with a similar setup and theirs had lasted. It’s just something I don’t care for personally. The ride is really good though. That’s my favorite part. It’s a very plush ride but I can still tow heavy.

 

I tow a big 21 ft center console pretty often. LOA is 24' and she's about 6000 lbs going down the road on the trailer. Tundra pulls it fine, but you know it is there. I've towed larger boats with a lower COG/profile and they certainly tow better. I also launch and retrieve my boat at one of the worst ramps in my area. It is very steep and very short but the truck never struggles. I don't typically tow that far, but that's because the boat is wet slipped most of the year. My trailer could use some maintenance too. In my experience a 25-30 ft boat with a Tundra is doable but I wouldn't want to tow long distances frequently with that setup.

 

Older thread…
This is an EdgeWater 248CX w/Yammie 300. 25’. Holds 120 gallons of fuel. Entire rig weighs ~6000 lbs. Boat is 5000 and trailer is 1000. Most important is trailer has brakes both axles. The furthest I’ve pulled it is south of Savannah and the rig does fine at 70 mph. Edit: At 70 the truck will get ~8 mpg so you want the 36 gallon tank.
We don’t have too many steep ramps around here, but we have pluff mud, which owls use when their shit isn’t slick enough, so if launching/retrieving at mid-low tide you may need 4X4.