[Rhodes22-list] Tow vehicles.

[Rik Sanberg]

Rummy,

Seems to me that more towing problems are caused by "who is doing the 
driving" and "how the boat is loaded" than what they are towing with. We 
towed our R22 to Ky Lake (875 miles) twice with our S-10 V-6 and thought it 
worked wonderfully. Plus, it didn't break the bank at the gas pumps the 99% 
of the time when we weren't towing. We towed about like you did, 60-65 most 
times and up to 70-or so sometimes and never under 50 on the hills.  People 
tell me I'm nuts, I should have at least a 1/2 ton V-8 pickup for this and 
a 3/4 ton would be better. I tell them, 1. learn how to load your boat. 2. 
learn how to drive. :-) :-) Not nesessarilly in that order.

Going up to Superior on Sunday to get "Happy Little Girls 2" ready to set 
on the trailer. We'll load her up first thing Monday morning. Then, after 
some prep this week, it's off to the wilds of Kentucky for a week of doing 
whatever the hell I please. Looks like we may leave the boat in a slip down 
there for a couple months and go back down around Thanksgiving time for a 
few more days.

:-) :-)
Rik


On Fri, 12 Sep 2003 13:20:05 EDT, <R22RumRunner at aol.com> wrote:

> One of the most asked questions on this list concerns tow vehicles. Well, 
> last weekend I finally had an opportunity to put mine to the test.
> I have a 98 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup. It came with automatic transmission, 
> factory tow package and the V6, 3.9 liter engine. We towed a R22 
> approximately 70 miles through eastern Georgia which has some long and 
> fairly steep grades. The boat was on my single axle trailer and it towed 
> perfectly. No fishtailing and it climbed the hills without ever dropping 
> below 50 mph, but the engine was humming. Just to try everything out, I 
> climbed to 75 and we never experienced any problems. Most of the trip was 
> done at 65 mph. My partner was surprised at how well it towed the R22 and 
> didn't think the V8 would have had anything more to offer. The coolant 
> temperature climbed slightly on the grades, but went down quickly once we 
> flattened out. We were in no danger of overheating at any time, although 
> the outdoor temperature was around 80 degrees.
> All in all I was very happy with the way everything went. I would 
> recommend this setup as a great tow vehicle. I don't know how it would 
> handle the really steep grades in the Rockies, I think that might be 
> better handled with the 8 cylinder.
>
> Rummy
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>



-- 
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/