[Rhodes22-list] Towing

[Jay Curry]

If anyone is considering a tow vehicle, I thought our experience with our 
two different trucks and boats might be helpful.

Our first boat was a Hunter 260 with a trailer weight around 5,000 lbs after 
you drained the 250 gallon water ballast tank. We tried towing it with a new 
Dodge 1500 with a 5.8 Liter V8.  It was a disastrous combination. Even on 
short, small inclines, we were almost immediately forced into low gear and a 
max speed of about 45 MPH. Towing gas mileage was around 7 MPG and about 14 
MPG otherwise. The truck even had trouble on hills when not trailering 
anything. The trailer weight was about 75% of the rated weight for the truck 
if my memory serves me correctly. The dealer could not help. I always 
suspected engine performance could be improved dramatically by tuning the 
electronic control, but doing so voided warranties.

We traded the 1500 truck on a 2002 F-250 7.3 Liter Diesel Power Stroke with 
3.73 Gear Ratio and 12,500 lb trailer weight. It has been the most reliable 
and capable vehicle that I have ever owned. It is comfortable on long trips, 
fast, powerful and in general, a joy to drive. It pulled the Hunter easily 
and pulled the trailer up short steep hills without any loss of speed. On 
Longer hills, it would still pull at speed if you pushed it, but was more 
comfortable at around 55 at worst.

We used it recently to pick up our refurbished 92 Rhodes from Edenton, NC 
and return it to Port Angeles Washington. The return trip with the Rhodes on 
its dual axle trailer was about 3,300 Miles. The outgoing trip without the 
trailer was about 3,000. We kept detailed mileage records. We averaged 18.5 
MPG with high events of 22 MPG and lows of about 16 MPG on the outgoing 
trip. On the return trip we averaged about 13 MPG with highs of 15 MPG and 
lows of 11 MPG. It pulled the Rhodes easily up the mountain passes and 
operated downhill with very little braking. I would never even consider 
another type of truck for this purpose. I am sure other makes with similar 
features will have similar performance.

After trailering both boats extensively, I am convinced that a diesel is the 
only reasonable engine option and staying at around half of the rated 
trailer weight is about as far as I want to go. It keeps wear and tear at a 
minimum and ensures I have the power and maneuverability to handle 
unexpected traffic and road conditions. More than that is fine occasionally, 
but in my opinion, for routine long distance trips, using more than half the 
rated trailer weight would reduce the life of the truck significantly, 
create problems in traffic, on hills and significantly increase maintenance 
costs. We have had our truck now for ten years and with just routine 
maintenance, it still drives like new.

Jay Curry
Port Angeles, WA