Will this... tow this...

[King]

Morning all,

The more I research this the more confused I get. Looking to get the largest hull I can town with a 2009 Chevy Tahoe LS 4.8L. It'll pull a 190/195 all day. Really want the 212 though. Would someone that knows more on the subject please weigh in and set me straight on this. Am I asking too much of my Tahoe or can it pull a Yamaha 212SD? Specs are attached below...

The Tahoe has been very well cared for; just hit 100k, upgraded brakes, synthetic oil, regular tune ups, year old suspension, great tires, ECM performance program. This is my wife's, deceased father's vehicle... It's been white gloved. Just need to know if it's up for the challenge.


Tahoe towing numbers...




212SD weight numbers...

 

[adrianp89]

Where are you pulling it? To the local ramp is fine. Through mountains, probably risky but fine.

 

[King]

Where are you pulling it? To the local ramp is fine. Through mountains, probably risky but fine.

adrianp89,

The majority of the time will be under 45 miles to our closest lake. Austell GA to Lake Allatoona. Once or twice a year we may extend out for a 120 mile trip to Lake Blue Ridge when we rent a cabin. Both of those are relatively flat. Hills perhaps, not mountains. The actual cabins in the Lake Blue Ridge area do have some serious hills but, the boat would be at the lake by that point in the trip. Then there's the off chance that a few years in to ownership, we'd want to do the Bimini Crossing which would take us from the Atlanta metro down to south Florida... No elevation issues, just distance.

King

 

[RobbieO]

Morning all,

The more I research this the more confused I get. Looking to get the largest hull I can town with a 2009 Chevy Tahoe LS 4.8L. It'll pull a 190/195 all day. Really want the 212 though. Would someone that knows more on the subject please weigh in and set me straight on this. Am I asking too much of my Tahoe or can it pull a Yamaha 212SD? Specs are attached below...

The Tahoe has been very well cared for; just hit 100k, upgraded brakes, synthetic oil, regular tune ups, year old suspension, great tires, ECM performance program. This is my wife's, deceased father's vehicle... It's been white gloved. Just need to know if it's up for the challenge.


Tahoe towing numbers...
View attachment 166470



212SD weight numbers...
View attachment 166471

Add another 300 lbs. for a full tank of gas. Then weigh all your gear too. I have a 212SE, and when loaded, is around 5300 lbs. My tow vehicle is rated @ 5600 lbs. I ended up off loading some of my gear because my tongue weight was near 600 lbs. which is the max. These boats are tongue heavy the way they are setup on the trailer. (Shorelandr) I moved my bow roller rearward 4 inches to help lower the tongue weight too.

 

[BigAbe75]

Interesting. I wouldn’t have given the Tahoe a 2nd thought. My ‘08 Tahoe towed my SX210 and 242 just fine. And my Yukon does great too.

My Tahoe had the small V8, which I guess is 5.x L engine? My Yukon has the 6.2.

I’d say get the boat you want. The Tahoe will do fine around home. You may be due to upgrade tow vehicles in the next few years anyway. You’ll spend more money if you get a boat that’s too small and have to switch boats than you would if you use the current vehicle and postpone those longer trips until you have a better tow vehicle.

 

[2kwik4u]

Interesting the Tahoe is rated so low for that year. Got to be the rear gearing as the limiting factor. I think the cooling stack, transmission, and suspension are all really similar in that platform. I had an '03 Yukon with the 5.3, as well as a '15 Sierra with the 5.3. Never had a 4.8L, but it's the same architecture as the 5.3 and 6.2. I will say you'll be fine around town, and on shorter trips. It might struggle a bit on longer trips, longer hills, and that sort of thing. I would expect the chassis is just fine, as is the rest of the driveline. Keep an eye on temperatures of both the engine and transmission.

I'm also really curious how the weight distributing hitch has a LOWER overall max weight. It's usually the other way around. Something seems awry there.

My AR190 scaled at 3,188 or about 30% over what Yamaha says it weighs dry. Assuming a 212SD has the same overhead you should be around 4,869lbs or so based on a 3,746lbs dry weight. Real similar to what others have guessed the weight at.

I would probably go ahead with the boat you want. You're not completely out in left field here, and my personal experience with that chassis would give me reassurance that it was OK if not ideal.

 

[WV Hillbilly]

Interesting. I wouldn’t have given the Tahoe a 2nd thought. My ‘08 Tahoe towed my SX210 and 242 just fine. And my Yukon does great too.

My Tahoe had the small V8, which I guess is 5.x L engine? My Yukon has the 6.2.

I’d say get the boat you want. The Tahoe will do fine around home. You may be due to upgrade tow vehicles in the next few years anyway. You’ll spend more money if you get a boat that’s too small and have to switch boats than you would if you use the current vehicle and postpone those longer trips until you have a better tow vehicle.

+1 on this post. I have been towing across I-68 and then WV 50 across the spine of the mountains (nothing like out west) with my 15 Yukon with 5.3. I tow the 195 with ease but when I tow a 20’ trailer with two side by sides with hunting gear in the same route, I can tell the difference. Engine tranny temps are all within range but I don’t push it up the hills as hard. I think you will be fine in the short term but longer term you may need more rig.

BTW, I tend to baby vehicles and at the same time over engineer everything. I have a GMC 2500HD Denali with the Duramax and 10 speed Allison transmission on order. (Way more truck than I need)

 

[WV Hillbilly]

Oh, the max trailer on my Yukon is 7500 and I am very close to that with the 20’ trailer and SxS’s loaded.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Perhaps the lower tongue weight for the weight distribution hitch is due to extra weight on the hitch?

One thing that I see missing from this discussion is the payload capacity of the Tahoe? When we talk about if a tow vehicle is up to the challenge we are usually looking at both payload capacity AND towing capacity. Tongue weight feeds into the payload capacity but so does all the other stuff (including passengers) in the vehicle.

I would also caution anyone looking at towing numbers to look at the numbers for YOUR specific vehicle, as these likely will be different that the general numbers posted for a model of truck/suv.

Another truth that has been posted in a number of these threads is just because you vehicle can tow something doesn't mean that you will enjoy towing it with that vehicle.

The dry weight of an AR195, on a trailer, is 3,170 lbs. This is 1,424 lbs less than the new boat you want. Throw in another 65 lbs for more gas weight and you are looking at a 1,500 lb difference.

I don't want to dissuade you from getting the boat you want, but I would encourage you to plan to upgrade your tow vehicle as soon as you possible can.

Jim

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

+1 on this post. I have been towing across I-68 and then WV 50 across the spine of the mountains (nothing like out west) with my 15 Yukon with 5.3. I tow the 195 with ease but when I tow a 20’ trailer with two side by sides with hunting gear in the same route, I can tell the difference. Engine tranny temps are all within range but I don’t push it up the hills as hard. I think you will be fine in the short term but longer term you may need more rig.

BTW, I tend to baby vehicles and at the same time over engineer everything. I have a GMC 2500HD Denali with the Duramax and 10 speed Allison transmission on order. (Way more truck than I need)

My guess is that the boat is a lot more aerodynamic than the two side-by-sides. We side load three Polaris Aces on our ATV trailer, and while distance towing (love the Hatfield McCoy trails!) with my last Ram 1500, I definitely could tell they were back there even though we were all in around 4,500 lbs.

Jim

 

[WV Hillbilly]

H&M is great fun! Come on down, save some miles and we’ll take you out to our farm in northern Kanawha county, just north of Charleston, and you’ll have access to over 300 miles of unmarked private trails starting there.
I’m close to 6800 with SxS, gear, and trailer. The boat is a bunch less than that.
This is one of my targets this year. He is a 5 year old.

 

[djetok]

H&M is great fun! Come on down, save some miles and we’ll take you out to our farm in northern Kanawha county, just north of Charleston, and you’ll have access to over 300 miles of unmarked private trails starting there.
I’m close to 6800 with SxS, gear, and trailer. The boat is a bunch less than that.
This is one of my targets this year. He is a 5 year old.
View attachment 166481View attachment 166482

What sxs? Mine is 1700 lbs dry 21 can am x3 maverick turbo

 

[BigAbe75]

What sxs? Mine is 1700 lbs dry 21 can am x3 maverick turbo

Kawasaki KRX 1000, Kawasaki Teryx4, and a Polaris ACE 150.

Would love to visit HM one day.

 

[mrmeaniemeateaterman]

Buy the boat you want. Tahoe will be fine. Stick to the speed limit and no more than 65mph, keep following distance large.
Plus the dual axle trailer for the 212 will actually pull nicer, less bouncy, than the single axle on the 19ft.
You are pulling the boat a handful of times a year. If doing all day every day, then we are having a different conversation.
Post up some pics of your new 212

 

[WV Hillbilly]

@djetok 2 2019 CanAm HD 10’s one is a Max and the listed dry weights are 2055 and 1850 plus a roughly 2k trailer (+/-) and I figure the winches and crap I keep in them from the straps, come along, air compressor, spare tires, high lift jacks, chainsaws, and the list continues… gets me another 5-600 pounds on the very safe side.

 

[WV Hillbilly]

Buy the boat you want. Tahoe will be fine. Stick to the speed limit and no more than 65mph, keep following distance large.
Plus the dual axle trailer for the 212 will actually pull nicer, less bouncy, than the single axle on the 19ft.
You are pulling the boat a handful of times a year. If doing all day every day, then we are having a different conversation.
Post up some pics of your new 212

Absolutely agree.

 

[Weeb]

Get a distribution hitch for the long halls.

 

[tabbibus]

Off topic, but tell me more about Lake Blue Ridge! We have yet to venture out of Lanier

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

The weight distributing hitch will also help with how much the rear of the Tahoe sags with the tongue weight and makes for a much better handling tow rig.

The tandem axle boat trailers also have surge brakes which will help with the whoa part of the go.

I agree with the others that the Tahoe should handle this load well. You are a touch over on the trailer weight but not by much. As others have stated, its just the temps to watch, mainly the transmission temp. If the temps start coming up just back it down a few notches.

And, as others have said, perhaps think about upgrading the TV when you can. Now is not the best time as new car prices are up, and used car prices are ridiculous.

 

[buckbuck]

@King What is the GVWR of the Tahoe?