Towing Expertise Needed

[Mid life crisis]

Hey fam...doing some research before I make any decisions here. I currently have a 2017 Ram 1500 5.7l with the 3.21 gears. About 80k on the odometer but paid off and in great shape so hard to justify getting something newer/bigger. We currently have a 2014 242LS that gets towed about 1 mile round trip when we go out. Longest i've towed this boat was about 100 miles to our lake house where it has lived the past 3 years, so with that being said my towing experience is limited.

Now to the good stuff...we are considering upgrading to a 252 FSH since the kids are getting more into fishing. Fun part will be finding one but that's a different story. So if we upgrade to this boat I will want to take it more places to get more use out of it for its capabilities in fishing. That would be a five our drive to the coast or a couple hours to hit up different lakes, while still having its home at our current lake(Lake Texoma).

So...is the Ram going to explode towing this beastly boat? I'm thinking a couple trips a year to the coast. Several trips a year to surrounding lakes. Getting this part figured out will determine what we do next. I love our 242 and it's been a great boat so far but with fishing starting to take a big part i'd rather have an all in one setup rather than picking up a second, smaller boat or limiting our abilities to try new fishing areas with a smaller boat.

Thanks for any insight on this!

 

[jthackman]

i bet it would do just fine. guessing you have the 8hp70 8-spd? i had a 2015, but it had the 3.92 rear end, it did well pulling a 6k travel trailer. campers are less aerodynamic and have more tongue wt.

 

[Mid life crisis]

i bet it would do just fine. guessing you have the 8hp70 8-spd? i had a 2015, but it had the 3.92 rear end, it did well pulling a 6k travel trailer. campers are less aerodynamic and have more tongue wt.

Yeah have the 8-spd. I’m sure it will do fine and I'd rather allocate money to the boat rather than new truck since I have a good truck.

 

[dgfreeze]

Im towing a 230 with a Durango RT (5.7), and it does exceptionally well considering. Stays firmly planted, doesn’t sway, brakes very well, and does just fine regarding power. We’ve towed it on five hour trips, and many many one hour trips. It handles it better than I was afraid it would. A half ton truck is even better at handling the weight, I wouldn’t have any worries at all.

 

[Mid life crisis]

Im towing a 230 with a Durango RT (5.7), and it does exceptionally well considering. Stays firmly planted, doesn’t sway, brakes very well, and does just fine regarding power. We’ve towed it on five hour trips, and many many one hour trips. It handles it better than I was afraid it would. A half ton truck is even better at handling the weight, I wouldn’t have any worries at all.

That's the wife's ride, is a Durango R/T. It handles the 242LS to the ramp and back but not sure i would want to do any long treks with it. That 230 is good chunk lighter than the 242 or the newer 252 FSH. But I have been impressed with her Durango.

 

[Babin Farms]

You will be fine as long as you are aware of the added weight back there. Make sure to be on tow/haul mode and give yourself plenty of braking room. I seen a 32 ft Blackfin behind a 1/2 ton Chevy so I think your Ram would be fine.

 

[Mid life crisis]

You will be fine as long as you are aware of the added weight back there. Make sure to be on tow/haul mode and give yourself plenty of braking room. I seen a 32 ft Blackfin behind a 1/2 ton Chevy so I think your Ram would be fine.

Yeah, definitely wouldn't be racing anywhere with that boat behind me.

 

[Bottom Bracket]

Find a good driveline shop, re gear to 3:73 or 4:10 or whatever deep gear Chrysler offers, have puter flashed to match.
Heavy duty fan clutch if applicable.
Deep pan for the tranny,
external coolers oil, tranny, p/s......

 

[HangOutdoors]

You will do fine as is, don't sweat it.

 

[Babin Farms]

Find a good driveline shop, re gear to 3:73 or 4:10 or whatever deep gear Chrysler offers, have puter flashed to match.
Heavy duty fan clutch if applicable.
Deep pan for the tranny,
external coolers oil, tranny, p/s......

The 252 does not weigh enough to do all of that. If he was towing at or slightly above max capacity for the truck it might be an option but not for towing a boat under 4,800lbs dry weight.

 

[Bottom Bracket]

The 252 does not weigh enough to do all of that. If he was towing at or slightly above max capacity for the truck it might be an option but not for towing a boat under 4,800lbs dry weight.

He said he wants to keep it.

 

[dgfreeze]

The truck should have a towing capacity of right around 10,000 lbs. (give or take) it appears the 252 and trailer dry weight is a bit under 6,000, so even if you add 1,000 lbs for fuel and gear, you’re still dealing with a 3,000 lb buffer. I like a 25-30% buffer when towing any distance, and this would put you right in that range. You will notice there’s more weight, it’s going to change your driving habits, but the truck is built to handle it. Will a 3/4 ton handle it better? Of course. But there’s no reason to sweat about it, it’s well within the trucks capability.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Hey fam...doing some research before I make any decisions here. I currently have a 2017 Ram 1500 5.7l with the 3.21 gears. About 80k on the odometer but paid off and in great shape so hard to justify getting something newer/bigger. We currently have a 2014 242LS that gets towed about 1 mile round trip when we go out. Longest i've towed this boat was about 100 miles to our lake house where it has lived the past 3 years, so with that being said my towing experience is limited.

Now to the good stuff...we are considering upgrading to a 252 FSH since the kids are getting more into fishing. Fun part will be finding one but that's a different story. So if we upgrade to this boat I will want to take it more places to get more use out of it for its capabilities in fishing. That would be a five our drive to the coast or a couple hours to hit up different lakes, while still having its home at our current lake(Lake Texoma).

So...is the Ram going to explode towing this beastly boat? I'm thinking a couple trips a year to the coast. Several trips a year to surrounding lakes. Getting this part figured out will determine what we do next. I love our 242 and it's been a great boat so far but with fishing starting to take a big part i'd rather have an all in one setup rather than picking up a second, smaller boat or limiting our abilities to try new fishing areas with a smaller boat.

Thanks for any insight on this!

Let’s start here …
What’s the towing capacity of your truck ?

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

This chart would suggest about 8000 lbs of towing capacity (assuming 4x4 which is most common), although it could vary depending on how your individual truck is configured:



It is was me, I would wait another year to get the new truck. While trucks are more plentiful than the last couple of years, end of year sale discounts are still relatively small (I got 30% off mine in September 2020).

Jim

edited to update right chart

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Okay,

So depending on whether it is 2 or 4 WD, so I’ll go with the 4WD version, 8380# towing capacity. Now take away the number of persons in the truck beyond the single 170# person that the J2807 allows and any cargo you have in the bed of the truck and what is left over is the towing capacity. So, looks like there are two boys and I’m going to assume a wife. So lets toss in 150# for those young lads, and maybe 130# for the wife, that brings us to 280# of meat in the truck, so we have 8100# of towing capacity left.

A 252 FSH is 5972# dry on the trailer according to Yamaha’s web site. Toss in a full load of fuel, 666#, and now its up to 6638#, and now there is 1462# of tow capacity left over.

Now lets talk payload / gross vehicle weight. Payload for this truck is 1390#, take away 280# for Mom and the kids and we are down to 1110# of payload, now take away 7% for the tongue weight of the boat and trailer with a full load of fuel, you know what lets add in 300# of gear in the boat just to be on the safe side so now we are at 6938#, so 7% of that is 485#, so 625# of payload left in the truck with the boat hooked up.

GVW is 6350#, Base weight is 4960#, add in the 1390# for payload and yep that math works out.

So, with a 252 FSH with full fuel and 300# of gear in the boat our 2017 Ram 1500 5.7l with the 3.21 gears is ready to roll with a margin of 625# left over for additional gear in the truck, and an additional 512# of trailer weight

To me those are nice margins to have for any additional gear that would be added in for those 5 hour drive to the coast and or different lakes. They will just have to be mindful that they are approaching max GVWR but 625# of stuff is a lot of stuff but can add up quickly with tools and other hard gear.

 

[Bottom Bracket]

I would also add airbags if not equipped.
I prefer to be in the 50% range of towing capacity.
118* air temp, 150* asphalt, climbing to 5500' twice in 70 miles is typical.
High under hood temps and the puter will pull timing drastically affecting performance.

 

[adrianp89]

Sigh - why is this even a thread. Even worse are some of the recommendations.

The truck will tow it with ease through mountains and whatever crap you throw at it.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I would also add airbags if not equipped.
I prefer to be in the 50% range of towing capacity.
118* air temp, 150* asphalt, climbing to 5500' twice in 70 miles is typical.
High under hood temps and the puter will pull timing drastically affecting performance.

You should look up the SAE J 2807 standard, it includes towing up a pretty steep grade in high heat, and those are extreme conditions.

I have no problem pushing my truck to 100% if needed, there is a built in cushion engineered into their calculations, as well as temperature gauges that show when you need to pull back.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Truck is fine. Go enjoy boating.

If there needs to be a discussion, here you go....

 

[Bottom Bracket]

Tranny will put the motor in limp mode just before it blows all its fluid out of the dipstick tube. Fire!

"
Why do Ram 1500 series trucks have transmission problems?
The main reason that Ram 1500 series are known to have transmission problems is due to damage to the internal components in the transmission. Throughout the years Ram, and Dodge, transmissions have been known to have problems with fluid levels which leads to excessive wear and tear on the gears and bearings in the transmission. These lead to them wearing out faster than some of their competition.

In the 2017 Ram 1500 series, transmission problems are a known problem as well and these issues are usually caused by a transmission control module issue. The TCM on the truck is what tells it how to shift and what gear it should be in, when this has any software or electrical issues you will notice problems shifting between gears, and the truck will drive"

2017 Ram 1500 Pickup Truck Problems and Recalls - VehicleHistory

The Ram 1500's reputation for reliability is deserved, but it does have issues. Namely, electrical-related, and a lot of NHTSA recalls.

www.vehiclehistory.com