Thanks for the input Sal, John, Mark, Sean, and Tom. The newer Tundra would be great but out of my price range at this point. I'm leaning towards a diesel and will definitely consider a Dodge too. I don't know much about the Chevy diesels but I know Dodge and Ford have good diesel engines. Thanks again! Its been helpful. Jeff ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Jenkins" <tjenk@gte.net> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 9:06 AM Subject: Re: M_Boats: Tow vehicle for M23
Jeff, To jump in here, a friend of mine has a Dodge Ram 2500 diesel (1998, 4x4) that gets 19-21 mpg in ordinary driving, and it drops to 17 or 18 with a 3200 lb boat/trailer and a big cabover camper that likely weighs another 3000. The thing doesn't even slow down on hills. At work he drives newish Ford and Chevy diesels of comparable size, and they are less reliable and more difficult and expensive to fix when they break. I pull my 11,000 lb Nor'Sea 27 with a Ford F250 3/4 ton 4x4 sporting a mighty 6 L gas engine (216 hp), and the package feels good on the highway, but it is grossly underpowered. Go 3/4 ton 4x4 6-speed manual so you will outweigh your boat and excel on ramps, and go diesel so the fuel won't cost a fortune. Go Dodge(-a-bullet) if you can find a good one; they are finally broken in at about 100 k miles. Tom Jenkins M17 Scintilla
On Mar 1, 2010, at 6:35 PM, Jeff Packer wrote:
Hey, Thanks to all who responded to my question regarding towing my M23. It certainly has changed my thinking to a 3/4 ton and more power. We do have mountains in Washington state and I think I may take it to the east coast someday as well. I towed it from Arizona with the ford 7.3 powerstroke diesel and it didn't even slow on the hills. It was great!
Dreamtime... I'm assuming your 3/4 chevy (I think you said a 6L) is a gas engine. Does it suffer much in miles per gallon while towing? One thing about the diesels is they don't seem to drop much in mileage while towing. Thats a plus!
Any one have experience with the chevy diesel trucks? I do like the way Chevy trucks drive. I know the powerstroke is a good motor, but I have known folks that have other complaints with Fords.
Hope I didn't start a Chevy vs Ford controversy here :-)
Jeff
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