First "long distance" boat tow

[Melnickta]

Took my 17' boat up from Hilton head to charleston this past weekend. Truck did great, but I was watching the heat hand the whole way. Two things kept running through my mind...1.) Is the transmission capable of overheating by towing in a lot of stop & go traffic and 2.) if I am going to do a lot of this, do I need heavy duty shocks as my back end was taking a beating going over all of the bridges?

Any insight by the much smarter members on this board would be appreciated. I am always impressed by the breadth of knowledge on here.
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[brad_man_72]

I don't tow for distance, I tow for speed!

Mine sits on the bumpstops, bridges suck. A cnotch, bags and some good shocks might help.
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[68gmsee]

Don't know what you have but to give you an idea I used to tow my tractor with bush hog and trailer (mostly highway) with my 69 with 350/350 and it handled it well. Farthest distance was around 80 miles one way and total weight was around 5500 lbs.

Truck is dismantled now but I had a 2 row radiator, no shroud, stock springs and IIRC medium heavy duty shocks. Never ran hot. For the buncing, you probably can't completely eliminate that except to go slower but another element to consider is tongue weight. Should be around 10-15% of total weight of boat and trailer.

[cdowns]

the biggest thing is to keep your trailer in excellent condition// grease bearings frequently.i always would carry a spare bearing set and have a spare tire for the trailer /plus makin sure you can remove the flat tire is good as trailer lugnuts are neglected alot an if you cant remove the flat well that is a problem

[GCncsuHD]

Originally Posted by Melnickta

Took my 17' boat up from Hilton head to charleston this past weekend. Truck did great, but I was watching the heat hand the whole way. Two things kept running through my mind...1.) Is the transmission capable of overheating by towing in a lot of stop & go traffic and 2.) if I am going to do a lot of this, do I need heavy duty shocks as my back end was taking a beating going over all of the bridges?

Any insight by the much smarter members on this board would be appreciated. I am always impressed by the breadth of knowledge on here.
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Automatic trans? Install a bigger auxiliary transmission cooler, they are worth their weight in gold, yes stop and go will heat it up since it slips a lot at low speeds to get going, especially pulling a load. Plumb it inline after exiting the internal cooler in the radiator, then back to the transmission.

As far as the rear, are you lowered at all? Helper bags, or even just replacing your coil springs in the rear with air bags is relatively simple and a great upgrade. You can soften the rear when doing normal driving, then stiffen it up when towing and level out any sag. If you are lowered more than 3-4" in the rear, I would suggest a bolt on c-notch to regain some suspension travel. You can weld or bolt on the c-notch, but the "bolt on" style typically adds strength back due to the extra plated material outside the normal framerails, whereas just a cut with a 1/2 tube or plate welded in weakens it significantly. Shocks could definitely help, avoid the "airshocks" they tend to leak down, and the shock side is usually poor quality, I like Bilstein shocks, they are very nice quality, tend to be on the stiffer side, but not too stiff, and feel really controlled.

[Melnickta]

Thanks for all of the tips. I'm driving a stock 350 without a shroud and a 195 thermostat (which I replaced yesterday with a 180 degree one).

Just had the entire trailer redone. I was towing a 17' Center console with a 90hp motor. Tongue weight was probably ok.

Thanks for the tips from everyone.

[GCncsuHD]

Originally Posted by Melnickta

Thanks for all of the tips. I'm driving a stock 350 without a shroud and a 195 thermostat (which I replaced yesterday with a 180 degree one).

Just had the entire trailer redone. I was towing a 17' Center console with a 90hp motor. Tongue weight was probably ok.

Thanks for the tips from everyone.

Any particular reason you replaced the thermostat with a 180*? Were you experiencing knock or detonation? Otherwise it won't help, a properly maintained cooling system will maintain the correct temperature, when it gets loaded down it can still creep up the temp just the same as with the 195stat, your overall cooling load capacity has not changed. If anything you have only hurt your mileage and power slightly as the engine runs less efficient at the lower temperature.

[dajn]

Nothing like damn near hitting your head on the roof while going over the bridge approach panel. Its a poor design and it seems like the panel right before and after the bridge always settles with time. Not fun to hit at 70 while pulling a trailer especially.
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[Melnickta]

Originally Posted by GCncsuHD

Any particular reason you replaced the thermostat with a 180*? Were you experiencing knock or detonation? Otherwise it won't help, a properly maintained cooling system will maintain the correct temperature, when it gets loaded down it can still creep up the temp just the same as with the 195stat, your overall cooling load capacity has not changed. If anything you have only hurt your mileage and power slightly as the engine runs less efficient at the lower temperature.

I replaced the thermostat to cool as best it could in the South Carolina lowcountry heat and humidity. From everything I've read here, it doesn't make that much difference in fuel economy or engine wear, and it gives me peace of mind with the extra wiggle room while I'm waiting 30 minutes at the boat landing for some Ohio tourist to put in his jet ski (no offense if this may apply to any of you... this happens all of the time down here though). If I'm wrong (about the thermostat, not the tourists), please let me know and I'll change it back. It just seemed to be a matter of personal preference amongst everyone on the board.

I noticed when I was towing that, there were times when it seemed like I was getting pushed and pulled. No idea what this could have been from.

[FrankenCub]

Originally Posted by Melnickta

I noticed when I was towing that, there were times when it seemed like I was getting pushed and pulled. No idea what this could have been from.

From my experience towing boats your toung height could either be too high or too low. I had one truck that was way too high and I didn't have the correct drop hitch for it and if I had any kind of weight on my trailor it would push me all over. Can get down right scary at times lol. A sway controler such as this could help too.

What do you all think about air shocks ? I know, it's kinda old school now but I could also weight help with my GMC because I use it hauling fire wood and they are much cheaper than air bags and I need to replace my shocks anyhow.

[GCncsuHD]

Originally Posted by Melnickta

I replaced the thermostat to cool as best it could in the South Carolina lowcountry heat and humidity. From everything I've read here, it doesn't make that much difference in fuel economy or engine wear, and it gives me peace of mind with the extra wiggle room while I'm waiting 30 minutes at the boat landing for some Ohio tourist to put in his jet ski (no offense if this may apply to any of you... this happens all of the time down here though). If I'm wrong (about the thermostat, not the tourists), please let me know and I'll change it back. It just seemed to be a matter of personal preference amongst everyone on the board.

I noticed when I was towing that, there were times when it seemed like I was getting pushed and pulled. No idea what this could have been from.

The overall cooling capacity of your cooling system is not changed by the thermostat, it will run cooler at idle and with a light load, but that is not necessarily desirable. When you have a heavy load on the engine it will heat up no matter what the thermostat temperature rating is, that is judged by the condition of your cooling system/coolant, your radiator surface area, material, fan, shroud, etc.

[SS Tim]

Originally Posted by Melnickta

I replaced the thermostat to cool as best it could in the South Carolina lowcountry heat and humidity. From everything I've read here, it doesn't make that much difference in fuel economy or engine wear, and it gives me peace of mind with the extra wiggle room while I'm waiting 30 minutes at the boat landing for some Ohio tourist to put in his jet ski (no offense if this may apply to any of you... this happens all of the time down here though). If I'm wrong (about the thermostat, not the tourists), please let me know and I'll change it back. It just seemed to be a matter of personal
preference amongst everyone on the board.

I noticed when I was towing that, there were times when it seemed like I was getting pushed and pulled. No idea what this could have been from.

So far you have not provided much information to base recommendations on. Been able to find that we are probably talking about a 70 stepside. The 350 already has cooling gremlins apparently too.

How about telling us more like wheelbase, series, trans type and model. Maybe a SPID if is a stock truck. Trailer and tongue weight are good to know too. Be glad to give you all the factory towing specs I can based on your information.

Are you just sitting running for half an hour? That will cause a spike in temp as everything heat soaks. Just turning into the wind or shutting the truck off are simple solutions.

As far as being pushed around that sounds like your trailer. Wheelbase, spring type, rates and shocks can all affect that as well the trailer weight. But no matter a deadweight load like a boat is easier than a live load like horses. Had a pair of quarter horses that loved to sway side to side (in unison) going down the road. More so when we were stopped.

[GCncsuHD]

If you are heating up from sitting, then your heat issue looks to be a result of poor airflow, first thing to check is your fan shroud, don't have one? GET/MAKE ONE! It is key to low speed cooling performance, check your fan clutch, if equipped, to make sure it is functioning properly.

The push/pull issue, was it side to side or forward/backward? A side to side issue points to low tongue weight, the motor and fuel tank being on the back of the boat can make this issue worse, try to load your gear in the front of the boat, to balance it out.

[SCHRUMGMC]

I'd be scared to Tow something like that