Biggest boats you have pulled with a 5.7 1500

Major Shart · Jul 27, 2016

I'm looking at getting a boat but of course I don't want a tiny one. I want to see what boats you guys are pulling regularly and what you have to say about it. Pictures are always helpful because who doesn't like pictures!

Rlaf75 · Jul 27, 2016

I don't do it on a regular basis but I had a 18ft bow rider I pulled a few times. My ram is a 5spd with 355 gears and I hardly felt it back there until I hit some good hills. Local road I put it in "tow" mode but on the highway Id let it go into high gear. No problems

RumRunner · Jul 27, 2016

Don't have a boat now, but used to pull a 25ft. sportscraft with a 1500 hemi all the time with no issues at all. Unfortunately I can't remember what the weight of the boat was, but it was a 1973 stand up cabin inboard v8.

Major Shart · Jul 27, 2016

RumRunner said:
Don't have a boat now, but used to pull a 25ft. sportscraft with a 1500 hemi all the time with no issues at all. Unfortunately I can't remember what the weight of the boat was, but it was a 1973 stand up cabin inboard v8.

This is closer to what I'm looking for. I'm looking at 26'-28' cuddy cabins but man they look HUGE on a trailer. They seem to come in under 10k pounds but the most I pull right now is a 20'X8' enclosed car hauler with a Trans Am inside. I guess that whole set up is about 7k lbs. It's heavy, I know it's there but it does fine. The boat set up may be about another 2k lbs give or take.

RumRunner · Jul 27, 2016

Well there are a lot of threads out there about towing and how much you can tow. If you want to be compliant with the law, check your truck to find out exactly how much you can tow (trucks vary based on cab size, trim package, etc..).

Depending on the boat though, it may not be as heavy as it looks. Newer boats are made with lighter materials than they were years ago (less wood, more fiberglass). Trailers are made with thinner metals. So do your homework to be sure. For me, I only towed my boat a couple of times a year, otherwise it was at the marina.

RumRunner · Jul 27, 2016

Major Shart said:
This is closer to what I'm looking for. I'm looking at 26'-28' cuddy cabins but man they look HUGE on a trailer.

Yeah, that is funny how huge they look out of the water compared to in the water.

Major Shart · Jul 27, 2016

Well my truck has a towing capacity of 9150 lbs. I always check the weight of the boats I'm looking at and they are coming in right around that or a little less. I am just trying to get some reviews of people towing near or at the limit of the truck to see how it does.

EvanYJ350 · Jul 27, 2016

21' inboard ski boat with direct drive 350 V-8. Weighs about 5000 lbs with trailer. Trailer has surge brakes. 1500 towed it fine, 2500 now even better....

Pull Ya · Jul 27, 2016

I have had a 24' cuddy cabin, a 28' cuddy cabin and then a 30 Baja Outlaw with twins. I was pulling them with an 04 3/4 T Cummins. I think you might be OK with a 24' but when you get up to a 28' it gets a lot heavier and IMHO your 1500 is not going to pull it easily.
Jay

Major Shart · Jul 27, 2016

EvanYJ350 said:
21' inboard ski boat with direct drive 350 V-8. Weighs about 5000 lbs with trailer. Trailer has surge brakes. 1500 towed it fine, 2500 now even better....

Ya I'm looking at something a bit heavier. I'm sure your fine now with a 2500!

Pull Ya said:
I have had a 24' cuddy cabin, a 28' cuddy cabin and then a 30 Baja Outlaw with twins. I was pulling them with an 04 3/4 T Cummins. I think you might be OK with a 24' but when you get up to a 28' it gets a lot heavier and IMHO your 1500 is not going to pull it easily.
Jay

I think you're right on with that info. That's what I'm thinking. So far I am thinking of staying under 26' or getting a 2500 Cummins. Even with a 24'-26' I wonder how hairy it would be...

Pull Ya · Jul 27, 2016

Many 24' are on single axle trailers and as far as I'm concerned that makes it harder to tow(IMHO), but the trailer doesn't weight as much. Once you move up to a 26-28' cuddy cabin it should be on a twin axle and it is easier to tow, but the trailer weights more. Once you put the water in, the gas in and all the crap that everyone wants to take with them, it is surprising how fast the weight goes up.
Jay

RumRunner · Jul 27, 2016

Don't just look at boat length though, check out the other details, boat weights vary greatly. The beam size and how much fuel/water/etc weight makes a difference too. Also the trailer weight. If you get a newer boat, unless it's a high end boat, it will weigh less than the same boat that is older due to material differences. Also, if the boat you are looking at has outboards, be careful that the specs on the boat do not include the weight of the motors because they can vary depending on what you put on.

Good luck, hope you find a boat you like that is within your current towing ability. It's a tough choice to replace a truck because you want a boat you can't tow

RubberFrog · Jul 27, 2016

25' cuddy cabin

Major Shart · Jul 27, 2016

Pull Ya said:
Many 24' are on single axle trailers and as far as I'm concerned that makes it harder to tow(IMHO), but the trailer doesn't weight as much. Once you move up to a 26-28' cuddy cabin it should be on a twin axle and it is easier to tow, but the trailer weights more. Once you put the water in, the gas in and all the crap that everyone wants to take with them, it is surprising how fast the weight goes up.
Jay

And that's what I'm factoring in. Fuel and other junk...

RumRunner said:
Don't just look at boat length though, check out the other details, boat weights vary greatly. The beam size and how much fuel/water/etc weight makes a difference too. Also the trailer weight. If you get a newer boat, unless it's a high end boat, it will weigh less than the same boat that is older due to material differences. Also, if the boat you are looking at has outboards, be careful that the specs on the boat do not include the weight of the motors because they can vary depending on what you put on.

Good luck, hope you find a boat you like that is within your current towing ability. It's a tough choice to replace a truck because you want a boat you can't tow

Ya every time I look at a boat I google to see what it weighs regardless of size. I love my truck but replacing it for a 2500 wouldn't bad, I could tow more toys with it! :happy107:

RubberFrog said:
25' cuddy cabin

Now that's what I'm talking about! Nice looking set up man, an you give some details on what the towing is like? Also how are you liking that size cuddy?

RubberFrog · Jul 27, 2016

I'll just throw out some random info on it-

I went with an aluminum double axle trailer. Major weight savings.
I had zero problems pulling this boat with 35s. I also pulled it with 37s, but at that point I had a custom cam so it's hard to say what it would have been like otherwise.
If you want specific weight and beam specs, the boat is a Stingray 250 CR with a v8.

I bought the cuddy when my kids were still in diapers so they could have somewhere to get out of the sun. As they got older, no one ever used the cuddy during the day. At night, a cuddy is fine if it's just you and your girl/wife. We usually put up the camper canvas and slept up top and let the kids sleep below. If I were doing it again, I would have bought the same size boat in a bow rider and got canvas for the front as well. Or a cabin cruiser.

Major Shart · Jul 27, 2016

RubberFrog said:
I'll just throw out some random info on it-

I went with an aluminum double axle trailer. Major weight savings.
I had zero problems pulling this boat with 35s. I also pulled it with 37s, but at that point I had a custom cam so it's hard to say what it would have been like otherwise.
If you want specific weight and beam specs, the boat is a Stingray 250 CR with a v8.

I bought the cuddy when my kids were still in diapers so they could have somewhere to get out of the sun. As they got older, no one ever used the cuddy during the day. At night, a cuddy is fine if it's just you and your girl/wife. We usually put up the camper canvas and slept up top and let the kids sleep below. If I were doing it again, I would have bought the same size boat in a bow rider and got canvas for the front as well. Or a cabin cruiser.

That boat is pretty light at 4185 lbs dry. That gives me a good idea though. And thanks for the insight on the cuddy as this will be my first boat. We'll be selling our vintage camper so we thought a cuddy would be like camping in that thing.

RumRunner · Jul 27, 2016

My first boat was a 21' Grady White with a cuddy, took me less than a season to realize that I wanted more than a cuddy. So I got a full stand up cabin on my 25' sportcraft. Even though the Grady was a better handling boat, I was so much happier being able to stand up in the cabin. I used to trailer the 21' all the time, but with the bigger boat I only trailered it a few times.

Major Shart · Jul 28, 2016

RumRunner said:
My first boat was a 21' Grady White with a cuddy, took me less than a season to realize that I wanted more than a cuddy. So I got a full stand up cabin on my 25' sportcraft. Even though the Grady was a better handling boat, I was so much happier being able to stand up in the cabin. I used to trailer the 21' all the time, but with the bigger boat I only trailered it a few times.

All of this boat advise is great info as I'm going into my first boat. Thanks for that and keep it coming.

xrsman · Jul 28, 2016

Biggest boat I've pulled is just a 20' Regal 1900

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charcoal1500 · Jul 28, 2016

I just picked up this new to me Caravelle 217 last week. I only have 2 tows with this new boat, truck does great! Old boat was a Reinelle 181 and I didn't even know that one was behind the truck. I haven't weighed the new one loaded for the lake yet but I think I am just under 5k with boat, trailer, fuel, ice chest and lake toys. I did install the airlift 1000 kit however I haven't added any air when towing this boat in the picture it is with bags at 7psi.

Biggest boats you have pulled with a 5.7 1500

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