Lord, my truck is so big and my boat is so small....

[Mark Hofman]

I think I need to get a bigger boat now.



That Tournament V-18 just looks TOO small behind the new truck, dontcha think?



(I'm working on a game plan to upgrade.....)

 

[Terry Heydt]

I'd be worried about the safety concerns of towing a boat that size with that truck. If for no other reason, definately tell the wife that the boat needs to be bigger out of pure concern for visibility issues, not to mention the towing "minimums" for that Dodge. Then again, to fully address the needs of that vehicle, you would almost have to "downgrade" to one of those big and gaudy 'glass boats...

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Oooooooooo...I know where you can get a n-i-c-e 929!! LOL. It outta put just enough drag on that truck to be safe.



TOXIC

 

[sold boat]

lol

 

[fatrap]

A big glass boat would certainly look appropriate behind that truck.

fatrap

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Big Truck...Mo ya' know what they say about "guys with big trucks"......Big boats...that's right!

TEE

 

[Mark Hofman]

Y'know, TEE....my wife keeps telling all her friends the same thing she told me when we signed the papers. "Buying a big truck doesn't make other parts of you bigger."



<i>Thanks, hon. I REALLY appreciate that bit of wisdom and the fact that you're sharing it with, oh, EVERYONE!</i>

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Little does she know that a big glass boat will!!LOL



TOXIC

 

[Kerry Neal]

Nice truck and boat. How come that lake has a hill in it. It's low on the left and high on the right. Our lakes are flat for some reason.

 

[Staci Matheis]

DEFINATELY a 929!

 

[J B]

Maybe Tracker will come out with a 20+ foot Avalanche and then you can have the big boat and stick with tin. That graphite color Avalanche would match the truck pretty nicely.

 

[Mark Hofman]

Ooooohhhh....Avvvvvaaaallannnccchhhe........



Don't tease me with the thought of a dual console, 20-foot Pewter Avalanche with a 175 EFI hanging on the back end. That's just too much to bear.

 

[J B]

That would be one sweet combination! I'd bet a 20' Avalanche would be rated for at least 200 horses. Gotta have the big outboard at the rear to match the Hemi in the front.

 

[Texas Transplant]

The Truck is 'designed' to tow large loads. It is not designed to tow light, or medium duty loads. So, for that reason, you need to put the right amount of load behind it, so that it will balance the weight to load ratio, appropriately.



Wouldn't want OSHA and the DOT to get on you now, would you?



Tex

 

[Richard Whittemore]

MoFish!!! tell me yore not gonna cross ovha to da



........DARK SIDE.....



throw a load a bricks in the boat if you want weight....

 

[Mark Hofman]

Errr.... I think I'm gonna need to refine my approach. When I proposed getting a different, bigger boat, this was what was "approved".

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Ahhhhhhhh, welcome to the darkside.......Glass



TOXIC
http://www.zjstech.net/~library/5933/darkside.wav

 

[Mark Hofman]

Not me....



This is the OTHER half's idea of the PERFECT boat!!

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Then 1/2 the battle is won (the toughest 1/2)!! LOL



TOXIC

 

[Jim B]

NO not a pleasure boat!!!!!!!!!!













my eyes are burning just looking at the picture.

 

[Mark Hofman]

It could only be worse if it was a picture of a jet-ski!

 

[Rick Hale]

Hey MO -- The big Tundra would match your truck perfectly

both color and size.

Good Luck --- HaleDamage

 

[Richard Whittemore]

Hmmm... Looks like Hillary in the back.

 

[Andrew Zuber]

MO-

The TV-18 is not too small...

It's just a trick of the camera...

Take another picture with the boat in the foreground and the truck in the background...It will be just like taking a picture of bass stuck waaaaay out in front of you!!!



LOL



az

 

[Mark Hofman]

Normally I don't pull the boat when it's got a full tank of gas. I wait until I get close to the lake before filling it up. Once benefit of doing it this way is that I can avoid the ethanol blend gasolines sold here in the city.



But on this trip, I decided to fill the tank before gas prices went up, so the weight was definitely higher than I'm used to.



With my Ford (4.7L V8), it would downshift into 3rd going up a hill but keep slowing down - even with the tank half-empty. Eventually, the truck would shift into passing gear. Talk about a whine!!!! There is one hill between Springfield and Branson where I'd get to the top going 20 to 25 mph!



With the HEMI and the extra weight of a full 40-gallons in the boat's tank, it would still downshift out of overdrive, but as soon as the truck would be in 3rd, man would it start to accelerate again. Before too long it would jump back up into OD.



We came down one on-ramp after taking a break at a rest area. I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw two semi-trucks side-by-side coming up the interstate. I stepped on the gas and had no trouble getting onto the highway in front of them without either truck having to let off their accelerators. This truck definitely has the UMPH to pull heavier loads.



On the downside, goint TO the lake the gas milage averaged about 10.8 mpg. Coming back, with the tank partially empty, it averaged .... 10.8 mpg.

 

[Jim B]

Mo you may want to thionk about turning off the ovcerdirve while towing. my dodng says no od while towing in the manual. form what im told overdrive causes lots of extra heat in the tranny and heat is one of the major factors in an automatic tranny failing. also if it downshifts alot thats not too good for it either.

 

[Mark Hofman]

Thanks, Jim.



The highways around here are so flat that the only time the OD kicks off is going up an overpass, or if I get deeper into the Ozarks. It's not like the transmission is hunting for a gear which, from what I understand, is what's bad. The 2500 comes standard with both an engine oil cooler and a transmission fluid cooler.



When I get into an area where its a lot of up and down driving, I do turn the OD off. But if its just flat terrain, I'll leave it on to try and eak out a few more MPGs.

 

[Rick Hale]

One thing -- Change your tranny fluid more often they call foor -- Make a big differance in reducing tranny problems..



Why did you go with Dodge and not a Ford or Chev????



Maybe looking next year-- My 01 Chev with a 6 -- does OK with my 18" Targa-- but really slows on those hills .

HaleDamage

 

[Jim B]

Mo

i was told by a Dodge mechanic that when your in overdrive the fluid path changes and it bypasses the cooler thus causing extra heat no matter what the terrain. I never tow with mine in od after talking to him, its not worth killing a tranny to me. Believe it or not my Dakota actually does better on gas in third then it does in od on the freeway because the motor isnt lugging at all and it never has to shift ever. It runs nice and free and will climb anything. I get about 1mpg better with the od off.

 

[Mark Hofman]

Thanks for the info, JimB. I'll give it a try.



HaleDamage, I went with the Dodge for a couple of reasons. The biggest is that my wife taught the daughter of the people who own the dealership, and the owners REALLY wanted to get us into a Dodge because of that relationship. They invited us to spend time at their lake home, and kidded us about driving a Ford. So they offered us a deal that we just couldn't pass up



My wife couldn't understand why I wanted to get a big 4x4 (either the Dodge Quad Cab or the Ford F-250 Crew). She liked our Ford 2x4. I wanted one just because I'm a guy and because....I wanted one.



When we saw the "bottom line", my wife was suddenly the one asking if we should go ahead and buy it. Who was I to say "Naw..."



We test drove the truck and the owner let us take it home overnight so we could really discuss it. I did a side-by-side comparison with the F-250 and found that the Dodge had a lower base price, more horsepower with the standard engine, more torque, a smaller turning radius, higher compression, lower curb weight, wider wheel track, higher ground clearance, better front leg room, higher standard towing weight, higher payload, higher max gross vehicle weight, and - most importantly - a 7/70 powertrain warranty versus a 3/36 powertrain warranty on the Ford.



We did sacrifice on interior cab height (headroom) and the size of the rear doors/seats. But all other things being equal, with the warranty and the price we got, the cards fell squarely on the side of the Dodge.



If I'd been looking at a diesel instead, the Chevy Duramax comes highly recommended and it would have gone up against a Dodge with the Cummins Turbo Diesel. The Ford Diesel's are just too nose-heavy in a 4x4.