Need to tow a boat - OBS 4.3 good enough?

[Greg]

One of my co-workers just bought a boat ( http://www.fourwinns.com/line_prod.cfm?fam...boat&model=180H ) that will probably be aroung 4000 lbs. wet on the trailer and needs a used truck to tow it later this spring. A guy down the road from me has a '98 2wd(?) regular cab GMC with the 4.3 6 cylinder. The truck has 190K miles and is for sale for $4500.

 

I think he should keep looking for an OBS extended cab 4wd with a 350. While he's single with a girlfriend, he'll want to be able to carry folks to the lake. Your thoughts?

[mcreyaufmiller]

One of my co-workers just bought a boat ( http://www.fourwinns.com/line_prod.cfm?fam...boat&model=180H ) that will probably be aroung 4000 lbs. wet on the trailer and needs a used truck to tow it later this spring.  A guy down the road from me has a '98 2wd(?) regular cab GMC with the 4.3 6 cylinder.  The truck has 190K miles and is for sale for $4500.

 

I think he should keep looking for an OBS extended cab 4wd with a 350.  While he's single with a girlfriend, he'll want to be able to carry folks to the lake.  Your thoughts?

 

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That may be pushing it a little unless it has the 4.10 rear. The biggest problem you will have is getting the boat out of the water on the trailer. Beyond that, I think the truck will do it. For a boat that size, you really need a V-8 or a 4.10 rear.

[dr9672723]

I have a truck with the V6, and with 4000 lbs, it's only adequate with my 3.42. I agree; if it has a 3.73 or a 4.10 axle, it'll do well.

[WhiteBeachTrash]

she'll pull it without problems, 4.3L has got a lot of tq for a v6 since its the same motor as the 350, just short 2 cyclinders.

[jerneedog]

I use to have an S-10 with a 4.3 and I use to tow my boat with it. It was close to 2000lbs and did just fine, I also had a transmission cooler put on the truck to help out.

I couldn't really say what another 2000lbs would do, but my S-10 pulled the boat out

of the water, on a fairly steep ramp, with ease.

 

An extended cab truck would probably benefit him better for the future, but it does

depend on what's in his budget.

 

I can't wait to hook up the boat to my new truck and get out on the water again.

 

Let us know what he ends up with.

[Machine]

That boat will only be around 3300# fully fueled and loaded with beer, so the V6 should be OK for short hauls. Think twice if he plans to pull it all over the State, though, at 190K miles, that V6 could be a little tired.

[496 CUBIC INCHES]

I'd look for a different truck. The OBS trucks were known for intake leaks and crappy brakes. It has way too many miles to be considered reliable towing a boat around. The 4.3 more than likely will have 3.42s or less. The 4.3 in a fullsize truck is probably a stripped down model (who wants to drive a work truck). If it is a 2WD,launching and retrieving may be a handfull.

 

My wife drives a 99' Blazer with the 4.3 and a 3.42 rear end. I towed my Bayliner (21' and 3800lbs) once with her Blazer. I wasn't impressed with the 4.3 at all.

 

Oh yea,$4500 seems a bit much for a fullsize reg-cab truck with a V-6 and almost 200K on it.

[sjspor]

You'll be able to tow the boat, but it will be slow going and it will suck gas like you won't believe doing it. I can't answer how it will do on the boat ramp.

 

Plus that seems like an awful lot of money for 98 with 195,000 miles on it.

[MS3DALE]

I agree that $4500.00 seems like alot for the truck it is (plain jane 4.3-2wd)

I too would go with a V8 ext.cab.

[Greg]

Thanks for the replys. I agree that he should keep looking. He bought the boat at the Detroit boat show over the weekend and doesn't pick it up until the end of March, so he's got time. He's budgeting $8-9K for a truck and will probably pay cash.

[jerneedog]

I used my S-10 to tow my boat on this 6 hour drive to the lake and it had problems with

some of the hills. That's the only problem I really had with it though.

[Suburban Guy]

 

All good posts...here's another consideration. 4WD! I was pulling my 19 ft sea ray with a 93 Caprice (5.7 with a towing package) and going down the road it was fine, motor and axle ration was good. However, getting in and out of soupy landings and even the occasional sandy cement landings was a significant challenge. W/O the limited slip diff I would have never made it. I had many opprotunities to bury the rearend at the bottom of the landing! Oh, it was ugly! There were many lakes I had to stay off just because I couldn't be sure I'd get the boat out. Sooooooo.......Using a worn out 2WD V6 may be ok for most landings, a newer 4WD with a 5.3 or 5.7 would be far better.

 

 

Wendell

[hercman]

A buddy of mine has one of these

http://www.seaswirl.com/Boats/Boats_Detail.asp?bid=306

And tows it just fine with his 2wd 4.3l OBS. Never had a problem on the boat ramp either.

[mcreyaufmiller]

I used my S-10 to tow my boat on this 6 hour drive to the lake and it had problems with

some of the hills.  That's the only problem I really had with it though.

 

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Keep in mind, the s-10 is half the weight of a full size truck. less weight for the motor to pull on the truck means more weight to pull out back. A s-10 with a v-6 cannot be compared to a c-1500 with the same motor.

[496 CUBIC INCHES]

If he's budgeting 8-9K,he should have no problem finding a truck more capable of pulling his boat.