2.7l 2nd Boat Towing

Hey all,

Looking into getting a boat and worried the 4-banger on 2wd might leave me stuck at a boat ramp… don’t have experience pulling a boat with anythingother than my pa’s 4wd z71 Silverado.

Looking at getting a 16 to 18ft skiff, boat will weigh under 2000 lbs. Throw in another 600 lbs for a trailer should be fine from the capacity perspective. Just worried about getting up and down ramps.

I know that you need good tires, the condition of the ramp (sea weed/algae), tides, etc matter. Curious if anyone out there has experience with the 4cyl 2wd and boating… will she neither sink or swim?

thanks!

 

We had a 21ft fiberglass boat with a trap net set up with 4 or 5 165qt rotomolded coolers packed with ice and my 2.7 2wd did fine. Our ramps weren’t crazy steep but I still never spun a tire. If you have a local boating related Facebook page or forum, someone may let you try their similar boat at the ramp to see. Just a thought.

 

You've described the risk conditions well.

The flatter, cleaner and more textured the ramp the easier it is.

That weight approaches the tow capacity of the truck doesn't it? Did you include the motor, fuel and gear in your 2k wt number?

Regardless, you might not enjoy long distances with it.

 

Thanks for the responses

@Clearwater Bill yes, 2k would be about the boat loaded. Most the boats I’m looking at fall in the 1250lb dry weight range for the hulls themselves. Tow capacity is 3500lb. Definitely wouldn’t be taking it very far. Over in the south east most my ramps I’d be using are 30 miles tops, and it’s a flat drive nearly everywhere around here.

@jpneely good point about Facebook groups…

 

not that it increases the capacities or anything but I also had airbags to help rear sag. I think I tried adding up all the weight one time and it came pretty close to tow capacity on the 2.7. I never had far to tow, and it was pretty flat where I was. where are you located?

 

@jpneely Same place as you by the looks of it! Ha!

any experience out at Bushy Park? That’s the closest ramp to me and I’ve done a fair amount of kayaking from there but think those are pretty steep.

 

I’ve never done bushy, but I’ve put in at Limehouse, and most of the ones on James island. We have a 20ft key west, that I think is over the tow rating of the 2.7, so I don’t know if that’ll help your decisions but you’re more than welcome to meet me at Limehouse sometime and drag it around to see how it tows.

boat with trailer set up may be closer to 4k with fuel etc. I’ve moved it around with my 2.7 but never pulled it out of the water.

another edit: I also haven’t heard of bushy being terribly steep. For the first couple of times, I’d start at high tide just so you don’t have as far to pull her up and it might have less growth.

 

may take you up on that! Just starting my hunt now. Was thinking about pulling the trigger around end of the year in prep for spring. Just trying to plan out what would work… been fishing out of a kayak for a couple years now and about time for an upgrade!

 

I still prefer kayak fishing sometimes, you can get up into tiny creeks! I’ve also got a 16’ Jon boat with a 40 on the back. I’d prefer to use that thing over our key west any day. Buuuuut wife and kids make it less favorable.

 

I have a 2014 Access Cab, 2WD, 2.7. I've pulled my 18' open bow boat fish/ski several times w/o issue. The boat weighs around 2,500 lbs, maybe 3,000 with fuel and gear, but that would be max. Never an issue loading or unloading at the ramp. Only complaint is hills, hard to keep a safe highway speed. From our home to the lake is around 100 miles for context.