? for those that tow with the 2.7 4cyl...

I have a 2010 4cyl ac 5mt 4x4. I know its rated for 3500lbs. im looking into getting a small boat (17-18' bowrider or something like that). my gf is also looking into a small horse trailer so we dont have to use the one ton and gooseneck all the time. how do these trucks tow at the 3000-3500 lbs mark? i know it wont be like the v6 or a full size v8. im just asking if it is realistic to tow the max 3500 lbs. until now i thought the 2.7 was great (20 mpgs with 265's). now im concerned that if i really want a boat i will need to upgrade to a v6. i do have the rear tsb and i believe the brakes are the same on the 4 and 6 cyls, so stopping and handling 3500 lbs should be comparable, but will it be nightmare getting it going?

 

anyone???

 

welll... i wouldnt go over 3000lbs.
on my truck with stock tires this is what i tow and have some trouble.
1700-2000lb pop up camper loaded (no wind resistance)
2 dirtbikes (500lbs)
gear drinks gas food(150lbs???)
2 people (350lbs)

not much trouble on flat. but hills are a bitch... 2nd gear on the bigger ones.

 

i was planning on keeping it around 3000 if possible. mostly nervous about smoking the clutch. back when i bought the truck i said oh, 3500lbs thats a small boat no problem, now starting to wonder if i should have sprung for a v6.

 

Just the other day I scraped my parts car 68 chevelle without motor or trans and it alone weighted alittle over a ton and my car hauler is about 30 years old home made and it alone weights 2200 pounds plus tools and 150 pounds chains and me and my grandfather made it 50 miles round trip not much problem but I knew it was there

 

Towing to the max will require brake controller, trans cooler, towing clutch fan, wd hitch, sway controller, LT rated tires.

Edit: No trans cooler for you. Auto only.

 

Try it out first.

If you are not happy, then trade up.

 

I've towed quite a bit with mine. Granted its a 1st gen but I've towed a 16' bumper pull livestock trailer with 5 full grown cows and a horse. You should be fine.

 

You were pulling around nearly 6k lbs in stock, and that's without the trailer weight? Poor truck

 

Yeah my poor truck keeps suprising me on what it can do. I really think 1st gens are meteor proof. I also have a photo of my truck towing a 500 gallon water tank on a trailer.

 

towed a 17' starcraft boat from PA.to lake ontario. knew I had a small problem when I was on the tpk. and going up small grades doing 35 mph, flat to the floor,in 3rd gear. made it up and back, then got the trans. rebuilt because the brgs. were making noise. after that I bought a chevy truck just to tow the boat. 4-cyl. towed deep v 14' boat just fine,also small army trailer that we took to maine,but there's a limit as to what it will tow. this was the 2.4 22-RE ,not a 2.7. don't even want to try to tow the starcraft with my 2.7. I'll stick with the chevy for that.

 

I tow a 16' aluminum boat with mine. Don't think I'd want to tow much more. It gets the job done, but I'm working the truck.

 

I tow a 18ft bowrider (3.0 sterndrive)....its a struggle starting on hills, other than that she performs fine. Weight is around 2500 lbs. and i couldn't imagine trying to tow double that.

 

The one thing that has been proven by many people, myself included, is that loading/towing over a vehicle's ratings is related, inversely proportional, to how long it lasts. To wit: the harder you push it, the quicker it will break or wear out.

 

I would be very interested to see if anyone with the 4 cyl had a turbo installed and how much difference the performance would be. I am not interested in maxing out or exceeding the capability of the truck, rather better performance while towing/hauling. Last i checked the turbo package was around 3 grand. Any data could sway me in purchasing the turbo in the near future.