Re: Tow with a 2WD
You'll be fine with that truck. <br /><br />You're boat & trailer should be well within its 3500lb capacity--- that also has a large safety factor built in. The hull probably weighs 1,000, the engine should be around 400, the trailer itself about 7-900lb,,, all your 'stuf'-- what, another 300 with beer & ice chests.<br /><br />But if in doubt, get the biggest baddest frame mounted hitch you can find. Then you'll never have to look in the rear view mirror until you back up somewhere.<br /><br /><br />You might want to change the bumper attaching bolts to '6 line' or tempered ones. Sometimes I think the factory uses lead bolts to hang bumpers with. <br /><br />If the ramps are pretty steep, you might want to put a couple hundred pounds of weight in the back end to help with wheel spin when pulling up out of the water if its a problem at all. If you don't have posi-track, and one wheel spins- holding down the brake (judiciously) will usually let both tires engage and pull as you get up out of the water.<br /><br /><br />I tow alot, and have always put the biggest aftermarket transmission cooler/radiator on my trucks that had automatics that I could find. <br /><br />Heck, I even put them on the wife's car just in case that $40 cooler saves us a $2,000 trans. overhaul from driving in stop & crawl traffic a few times when its 240 degrees here in Dallas. <br /><br /><br />Load + outside temp. heats up trans. fluid. After so much, it gets burnt,,, same as your engine oil. When its burnt, it doesn't lubricate the parts anymore. Instead of acting like oil, it is just 'wet' like water.<br /><br />That is what kills auto. transmissions.<br /><br />Change the oil every year at the end of Summer, and put a auxerillery(sp) cooler on it. Then the trans. should outlast the truck no matter how you use it. <br /><br />Last year I traded off a 84 Chevy 1/2 ton with a 350 and turbo 700 auto. trans. It had over 250,000 miles on it--- pulling trailers up to 12,000lb for about 300 miles, and pulling a 3500lb boat a few thousand miles, and cargo trailers up to 7500lb another few thousand miles.<br /><br />It still had the orig. eng. and trans. which pulled like the day I bought it--- on the day I sold it. <br /><br />Neither had had any major work or overhaul. I attribute this to simply changing the oils on a regular schedule. <br /><br />I changed the fluid in the trans. (and rear axle)every year, and it had the biggest cooler I could find up in front of the radiator.<br /><br />That's the trick to avoid having to call a shop and asking them, "How much do yawl charge to overhaul,,,,,,,". <br /><br /><br />Ed.
