Here's the story. Last year I bought an Arima SeaHunter that weighs in at 2300lbs including trailer. For the past eight months, I've been pulling it with a two wheel drive Chrysler minivan 3.8L 190hp 230ftlbs torque with tow package that includes tranny cooler. Haven't had a problem although four wheel drive would have given me piece of mind a couple times. It's time to get a new vehicle. Do I need a big V-8 that sucks gas to no end? I drive probably 30k per year so 15 mpg versus 20 mpg is $50 per month just in fuel. My buddy drives a Ford F250 with 460CID. He gets 12mpg on a good day and believes that is the only way to go. He says I need the torque. My thought is a Toyota 4-Runner with V-6. At least then I can split the difference. Anyone know how much torque versus horsepower is required to handle a 2300lb tow for 100k or so?

I've been towing my 18' Seaswirl (heavy boat for it's size) with my '93 explorer for 3 years now. Just passed 162k. I would like to have a v-8 for piece of mind, and reduced engine wear. Ford has some small v-8s (4.6L) in their F-150's. You could pay $50 bucks a month more for a few years, or put a new engine or transmission in your tow vehicle for a bit more. My new engine was about $3,000.

i just saw in the chiltons manual for my truck that it is recommended not to exceed 35 lbs/hp for towing as a general rule...

example - say your truck, you and passengers, boat and trailer all together weigh 3500 lbs, then 100 hp or more should be within limits with no modifications

it went on to talk about changing gear ratios and adding a transmission and/or oil cooler to enable towing heavier loads without the extra wear on the engine and parts, if someone would be interested in messing around with that

as far as a V-8 goes, i wouldn't think that you'd ever need one for a drift boat...i pull an 18' alumaweld with my little 4.0L ranger and that is all within the weight limit for power/towing, etc.

ej do I have a deal for you I have a 93 f150 with a 351w 4x4 103k miles take over my payments cuz gas prices r going up!
how I would love to get rid of this truck and get something smaller like a toyota 4x4 4cyl.
as far as your van is concerned just put a little into the top end (maybe another 35 h.p.) and you should be fine!

that is if your concern is just getting out of the launch but if yo absolutely have to get a new ride then just consider staying with a economizer

you might look at the ford powerstroke desiel, my father has one, he was getting 17 to 18 around town and around 20 to 21 on the freeway. he just put one of those power chips in it, and now is getting 19 mpg around town and 22 to 23 on the freeway, it now goes like a gas rig and added more torque. will haul anything, he pulls a 22.5' stratos and you'd swear there wasn't anything back there! his desiel gets the mileage and has all the torque that is needed!

ej-

My Powerstroke Excursion gets better mph's than the 4runner you mention ever will. Comes stock with 500 lbs of torque, and very comfortable to drive around. If you want a truck that is less costly, you could easily get a f250 powerstroke that will get you around 20 on the highway and 15-18 around town, plenty of power, and if you buy one that is a couple years old you can save some bucks. I would think this setup would cost the same or less as a 4runner.

Email me if you want specifics, this is my third powerstroke and I love it.

Steve

Maybe overkill, but love my diesel. Average 20 - 22 mph and diesel has been running 10 to 20 cents less then regular this winter. If you're going to put a lot of miles on, and 30 per year is a lot, pays for itself pretty quick. Will pull just about anything if you can figure out how to get a rope around it.

I don't think a 6cyl Toy would be ideal, it won't have much more power than you have now, but a 4wd might ease your mind in 4lo at a steep wet ramp. I had a 98' Ranger 4.0 liter 6cyl 4wd that I towed a 21' Bayliner with, the truck pulled the boat o.k. but left a little to be desired if you have to stop quick,even with surge brakes on the trailer. I traded my Ranger for a fullsize Chev 4wd with a 5.7 liter V-8 I got 18 mpg towing the same boat to spokane and back and felt alot better about stopping.My Ranger got 20+ mpg around town but when towing that boat it dropped to about 12 mpg cause the engine had to work so hard. I never thought I needed a fullsize with big power but I would never go back now! I've found there is more to life than gas mileage.

Thanks for the feedback. 35lbs/horsepower is a good thing to remember. You are right about the gas mileage I get when towing with the van. Without the boat I get 22 highway, but with the boat only 12mpg. 90%+ of the 30k per year are without the boat though. Diesel just may be the way to go. I need this vehicle for work, hauling kids, and hauling my boat, in that order. Ford Powerstroke diesel....

I think diesel is a good way to go also if you really want a rig that big (currently I have an F250 w460, a real gas hog, but its paid for!). For your towed weight a smaller rig would do the job however. As a reference I'd recommend Trailer Boat Magazine. They have a towing reference section every year that gives the tow ratings for all popular vehicles and a column where they answer towing questions. Learned a lot there over the years. One other factor to keep in mind is to pay attention to the GVWR when choosing your tow vehicle. Basically this means that you add the weight of passengers/cargo to the tow vehicle and towed load. And then for reliability you want some margin. Without looking it up, I'd guess from your description you're pushing it with the minivan...transmissions have been historically problematic, my wife's went out at 40k and its never pulled anything but a drift boat, and that not very often. Happy shopping.

Ford Deisel all the way. Mines a '93 no turbo on 35's and i get 13-15mpg. Dads stock 2000 gets 19-20. I bielieve that a heavier rig is always better when towing. Towing 2300 lbs with a rig that wieghs 7-8000 lbs is safer than with one that weighs 4-5000lbs. Ever see a toyota pulling a skiboat down the freeway and it starts whipping back and forth? Looks like the tail wagging the dog. What kind of milage do v-6 toyotas get nowadays anyway? My roomates 2000 only gets 10-12 but its lifted on 35's so id be curious to hear what the nonlifted ones get.
I dunno about that 35lbs per horsepower thing. My deisel is rated at 185 hp. it definatly outpulls my roomies 190 hp toyota, its not even a funny comparison.

You need to look at torque more than horsepower torque is what makes you go, horsepower keeps you going at higher speeds. My Chev 350 makes 270 HP but it makes that at about 4500 RPMS it has 345 lbs of torque but makes that from 1500-2500 RPMS. Thats the reason the older non-turbo diesel motors will pull the earth out of orbit if you could hitch it up, but if they slow down like going over a pass it takes forever to get back up to speed,they don't have much HP but a ton of torque.If you go diesel I would lean heavily towards a turbo model, the other thing to consider is repairs, if you have to fix a diesel it costs alot more because the parts have to be alot stouter because of the super high compression in a diesel motor, but a diesel should run 2-300,000 no problem. I would go to one of the many websites on the web and look at all the pros and cons with a diesel.

ej -

Try this site for some info.

http://forums.ford-diesel.com/ubbthreads/

That is a good point regarding what RPM level the HP was achieved. Torque is important, but I think again you have to consider at what RPM level it was acheived.

Although a V-6 will tow such a boat, if you want your vehicle to last a long time the less it works the better. I know someone who has the 4.6L in an F-150 and he claims he gets 20-22 highway with it.

I bought my '83 GMC diesel conversion van 7 years ago for $3000. It now has 320,000 miles on it, and needs a new motor, and I'm having trouble convincing myself that I should buy a different vehicle, rather that rebuild the motor. The diesel conversion van has everything I think I would ever need, except four wheel drive. I don't yet own a drift boat, so this isn't a big deal, I've never gotten stuck at the boat ramp, nor have I ever gotten stuck while up in the mountains snowboarding... though I use chains up there.

I don't know how much torque or horsepower the 6.2L engine puts out, I just know that with 320,000 miles on it, it still pulls my 19' Custom Weld sled no problem. I get about 19mpg, and could do better if I changed the rear end gearing. Check out this site, it has lots of good info on GMC diesels:
http://www.62-65-dieselpage.com/

It also has an excellent article on diesels and fuel economy here:
http://www.62-65-dieselpage.com/mileage.htm

Diesel conversion vans are pretty rare (don't know why?) but if you can find one, buy it... mine's got room for all the kids, all the gear, will tow the boat, when you're tired you can pull over and sleep on the queen sized bed in the back... it's awesome.

P.S. If you can find one with a 6.5L or 6.5 turbo, those are supposed to be much better engines than the 6.2L

-N.