Whatever make and model tow vehicle you use to haul Mom’s Mink down the highway, chances are that you had the truck before you had the boat. Or maybe when you bought that tow vehicle, you just eyeballed its max capacity and figured everything else would be just fine. That’s a shame, because as we all know, your fishing boat is one heck of a lot more important than that silly old land vehicle. In fact, we anglers should be choosing a truck based solely on how well it fits our trailer boats. (Yes, “boats” with an “s.”) If you’re headed over to the truck dealership, first we’d recommend you recalculate your finances and see if that money couldn’t be better spent on a newer, bigger boat. But if that’s not in the cards, be sure to look for these key features.
- TOW CAPACITY Naturally, this is the bottom-line feature that determines if X vehicle can tow Y boat. But those numbers that greet your eyes aren’t always as straightforward as it seems. The problem isn’t so much the vehicle’s rating, because the major manufacturers deliver reliable and somewhat conservative numbers. The problem lies with our boats. Published boat weights are not always 100 percent on target. Some manufacturers publish boat weight without power, while others publish it with the outboard or outboards included. What’s worse, some don’t even tell you which is which. Then consider tankage. Gas weighs around six pounds and water around eight, so if you have a full 120-gallon fuel tank and 20-gallon freshwater tank, you’ve boosted the load by close to 1000 pounds. On top of all that, through the years cores and foams can soak up water and gain weight. The bottom line? To be safe, always allow at least a 10-percent margin of error when matching up tow capacity with the load.
- POWERPLANTS – This is another area where it’s pretty safe to go by the manufacturer’s recommendations by looking at gross combined vehicle weight (GCVW) ratings. GCVW is essentially the total load—truck, trailer, boat, fuel, everything—and different powerplants will give trucks different ratings. That said, naturally, bigger is always better and if you’ll be hauling a large boat or travelling through mountainous areas, diesel will do you better than gas. The low-end torque is vastly superior, and will speed things up quite a bit when it comes to going up hills and steep inclines.
- HITCH TYPE – Hitches are rated by class from 1 through 4. Class 1, also known as bumper hitches, are rated for pulling up to 2000 pounds with no more than 200 pounds of tongue weight (note that in all cases specific capacities can vary with additional towing features). They’re also called “one time” hitches, because after you own a vehicle with one you probably won’t buy another—they really aren’t good for pulling anything heavier than a kayak or dinghy. Note that a 16’ center console with a 60-hp outboard plus the weight of the trailer and gear can exceed 2000 pounds, so even small boat owners will generally need at least a Class two. Class two hitches generally get you up to 3500 pounds and are often seen in the form of a 1.25” receiver used on small SUVs. Classes three and four jump to a 2.0” receiver and take the rating to 8000 pounds and 10,000 pounds. These are what you’ll generally find on today’s tow vehicles. If you need a monster truck to pull a monster boat, however, a Class 5 may be in order. With a 2.5” receiver these are rated for 18,500 pounds, and with a 3.0” receiver, can go up to 21,000 pounds.
- SIDEVIEW MIRRORS are a critical item that many people never think about. Bigger is better, and on some models you’ll see swing-out or telescopic mirrors that help extend the view. If you end up towing with a truck that doesn’t score high in the mirror department, remember that you can buy mirror extenders that slide or clip onto existing mirrors.
- SPECIAL FEATURES – Whether you’re looking at a Chevy, Ford, Ram, Toyota, or whatever, you can bet that the manufacturer offers a special towing feature or two unique to the brand. Some offer sway control, “smart” hitches that can calculate weight, reverse steering knobs, load-leveling air suspension systems, and more. Much of this stuff seems gimmicky and different people may find this or that more or less useful, so how you feel about these features is a personal decision. That said, one we’ve found particularly helpful is the anti-drifting feature offered by some manufacturers, which prevents the truck from rolling backwards when you take your foot off the brake on an incline (read: boat ramp). If ever there was a useful feature invented for trailer-boaters, this is it. Whatever feature may or may not interest you, it certainly makes sense to investigate the options before signing on any dotted lines.
Okay: are you ready to start truck shopping? Great. But we’d still recommend looking at new fishing boats, instead.