HELP!!Mod to 2001 1500 Quadcab for towing 22' motorboat

i am in the process of buying a motorboat. i paln to tow it with my '01 1500 2WD Ram. It does not have the factory tow package. what mods should i do to the truck to safely tow this boat ~120 miles back to home and then ~1 mile to the boat ramp on weekends? thanks for your help.

cliff hubbard

Reply to
Hubmachineatgmail.com
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Buy a decent Class IV hitch, such as a Draw-Tite part# 75101, and a wiring adapter (Draw-Tite part# 18329). You'll be all set.

Reply to
Tom Lawrence

Tom... for a 22' boat, shouldn't he also have a tranny cooler? (we didn't have one when we towed our 16' inboard, but another 6' of boat must add a lot of weight)

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

Seems like he is going to tow it a mile a week once he get's it home, no need for a cooler imho.. The initial 120 miles to get it to his home shouldn't be a problem if he uses his head. Heck, he could borrow a friends truck with a tow pkg for the haul to home.

Roy

Reply to
Roy

had a 1/2 to dodge pu with no tow package, 2 wheel dr, 6 cyl manual stick.

a ball on the bumper towed my 21 ft ctr concole boat ok...most 20 miles rd trip to a variety of ramps.

had a major prob though.at a bad ramp (slime build on concrete) I was pulling it out and broke traction. boat was straped to trailer. all 4 went back into the river.

boat,trailer,dodge pu and me.

Henry

Reply to
Henry

Mac thanks for your reply. i was wondering if i might need a transmission cooler. what size would you recommend? the boat is on a dual axle trailer, twin 115 outboards. would you recommend a brand?

cliff hubbard

Reply to
Hubmachineatgmail.com

If it is a 4.7 or 318 I would rear gear rear axle with 4.56 gears (do not let numbers scare you as OD takes the bit out of it) and it will pull it fine if you also add a aux tranny cooler. If it is a 360 try

4.10 gears with same aux cooler. With eithe rof this setup up above you should be able to tow it anywhere you want with no fear of breakdown and lack of performance. If you leave truck stock and it has tall gears, cooler or not it is just a question of time before it gives up onr hot day, the only unknown is whether it is next week or next year or two years from now.

The only other option is just to replace truck with a more suitably equiped tow vehical too

Reply to
SnoMan

Are you insane? Re-gear a truck because of a 1-mile tow once a week?

Is it me, or is there an inordinate amount of over-thinking when it comes to towing in this group lately?

It's a 22' boat, not a D9 Cat, fer cryin' out loud... he'll be just fine with whatever he has.

Reply to
Tom Lawrence

I would think that as well since I did order mine with the towing package and my gears are 3.55.

Reply to
TBone

Its not you......he will do jus fine.

Henry

Reply to
Henry

I would use a tranny cooler. Personally, I think just about every auto tranny (car or truck) should have one if you live/drive where it routinly gets over

80*; or if you do any kind of towing at all, no matter where you live/drive.. Go to the bone yard and get the stock parts for an easy install. That will be more than enough. I wouldn't bother re-gearing, unless you really want to. If you don't have LSD, you should consider that up grade. Boat ramps can get a little slick. You don't say what engine you have. But as long as it's not a V6, it should have plenty of power.
Reply to
.boB

wow, that's a lot of boat! the trailer must weight about what my boat did.. lol

Like some others have said, if you're only hauling it 1 mile each way, i don't think you need a cooler... The problem would be your initial tow, to bring it home... and it might be cheaper to rent a truck or borrow a friend's and fill the tank than t add something to your truck that you don't need..YMMV

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

yeah... our ram is 3.55 and it pulls our travel trailer just fine... We slow down for BIG grades... to maybe 40 - 45 mph at about 3,200 rpm... I can't imagine what rpm we'd be turning with a 4:10 rear end!

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Reply to
mac davis

I had a 21 foot inboard once and it was HEAVY and it was "exciting" on a steep boat ramp with a 1/2 ton truck with stock gears before I regeared it let me tell you. It only takes one steep ramp on a hot day tp cook a tranny sometimes because when it is stalling, it makea a lot of heat. Sure I lot of peple get by with bandaid steup and that fine if they want to but when I tow I want to be able to handle anything the load can possible present. I took my boat on several 400 mile round trips after I regeared down through the hilld of KY in summer heat to with no surprizes or problems which is more than I can say for some of the other boat towers I saw.

Reply to
SnoMan

-------------------------------- I realize this is a Dodge group (I've got a Maxiwagon), but for many years I pulled a 24 foot pontoon boat on a double axle trailer with a '94 Astro van. Just added a good hitch and a wiring kit. It was about a 50 mile round trip. You should be just fine with your setup.

Mark

Reply to
Mark Sparge

it's not the 1 mile to and from that's gonna kill the transmission

it's the full-stall start on a ramp with no forward speed to help cool it

Reply to
TranSurgeon

I may be no transmission expert but I must say that if the trans is really that wimpy that it can't take around 60 seconds worth of effort a few times a month without damage, then it really has no business being in a truck at all.

Reply to
TBone

That is a most perfect comment TBone...and I can't agree with you more. Same goes for problematic rearends (cough chevy cough). Trucks are used for what? Working and pulling loads. Why not make it right to begin with?

Reply to
Carolina Watercraft Works

go ahead, do a full-throttle stall on the transmission of your choice, for a full sixty seconds, several times a month

NONE of them will handle it, without auxiliary cooling and regular fluid changes

TC temps can spike in the 4-500 degree range under those conditions

he need a realistic gear ratio in the ass-end, and probably 4WD to deal with WET ramps, plus a honking big cooler, a 4WD pan (if its 2WD), and maybe a

50-50 mix of the recommended fluid and MobilOne 5-20 synthetic engine oil in it

transmission

Reply to
TranSurgeon

Who the hell uses full throttle (for a full minute, nonetheless), on a boat ramp?

Reply to
Tom Lawrence

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