Just bought a 26' boat - will my H2 have any prob towing with stock setup

[dna]

I just bought a 26' Baha sport cruiser (see pic below) - its a combo cuddy with bowrider up front. I pick it up in 2 weeks - I am driving 5000 miles round trip for it (obviously 2500 miles towing it home). Will the H2 have any issue pulling this while driving 18 hours a day for 2.5 days? Once I get it home, should I also invest in a tranny cooler, or is this boat no prob for a H2?

Hey, Dennis - get the family ready, its almost boating season!

[Alan06SUT]

How much does it weigh? Do you have to go through sttep mountain roads? Do you have the air suspension?

Anyway, it should do fine as long as that trailer has some brakes on it. If so, you will have to add a trailer brake controller before you go. Get one at a uhaul or trailer store. They take about 1 hour to install as all of the wires are already there.

[dna]

I estimate the boat at 5,000 lbs; the roads will be generally flat; yes I have the air suspension. I assume I should use the "tow" button/feature.

Yes the trailer has its own brakes. I have never had a boat or any heavy trailer with its own brakes. What is involved to hook it up? What if I drove 2500 miles without hooking up the trailer brakes and only used the H2 brakes?

Thanks

[ttkresurfacing]

More than likely the trailer doesn't have electric brakes so there probably won't be any additional parts to hook up or buy. I tow a 25' cabin cruiser and have really had no problems at all even in the mountainous areas of South Carolina. The only probably I have ever had is the truck ran up to about 225 degrees during 90 degree heat and running 70 to 75 with the air on. Tranny cooler would definately help.


Tim

[NJ H2]

You won't have any problem towing 5000 pounds with the H2. I poicked up my Scarab in Lousianna with my Mercedes ML 360 (6cyl) and drove it to New Jersey with no pulling problems at all.
Your trailer might have Gravity breaks. If so there is no special hook-up.
VERY IMPORTANT: Make sure you grease the Trailer's tire bearings before you leave on the trip home. If you don't and a tire locks up it could be dangerous not to mention cost you time and cash! I tell you by experiance! It cost me $950.00 to fix on the way home from picking up my boat!

[mowdoc]

I tow a large pontoon in desert heat with my H2. I'm often in Lake Havasu City AZ (yea - eat your hearts out guys) and the temps are above 100 constantly, above 110 regularly and above 120 often. If I launch on the CA side of the lake the first 18 miles out of there are straight up a mountain. I have to keep an eye on the temp for engine and trans there but never any problem yet. Once over the mountain it's an easy run home to Vegas.

This may sound simple enough but after looking at thongs and pasties (or less) all weekend it is very hard the focus on gauges. Never the less, my Hummer does a good job with little concern.

One thing that most people can't believe is my Hummer actually gets better mileage towing this boat than any other gas powered truck has. That's right - I've pulled this boat with 5 other gas powered trucks and they all get 8 mpg period. That's what it takes to pull this boat, 8 mpg. The Hummer gets 9 or just over 9 mpg and that's not with the DIC but figured with a calculator!! I guess the Hummer breaks the wind better than the smaller trucks do. If you have never towed a pontoon boat - well - it's just a big sail with no aerodynamics at all. The Hummer makes a bigger hole in the air for the boat.

You will have no problem pulling your new toy with your Hummer if you have a surge brake on the trailer and it works. If you don't have a trailer brake you will get a very rude awakning when you have to panic stop. Remember, you are almost doubling the weight of your rig so you'll need to help the brakes or you will be in very deep $heet.

Good Luck and enjoy your new toy ( and all the fun stuff that comes with it wink - wink) Just be safe - OK?

mowdoc

[HUM GOOD]

i tow toys all the time......if you paln on towning the boat alot, I would invest into the trans cooler. It will help prolong the life of the trans. I wouldn't worry about it for your trip...you should be good. As NJH2 said "grease up those bearings" I had the same experience....not fun. As for brakes - keep safe distance, as long as you don't have oversized rims and tires all will be good.

Brought back some memories of my 35" cigarette - boats are fun - be safe and congratulations!

[mdoyle]

Good point on the towing mileage- we towed from Kansas City to Dallas this past December and the H2 did better on mileage than either the Ford pick-up or Tahoe we'd used in the past.

[Agriv8r]

nice looking boat, congrats.

[Texas Red]

The H2 has a stock Tranny Cooler built into the radiator. Right?

[DennisAJC]

How the hell did I miss this? Oh my. That looks fast.



We'll need speed when we're illegally emptying out them commercial crab traps.

[vlxjim]

That trailer most likely has surge brakes so you won’t need a brake controller. But I would check if it has disk brakes, if so you will need to make sure that you wire up the reverse lights to the brakes backup lockout solenoid so that you can backup. Drum brakes will slip when you backup but disk brakes will lock up, so there is a solenoid that stops the brake fluid from going to brakes when you backup.

Make sure that you bring a seven pin plug with you that you can wire if it does not already have one. The reverse lights are on one of the seven pins on the H2.

[Sundown94]

I posted a similar response to another thread regarding towing capacity. I have towed a 33' powerboat with both gas tanks full on the boat (200 gallons). I estimate the weight to have been about 8,000lbs total, and my truck did just fine. On the highway I got between 8 and 9 MPG, with the A/C on. It would definitely downshift going up any hill, and the steepest hill near my house caused it to downshift to 2nd, but that was the worst of it.

P.S. This is my friend's boat and it happens to be for sale right now (if interested, check out www.33powerplay.com).

[rippin lips]

when I pull my boat I push the trailer button for what ever that helps.And I drive in 3rd instead of drive.Am I towing wrong?Should I tow in drive or 3rd?Should I press the trailer button?Not tring to Hijack thread just curious .
Thanks ,Woody