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Posts: 68
Location: Northwoods | I am looking for a newer GM' Truck and hesitant to say the least about buying one with a V6 in it. Wanted to see if any of you guys may have one and could shed some light on its ability at towing the boat.
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Posts: 300
Location: Minocqua, WI | How large/heavy of a boat do you plan towing? For comparison to the v6 engine, I've got a V6 Envoy XL that pulls a Ranger 681 almost daily. Pulls boat beautifully. Long distance from WI to MN and Ontario handles fine. Now granted, my engine is the 4.3L vortec which came before the new ecotec engine of the newest GMC's. Pretty much the same, but less green.
If I had a boat any larger and heavier and did lots and lots of long distance hauls then yes I'd get a larger tow vehicle w engine myself. |
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Posts: 68
Location: Northwoods | Not a super heavy boat, is a 185 Crestliner. Ive always had a V8 in my trucks and just hesitant to take the step down to the 6 Cylinder without some insight from guys who have been using one. I had a Trailer blazer with that same engine, thought it was great but not sure how it would perform under the hood of a pick up weight a bit more.
Thanks for your feed back though.
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | I've not used a V6 for many years, but when I did, it was the 4.3 which was an awesome engine. But what I learned from that, was that HP/engine is only part of the equation. You may have the power to pull it, but the suspension may not be ideal for it. And I'll admit that I've not shopped V6's since the late 90's, but they used to come in both the half ton and the S10's. The 4.3 did better as far as power in the S10's than in the 1500, but the 1500 had more in the suspension department. So I guess my point is, if you're going to get a half ton truck, I'd suggest the V8. But if you're looking at a Colorado and it's suspension and drivetrain will haul the weight of your boat, then the V6 wouldn't seem anemic in that truck. Not sure that makes sense.
That said, just like an outboard, more power is always good. Just comes down to how much/far/often you tow. All that said, I just moved up to a 2500 for moving my boat. |
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Posts: 1209
| I traded up to a six cylander last year but it has artificial atmosphere and 6.7 liters of displacement. Greatest thing I did. As comments above go depends on you. If you want to drive 80 down the interstate it will not work for you. But if you go 5 miles down a 55mph road every weekend you will enjoy it as much as anything else. |
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Posts: 52
| Not GM, but 2013 Ford eco boost, 3.5 liter V-6 = 213 cubic inch. Crew cab, 4X4, tows Lund 20' Pro Guide (prolly around 4,000 pounds). Does really well, on highway set cruise @ 72 mph @ 1800 rpm, we get 11-13 mpg depending on wind. Doesn't down shift/upshift. One big consideration is you rear gear ratio. I got the 3:55. Gear ratio makes a big difference. |
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Posts: 45
| hambone - 2/17/2017 5:18 AM
Not GM, but 2013 Ford eco boost, 3.5 liter V-6 = 213 cubic inch. Crew cab, 4X4, tows Lund 20' Pro Guide (prolly around 4,000 pounds). Does really well, on highway set cruise @ 72 mph @ 1800 rpm, we get 11-13 mpg depending on wind. Doesn't down shift/upshift. One big consideration is you rear gear ratio. I got the 3:55. Gear ratio makes a big difference.
That's not a very good comparison since the Ford 3.5L Ecoboost is twin turbo and makes more power than many V8s. I have a 2003 F150 with a 4.2L and I have plenty of power for pulling a 1775 Pro V down the road and the newer V6s (naturally aspirated) have a lot more power than my old turd does. More power is always better though and my new boat pulling rig is also a 3.5 ecoboost.
Compare the horsepower of the new V6 and the old V8s you had to get an idea of how they might compare. Coupled with the newer transmissions that have more gears to keep the engine in the power band longer. |
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Posts: 31
| I had a Ranger STX with 4WD and the 2.9 V6 and AOD that pulled my 16' Boston Whaler with a 100 HP Johnson just fine. Now I have a Ranger XLT 2WD with the 4.0 V6 and AOD that does a fine job with an old Alumacraft and a 60 HP Merc. Unless you guys are trying to drag race while towing, just about any 6 cyl. engine will do a very acceptable job pulling almost any inland fishing boat and get decent gas mileage while doing it. |
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GM's Ecotec -Towing