96 GMC sierra for towing

[konartis]

Hello to all here. I just bought a 17 ft invader boat with a mercruiser 3.0. I will be using a 1986 GMC sierra 1500 extended cab 350 V8 to pull this boat. Will this truck do fine? This is the first big boat that ive had. Also when pulling out of water should I use a lower gear? Thanks for any input.

 

[sea wolf]

Re: 96 GMC sierra for towing

That Sierra won't even know the boat is back there.

 

[KM2]

Re: 96 GMC sierra for towing

I'm assuming you have a auto, put in drive (D) You get no benefit from putting it in 1st.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: 96 GMC sierra for towing

You will do just fine with that set up in my opinion.

 

[konartis]

Re: 96 GMC sierra for towing

Thanks for the replies everyone. Headed to the lake today.

 

[jljue]

Re: 96 GMC sierra for towing

It'll do fine. You may want to put a transmission cooler on it to be on the safe side if it doesn't have one already, but it has the power. A buddy of mine had a '92 Chevy Z-71 that had power and decent fuel economy, but it went through 4 transmissions because he refused to put a transmission cooler on it. Just about all new trucks have a transmission cooler in addition to the cooling done at the radiator for both the engine and transmission, and their transmission are done better than some of those in the early to mid '90's. Since I was a Ford person growing up, I'm not sure when GM started putting auxiliary transmission coolers on the 1/2 tons and with what options.

 

[franco802]

Re: 96 GMC sierra for towing

If you start slipping, use 2nd gear. Believe it or not, alot of people don't know that most autos will start out in 2nd gear if you put the selector on 2.

 

[MikDee]

Re: 96 GMC sierra for towing

I couldn't find a 96 Sierra, only a 1999 Sierra, but that's good for 7000lbs if its a V8.

http://www.campinglife.com/towratin...ado/Sierra+1500+(2WD)&min_tlimit=&max_tlimit=