Anyone towing with a small truck or V6?

I just picked up a v210 and in the spring need to upgrade my car to a truck obviously to pull the boat and haul dirt bike around. I'm wondering if a V6 dakota or tacoma will labor pulling the boat around or if a V8 dakota will be better. My other option would be to get a higher mileage diesel to fit my budget. I also commute about 70km a day to work and back so gas mileage is sort in the back of my mind but since were talking about a truck i know its not gonna be that great

I just sold a 98 Dakota with the 5.2 because the mileage was so crappy, like 11 - 13 mpg. It pulled my 94 MC205 (about 4000 lbs) without any issues.

I ended up buying a Dodge Nitro (5000 cap.) that gets about 17 - 23 mpg. It tows my 05 Malibu vRide (about 4200 lbs, plus gear & fuel) without too much trouble. Freeway speeds are fine, stops great (with trailer brakes) & very little sway. Dodge recommends a hitch equalizer for heavier weights behind this truck but I haven't used it yet. It's a pretty flat drive to 4 or 5 lakes around here, & I really doubt it'll handle any hills very well, just not enough power.

I drive a Tacoma and pull my 97 sport with it. I have about a 40 mile round trip to the lake and the truck will pull the boat well at about 55 up some pretty steep hills and stops very well too. I don't like to rag on my vehicles so I try not to push the truck to hard when towing up hills and such. There is actually a quicker way to get to my lake but I choose not to take it to save my truck. I get about 10 mpg in tow and with out I get about 17. I used to have a little bayliner 18ft that the truck would pull with ease before I got the Sport Nautique, I think that if I would have had the boat before I got the truck I would have made a different choice. Also the Bayliner would not stop as well as the Nautique does due to the trailer brakes on my new trailer, without them I don't think the stops would be to pleasent and in the case of an emergency I think I would be SOL.

......to appropriately tow one of these boats you need a full size truck end of story. Can you do it with less????.....of course....but (fill in a multitude of reasons why not).......the best Idea is to use your budget to get 2 vehicles....a full size truck and a small beater box for commuting.

I think it really comes down to how much the boat weighs, does your trailer have brakes, how far and often will you be towing it, and are you talking about flat land or hills?

If it's a light boat with brakes on flat land a couple times a month you could probably do it with a Honda Accord if it's the other end of the spectrum go diesel dually or in all likelyhood somewhere in between. The full size diesel will obviously tow the best, that's what they're designed to do, but not necessary in most cases.

All that being said I've got a 5.9L Dakota (RT that's a blast to play with) and it gets ~11 MPG, a new Toyota Tacoma that gets ~20, but will be towing the boat with a Chevy diesel dually that also happens to get damn near 20 MPG, I'd drive it all the time if it wasn't like trying to find a parking spot for a school bus everywhere I go. The 4D long bed truck gets almost the same gas mileage as my BMW 540 so if you don't mind driving and parking the truck a diesel is probably the way to go.

If you go with the Dakota I'd highly recommend the V8 but I'm pretty sure the V6 Toyota is rated for the same weight and will get much better gas mileage / resale / reliability.

i used to tow with an 06 Tacoma (6500#) rating. It did fine making the flat 5 mile trip to the local ramp. Braking was fine with the trailer brakes. I took the boat over the pass to eastern oregon this summer twice and that was what made my decision for me to get a 3/4 ton truck. the toyota did the job, but very slow and i felt like i was constantly pushing the truck to its limit. I would never go back after towing 1000 miles round trip to lake powell with my 3/4 diesel. Mileage is way better, and i feel much, much safer. Even everyday driving my mileage is better with the new truck.

I tow with an '06 4-Runner but wouldn't use it for anything heavier. Consumption averages 18-20 and around 14-15 towing. I love the ride but with all the lakes in Norcal, it seems you always find a steep hill or ramp. I don't mind beating my rig like a red headed step child but the thought of being pulled down a ramp freaks me out. My next will be an older full size Chev or base model Tundra.

Depends on the Toyota V6. The first ones with the V6 and 4 doors are not great power wise. The new ones are a class above in towing. We pulled our 17' tahiti with a 2000 4 door tacoma. It worked fine, but the whole boat only weighed ~1500lbs at most. When we got the B52, we also bought a new 2006 duramax chevy. It pulls the boat far better than the Taco pulled the Tahiti. I pulled our boat with a buddies 2000 F150 once, and I didn't think it was going to make it up the long launch ramp. It also would barely back the boat up my driveway. The new chevy will idle the boat up the driveway. This is just my expereince.

I have an 01 4Runner and I tow my Supra around town with it but I can't tow it to the lake with the 4Runner because I can't make it up the hills . . . I use an 02 Chevy truck to tow to the lake

(Message edited by lovin_the_wake on December 14, 2007)

hey i use a 2001 Nissan Frontier with the towin package and it tows or mobius just fine. we towed it from Georgia to North Carolina with no problems on the interstate the whole way

I'd get the V8 if I was towing a v210 with a Dakota. I've pulled my heavier boat with that. You will get some brake wear but they get that anyway. I have towed my V215 with a V6 Venture but I'm dumb and the engine and tranny have to work too hard. A V6 can do it but you won't want to.
I looked around a lot for a small vehicle that could tow a good load. I don't want a tow vehicle and a daily driver that aren't the same car. I chose the Saab 9.7 with the V8. Over 5000 towing capacity standard and 300 hp through AWD.

I use my 06 4door V6 tacoma to pull my 04 X-2 and have had no problems so far.. but it does have the towing package and rated for 6500lbs.. Just bought an 07 Denali... can't wait to pull the boat with that and the camper with the truck

i towed with my xcab v6 4x4 tacoma. it did it, probably as good as my supercrew f-150 5.4. my trailer doesnt have brakes, so if i ever got in an emergency situation it woulda been bad. but a trailer with brakes is a different ball game.

We tow with a V6 Honda Pilot, no problem. It has the towing package. One of the lakes we use has a dirt road with a fairly steep dirt ramp and it works fine in 4WD. We live in the midwest, so mountains are not an issue.

Towed my Nautique 211 with my 2001 Chevy Silverado 4.3L V6 several times when the wife was using the Tahoe. It did OK but hills were pretty sketchy. Going up long hills it would get down into first gear. I didn't mind pushing it to the max since it had already had a junkyard motor in it (I bought it with a rod knock and tossed a junkyard motor in it). It really depends on how much towing and the terrain. At today's gas prices it seems like a wise decision to sacrafice towing speed and get an economical vehicle. Look to the europeans as an example.