2007 Chevy Silverado 1500-Tow a 24' boat?

I have been wanting to buy a Duramax diesel to tow my 24SSV, but my wife is turned off by the large size of the truck. I am also looking at the new Silverado 1500 Crew Cab LTZ. Does anyone tow with this? I also see that they have a 6.0 liter option. Any experience with this? Gas milage towing and not towing would be helpful. I am currently towing with a 2004 Double cab tundra and I feel like I am lacking power on the interstate. It works fine for short distances, but I am reluctant to take the boat on long trips because of the lack of power. Any help is appreciated.

(Message edited by 24_ssv on August 12, 2007)

I really dont understand what the heck you mean. First of all.. the size of the duramax truck and the size of the 1500 truck are the same. The 6.0 Litre does not do too bad while towing but it is well worth it to have the duramax. You will never have to worry about having too little power when driving long distances. The fuel mileage will be much better on the diesel. expect 15-16 Mpg while towing

Cody, I agree that the dimensions of the 1500 and 2500HD are similar, but the HD is taller and just looks a lot more massive.

a 6.0 1500 will tow it just fine! i tow my 23 moomba, similar to your 24 supra, just about 700lbs less with a denali with the 6.0 and it does fine! you dont need a 3/4 ton to tow 5500lbs, the new 1500 is rated to tow like 10,000lbs!

^^^ I completley agree with you but all that i am saying is that the size difference between a 1/2 ton and a 3/4 ton is not enough to keep me away from a diesel engine. You will get better MPG and more power going up hills and in hot weather. I just really love my Duramax and i guess i am one sided. I came from a 6.0 liter by the way

You won't have a problem towing that boat with the 1500.

not mention a lot better resale value on the Duramax.

I'm beginning to hate these threads. Yes, you CAN tow it a half-ton truck or even a Jeep Wrangler or even a Mini Cooper. It will pull it. A 1-ton diesel dually will do it much better. It's not all about the engine, that's the last of your worries. The suspension, brakes, wheelbase, weight of the tow vehicle and whether or not you have too much tongue weight will effect yout towing experience more than anything.

i have a 06 chevy crew cab 1500 Z71 with a 5.3 and it pulls my supra launch 22ssv just fine. but will agree duramax would be nice and get better mpg. i get around 12 to 13 mpg pulling my boat.

dont get me wrong the duramax is awesome. but not everyon wants or needs a 3/4 ton truck and right now here deisel is about $.50 more a gallon so the mpg doesn't mean a whole lot

Diesel averages about $.20 less a gallon in TX in the summer time. Couple that with better gas milage, better relibilty in the long-term and the better resale value and it makes sense. Oil changes cost more though.

pulling an analogy out of my.... using a 3/4-ton diesel to tow is like wakeboarding behind a weighted down X-star or VLX . 1/2-ton trucks can really vary depending on how they're equiped and would be similar to Direct Drives (some pretty good and some not) and a 1/4-ton is like being behind a light I/O. A Wrangler would be like wakeboarding behind a jet ski. You can wakeboard behind all of them, they will get the job done, but what you NEED is dependant upon your expectation level.

chad i get what you are saying but you dont need a truck rated to tow 15,000lbs to tow a 5000lb boat, in most all cases a 1/2 ton will tow any wakeboat just fine

I saw a volvo wagon towing a CC, it got the job done, probably not the best choice.

In my mind, you can't beat a diesel, it's not just about towing power, it's a lot of stopping power that the 1500 will not have.

I tow about 70 days a year whether duck hunting, wake boarding, moving the 5th wheel, and can't even imagine a towing with a gasser.

Let the chica drive what she wants, you get what you want. Too big, too noisy, too smelly, it's all just white noise.

I just bought a 2007 1500 Z71 an it pull my 2004 Gravity Games SSV with no problems. I get around 12-13 mpg while fully loaded and on the freeway @ 70mph. I just got rid on my diesel and it was a 2006 (ford H-D) model. No need for it in my opinion.

I just bought the 2007 2500 HD Crew Cab with the Duramax last week. I traded in a 2004 1500 Extended cab with the 5.7 gas. The 04 did fine towing the boat but the new 07 has so much more power. My first fill up got 18 MPG. That was both towing and not towing.

I pull my SAN with a 2007 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab. 110 miles round trip once, sometimes twice a week. My truck has the 5.3 and it pulls the boat just fine. It's rated at 10K so a boat sitting on a tandem axle trailer isn't really pushing this truck to the limits. I get about 11-12 mpg towing and around 17-19 not towing. I'd like to have the diesel but I couldn't justify the extra 15K it would cost to get the Duramax.

^^^^^

Duramax is a 15K option?????

Duramax would be overkill for your application imo. I think my friends get 16mpg towing with their diesels and you should get 12-13 with a 5.3 and 4.10 rear. I am not sure the 6.0 is that much better when you consider gas mileage vs. performance. That 3 mpg will take a long time to repay the extra price and maint. required with diesels.

Tell the wife to know her role and go bake a pie. Duramax, Duramax, Duramax.

"That 3 mpg will take a long time to repay the extra price and maint. required with diesels."

I'm not sure about CA since I don't live there anymore but in most parts of the country, paticualry TX, you will get most of it back when you sell it. The longer you keep it the bigger difference in in the resale value.

I bought a 1/2-ton truck with the intention of keeping it a long time; dumbest thing I ever did. What's the point? Same size, doesn't drive any better, worse gas milage, won't last as long, less payload and towing capacity, worse deprecation... oh, that's right. I saved $7K compared to the 3/4-ton diesel which is only slightly more money than I have in my boat's stereo.

I could have gotten the benefit the of the 3/4-ton's stronger frame, brakes, differential, suspension, axles, etc with the same gas engine for only $2K more. Live and learn.

(Message edited by dcwillette on August 13, 2007)

We all try to justify our purchases and here is mine...I want to ditto what Chad said on resale. I have had Three F250 4x4 diesel crews since 1999.

I gave my first one (1999 year) with 150K in miles to my oldest son. Had a brain fart and purchased a loaded 2004 Expedition Eddie Bauer (2wd). Decided after a year to trade the Expedition in for a new F250 and guess what, the trade-in value of the 1999 F250 with 160K miles on it (the son put 10K on it in a year) was greater than the 2004 Expedition with 30K miles on it. And, they both had similar MSRP's at the times they were purchased.

Of course Louisiana is a good market for used diesel pickups (which will have an impact).

Duramax is going to be about a 5k add on trade in value. However, I don't consider towing a boat a heavy duty towing application. I still believe if 75%, maybe 50, of the miles put on that truck are towing then the diesel makes sense. Otherwise I tell people it is overkill and the gasser will do the job fine.

^^^^^

I have seen a word on this thread and others concerning diesel v. gas, overkill. What the hell is that?

Why do a job just fine when you can do it even better?

You can never be too thin, too rich, too big of a TV, or have too much HP or Torque.

I have a 07 Gmc Serria with the 6.0 it tows my 22ft Centurion great. It switches to 4 cylinders when you don't need 8. I get better gas milage with the GMC than my 05 F 150 and it sure tows a ton better than the ford almost 370hp. Sure a Diesel would be nice but it is quite a bit more money.

If you take a few long trips a year towing your boat go for it and get a diesel. I'm thinking about doing the same thing, I currently have an '05 F150 Supercrew and it labors quite a bit when towing the boat up a grade.

Besides, the gas mileage is better than a gasser anyway you slice it. A little bit more maintenance, oh well... but you will be able to say you owna fricken diesel!

I say overkill because I have towed with both gas and diesel and all have towed my boat at 65-85 mph. There only a few hills that have ever shown that a diesel has that much more pulling power. So I was able to get to the top of the hill with 15 more mph but guess what then I have to stop 15 mph more.

Btw- the f250 I towed with was so loud at 75 I would actually slow down to 65ish thus taking longer on trips.

The only time where I found a diesel so superior and really the only way to is when we used to tow my buddies 36' enclosed car hauler. The diesel definately got to work and show what they were truly designed to do, but the trailer came in close to 12k lbs.

^^^^^
Your friends must have impressive half ton gassers, cause I pass them non-stop, hills or not.

Just this weekend the diesel pulled out a 1500 and boat out that was buried in sand, drug the entire load, did not even sweat.

Earlier this year was pulling a F-350 and 18K 5er up a mudded hill, again not a job for the half ton gasser.

Having a diesel is sort of like having a spare or carrying a gun. I hope I never need either, but it is sure nice when I need it.

Buy what you want, that's what makes America great, and you don't have to justify the purchase to anyone.

saying you need a diesel to tow a 5000# boat is rediculous.

why would they give a 1500 a 10,000# tow rating if it cant tow a 5000lb boat?

if you want a diesel then get a diesel, sure it's nice to have but its not neccessary for towing a wakeboard boat

Although it's clear that I'm a strong advocate for a diesel truck, I personaly think that for the purpose of towing these wakeboard boats that the diesel engine is not the most important thing in the truck but that's what everyone keeps going back to... the engine.

Just like Ewing said "now I have to stop 15mph more". That's where it's important. Stronger frame, suspension, brakes, heavier vehicle it all adds up to the fact that the item being towed has less impact on the vehicle towing it.

So don't buy a diesel if you don't want the extra power but why buy just a half-ton? Ok, in the Ford it's a completely different truck but not in the GM and Dodge.

When it's all said and done, my 1/2-ton does tow my boat just fine but would I buy another one? NO.

When they start putting diesels in 1/2-tons in a year or two, would I buy one then? NO. I'll buy a 3/4 or 1-ton SRW diesel.

There have been many times that I realized my truck wasn't up to the task, here are a few off the top of my head:

1. Needed a bunch of bricks and stone to landscape the yard. Nope, too heavy... had to make 2 trips at 40 miles roundtrip each. What a pain in the a$$.

2. wife: "Honey, Dad said we could borrow his big camper for the weekend!"
me: "sorry, that thing weighs 10K lbs. It's too heavy for my truck to pull." If you're married to a daddy's little girl, I don't need to explain this any further.

3. My employer pays me by weight to move everything I own when I'm relocated and move myself. Could have made up the difference in price of the truck in just one move but instead had to have movers move part of it.

Maybe it's dependant on your lifestyle but there seems to always be something that leaves me wanting more truck.

Other thing to look out for is the 5,000 lb rating on the trailer hitch. You could look at the Sierra Denali too, about $4k cheaper than a diesel and is luxurious and 403hp and a 6 speed tranny. I noticed these the other night when I test drove a GMC Crew Cab Duramax but didn't have the time to drive it as well.

Entrust,

I agree with you. A 1/2-ton can tow a 5K lb boat fine. However, that tow rating can be deceiving. That is the maximum weight they have determined it can safely tow. Think of this as once in awhile thing. I wouldn't go around towing 9000lbs on a regular basis with a truck rated to tow 9500-10K lbs. The tranny will fall out the day after the warranty expires if not before then. I sure wouldn't buy a used truck from someone who said they towed 6K+ lbs every weekend with thier 1/2-ton truck for 2-3 years.

ummmmm...show this to your wife

not mine, but wow!

picture that in silver with stock wheels and you have her father's truck.

And I really want one too but it's not going to happen.

I bought my '07 GMC Sierra Classic 1500 crew cab 4x4 5.3L for $28K out the door in March. I looked at the DuraMax's but the cheapest I could get one for was $10 grand more, yeah $38,000 and that basically had squat. $45K decently equipped. Guess what, i got the gasser and it tows my 20' Tige just fine without any strain at all. In fact most the time i'm not even in tow mode and it gets 16mpg average, course that could be because it's stock and not jacked up with oversize tires too. I could not justify the added cost just to be cool 'cause around my parts of Cali that's all they do with 'em, bragging rights. I got it to tow the boat and that's pretty much all it does, 6 months old and 3,347 miles on it now.

(Message edited by razzman on August 13, 2007)

I bought an 07 GMC crew cab 4x4 in Apr as well with the 5.3 and 3.73 gears. Tows my 04 VLX great, but I'm only getting a shade over 12 MPG towing at about 65 MPH. The diesel would have more power, but I haven't needed it. In addition to the added fuel costs for diesel in my area I also considered the extra maintenance cost of the diesel. I made the right choice for me.

There is a lot of differing opinions, but I think ewing said it best. If you plan on putting 50%+ miles on your truck pulling and/or are at 50% plus the tow rating, get a bigger truck for you AND me, I see too many people over stressing these and putting us all endanger. Remember that there is a truck war out there with ratings. To say that the 1/2 ton GM and Toyoyo can pull 10,500 lbs I got to raise the BS flag. I've got a 00 gmc rated at 7-8k lbs, it tows the 21v OK (6K with gas and gear), but it is working very hard. They haven't change much except the hp and brakes. This weekend I towed 300 miles one way, and it was a stressfull pull through rolling hills the heat. Can't wait to get a D/A this spring. Then I can put the truck on cruise and sit back and enjoy.

Give your wife her skirt back, and man up...JK, lol... Either will pull it fine, unless you plan on traveling up and down high elevations. Then the added power and braking ability makes it a lot safer. But either will do the trick.

I have to agree with Byrd. Towing my boat (2000 Moomba Mobius V- 22') to Table Rock Lake, Missouri where it is very curvy and hilly, it would be nice to have a diesel.