I may not be posting this in the right section but I'm currently looking for a tow vehicle. Currently I have a small truck and boat but wanting to buy a bigger boat so gotta buy a bigger truck. What do you guys tow your boat with and what kind of mpg are you getting out of it everyday driving and more importantly when towing your boats. Thanks.

I drive a gas hog Escalade.  13mpg without my 18' boat, just over 10 when towing it.

2006 chevy silverado 5.3L V8 towing a 18 ft full windshield walleye boat I get about 14 MPG... it gets about 20 without the boat...

 

Mitch 

2013 Nissan Titan....pulled my 18' procraft easily......pulls my 21' procraft easily.......but sucks down the ol petrol.

Without boat on highway about 19/mpg

Without boat in city about 14/mpg

With boat highway about 14/mpg

With boat city.....dunno.....I don't pull the boat around town with me.

2010 Sierra 1500, 6.2L, 18-22 daily, 14-17 towing. I am using an Edge Systems CTS ECM/TCM program.

Old 1990 Suburban, 12 mpg no matter what I do, but it's paid for!

I stopped driving the truck as a daily driver and picked up a $3000 4 banger wagon.  @ $3.50 a gallon it payed for itself in just under two years.  If you've got the space for multiple vehicles then it's the smart way to go IMO.  Keeps the miles and abuse off the truck  and considering the resale value of trucks compared to crummy little 4 banger wagons, it's smarter to put the miles on the thing that's not worth much to begin with.

Tundra 5.7 I get roughly 13mpg with the boat in tow

Tundra 5.7 I get roughly 13mpg with the boat in tow

Also drive a Tundra, 14 without the boat, 12-13 with it. 

08 2500 6.0 Chevy with a Bully Dog, 13 empty 10 with the boat. I starting towing with my 06 v6 Envoy to save some gas but I checked the mileage the other day and it got 9.8

Chevy 2500 hd truck

 

Champion 206 with 225 Merc boat

 

13-15 around town

 

17 hwy

 

12 towing in the Ozark mountains

When I use my 2009 Subaru I get 17 MPH when towing the boat.

F150 EcoBoost, 14 when towing, 18 around city and 24 on the highway not towing. All while having 420 ft-lbs of torque at 2400rpm, this is while stock.

When I use my 2009 Subaru I get 17 MPH when towing the boat.

It must take you a while to get to the lake at that rate! haha sorry man, had to do it.

 

1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7 V8  

 

Country driving mileage 14-18

 

Highway 17-20

 

Pulling a 17' Ranger 13-14 Doesn't seem to matter if it's freeway or otherwise

 

Pulling a 20' Ranger  10-12 

I drive an '06 4-door Tundra.  I don't track gas mileage.  When it's empty, I fill it.

2014 Silverado half ton, 5.3.  Average on trips better than 20 mpg.  Towing my Z-8, 13 - 14 depending on the terrain.

 

Interesting, the new truck averages three to four mpg better than my 07 without the boat in tow.  With the boat, that drops to only one mpg better with the new truck.

 

That's driving long hauls at or slightly above the posted speed limits on the 1200 mile trip from Massachusetts to Tennessee, Kentucky, or Alabama for the Road Trips.

 

Those runs included all types of roadways from fairly flat to hilly and mountain terrain.

 

How you drive, and a close second in importance is keeping all the tires inflated to recommended pressures, play a large role in mileage.

2000 Sonoma zr-2 V6 4.3l vortec

14-15 daily driving

9-10 towing a 19' boat

I need a smaller boat or bigger truck.

I used to tow with a 2006 chevy avalanche that was chipped. Got 19-20 without boat. 15-16 with boat. 

Buy a diesel if you can afford it. Large, heavy duty trucks are just setup so much better to pull (though other trucks have the power) than smaller trucks. I have a 6.7 powerstroke and can get 15-17 mpg when pulling my boat, 19-20 or so without it, but ive had it up to as much as 22 on a long road trip. Ton of power and the engine braking system in tow haul mode is great. My old truck was an 8.1L chevy 496 gas burner with the allison tranny. Towed great, plenty of power, best tranny out IMO, but towing a boat was lucky to get 9mpg...not as big of a deal right now with gas prices but it was expensive a couple years ago!

There is no need for a diesel for a simple bass boat. 1500 sized trucks have towing capacities 3 to 4 times the weight of a boat. My 2013 F150 Ecoboost is a little over 11000lbs towing, the new 2015 is over 12k. The other manufactors are not much less than that. The only manufactor to have a diesel in a 1500 is Dodge and its a smaller unit for gas mileage. To get to the larger diesels requires a 2500 and 3500 which are extreme overkill. Save the money instead of paying the extra unless you need the larger truck for other reasons. More money for the boat, electronics, power poles, etc....

chevy 2500hd

maybe 12 on highway.

about 7 when I pull the camper

10 with the jon boat...

So, I have to buy a $60k truck to get another 1-2 mpg?

03 path finder 1k in tow about 17-20 without a boat I would guess 15-16 with. I can't even feel it behind the suv. Plus the boat launch is 3 miles away. I'm a lucky guy.

JFranco, which truck you referring to for 60k?

I want a diesel colorado for towing. My frontier won't make it. Colorado is supposed to get 35+mpg. How that translates to towing I dunno. Has a ton of torque though 350 plus I think.