Towing - R-series

[Sieben]

I have an R5 and am looking to upsize.upside. What is the largest R series boat that can be legally towed in the US? I don't live near water with a decent Marina so 75% of our trips are towed. Does an R30 and larger require permits?

[VTENGR]

My understanding is 8'-6" beam is the max without permit. So that gets you to an R8. After that the beams go up to 9'-6" and 10'-7".

[TruckerTim]

Anything over 102" must have a permit to move. That being said, ALOT of folks trailer things that are wider. I'd be more worried about if your tow vehicle can handle a boat that big, and I don't necessarily mean "tow capacity". Wheelbase and brakes on the trailer should also be considered when pulling something as big and heavy as an R30. I'm a trucker, (incase my nickname didn't tell you) and I looked at an R30 before buying my R7 and decided the size difference was not worth the hassle. I also would have had to upgrade my tow vehicle to at least a 3/4 ton, which I don't want.

[Snowman8]

To safely tow an R30 you would want at least an 3/4 ton, or probably a single rear wheel 1 ton. I would go to the extreme with either a singe rear wheel 1 ton or a dually and if I had to order a trailer I would get a goose neck or fifth wheel. As a OTR trucker yourself you know they pull better than bumper pull trailers. I myself would pull an R7 or R8 with a half ton pickup with a concern. Especially on a Loadmaster trailer!
I looked into a 9’ beam boat before I bought our R5 and I can get away with buying an annual oversized load permit relatively cheap for anything under 11’ wide. I wouldn’t even have to put oversized load signs on the front and rear. I can’t remember but I think I found that I could legally get away with orange flags on 4 corners of the trailer under 11’ wide. For a 9’ or 9’6” beam I wouldn’t worry about much until getting caught. Especially if the boat had a singe engine. I doubt anyone would notice unless they see twin engines. Now that I have a 26’ boat I’m not really interested in anything longer without twins though. I have driven lowboy truck and trailer in the past and have hauled loads up to 14’ wide and trailers 80’ long. One of ours trailers is just shy of 100’ long with 13 axels. I wouldn’t worry about a 9’wide boat..

[Sieben]

Appreciate the responses. I have an F150 Raptor that handles the R5 well if I don't exceed 65 mph. Been looking to upgrade the truck to an F350 with the 7.3 V8 gas motor. We had the R5 on six different lakes in 2021 and love road tripping with the boat.

[katoom450]

Appreciate the responses. I have an F150 Raptor that handles the R5 well if I don't exceed 65 mph. Been looking to upgrade the truck to an F350 with the 7.3 V8 gas motor. We had the R5 on six different lakes in 2021 and love road tripping with the boat.

The F350 will help, but if you want to go fast and never worry about the tail wagging the dog then get a dually.
Also, I hope you have better luck getting a truck with the 7.3. I’ve had a XL f350 4x4 crew ordered since June, it’s still not scheduled for production. I thought about changing it to a diesel to see if the gas motor was the hold up.

[Snowman8]

Appreciate the responses. I have an F150 Raptor that handles the R5 well if I don't exceed 65 mph. Been looking to upgrade the truck to an F350 with the 7.3 V8 gas motor. We had the R5 on six different lakes in 2021 and love road tripping with the boat.

The F350 will help, but if you want to go fast and never worry about the tail wagging the dog then get a dually.
Also, I hope you have better luck getting a truck with the 7.3. I’ve had a XL f350 4x4 crew ordered since June, it’s still not scheduled for production. I thought about changing it to a diesel to see if the gas motor was the hold up.

The engine is not the hold up. Supply chain/world shutdown is the holdup.

[Snowman8]

Appreciate the responses. I have an F150 Raptor that handles the R5 well if I don't exceed 65 mph. Been looking to upgrade the truck to an F350 with the 7.3 V8 gas motor. We had the R5 on six different lakes in 2021 and love road tripping with the boat.

A regular F150 will pull a trailer 10 times better than a Raptor. The Raptor is not meant to tow trailers with. The suspension is made to be driven 70mph across a desert and not pull trailers.

[dustinm]

Appreciate the responses. I have an F150 Raptor that handles the R5 well if I don't exceed 65 mph. Been looking to upgrade the truck to an F350 with the 7.3 V8 gas motor. We had the R5 on six different lakes in 2021 and love road tripping with the boat.

The F350 will help, but if you want to go fast and never worry about the tail wagging the dog then get a dually.
Also, I hope you have better luck getting a truck with the 7.3. I’ve had a XL f350 4x4 crew ordered since June, it’s still not scheduled for production. I thought about changing it to a diesel to see if the gas motor was the hold up.

The engine is not the hold up. Supply chain/world shutdown is the holdup.

It possibly could be the engine holding up the build, not saying that is the only holdup though. We are having trouble sourcing engines right now. We have a few obscure combinations in stock, but our most popular ones are hard to get. And I know a lot of guys are switching back to gas after some bad tier 4 experiences.


I completely agree with you on the Raptors towing ability vs f150

[Snowman8]

We have had 3 F350’s on order for a year and a half. They were all ordered the same day, 2 diesels and one gas engine. They showed up on the same transport truck the same day. Over a year and a half after we ordered them... . We just ordered 5 more and hopefully will get them before 2024.

[katoom450]

How is the 7.3 gas? Does it shift and turn high rpm’s when towing.
What are the mpg numbers towing and regular driving
Thanks!

[Snowman8]

I haven’t driven a 7.3 yet. I have about 380,000 mile between my 2011 and 2017 F350’s with the 6.2 though. I’m sure the 7.3 will be similar to the 6.2 and be a high rpm engine though. Gas mileage, who cares, if you need a big truck you need a big truck. There isn’t a big gas engine that gets good mileage. If someone says they have one that does get great mileage they are lying. Buy a new diesel for 10k more and only get a few mpg’s better than the gas counterpart. The diesel does make a lot more power though! With a higher cost of ownership. I laugh at guys that think they need a one ton diesel to pull their 20’ fishing boat. My wife drives an F150 and I drive a F350. I ride snowmobile in Idaho and Montana and pull an enclosed trailer with 4 sleds behind my F350 with the 6.2 and get about 7 mpg. A couple of the guys that I ride with have Ford and Chevy diesels, they get about 2.5-3 mpg’s better towing the same trailer. Diesel is usually at least 50 cents per gallon more than gas and sometimes more than that. It costs about the same in gas as it does in diesel to pull the same trailer out to the mountains and the gas engine is 10K less to start with. The new diesels are too high maintenance to own unless you have a trailer that requires it, like 15000lbs plus. If someone accidentally puts a little DEF fluid into their diesel fuel tank and it could be a $10,000 repair. Ive had quite a few diesel pickups and don’t get me wrong, I love the power but gas engines are typically more reliable and typically have a lower cost of maintenance. Especially in a fleet.

[Big Block Power]

I haven’t driven a 7.3 yet. I have about 380,000 mile between my 2011 and 2017 F350’s with the 6.2 though. I’m sure the 7.3 will be similar to the 6.2 and be a high rpm engine though. Gas mileage, who cares, if you need a big truck you need a big truck. There isn’t a big gas engine that gets good mileage. If someone says they have one that does get great mileage they are lying. Buy a new diesel for 10k more and only get a few mpg’s better than the gas counterpart. The diesel does make a lot more power though! With a higher cost of ownership. I laugh at guys that think they need a one ton diesel to pull their 20’ fishing boat. My wife drives an F150 and I drive a F350. I ride snowmobile in Idaho and Montana and pull an enclosed trailer with 4 sleds behind my F350 with the 6.2 and get about 7 mpg. A couple of the guys that I ride with have Ford and Chevy diesels, they get about 2.5-3 mpg’s better towing the same trailer. Diesel is usually at least 50 cents per gallon more than gas and sometimes more than that. It costs about the same in gas as it does in diesel to pull the same trailer out to the mountains and the gas engine is 10K less to start with. The new diesels are too high maintenance to own unless you have a trailer that requires it, like 15000lbs plus. If someone accidentally puts a little DEF fluid into their diesel fuel tank and it could be a $10,000 repair. Ive had quite a few diesel pickups and don’t get me wrong, I love the power but gas engines are typically more reliable and typically have a lower cost of maintenance. Especially in a fleet.

Great advice and dead on!

[Krob1114]

I haven’t driven a 7.3 yet. I have about 380,000 mile between my 2011 and 2017 F350’s with the 6.2 though. I’m sure the 7.3 will be similar to the 6.2 and be a high rpm engine though. Gas mileage, who cares, if you need a big truck you need a big truck. There isn’t a big gas engine that gets good mileage. If someone says they have one that does get great mileage they are lying. Buy a new diesel for 10k more and only get a few mpg’s better than the gas counterpart. The diesel does make a lot more power though! With a higher cost of ownership. I laugh at guys that think they need a one ton diesel to pull their 20’ fishing boat. My wife drives an F150 and I drive a F350. I ride snowmobile in Idaho and Montana and pull an enclosed trailer with 4 sleds behind my F350 with the 6.2 and get about 7 mpg. A couple of the guys that I ride with have Ford and Chevy diesels, they get about 2.5-3 mpg’s better towing the same trailer. Diesel is usually at least 50 cents per gallon more than gas and sometimes more than that. It costs about the same in gas as it does in diesel to pull the same trailer out to the mountains and the gas engine is 10K less to start with. The new diesels are too high maintenance to own unless you have a trailer that requires it, like 15000lbs plus. If someone accidentally puts a little DEF fluid into their diesel fuel tank and it could be a $10,000 repair. Ive had quite a few diesel pickups and don’t get me wrong, I love the power but gas engines are typically more reliable and typically have a lower cost of maintenance. Especially in a fleet.

Great advice and dead on!

No one at my house is allowed to fuel or put DEF in my diesel but me.
That said, I hope I don't screw up.

[katoom450]

I own a construction company so we haul heavy. I recently put an f350 v10 in the fleet and I do like it so far. I’m thinking that the 7.3 won’t go strait to the redline when towing because of the bigger displacement and the torque that comes with that. We will see….
Sadly, I have made the def mistake 4 times. The first three, I dropped the tank and cleaned it myself on the spot. The last time in my 2020 f350 I caught it after just a splash so convincing myself it would be fine I drove it anyway. It was fine for 4 weeks until I ran the fuel low. Def is lighter so it floats on top of the diesel. I know this because of my tank dropping experience HAHA.
Long story short I traded that truck for a 2021 after parts were on back order for 3 months and have been WAY more carful not to be on the phone or be talking to anyone while I refill the def!!!!
Funny thing is that the 2021 13.5 with my driving habits and the 2020 AND 2017 I had only got 10.5 and drank the def!
Trucks had the same 410 gear BTW.
Insurance paid for it to the tune of $6800.00 to fix the fuel delivery system