www.iFourWinns.com

To the 248 owners out there, I am curious what you all are using for tow rigs?

I am using a 2004 Hemi Ram Rumblebee 1500 4x4 with the HD suspension and tow package plus the cooling and hd electrical package. The truck pulls the 248 but I can't say it does it easily. I think my big issue is gear ratio, I have the 20" rims which leaves me with a fairly tall over all tire diameter.

I have considered picking up some stock 17" steelies and mounting some short sidewall tires to get some ratio back. I really wish I had the 4.11:1 rear end gears rather than what I have now.

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Brett DiMichele

If you change you overall tire/wheel diameter you are going to mess up the Speedo and could cause damage to the trany.
My .02

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Troy
2008 Centurion Avalanche
1994 Four Winns Horizon 180 SE 5.0L OMC Cobra (Sold)
2002 Ford F150 Harley Davidson Edition (http://www.nhtoc.com) 378 hp & 465 tq at rear wheels
2008 Honda Accord EX-L w/Nav

Troy,

They came from the factory with 17" rims and shorter overall diameter tires. Not quite sure how that would effect the tranny, I've done it a bazillion times before on all sorts of vehicles. But if you are aware of an issue that I am not then please share so I don't make any costly mistakes.

Thanks!

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Brett DiMichele

I THINK that the computer in the truck uses the overall diameter of the wheel/tire combo to adjust shift points. So if you change your tire diameter over 5% then your risk misshifts and could damage the tranny. I don't now specifics, I only know enough to get me into trouble.
I heard this info when I was looking into changing wheel/tire size on previous vehicles. I was always told to Never go over a 5% differance from original and the closer the better. Here is the tire size calculator that I use when comparing different tire. http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

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Troy
2008 Centurion Avalanche
1994 Four Winns Horizon 180 SE 5.0L OMC Cobra (Sold)
2002 Ford F150 Harley Davidson Edition (http://www.nhtoc.com) 378 hp & 465 tq at rear wheels
2008 Honda Accord EX-L w/Nav

Oh and I have a question. Your truck didn't come with the factory 20's?

and you can chage tire diameter in the truck computer through a hand held tuner if you wanted to change tire size. http://www.superchips.com/products.php? ... Gas+Trucks

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Troy
2008 Centurion Avalanche
1994 Four Winns Horizon 180 SE 5.0L OMC Cobra (Sold)
2002 Ford F150 Harley Davidson Edition (http://www.nhtoc.com) 378 hp & 465 tq at rear wheels
2008 Honda Accord EX-L w/Nav

Yes it has factory 20's on it.

A friend of mine has the same truck (non rumblebee) with 17's and it seems to tow a little easier.


The tow rig:

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Brett DiMichele

Hey Brett,

I would almost bet he has a different rearend in his truck than yours.
And yes if his tire combo is smaller than yours that will help also but I would be careful about putting a smaller tire combo on your truck with out compensating the differance in the trucks computer.

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Troy
2008 Centurion Avalanche
1994 Four Winns Horizon 180 SE 5.0L OMC Cobra (Sold)
2002 Ford F150 Harley Davidson Edition (http://www.nhtoc.com) 378 hp & 465 tq at rear wheels
2008 Honda Accord EX-L w/Nav

He has the same rear end (model wise) he has 4.11 gears I have 3.92 gears.

The gearing and tires make a lot of difference that much is certain.. Hard to beleive how much one or two teeth make

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Brett DiMichele

Take it to the local 4x shop and have them regear it. My scout dana 44 rear axle was 480 including the cost of the gears. They can also reprogram your trans computer and speedo.

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Guns kill people like spoons make people fat.
2007 Horizon 190 Gxi
97 Pathfinder SE 4x4
73 International Scout II

Am I going to be ok with a '05 Tundra Double Cab? The vendor of the 248 I am getting says it should be more than sufficient but the tow capacity on the Tundra is 6500. I believe the total of the boat, fuel and trailer are probably closer 7500#. Thoughts?

It you are over your GCVWR no you are not okay. Pulling ain't the big issue, stopping is. You could, in the case of an accident, be abandon by your insurance carrier if you are knowingly exceeding the capacity of your vehicle. Half a ton over is significant.

IMHO, something as large and heavy as a 248 or a268 (258/278) requires a 3/4 ton truck if you plan to do any significant towing.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

I completely agree... And PA told me my 1500 is a 3/4 ton based on the GWVR. So.... I bought a 1500 and got a 3/4 free of charge, who da thunk it!

The more I tow with my Ram the more I feel the truck is doing a fine job and I don't beleive that anything else aside from a Diesel would do much better. It's the steep hills that can be the issue, anywhere else it never slows down.

And four wheel disk brakes on the trailer are a must, and the law everywhere as far as I know for anything over 3K. And I also beleive a 248 on the trailer, loaded with fuell and water is a lot heavier than 7K..

The trailer it sits on has two 5K axles under it... I beleive loaded down it's well over 8 thousand.



Let's do some quick and dirty math here.

FW lists the boat and engine (dry weight) at 6040LBS they also have the trailer listed at 1600lbs (per the 06 brocheur I have). Liquid capacities on board are as follows:

Fresh Water: 20 Gallon

Waste Water: 16 Gallon

Fuel Capacity: 70 Gallon

Fuel weighs 6.184 pounds per gallon at 72 Degrees F. So with a full tank of fuel (how I ususally tow) that's 432.88 Lbs of fuel.

Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon at 72 Degrees F. So with a full tank of fresh water (again, how I tow) that's another 166.8 Lbs.

I usually keep a few gallons of water in the waste tank so figure another 30Lbs for good measure.

That brings us up to: 8269.68

Now that doesn't factor in the weight of the engine oil, the second battery (which usually isn't factored in) all your gear on board and anything else that may find it's way aboard. And that is taken on the assumption that Four Winns is honest in thier boat's dry weights, which a lot of manufactuers are NOT honest about. But considering FW doesn't lie about the wetted length of thier cruisers (EG: the 248 being 24' 8" of hull and 26'2" LOA with the ESP) I beleive thier dry weight is probably close.

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Brett DiMichele

Dry weights are generally also on a basic boat, add genset, A/C, electronics, tvs, extra stereo equipment, windlass, safety gear, pots pans, dishes...

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

I tow our 248 with a '01 F350 PSD and it is no problem. BUT I tried using the wife car ('07 chevy tahoe 5.3L 4.10 rear end, tow package) and this car WILL NOT pull the 248. Yes on flat ground or down hill, but that is it.
The 248 is a heavy boat, I have plans on running across a scale to find out exactly, but just guessing that it is atleast 8k wet.

I forgot to mention that the tahoe had to gear down to 1st to get up the hill, we were slower than all the semis.

The only reason I did this is so I can say that a little 1/2 ton CAN NOT pull the boat. I see on this forum and the RV forums, many claim that there 1/2 tons 'safely' tow there monster rigs.
I am a advocate of HD 3/4 and 1 ton trucks for towing RV/boats of any size and weight. But each his own.

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2000 248 5.7L DP
'92, '94 SXI 750, '08 STX 15F, '12 Ultra LX 300
Videos

It's 8K ish on the trailer full of fluids. Subtract 1600Lbs for the "boat weight". Now, that is going by published FW figures which could be immensely innacurate. I will be curious to see what your real world numbers come out to be. When you weigh it, do me a favor, do it with a full fuel tank and full fresh water tank.

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Brett DiMichele