Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I'm curious if anyone has a setup close to mine and what ur mpg is.

02 Silverado Z71 ext cab 6" lift, 35s, 4.56 gears, 5.3l.

I'm heading to the Keys next month and trying to decide whether to bring my toon with me.

Also have a trailer question. U guys have torsion axles on ur trailers or springs? One local dealer said they don't use torsion axles on pontoon trailers. They quoted me $3880 for tandem galvanized.

I am pulling a 24 ft tandem galvanized trailer with torsion suspension (just under 4 grand) with a F150 Eco Boost and got 8.8 mpg my last 300 mile trip.

FWITW, I once had an aluminum ATV trailer (built for 2) with torsion suspension.

No problems hauling with either.

Relatively few boat trailers have torsion axles. Nothing wrong with leaf springs, and they're reasonably priced.

Pontoon boats are medium size with the boats, motors and fuel. But they tow like they weight 2000 lbs. more due to being so long, wide and having the aerodynamics of a brick. People don't need to tow these with marginal tow vehicles.

Be careful towing with a truck with 35's and a 6" lift. Your center of gravity is extremely high, and you may not have emergency braking in you. Even without a trailer behind you, I'd hate to see you lock the brakes down from highway speeds.

My F250 diesel has stock tires and wheels--and I keep the brakes, shocks and suspension in 100% condition. I'm replacing the steering box today, as it's wearing--slack in wheel.

Torsion axles actually are available and no they actually ain't that uncommon..

Hoosier Pontoon Trailers

Tidewater Pontoon Trailers

Sea Lion Trailers

Hi-Tech Marine

Now as far as fuel mileage goes you will go a lot further per gallon holding her around the double nickle, but most want to pull em much faster. So the choice is yours you can pay at the pump or take a bit longer getting there which in reality is also the safest way of getting there. And I'd also suggest ponying up for brakes, some dealers will tell you they are unnecessary also...

There was a long thread not that long ago with many responses and some depressing mpg.

Crab Island Cruiser wrote:....I'm heading to the Keys next month and trying to decide whether to bring my toon with me.....

While you asked about MPG, I am going to take another angle on your post/question.

Avoid the hassle of bearings going out, flat tires, getting blown around on the highway during those bad ass Florida thunderstorms, driving around looking for an easy place to park the boat and trailer, etc. and consider renting a boat while you are down there. Not sure where in the Keys you are going but you can rent pontoons, deck boats, skiffs, and center consoles in Key West.

Bamaman wrote:Relatively few boat trailers have torsion axles. Nothing wrong with leaf springs, and they're reasonably priced.

Pontoon boats are medium size with the boats, motors and fuel. But they tow like they weight 2000 lbs. more due to being so long, wide and having the aerodynamics of a brick. People don't need to tow these with marginal tow vehicles.

Be careful towing with a truck with 35's and a 6" lift. Your center of gravity is extremely high, and you may not have emergency braking in you. Even without a trailer behind you, I'd hate to see you lock the brakes down from highway speeds.

My F250 diesel has stock tires and wheels--and I keep the brakes, shocks and suspension in 100% condition. I'm replacing the steering box today, as it's wearing--slack in wheel.

If you're replacing the steering box, consider replacing the radius arm bushings as well.

We drove E-350 Ford Vans for 350,000 miles each on average and never had to replace a steering box. Did have to replace the radius arm bushings, usually at about 180,000 miles.

Just an opinion but one worth considering.


An opinion I'm in agreement with is:

Avoid the hassle of bearings going out, flat tires, getting blown around on the highway during those bad ass Florida thunderstorms, driving around looking for an easy place to park the boat and trailer, etc. and consider renting a boat while you are down there. Not sure where in the Keys you are going but you can rent pontoons, deck boats, skiffs, and center consoles in Key West.

I've been to the Keys and parking is in short supply. Trying to drive through the keys with my boat and trailer behind my truck is more than I'd want to tackle, and I have 35 years of experience driving vehicles with trailers and large vans and box trucks.

To answer your question, I've got a 2000 Silverado 2500 Ext Cab 2x4 with 6.0L that gets 6.2 mpg towing my 28' Party Hut.

Great feedback guys. I planned on towing g at 60mph and hoping to get at least 10mpgs. My truck gets 14mpgs on the highway at 75.

We have considered renting a toon when we get down there.

We rented a house on marathon for a week so I'm not worried about parking. It has a dock too so the boat can stay in the water.

Seon, how fast where you towing and was it flat land like Florida or hilly? That low of mpg would be a killer for my idea of bringing the toon.

I'm off friday so I'm gonna make a test run down the interstate and see how bad of mileage I get. Fingers crossed. Lol

zoom650 wrote:I am pulling a 24 ft tandem galvanized trailer with torsion suspension (just under 4 grand) with a F150 Eco Boost and got 8.8 mpg my last 300 mile trip.

One more thing, 63 mph is the best I can maintain and feel safe, both interstate and highway. Towing my "brick" adds 15 minutes of time for every hour of travel.

Magic Tilt is another manufacturer using torsion on my particular model.

Not what you might want to hear, but my brother towed his Grady White to the Keys and was rear ended by some lady. She bought him a new lower unit, but he was stuck with a broken boat. Another case for rental.

On the trailer issue, I forgot to add the first dealer I went to sells magic tilts with torsion axles and the shorty tires. $2400 for single and $2800 for tandem. There was a single on the lot and a tandem tritoon aluminum I beam. The tritoon one was $3400.

I'm also kicling around the idea of adding another axle to my trailer. My buddy has the hook up on parts at a very large marine center in my area.

I'm def in no hurry to get down there especially with safety and mpg in mind.

Sux about you brother getting rear ended. I would be upset if that happened.

Crab Island Cruiser wrote:
Seon, how fast where you towing and was it flat land like Florida or hilly? That low of mpg would be a killer for my idea of bringing the toon.

Flat land. W/O towing I normally get 16.5mpg combined city/hwy.
I get 10 mpg towing my 21' Proline W/A that weighs about 4K

... but my Party Hut weighs alot and I can definitely feel it behind the truck. BTW the Bimini's are removed when towing.

Wow, that's a big boat. Mine weighs about 2500 with motor.

How fast do you tow?

2012 HEMI 4 x 4 = 65 M.P.H. pulling a 22 footer= 12 mpg. I only pull it twice a year back and forth form the slip to the house ( 35 miles) for annual spring once over . If I had to pull it every time I wanted to use it I wouldn't own one. They pull like a billboard going sideways down the highway. I cant imagine draggin that beast all the way to the keys in the heat. Id worry about the damn Chinese trailer tires holding up, cheap ass trailer wheel bearings going out, some dumbass doing something stupid on the highway and other things I cant control.
Hell, Id rent one when I got there. It will cost you no more than what you spend draggin yours down there, plus you don't have all the crap to contend with getting there and back. Too much stress, especially when you're on vacation.