What oil to use if towing?

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Originally Posted By: stchman
Funny, I have seen a lot of "Americans are dumb" from people with an American location under their name.


What does it say about their intellect that they choose to live among so many dumb people? And how come they left their home where all of the smart people are?

My my, those Golf and Corolla tow rating are so impressive!

Haul this 12,500 lb. Boat and 1,800 lb. Trailer up that wet 25% grade with your Golf or Corolla.




That's not who I am complaining about. I don't understand why someone would want a pickup, buy a pickup .. but just use it to commute to work and NEVER tow/haul anything with it. Or go off road. Makes no sense to me.

 

[Yup]

Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Originally Posted By: Yup
Originally Posted By: meborder
800 lbs is not "descent sized boat"
I've got a descent sized boat and it weighs 3500 lbs.

An 800lb boat is a puddle jumper big enough for 2 people and a cooler and not much more.

Just sayin...


It depends how serious you are. I could take a friend or two with me. Also, most boats I see have 2 maybe 3 people in them. Waste of money to buy a huge boat. Unless you're trying to prove your manhood. Same with trucks. Yeah, you might have a job where you have to get to work no matter what. But most people I know that drive trucks have work called off in a blizzard. So a car would work just fine 98% of the time. I don't begrudge the farmers, construction companies, people living in very rural areas with snowy winters their 4wds but a lot of city slickers just looking cool that don't need trucks. Wasting our (yes, our) resources. If you need a truck, no harm. If you drive one because you think it's cool, you're a moron. Point being to this post, you don't need a 3500 Duramax diesel to pull a small UHaul trailer. And, if the weather is bad enough, many jobs won't punish you for staying home.


Waste of money to buy a big boat? How about you come cross the Gulf Stream sometime with me. I'll drive a big boat, and you drive a little one.

Please name a small boat that has a generator, water makers, cabins, shower, and everything else necessary for extended trips on the water.

There's definitely a moron afoot here.

it's amazing the lengths people will go to in order to avoid admitting they actually know nothing about what they are talking about.


Obviously ocean going vessels are different than smaller lake boats. Duh.

 

[Yup]

Originally Posted By: Yup
Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Originally Posted By: Yup
Originally Posted By: meborder
800 lbs is not "descent sized boat"
I've got a descent sized boat and it weighs 3500 lbs.

An 800lb boat is a puddle jumper big enough for 2 people and a cooler and not much more.

Just sayin...


It depends how serious you are. I could take a friend or two with me. Also, most boats I see have 2 maybe 3 people in them. Waste of money to buy a huge boat. Unless you're trying to prove your manhood. Same with trucks. Yeah, you might have a job where you have to get to work no matter what. But most people I know that drive trucks have work called off in a blizzard. So a car would work just fine 98% of the time. I don't begrudge the farmers, construction companies, people living in very rural areas with snowy winters their 4wds but a lot of city slickers just looking cool that don't need trucks. Wasting our (yes, our) resources. If you need a truck, no harm. If you drive one because you think it's cool, you're a moron. Point being to this post, you don't need a 3500 Duramax diesel to pull a small UHaul trailer. And, if the weather is bad enough, many jobs won't punish you for staying home.


Waste of money to buy a big boat? How about you come cross the Gulf Stream sometime with me. I'll drive a big boat, and you drive a little one.

Please name a small boat that has a generator, water makers, cabins, shower, and everything else necessary for extended trips on the water.

There's definitely a moron afoot here.

it's amazing the lengths people will go to in order to avoid admitting they actually know nothing about what they are talking about.


Obviously ocean going vessels are different than smaller lake boats. Duh.


Exactly. You should go reread my posts and see I was very open to people who actually use trucks for truck reasons. I don't think I ever said to use an Impala to pull a boat like you have. But thank you for proving that you use your truck as a truck to pull a big boat. You seemed concerned I was judging your use of a truck and I want you to know you passed my test. I hope that helps you sleep tonight. Now, I'm going to go recite the pledge without the words "under God" as we antiamericans do...

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: Yup
Originally Posted By: meborder
Bring your civic, lets go hunting

Just make sure you have a tow strap and stick close 'caus cell phones don't work
We silly American drive trucks for good reason.
I've had to drive to work in snow this deep.




If you live in a rural area and encounter this often, you probably have good reason for a truck. Many people don't. If you chose to go hunting on this particular day I'll remind you my $15k Civic that pulls 32-40mpgs gets me around just fine 98% of the days in MN. IN FACT, I drove it after a 13 inch snowfall a few years ago to get to work. Didn't need a tow strap, although I have one. I also caught up with a relative hunting a few years ago on a rainy day. He went first down a section road that was pretty muddy...standing water in places. He used 4wd. I used FWD. Didn't need a tow strap then either. However, had he not been there, I probably would've walked in. I didn't have much confidence I was going to make it.


We get snow like that in Saskatoon and only main roads are plowed. Side streets don't get plowed whatsoever.

As far as oil and towing it doesn't matter. The oem thought of that when decided which oil to use in the first place.

 

[ExMachina]

Originally Posted By: AnarchyX
Okay so I have an '04 Impala with 65K miles on it that's had it's oil changed religiously by it's previous owner (relative).

I may be moving and would be towing a U-Haul with about 800 pounds of furniture in it in east Texas where there's a fair amount of hills and inclines.

Would I be okay with dino, or would a semi-synth blend be better for about 4 hours of this type of driving?

Currently I am using Pennzoil YB 5w30.


I'd go with M1 0w-40, the highest performance specs on gasoline-engine oil I can find, for the severe-service towing job. Towing with higher oil temperatures will thin it out, so you'll have enough viscosity reserve and oxidation stability. M1 0w-40 just to be sure, 5 quart jugs available. Go back to dino 5w-30 later if you wish. (Although, with SuperTech full-syn so cheap at walmart, why not that later?)
And if you can get a transmission cooler put on, that would be helpful, like others have mentioned above.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
We get snow like that in Saskatoon and only main roads are plowed. Side streets don't get plowed whatsoever.

OT, but from your story, Saskatoon hasn't gotten any better since I lived there.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Originally Posted By: Yup
Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Originally Posted By: Yup
Originally Posted By: meborder
800 lbs is not "descent sized boat"
I've got a descent sized boat and it weighs 3500 lbs.

An 800lb boat is a puddle jumper big enough for 2 people and a cooler and not much more.

Just sayin...


It depends how serious you are. I could take a friend or two with me. Also, most boats I see have 2 maybe 3 people in them. Waste of money to buy a huge boat. Unless you're trying to prove your manhood. Same with trucks. Yeah, you might have a job where you have to get to work no matter what. But most people I know that drive trucks have work called off in a blizzard. So a car would work just fine 98% of the time. I don't begrudge the farmers, construction companies, people living in very rural areas with snowy winters their 4wds but a lot of city slickers just looking cool that don't need trucks. Wasting our (yes, our) resources. If you need a truck, no harm. If you drive one because you think it's cool, you're a moron. Point being to this post, you don't need a 3500 Duramax diesel to pull a small UHaul trailer. And, if the weather is bad enough, many jobs won't punish you for staying home.


Waste of money to buy a big boat? How about you come cross the Gulf Stream sometime with me. I'll drive a big boat, and you drive a little one.

Please name a small boat that has a generator, water makers, cabins, shower, and everything else necessary for extended trips on the water.

There's definitely a moron afoot here.

it's amazing the lengths people will go to in order to avoid admitting they actually know nothing about what they are talking about.


Obviously ocean going vessels are different than smaller lake boats. Duh.



Obviously you never drew that distinction. Duh.

 

[Brad_C]

Originally Posted By: meborder
800 lbs is not "descent sized boat"
I've got a descent sized boat and it weighs 3500 lbs.


I guess it depends on your perspective. Any boat small enough to be trailered by a domestic vehicle hardly rates as a "decent sized boat" in this part of the world. Heck our (let me do the conversion) 44,000 pound, 41ft fibreglass hole in the water barely qualifies as an "ocean going vessel", but it has most of the mod-cons and is comfortable for a month away with 6 people.

Just sayin...

This thread on the appropriate atf to tow a small weight with a small car very quickly escalated into a **** swinging contest. Why does that seem to happen here with monotonous regularity?

I would have said any ATF is good if it's appropriately cooled. Trans cooler is king.

 

[Yup]

Originally Posted By: Brad_C
Originally Posted By: meborder
800 lbs is not "descent sized boat"
I've got a descent sized boat and it weighs 3500 lbs.


I guess it depends on your perspective. Any boat small enough to be trailered by a domestic vehicle hardly rates as a "decent sized boat" in this part of the world. Heck our (let me do the conversion) 44,000 pound, 41ft fibreglass hole in the water barely qualifies as an "ocean going vessel", but it has most of the mod-cons and is comfortable for a month away with 6 people.

Just sayin...

This thread on the appropriate atf to tow a small weight with a small car very quickly escalated into a **** swinging contest. Why does that seem to happen here with monotonous regularity?

I would have said any ATF is good if it's appropriately cooled. Trans cooler is king.


I thought my posts were just pointing out that we overemphasize the HUGE TRUCK NEEDED TO PULL ANYTHING marketing mentality. The OP's car will most likely be fine if he's smart about pulling things.

Also, thanks for sharing the size of your boat. I'm visualizing it right now and was wondering if you could post a video of the receiver hitch being slid into the receiver?

Moderators, any chance we could create a sticky with the words "decent sized", "moderate", "large", "extra large", "magnum" (had to go there), "what it means to be American" for noobs like myself?

 

[meborder]

Originally Posted By: Clevy


As far as oil and towing it doesn't matter. The oem thought of that when decided which oil to use in the first place.


This is probably the smartest reply I've seen in this whole thread. So long as you are towing with the rated towing capacity, worrying about which oil or which viscosity is not really needed. As you say, the manufacturer accounted for that in the design process. If you are going to tow heavier than recommended, then perhaps it is a discussion with having.

As for the rest of it, it is really the teachings of one political party, where every decision should be means tested by some criteria they have deemed to be best for the greater good. And if your personal liberties have to suffer, that's ok because it is for the greater good. Their choices,however, will remain unimpeded because they made the rules.

Where on one side of the isle, if one doesn't like trucks, s/he simply doesn't buy a truck. On the side, if one doesn't like trucks, s/he doesn't want YOU to buy a truck.

 

[Jetronic]

is the same oil advised for severe service or for high temperatures? if so, the mfr probably had towing in mind, otherwise switch to the heavy duty stuff..