210 weight

[recycle]

Has anyone actually weighted a 210 with a F-150 Yamaha with a t-top?

I'm trying to figure some towing weights and get varying results.

thanks

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[mowerchaotic]

What vehicle are you planning on towing with?

[recycle]

I haven't decided that's why I'm trying to establish what I have to pull.

But I'm leaning towards Dodge Durango.

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[Codfish]

Recycle, I have a '04 210CC w/ttop, 140 4S Suzuki. I weighed it with minimal gear, full tank of gas at a state certified scale and it was 4,150 lbs on the Triumph tandem axle aluminum rail galvanized trailer. My tongue weight is about 300 lbs.

Hope this helps. codfish

[recycle]

Hi Cod,
I'm back from Christmas with the grandtwins. Thanks for the reply. I assume the weight includes the trailer? This was the info I was looking for.

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[Codfish]

recycle,

Yes that includes the factory trailer. Be sure to add the tongue weight to the overall figure, your tow vehicle is carrying it. Total is 4,450. That is a little light for the tongue, (300 lbs) but seems to be where it trails the best. (General rule is 10% of overall weight on the tongue.)

codfish

[recycle]

Hi Cod,

Thanks for the reply. Now it's decision time.

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[LadiesDrinkFree]

I tow with a 2001 Toyota Tacoma V6 Doublecab. It does the job quite well here in Florida. However, I can't really go faster than about 70 consistently and without feeling like I'm working it too hard, but 70's pretty fast for towing a boat anyway. I'd like to take my boat up to Georgia sometime, but I won't because I know the inclines would be killing my truck. Anyway, I would think that pretty much any V8 will tow a 210 real well.

[Putershark]

I also pulled my 210 with a 2002 Toyota Tacoma V6. It was a Pre-Runner double cab model so it had the larger tires, Trans cooler, etc. A lot of the “feel” I had going down the road thinking it was engine strain, was really the boat trailer tires out of balance. Granted the V6 did work and 70 was about as fast as I wanted to pull that combo. Here again, 70 is about as fast as I want to pull anything and I (still) really loose MPG if I even go that fast. Here though is what I also found.

My past 210 got really, really, heavy and I suspected something when I noticed my outboard fuel burn jump up (tracked it in a spread sheet) well over a GPH for no logical reason? Then come to find out the day I installed the false floor in the mega storage, it felt as if I was walking around on a sponge. Triumph sent me the extra inner hull drains to install and it gushed out water for almost an hour and then whizzed out water for almost 3 weeks and after a month, it was down to just a constant drip. I figure I had an extra 800 to 1000 pounds of un-wanted ballast that was causing not only the outboard to work harder, the truck and trailer also went through lot of extra work and strain. Since then I am a big fan in the inner hull drains for not only 210's but the 190 also. They were also installed on our new 190 when it was 2 months old and yes, the 190 had water in it. Granted it was just a tiny amount compared to the 210, but any amount of extra weight is too much if you are trying to run skinny like I am.

Right at the end of the 210's life at our house I got a new Tundra TRD with the full towing package. The V8 made a big difference in towing the by then "much lighter" 210. What the Tacoma could pull the Tundra did not really care about. 70 though is still too fast even with the Tundra (even with the much lighter 190) if you do not want to burn a lot of fuel for no real time savings. If I can keep the truck at 2400 RPM or less (basically running in overdrive) which equates to about 60 to 65 MPH when towing, I pick up an extra 2 MPG. Granted we don't have a lot of hills in Florida so that is pretty easy, but I am just not in that much of a rush that I need to try and run 80 MPH with the rest of the traffic when dragging a boat behind.

Now that I am pulling a much lighter boat, I am now considering moving back down to a mid-sized truck. 99.9% of the time I am NOT towing the boat (wish I was, for I would be going fishing!) and the Tacoma did much better in fuel burn department for the majority of my driving. I live about 4 miles from the nearest ramp, thus I don't see the need to drive around (though very nice ride indeed) a tank. The 190 just does not need such a large truck to handle it even for long distance hauls. So here are my thoughts...

1. Make sure you are not carrying around a lot of extra weight in the inner hull water wise. Why the factory just does not install them from day one I will never know? Not very logical to me that is for sure...
2. Balance the boat trailer tires and if your checkbook will allow, upgrade the boat trailer (much cheaper than a new truck) to one that is a torsion axle design. Never again will I own another straight axle trailer, the ride and handling is just that much better.
3. If you do plan on getting a 210 and plan on doing a lot of "long distance" towing, I would look real hard at a diesel powered truck. Over the life of both the loan and the truck, you will recover that extra 5 grand (what I have seen average option price wise) in extra engine price with less fuel burn and more torque for pulling. And if taken care of, will last you a very long time. Rare is it that you will see a 10 year 250,000 mile car or truck (what many OEM’s design as a goal) that are gas powered and still have the same engine. That though is not as rare with a quality built, well maintained, diesel powered automobile.

Tight Lines!
Dave

[LadiesDrinkFree]

Hi Putershark,

That was some good info. Thanks! About those inner hull drains on the 210, were they just in the mega hatch area or are there some in the back end of the hull, too ?

Could you describe specifically where you installed those drains ? (i.e. in the mega hatch, on the port and starboard sides, about an inch from bottom rear corner.... )

I'm going to call Triumph about it, but I'm in a little rush because I've got a new prop coming in tomorrow with a lower pitch that will probably over-rev my engine if I too am carrying around 1000 lbs of water and get rid of that extra weight with these drains (and if that's the case I need to return the prop for a higher pitch one right away).