Back to the main site

4WD vs AWD

S

safaucette

Member
Messages
9
Reaction score
9
We are trying to decide which vehicle to use to tow our pontoon. It is a 20' pontoon. We have a AWD vehicle (Yukon Denali) and a 4WD vehicle (Chev truck). In your experience, what would you suggest? The Denali would be more convenient for our family, but we could make the truck work.  
 
Describe your trailering conditions. Flat terrain? Hilly? Muddy, off-road paths to get to a lake, etc.? We're flat down here, so I went with 2WD.  No need for 4WD for me.
 
We use our AWD GMC Acadia Denali to pull our 22SSX and it does the job without an issue.  We only trailer to and from storage to the house to the marina at open and close of the season with a few large rolling hills during the ride.  Rather nice ride however I'd recommend the extended side mirrors or some addition of mirrors to get your sight around the side rear of the boat.


Added:  If you have an Acadia Denali see below - don't want to give impression they are all good to tow.   
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Aren't the Acadias unibody?  Did you check the towing capacity?  


My boat/motor/trailer weighs 5100 lbs. My guess is the Acadia would tow around 3500 lbs.  I have an Envoy Denali, but it was the last model GMC made in that line with a ladder frame. The Acadia more or less replaced Envoy, and I was sure it was unibody and tows far less.


You should double check this. 
 
I see the Limited with the special towing package can tow 5200. Without that, it's 4000 with V6. The 4 cylinder tows 1000.  Big range. If others reading this have an Acadia, make sure you know what yours is capable of. 
 
Kaydano Thanks for the back up!  My apologies, I completely missed that and almost put out some incomplete information.  We have the tow package which indeed significantly increases the capacity.  I analyzed this down to a spreadsheet when we purchased the vehicle knowing we would eventually be boating.  I don't have the figures on hand but our combined boat/trailer/motor is less than 5000 lbs.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I pull with a 6 cyl Highlander,  I rarely pull any distance, maybe 20-30 miles once in a while but most of the time it's about 1000' from storage lot to ramp and back. Once in a while when the ramp is wet I get a little front wheel slip but most of the time it's fine.  I made a mistake when ordering, I wish I would have gotten the AWD.
 
safaucette said:
We are trying to decide which vehicle to use to tow our pontoon. It is a 20' pontoon. We have a AWD vehicle (Yukon Denali) and a 4WD vehicle (Chev truck). In your experience, what would you suggest? The Denali would be more convenient for our family, but we could make the truck work.  
Click to expand...

You will have no issues with the Denali. I use my Escalade, it's the only vehicle we have. Once and a while the previous year I would get a little wheel slip up front just from the ramp being wet and sandy, my tires which I had been putting off replacing definitely didn't help!  The 6.2L is a great engine, much better than my 2003 Tahoe with the 5.3.
 
I don't trailer, but frankly you should have no issues with the AWD Yukon with it being the better family vehicle to to it with.  The AWD Yukon's and Escalades do a great job hauling boats from what I have heard.  We have the AWD Escalade, and if we ever decide to tow, I have no concerns doing it.
 
Safaucette,


I actually used my wife's Honda CRV to pull our 20' pontoon with a merc 90hp. We only tow about a mile and a half from our boat barn to the ramp. The ramp is concrete and average in grade. The CRV is AWD and never slipped once. I would never even consider towing it at highway speeds or any further than I did. I use my 3500 Dodge if it needed towed further. Now having said that I wouldn't even consider using the CRV to tow the 22' SCWX, its way to heavy. I do use my 2015 Dodge Durango AWD to tow and launch the Tritoon. I would still never use the Durango too tow long distance. Ramp condition and grade would be the most important consideration along with distance from storage. Any Pontoon or Tritoon is nothing but a big sail on the road.
 
The biggest thing I've learned in my limited towing experience is not whether the vehicle can TOW the trailer, it's whether it's got enough weight/mass to STOP the trailer with all that weight.  


Either that Denali or the Chevy should do fine.
 
We have a Yukon and I have towed the boat with it a few times, the trailer tow rating should be fine, the AWD system on those vehicle will work just fine if you get a slippery ramp. If it's an XL it'd be even better, the issue I see the most is a leverage issue, short tow rig, long boat/travel trailer. Trailer gets a little wiggle (highway) and you need to hang on for the ride. Common sense would be all you need, I don't see the need to use your pickup if you prefer not too. We normally tow over 300 miles when we do the weekend trips and use a 3500 diesel pickup for better fuel mileage and oh yeah a little more oomph. ;)  
 
Either one of these is fine.  Locally, I use my 03 5.3 Tahoe 2wd, longer trips I use the 03 Sierra HD 6.0 4X4.  I did use the Tahoe to run over to NE Indiana once and my buddy hauled his 25' VIP cuddy to Cumberland when he owned it.  Hard to beat a Yukon Denali for a nice, capable tow vehicle.  I don't want to hear it Caddy guys!  :p  
 
I have towed in the past with both a Yukon and a Silverado. Both do great for that size boat. You will most likely not even need four wheel drive unless the ramp is extra steep or very wet. 
 
I had an 06 Denali 6.0 truck with AWD and a '14 5.3. I prefer the 5.3. But, when I pull with my FIL's '17 6.2 Yukon Denali or his '17 6.2 Silverado, I'd take the Yukon for the convenience and the air ride. 
 
Used to tow our Benny with a high top Dodge conversion van when we lived in Virginia. Miss that vehicle. Couldn't beat it on a long trip. Captains chairs, electric bed, PlayStation, flatscreen TV.  Had no problem.......


Towed the Benny 5 hrs. to its new home in NC with our Expedition. Again no problem...........except for the whopping 12 miles to the gallon I got........
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top