I bought a boat!

[strife]

So the wife and I were taking the kids to see some alligator thing and there was a bass pro shops on the way. I needed a couple fishing supplies so we stopped in and I picked up like $10 worth of stuff and then just started perusing the boats... About an hour later we were walking out with this puppy! (well not technically walking out with it... it's still at the dealership until we go pick it up as they are installing some stuff for us).

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This is by far my biggest impulse buy ever.

[Skelas]

What's a mans happiest day? The day he buys a boat.

What's his second happiest day? The day he sells his boat.

Grats dude

[Breand]

What's a mans happiest day? The day he buys a boat.

What's his second happiest day? The day he sells his boat.

Grats dude

Or "The best boat is a friend's boat."

Just talking to my co-worker about how his father in law just bought a boat and a faulty fuel line wrecked one of the engines, and he had a full tank of gas that was spoiled and had to be emptied and filled again...$2k just in gas.

I've also been on two different boats that had an engine die. Luckily both times they were duals so we could limp back to shore. Also towed a guy who's engine died once.

But good luck!

[Jakensama]

Where are you going to dock it? Or are you storing at home?

[Dharus]

What's a mans happiest day? The day he buys a boat.

What's his second happiest day? The day he sells his boat.

Grats dude

Or "The best boat is a friend's boat."

Just talking to my co-worker about how his father in law just bought a boat and a faulty fuel line wrecked one of the engines, and he had a full tank of gas that was spoiled and had to be emptied and filled again...$2k just in gas.

I've also been on two different boats that had an engine die. Luckily both times they were duals so we could limp back to shore. Also towed a guy who's engine died once.

But good luck!

This is why I love sailing. Its also why I don't own a boat. The above quotes are sayings for a reason.

Have fun motorhead but just watch out for gas with ethanol in it.

[OrsunVZ]

What's a mans happiest day? The day he buys a boat.

What's his second happiest day? The day he sells his boat.

Grats dude

Or "The best boat is a friend's boat."

Just talking to my co-worker about how his father in law just bought a boat and a faulty fuel line wrecked one of the engines, and he had a full tank of gas that was spoiled and had to be emptied and filled again...$2k just in gas.

I've also been on two different boats that had an engine die. Luckily both times they were duals so we could limp back to shore. Also towed a guy who's engine died once.

But good luck!

SeaTow membership is worth its weight in GOLD. Never have to worry about i again.

'Grats Strife. There are few purchases that have the potential to change your life, but to life a life of no boat, and then suddenly, BOAT... game changer. It really comes down to whether it turns into a gym membership that never gets used, or if you really make the effort to take it out.

Make the effort. With practice, the prep work for a trip gets faster and faster, and the 'chore' of it goes away. Just make it your mission to use it often, and your family will thank you.

just my 2c...

[strife]

My tank only holds 30 gallons so I won't be wasting 2k in fuel. Also most of my boating will be on a lake that I live 5 minutes from and worse case that the motor dies I'll be able to use my trolling motor to get back to shore. Not saying I'll never take it to the bay or anything, but that won't be a regular occurance so not real worried about being stranded.

Jake I'll be storing it at a storage facility near the lake. It's 30 foot with the trailer and too big to store at my house.

Thanks all for the comments. Never heard about ethanol messing with the motor do will look into that.

[Airyth]

I may not own a boat, but if YOU own a boat you can be my friend.

[grizzle]

Very cool, Strife - congrats!

[bonestomper]

A young guy from Texas moves to California and goes to a big department store looking for a job. The manager says, "Do you have any sales experience?" The kid says, "Yeah, I was a salesman back home in Texas." Well, the boss liked the kid, so he gave him the job. "You start tomorrow. I'll come down after we close and see how you did." His first day on the job was rough but he got through it. After the store was locked up, the boss came down. "How many sales did you make today?" The kid says, "One." The boss says, "Just one? Our sales people average 20 or 30 sales a day. How much was the sale for?" Kid says, "$101,237.64." Boss says, "$101,237.64? What did you sell him?" Kid says, "First I sold him a small fish hook. Then I sold him a medium fish hook. Then I sold him a larger fish hook. Then I sold him a new fishing rod. Then I asked him where he was going fishing, and he said down at the coast, so I told him he was gonna need a boat, so we went down to the boat department, and I sold him that twin engine Chris Craft. Then he said he didn't think his Honda Civic would pull it, so I took him down to the automotive department and sold him that 4X4 Blazer." The boss said, "A guy came in here to buy a fish hook and you sold him a boat and truck?" Kid says, "No, he came in here to buy a box of tampons for his wife, and I said, 'Well, since your weekend's shot, you might as well go fishing

[strife]

Nice bone.... the funny(well not really funny for me) thing is... we may be buying a truck to pull it as well... so your joke isn't really that far off.

I have a Mitsubishi Lancer for work (I drive about 1200 miles a month so having a car with good gas mileage is nice... and it's more fun to drive than a truck) and my wife has a Saturn Outlook. Well the Outlook has plenty of towing capacity(4500 lbs)... IF PROPERLY EQUIPPED. I assumed properly equipped meant installing the hitch so we did. After doing some more research, the "properly equipped" also involves a transmission cooler and a tow/haul button which alters the way the transmission shifts, so we were going to have that done. Went down to our local mechanic who just rebuilt the transmission in the wife's car(Bye bye 3 grand) cause evidently the Outlook's transmission is SHIT(and the car only has 56k miles on it) and asked him about installing the trans cooler... and he basically said no. He said the transmissions on the outlooks are shit and even though he just rebuilt it and made it better than it was, that trying to tow a boat with it is just asking for trouble. I'm not a mechanic so I am at the will of the mechanic I talk to, and figure if a mechanic is turning down a job, then he's probably telling the truth, so I lean towards heeding his advice.

So we're at the point of now what to do. Should we just use the Outlook to pull it(99% of the time we'll be on the lake by our house which is maybe 1 mile from where the boat will be stored), do we install the trans cooler and hope for the best, or do we buy a truck to pull the boat. Like I said, her Outlook only has 56k miles on it and it just had it's transmission rebuilt... I'm not sure I want to push my luck with it. My wife loves it otherwise I'd just cut my losses, trade the damn thing in for something that can pull a boat, but she won't do that, she likes the damn car too much.

So... we're leaning towards buying a truck JUST to pull the boat.

[TinStar]

So... we're leaning towards buying a truck JUST to pull the boat.

You can borrow my truck anytime you want. That things got a hemi!

[strife]

A hemi and no trailer hitch.

[Skelas]

Aaaaand he's fully hooked.

[Arsilon]

A hemi and no trailer hitch.

I can't believe you can even buy a truck with that combination?!? What's the point of the Hemi if you're not doing any towing?!? Are you carrying engine blocks in the bed of your truck and climbing major hills or something?

[Jakensama]

A hemi and no trailer hitch.

I can't believe you can even buy a truck with that combination?!? What's the point of the Hemi if you're not doing any towing?!? Are you carrying engine blocks in the bed of your truck and climbing major hills or something?

It's Texas, the size of your truck's engine (I assume thats what a Hemi is or is part of) is a form of peacocking down there.

[Arsilon]

A hemi and no trailer hitch.

I can't believe you can even buy a truck with that combination?!? What's the point of the Hemi if you're not doing any towing?!? Are you carrying engine blocks in the bed of your truck and climbing major hills or something?

It's Texas, the size of your truck's engine (I assume thats what a Hemi is or is part of) is a form of peacocking down there.

I get all that. But at the end of the day most cars are around standard option packages that you pick from with minor dealer accessories after the delivery, ie bedliner or running boards, etc.

Unless they are offering TX only option packages for bragging rights, I don't see the point in that particular combination. Even if you don't have the actual hitch itself you typically would have the tow package by default. (Hitch = just the ball thing vs. tow package = the socket you put the ball thing into that is tied to frame of vehicle, transmission upgrades, suspension upgrades, etc.)

Maybe that is what he meant in which case that's cheap to get just the hitch.

[TinStar]

My truck has all the lighting stuff needed to connect a trailer and you can attach a ball to the bumper to tow a boat but it doesn't have the full trailer hitch (that is an accessory that you have to add). And yes I do have the "Lone Star Edition" so it comes with the hemi. I'm not actually certain you can even buy a Dodge full size truck that doesn't have a hemi anymore...

Also for Jake.. I have to have a bed to put stuff in for my job. I spend a good portion of time hauling large boxes that won't fit into an SUV or a car and no way in hell I'm driving a fucking van so.. Gas mileage sucks but I need it for my job (No I don't need a 5.7L V8 for my job but damn that thing will go!)

[Vllad]

I'm not actually certain you can even buy a Dodge full size truck that doesn't have a hemi anymore...

That's because they now call things Hemi's that aren't really Hemi's anymore.

To run a real hemispher block/head you need a large engine block they don't make anymore. The 426 was the perfect fit that gave the hemispher shape the perfect compression ratio that took advantage of the crossflow inside the hemisphere shaped head.

The problem with the Hemi is it really is meant for pure power in bulk and not condusive to 15mpg or higher without adding multiple spark plugs per combution chamber. Basically a Hemi isn't humming unless ran at high RPM's.

Now days the chambers are V shaped and are no longer capable of creating that kind of HP. It is too costly and people don't want 5 MPG cars anymore.

Now it is just a cool thing to call something since Chrysler owns the "Hemi" name.

Alpha Romeo I think is the last company that actually makes a real Hemi engine.

[TinStar]

I'm not actually certain you can even buy a Dodge full size truck that doesn't have a hemi anymore...

That's because they now call things Hemi's that aren't really Hemi's anymore.

To run a real hemispher block/head you need a large engine block they don't make anymore. The 426 was the perfect fit that gave the hemispher shape the perfect compression ratio that took advantage of the crossflow inside the hemisphere shaped head.

The problem with the Hemi is it really is meant for pure power in bulk and not condusive to 15mpg or higher without adding multiple spark plugs per combution chamber. Basically a Hemi isn't humming unless ran at high RPM's.

Now days the chambers are V shaped and are no longer capable of creating that kind of HP. It is too costly and people don't want 5 MPG cars anymore.

Now it is just a cool thing to call something since Chrysler owns the "Hemi" name.

Alpha Romeo I think is the last company that actually makes a real Hemi engine.

Yeah I read something along those lines before but didn't really pay much attention to it. I get about 16.5 mpg on average (I do quite a bit of freeway driving) but it has the feature where it turns off 4 cylinders(or maybe 2, I forget) when you are "cruising". Although I must say to actually get it to stay in this mode you have to work it pretty hard...

[Vllad]

Yeah I read something along those lines before but didn't really pay much attention to it. I get about 16.5 mpg on average (I do quite a bit of freeway driving) but it has the feature where it turns off 4 cylinders(or maybe 2, I forget) when you are "cruising". Although I must say to actually get it to stay in this mode you have to work it pretty hard...

The entire word Hemi sum's up the American car industry.

The shape of the pistons and its chambers is the core of what makes an engine work. It determines the quality of the engine. Somehow cars in Europe were able to create Hemi engines and get them to work in small blocks with decent mileage. The auto makers in America just never figured it out.

In America they just market their car's as Hemi's but they really aren't. The same with Ford's "Eco Boost". WTF does that mean?

We are a country of catch fraises that don't really mean anything.

Your cylinder shut off is called DoD I think. Displacement something or another.

It is the American attempt to try and increase gase mileage on V8's. It is hard to get to work properly unless you are driving in a straight line not towing anything for long periods of time. Some variables have been successful though. We have looked at that in large Trucks at FedEx.

[Breand]

My Japanese made SkyActiv moniker does something and it is awesome! =)

[Dharus]

Never heard about ethanol messing with the motor do will look into that.

Usually its fuel lines more so than the motor itself. The recommended fuel is probably labeled in the owner's manual or online for the model. Ethanol and water can eat up various plastics and rubber so it decays o-rings, hoses, ect.

From mercury marine:

What about the fuel-system components on the boat?
It is important to follow boat manufacturers' recommendations when selecting appropriate fuels. Use of an inappropriate fuel can result in damage to the engine and boat components that may require repair or replacement. Fuels with ethanol can attack some fuel-system components, such as tanks and lines, if they are not made from acceptable ethanol-compatible materials. This can lead to operational problems or safety issues such as clogged filters, leaks or engine damage.

Don't be surprised if you buy a "marine" piece of equipment for a boat that's x10 more expensive than a similar household item. This is usually the case for boats that inhabit saltwater. Which is another point, if you do go to the Gulf, make sure the boat, engine can handle it. I'm not sure I'd take a pontoon boat out there...

[OrsunVZ]

I am actually just about to have ALL of the seals and hoses replaced on the 20' Hewes Light Tackle Flats boat in my front yard. I was down in Flamingo out in the middle of nowhere and we blew an o-ring on the fuel lifting pumps... ethanol will completely 'eff up that stuff, and the maintenance is actually cheaper than the fixes... this bit of repairs is approx. 7k.

Do your best to use non-ethanol fuels, and when you can't (which is going to be often I suspect), use an additive to clean it all out.

[TinStar]

Your cylinder shut off is called DoD I think. Displacement something or another.

It is the American attempt to try and increase gase mileage on V8's. It is hard to get to work properly unless you are driving in a straight line not towing anything for long periods of time. Some variables have been successful though. We have looked at that in large Trucks at FedEx.

Yeah for sure. I can get it to work if when you go up hills you let off the gas and don't accelerate any until you get over the top of the hill and then accelerate slowly. If you are on flat ground you basically have to keep speed exactly the same or where the car is losing some speed the entire time to keep the shutoff working. It's kind of a game for me when I'm driving because my truck has the display that tells you what your MPG is at that instant so I always try and keep the MPG over like 18 or so. It definitely keeps me from putting it to the floor and seeing my MPG go to 0..