I've been towing my 18' Seaswirl (heavy boat for it's size) with my '93 explorer for 3 years now. Just passed 162k. I would like to have a v-8 for piece of mind, and reduced engine wear. Ford has some small v-8s (4.6L) in their F-150's. You could pay $50 bucks a month more for a few years, or put a new engine or transmission in your tow vehicle for a bit more. My new engine was about $3,000.