Thread: Any good for towing

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Man, my shop truck is dang near dead!!!! Such a rust monster that I'm afraid one big bump and the whole truck could fall apart in the middle of the road....

Looked at a 2000 Dodge Dakota 4wd extended cab today. Small v-8 (318?), automatic, nice body, good paint, 97,000 miles, good interior... They're asking abou $6500. Anybody ever done any towing with these smaller trucks??? I've got the Toter and big trailer for racing, but occasionally I need to make a short trip with an open trailer....... Kind of wondering if these mid sized trucks can handle it, or if it ends up being like the tail wagging the dog???????

id get a fullsize for towing dave, i always have int he back of mind, well what if?............. i need to hault his or that. 3/4 tons are gas pigs but will haul anything dang near.

My friend that tows a 16ft. enclosed trailer, had the same dakota your talking about. towed the trailer twice before trading it in on a full size. very low on power and sluggish side to side movement with it.

If you plan to tow an open trailer (below 20 feet) that has brakes on both axles you'll be just fine if you add a weight distribution hitch to the combination. If the trailer does not have electric brakes (surge brakes with such a combination could be fatal) with a brake controller that is adjustable for each vehicle and weight combination then you could have a problem on long downward grades.

Bill S.

The Dakota isn't that small,or light either. It would work,but certainly not as well as a 3/4 ton with a diesel. Towed the 56 olds back from Ohio with a F-150 4x4 v-8 gas and it had all it could do on the hills. My pal now has 3/4 dodge diesel,and you can't feel the trailer back there. Hank

Thanks guys. I do have the Toter, and F450 when we tow anything big... This is more just for like pulling the utility trlr to get stuff and haul junk, maybe occaidionally hauling a car around (locally). My little 12 foot single ax utility trlr will probably be it's biggest towing task, should handle that just fine, it's not like I would ever overload my little trailer!!!!!

Dave,we pull the sprinter on a 20 ft open trailer along with the honda 4 wheeler,fully loaded dual tire rack,chrome tread plate truck box mounted on the tounge that carries all the shocks and extras. generator and fuel jugs and jack in the bed,and usually 3 to 4 of us in the cab. Using an 03 Dakota quad cab.318,2wd... It does wonderfull, don't have to use sway control or lift bars.
I wouldn't try it without electric brakes and I did have to put a set of Monroe coil overs on the back. But I love the darn thing. I'm even thinking about selling the Yukon and getting another one as the wifey took the darn thing away from me and made me start driving the Yukon.

Dave
I use a 91 k10 with a 4.3. My trailer is a 18' featherlight with 2axle electric brakes. I don't use an equalizer but am careful to load to the proper tongue weight. I've hauled my 61 Bonneville all over with it and no problems except a little heat when it gets over 90dg out. We're just spoiled by all the things that are available.
For those that are so inclined, I don't want to hear it.

Dave,
Maybe the guy will let you hook up a trailer with what ever you would like to use the truck for. Test drive it for a few miles, and see what it feels like. Sounds like your well equipted to deal with heavier situations already, and are looking for something smaller for those mundane things. My old toyota 4x4 is gutless with it's 2.0 litre engine, but it gets there, under load, and works great for the small stuff! Sounds like a good price too!

Yeah, I'm think I might go look at the truck again sometime next week, talked to the salesman a bit today, told him I would really prefer something just like it with 2WD..... He sez around here the 2WD trucks are scarce, but he would do some checking for me.... Same guy I bought the Bonneville from, fairly decent dude for a used car saleman!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Man, my shop truck is dang near dead!!!! Such a rust monster that I'm afraid one big bump and the whole truck could fall apart in the middle of the road....

Looked at a 2000 Dodge Dakota 4wd extended cab today. Small v-8 (318?), automatic, nice body, good paint, 97,000 miles, good interior... They're asking abou $6500. Anybody ever done any towing with these smaller trucks??? I've got the Toter and big trailer for racing, but occasionally I need to make a short trip with an open trailer....... Kind of wondering if these mid sized trucks can handle it, or if it ends up being like the tail wagging the dog???????

Dave,I have a 2001 Dodge Dakota Quad cab with the 4.7 liter engine.
It will pull a small car trailer with 2-snowmobiles and an atv on it and that is about it.
I pulled a 3,000 lbs. drag car on it for about 50 miles and you really knew it was back there with a 15 mph side wind.

Originally Posted by erik erikson

Dave,I have a 2001 Dodge Dakota Quad cab with the 4.7 liter engine.
It will pull a small car trailer with 2-snowmobiles and an atv on it and that is about it.
I pulled a 3,000 lbs. drag car on it for about 50 miles and you really knew it was back there with a 15 mph side wind.

Yeah, doubt I would pull a car that far with it.... Mostly just for running around and lighter loads on my little utility trailer, about the same size as a two place sled trailer.....

Dave, I had a 90 Dakota V-6 Extended cab. Put a lot of miles on it towing an 18 ft bass boat that weighed alost 3000 pounds loaded. The truck would pull it just fine, stopping it was a different story until I put brakes on the boat trailer. When I upgraded to a 20 foot boat I had to upgrade the truck too. I have a 01 Silverado 2wd now. It gets almost as good mpg as the dakota did, pulls great and is a lot more comfortable.

Pat

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Yeah, doubt I would pull a car that far with it.......

He said he has a 2 block rule!
jk


Pat

Originally Posted by HemiTCoupe

He said he has a 2 block rule!
jk


Pat

Well, most of my parts places and the shops I use are more then 2 blocks away, unfortunately, so I occasionally do have to drive!!!!! Bummer too, with the price of gas sure would be handy to have all the places I need to go fall within that 2 block rule!!!! Hey, it sure would be a fun neighborhood!!!!!!!