Hey Paul,
My Dak has the tow package, the beefier rear end etc. as well, but i haven't
towed very much with it, other than other trucks stuck in the mud. <cough>
<andy levy> <cough>
hehehe
But the heaviesty thing i've ever towed was an older Mercury Sable wagon on
a little dolly. Figure probably 3000 lb car, or there abouts, te dolly was
pretty light, maybe only 200 or so lbs. Anyway, it rode ok, really wasn't
that much strain on the 4.7, but braking obviously needed a longer distance.
And that really is the important thing, braking. You could probably get the
Dak to pull 10,000+ lbs, but getting it to stop all that weight is a whole
'nother story!!!!
Little story for ya to kind of illustrate what i'm trying to say about the
Dakota's abilities, and keeping it within "safe" limits:
I was coming back from a camping trip, and we see this little car, i "think"
it was a Kia Sephia, looks a lot like the most recent Ford Escorts. Anyway,
this little car was towing this absolutely MASSIVE boat, it must have
weighed like 15,000 lbs, maybe more, and was probably between 30-35 feet
long. It looked like it could carry 8-10 people comfortably, and had
below-deck sleeping for at least 4 people. Like i said, this boat was
massive!!!
Anyway, the little Kia's rear bumper was pretty close to scraping the
ground, and over any bump, mostlikely did... But, it was pulling this boat
at about 20 km/h (12mph).
Now obviously this is not a safe thing to do, but it can be done.
So, can the Daks tow 10,000+ lbs in trailer, crap in the bed? Yes.
Should it be done? No.
The Adam Blaster
Two words, figure it out.....
>
>
>Hi Adam
> I agree, it actually sounds proposterous! Unlike what I assume to be
>the majority of members of this List, I use my truck for work daily. Mine
>has the optional 2,000# factory GVW rating and trailer hitch. My trailer
>weighs only 550# empty and @ the tongue about 270#. When pulling around
>2,500# combined trailer cargo and trailer weight and little or nothing in
>the
>truck it drives as though there was a giant hand behind pushing strongly
>forward. If I add about 1,000# truck cargo it tends to handle better except
>for stopping power. I never feel safe driving more than 50mph with loads
>and
>loaded trailer and then keep several car length distance if possible from
>the
>guy ahead of me.
> I've only had a full 2,000# load in the truck alone several times.
>The
>body rubber suspension limit bumpers are about 3" off the rear axle and the
>tailpipe may be even closer to the ground than 3". The rear suspension
>bottoms almost constantly over very minor road surfaces. Front seems to
>take
>2,000# very well. Incidentally, when hauling dirt, concrete chunks,
>bricks,
>sand, etc., you reach a 2,000# load without filling the 6.5' cargo bed to
>the
>side tops. So with products that have a high weight density you do not
>fill
>the cubic capacity of the cargo box to reach maximum load capacity even
>with
>the optional 2,000# pkg.
> At around 15k mi I replaced the factory shocks with Bilsteins and at
>the
>same time both F&R stabilizer bars with Hotchkis mounted in poly bushings.
>These larger diameter bars made a tremendous improvement in overall safe
>handling for a loaded truck and especially with a trailer too. The factory
>setup was too tame and the trailer tended to whip the truck like a dog
>whose
>tail is too big for his body! This was especially noted when loads are
>real
>ly heavy and the suspension is almost fully compressed.
>
>Cheers
>
>Paul Sahlin
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