Re: Towing info?

From: jon@dakota-truck.net
Date: Tue Oct 29 2002 - 10:51:00 EST


raymond.irons@gm.com wrote:
[...]
: If your comfortable towing that much with
: your QC, more power to you. Again, this is only my opinion, I wouldn't care
: to tow anything much heavier then 2000-2500 lbs with any Dakota. Once you
: hit the 1.5 ton mark its my belief you need to start looking at a full size
: truck or SUV with the weight and braking capacity to handle that kind of
: load.

 
    I think the Dak deserves more credit than you're giving it. :-)
I tow a 20' enclosed trailer all the time with my '96 318 5 speed,
weight is anywhere from 4,000-5,000lbs. Mostly its local trips
but I took it from NY to Texas and back once. I've also hauled a
car back from Carlisle on a U-haul car hauler, which is about a 9 hour
drive, total weight was about 5500-6000lbs, and that one was through
the hills of PA. The Dak has always handled those loads without a
hitch. (Ummm, no pun intended - I DO actually have a hitch...) ;-)
You just need to be aware of the extra weight back there and adjust your
driving style accordingly. As far as the trailer pushing the truck around
goes, its not really an issue with electric trailer brakes. (Always a good
idea to have 'em on anything over 2,000lbs or so.) All of my hauling
has been done right off the ball - I don't even have a weight distributing
hitch, which makes a HUGE difference in handling. When I bought my 4x4
Ram, part of the idea was to be able to haul cars in my enclosed trailer
(total weight there would be around 8,000lbs) and I didn't want to do
that with the Dak. However, I'm going to go all out - keeping my
eyes open for a 3500 (dually) Ram with a Cummins turbo diesel. What
that won't tow isn't worth towing... ;-)

-- 

-Jon-

.---- Jon Steiger ------ jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -----. | I'm the: AOPA, DoD, EAA, NMA, NRA, SPA, USUA. Rec & UL Pilot - SEL | | '70 Barracuda, '92 Ram 4x4, '96 Dakota, '96 Intruder 1400, '96 FireFly | `----------------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com ----'



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