On Wed, 2 Apr 2003, David Disney wrote:
> I'm thinking of retiring my old '79 F-250 (351M) and getting a '98
> Dodge Dakota with the 5.2L (318) engine. I need something a little
> more comfortable on long trips (with good A/C!).
>
> Has anyone towed with one of these (mid-size) trucks? My car weighs
> 1250 pounds and my current trailer is about 1800 pounds, though I'll
> be building a custom trailer in the future that should be under 1000.
>
> Basically, I'm looking at the Dodge because it is the only mid-size
> truck available with a V8 and I need something smaller I can get
> around town (parking garages) fairly easily.
I have a 98 Durango which is a similar vehicle... in stock trim with the
5.2L, the owners manual says towing capacity is about 6200 pounds - more
than enough. 7200 if you have the 5.9 R/T engine but that sucks gas
pretty badly... my Durango appears to have an aftermarket intake and
exhaust, so mine might pull a little more, but I wouldn't know.
One thing though - the Dakota might be a little better, but my Durango
gets at *very best*, 15mpg on straight highway driving. about 9 in town.
However it does have nice big side mirrors (if you get the tow package),
and it is pretty comfortable. You'll want to make sure that the one you
get also has the rear limited-slip diff and the upgraded transfer case
(now that i've figured it out, i like it - it has 2WD, 4-high, 4-low, and
an AWD mode as well).
As for manual or automatic, mine has the auto, but the Durangos *all* have
automatics. it seems to have a very good 1st gear for towing, although I
feel that 3rd and 4th are a bit too high - i always have to cancel the
overdrive to go 70-80mph over the Sunol grade, and that's *without*
towing. Then again, the Dakota will be lighter...
--------------------------
Scott M. Stone <sstone@foo3.com>
Cisco Certified Network Associate, Sun Solaris Certified Systems Administrator
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