tow vehicle suggestions

[momz]

We will soon be in the market to replace my husbands Santa Fe. We are interested in something that can tow a pop-up or ultra lite travel trailer. My husband has been looking at the Dodge Dakota line. Anyone with experience towing with one of these? We will need to get the 4-door quad cab, with a v-8 and a towing package.

 

[marybrat]

Can't help you with the Dodge trucks. We have a Ford F150 supercrew short bed. We love it! I believe the Dakota was DH's second choice. We went with the Ford because it was fire engine red and I fell in love with it.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

We will soon be in the market to replace my husbands Santa Fe. We are interested in something that can tow a pop-up or ultra lite travel trailer. My husband has been looking at the Dodge Dakota line. Anyone with experience towing with one of these? We will need to get the 4-door quad cab, with a v-8 and a towing package.

Sounds like you are on the right track. That truck should handle the a larger pop up or a hybrid type. Keep a close look on the tow rating on the truck and get the highest you can for that model. Wheelbase is always a factor so the crew cab size truck should serve you well.
Just my opinion FWIW

Scott

 

[clkelley]

I have a 2002 Explorer Sport Trac and we love it!! (4.0 6 cylinder Automatic)

With a transmission cooler it tows my new T@B at 1751 lbs like a dream.

The 2007 Sport Tracs are available in a V8.

 

[Wh33zY]

If you stay in the light trailer catagory, the Dakota with the 3.7L V6 will do. It will tow 4750 lbs. If you move up into the TT catagory, you will need the V8. Be sure to get the highest gear possible (3.92). It will tow as much as 7050lbs. We have a 04 Durango with the 4.7L Magnum V8, a 27' Salem TT and tow it with no problem.

 

[1derfultigger]

Whichever you get first, just realize the limits it puts on the other. If you go out and buy a tow vehicle first, be sure to get accurate limits on what it can tow and stay well within those limits when searching for a new trailer. If you choose your new trailer first, find out the GVWR (total allowable weight when fully loaded) of it and make sure you purchase a tow vehicle that can handle that weight plus the GVWR of the truck itself as well as the GCWR (the combined total allowable weight of both truck and trailer).

Do your own due diligence when it comes to finding out how much weight your truck can handle. A few years ago, I upgraded my old Dodge Ram 1500 to a new one with a hemi V8 engine. According to the dealer and the owner's manual, I boosted my allowable tow weight from 7300 lbs to 8600 lbs. However, when we recently checked into upgrading to a lite-weight 5th wheel, I found out that, because I have the 20" wheel and tire package on my truck, I have to subtract 1000 lbs from my tow weight rating. I didn't find this out easily, unfortunately. It was not mentioned in my owner's manual even though those tires/wheels are a popular option on my model truck. Even dodge's websites weren't clear on it. We even called dodge twice and got 2 different answers. You will find that you will get an almost different answer from everyone you ask - especially if you ask the RV dealers. I spent a lot of time on the phone and on the internet getting the correct ratings for my truck.

I would suggest, unless you are willing to settle for less, choose the trailer you want and then go out and get the tow vehicle that can easily handle it. When we were shopping for trailers, it seemed that most of the ones we liked the best were a bit too heavy for the tow vehicle I had at the time so we had to settle for something else as going out and buying a brand new truck, at the time, was just not an option. It's no fun pulling something that is right at your maximum allowable tow weight rating. I can tow about 7500 pounds but out ultra lite TT weighs about 6000 lbs fully loaded. It tows really well but I wouldn't want to take anything heavier very far unless I absolutely had to.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I was gonna suggest you find out what trailer you want, then figure out what size TV you will need and get the next size bigger. It seems RVers always are getting bigger trailers, seldom smaller, and much sooner than you might think.

 

[big kahuna1]

I sgree with Ftwildernesguy. Figure out what trailer you want and then buy a truck to fit the trailer and go bigger in case you upgrade the trailer in the future.

 

[1derfultigger]

We will soon be in the market to replace my husbands Santa Fe. We are interested in something that can tow a pop-up or ultra lite travel trailer. My husband has been looking at the Dodge Dakota line. Anyone with experience towing with one of these? We will need to get the 4-door quad cab, with a v-8 and a towing package.

I don't have a Dakota, I have the bigger Ram with V8 and towing package. From what I hear, though, the Dakota is a towing machine when configured properly. Just try not to overwhelm the size of the truck with too large of a trailer. Travel Trailers seem to get lighter every year. So, you could potentially find a 30 foot TT that fits within the weight requirements of the Dakota. But keep in mind the Dakota is considered a mid-sized truck and, depending on your speed and road conditions, you may find yourself feeling like the trailer is driving you vs. the other way around if you get a long one.

I hate to stereotype dealers because there are some that will help you "do the right thing". But keep in mind, the reality is that the car dealer wants to sell you a vehicle even if it means pushing the limits of what you want to do with it. And the RV dealer wants to sell you the biggest, most expensive RV he thinks you will buy. Especially now, with gas prices as they are - keeping many potential truck and RV buyers off the lots.

RV dealers have a master towing guide that is, apparently, lacking detail on many tow vehicles. I've shopped for RV's twice now with 2 different trucks, and both times the dealers would go look at this guide and come back to me with the maximum weight for my TV based on, apparently, optimum configurations. With my old truck, they quoted me more weight than I could actually tow and now the same thing again with my new one.

As I suggested before, do your own due diligence on the weights. And, keep in mind, that those "sporty looking" big tires and wheels look cool but, most likely, will cost you when it comes to what you can pull.

If I could justify it, I'd go out and buy a heavy duty truck with a diesel engine and I wouldn't have to worry about towing most anything out there. But, since we typically only go RV'ing a few times a year, having a truck like that just isn't practical.

good luck!

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Make sure that the TV is long enough to pull the trailer length you want.
I have a 27 ft TT that weighs 6400# loaded and ready to party.
Originally we had an Avalanche and a Suburban, 1/2 ton 5.3 engines and they towed it "okay" I now have a diesel crew cab 2500 HD. Power aside, the crew cab is longer wheelbase and much more stable than the other 2 trucks were. You want to avoid your trailer length overwhelming your tow vehicle length, think of it as the "tail wagging the dog"
I significantly overbought on my truck because I knew we would be upgrading trailers in a couple of years and I didnt want to have to buy a new truck.
I realize that the diesel is overkill for the trailer I have but its nice to pull the hills between MI and FL and do it with the cruise set and the truck still in 5th gear.

Scott

 

[hebbynan]

We will soon be in the market to replace my husbands Santa Fe. We are interested in something that can tow a pop-up or ultra lite travel trailer. My husband has been looking at the Dodge Dakota line. Anyone with experience towing with one of these? We will need to get the 4-door quad cab, with a v-8 and a towing package.

We have a 21' Jay Feather by Jayco. We pull it with a 04 quad cab Dakota v-8. It pulls like a dream. Before that we had a Damon camp-lite pop up and it pulled that with no effort at all. We usually get around 11-12 mpg when we pull the TT. Hope that helps!

 

[ftwildernessguy]

We have a 21' Jay Feather by Jayco. We pull it with a 04 quad cab Dakota v-8. It pulls like a dream. Before that we had a Damon camp-lite pop up and it pulled that with no effort at all. We usually get around 11-12 mpg when we pull the TT. Hope that helps!

Wow, this is weird. We had a Damon camplite pop up and replaced it with our Jayco Kiwi 21c.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

And we're from PA.

 

[hebbynan]

Wow, this is weird. We had a Damon camplite pop up and replaced it with our Jayco Kiwi 21c.

ooooooooooo, do you hear Twilight Zone music too?

We upsized to make room for our ever-growing boys! That pop-up got really tight....really quick!! Where abouts in PA are you? We're in Dallastown, York County. Might I ask you to let me know how you drive down? This is our first year driving and you probably know the best/quickest routes!

 

[ftwildernessguy]

We're from the Allentown area, so not too far away from you.

After many years towing to FW, I have come up with this route which works well for us. 78 to 81 to Harrisburg. Pick up 15 south to Frederick, MD. Take 270 to the western loop of the DC beltway (495). 95 south past I-4 to the Bee Line, which someone has told me has been changed to the Beach Line (?) which is a toll road that will take you to WDW and you miss the Orlando traffic nightmare. If you time things right, you can avoid the bypasses around Richmond and Jacksonville which will save some time and miles. We leave about 11pm on a Wednesday and drive to Savannah, GA the first day. It is a brutal drive, but puts you within a few hours of FW for the day two drive.

 

[hebbynan]

We're from the Allentown area, so not too far away from you.

After many years towing to FW, I have come up with this route which works well for us. 78 to 81 to Harrisburg. Pick up 15 south to Frederick, MD. Take 270 to the western loop of the DC beltway (495). 95 south past I-4 to the Bee Line, which someone has told me has been changed to the Beach Line (?) which is a toll road that will take you to WDW and you miss the Orlando traffic nightmare. If you time things right, you can avoid the bypasses around Richmond and Jacksonville which will save some time and miles. We leave about 11pm on a Wednesday and drive to Savannah, GA the first day. It is a brutal drive, but puts you within a few hours of FW for the day two drive.

Thanks!!! I'm going to print off your directions and give them to DH. We had the directions from AAA, but yours seem to be a little better. Thanks again!!

 

[seabee]

We are heading down in Oct., from Maine, for the first time with the trailer. We were thinking of taking 84-81-64-95. I was thinking we would avoid the heavier traffic. Can you tell me anything about this route? Should I look at going a different way? I'm towing a 32' toyhauler, I don't know if hills will be an issue with that route.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I am no fan of 81 so I spend a minimum amount of time on it. I basically am on 81 from where it merges with 78 east of Harrisburg to Harrisburg where I hook up with 15. 81 has a large number of spectacular accidents due to aggressive drivers especially in the Harrisburg area. There are also alot of hills on this route. Just an aside - about a year ago one of my soldiers was run off the road by an aggressive driver while she was driving the chase vehicle in a small convoy. Her humvee rolled several times and ended up upside down in a ditch full of water. The other driver stopped briefly, saw the wrecked vehicle, and took off not knowing if she was alive or dead. Fortuneately, some witnesses were able to flag down the convoy quickly. Two of my other drivers were able to stabilize her vehicle and keep her out of the water, saving her life. She was very seriously injured. I know accidents can happen anywhere, but for those of us familiar with this section of 81, this type of accident happens frequently.

 

[JCJRSmith]

I am no fan of 81 so I spend a minimum amount of time on it. I basically am on 81 from where it merges with 78 east of Harrisburg to Harrisburg where I hook up with 15. 81 has a large number of spectacular accidents due to aggressive drivers especially in the Harrisburg area. There are also alot of hills on this route.

What he said. I live in Mechanicsburg (former Kiwi owner - you can see it on my web site in my sig). 81 from the east side of Harrisburg to the west side of Carlisle can be a nightmare - aggressive drivers and LOTS of trucks.

We do the 15-270-495-95 route as well going south. Hebbynan, being from Dallastown, I would bet AAA has you doing 83 to 695 around Baltimore to 95 south. Save yourself some headache and take 30 over to 15 and follow that route. You avoid the BW corridor and all that traffic, although there is still a LOT of traffic south of DC all the way to Richmond. We just drove that route to Williamsburg and back and from just south of DC to somewhere between Fredricksburg and Richmond it was a crawl.

On our trip next year we are considering 81 to 77 to 26 to 95. It works out mileage-wise for us to about 35 miles more and avoids the DC area all together.