Dakota R/T p/u ....... I need a new toy/tow pig ?????

[Jeff "Yammer"]

............. anyone have one ? What there like ?? Any good websites like this for them ???

Jeff

[bulldogdaddy]

heard good and bad from guys on here.thought there was a few comments on them under tow vehicles.

[Boz]

When they first came out, Chrysler, I beleive, put out some sort of announcment regarding the towing capacities of these R/T's. There was negative feedback

[sho305]

From what I have drove and seen, I would avoid the 318 and 360 myself. They had some problem with the intake leaking oil that is not a huge deal, but they suck gas and are an old design. I liked the 4.7 much better, it is a great motor, and you can now get a HO kit from Chryco for a few hundred with a bigger intake, etc. I belive it is a MB motor. But, you have to afford a 2000 or newer to get it in the Dakota I think. If you don't care about mpg, the 360 is a good power motor and came in most R/Ts I believe. Even a 4.7 should pull any 20' boat easily. Must be around 5000 towing or more??

My brother has a '02 Dakota with a 360 and has had no problems. I had a 4.7 Durango, and it was a little weak off idle power, but good midrange and top end power; and better mpg than a 318. I liked it lots.:) Best sounding exhaust I heard in a while from inside the car on those Dodges. I put 30k (rental miles) on an '01 Durango in under a year and never had a problem hammering it. Leather seats were not the best on long trips, otherwise it was great. 15-21mpg, with a lead foot and equipment in the back. Ran out three tanks of gas in one day sometimes, and it would light the tires posi if you tried.

[LaserModVee]

For a website on the subject, go to www.moparchat.com and check out their forums. It's like Scream and Fly for Mopar fanatics, but even bigger than here.

The R/T has a tow rating of 2000 lbs. That's beyond weak. It is the same as the Jeep Wrangler. Pathetic.

Like said above, the 360 loves gas. My 1500 Ram has a 360 with a 3.55 gear. I make 9-11 mpg towing and 15-17 not towing. Not towing in the city I make 12-15 mpg. I went through the whole intake gasket leak thing. It's a pain in the ass, but not the end of the world.

I hope you have something else to drive in the winter, because you'll be hating life trying to drive that R/T around in this kind of snow we've had lately.

[sho305]

I wished the Durango had the full time 4wd system from the Grand Cherokee. Since it was a rental I just ran it in 4wd when needed, and did not bother to take it out when I hit a clear road area. I liked it the best, and it felt very stable on the road. Even caught some air with it a couple times, but it is not really made for that. The tin can Cherokee on the other hand, would go about anywhere!

I am sure you can pull more with the R/T, they are just playing "cover my butt."

[gaineso]

I've got a Y2K Durango with the 318. 78,000 miles on it. Lousy mileage, about 16 on the road with a load and cruise on 80. Warped the front rotors, but I think it was probably my fault from heavy braking and driving into some deep water with the rotors hot. No other problems.

It's company truck and a lease, and I like it enough I'm planning to buy it when the lease is up.

My boat and trailer is about 2,500 lbs, and barely know it's back there.

[sho305]

It would pass good for its size, I ran it up to 110 once; then I slowed down in case hidey-cop was around:) I would be hard pressed to buy something else. You might want to make sure it has the console light on the bottom of the dash, my second one did not and the console was a black hole at night then:confused:

[stvhelm]

My 2001 RT 5.9 durango was a lemon. daimler chrysler bought it back. POS

[sho305]

I heard that too, another reason to stay away from the R/T. My buddy had some problems with his 2500 360 Dodge truck too; they just yanked his expensive warranty he bought and even gave him part of the money back....so you see they can get out of it even then....they must have gotten tired of seeing it every 6 months for 4 years:) All the sudden they noticed the 4 year old plow brackets and said oooops! No, can't cover you anymore! It has under 40k on it now, and he only plowed 4 driveways a winter on his street. You could eat off any part of it. He was picky and had them fix a LOT of stuff.

I keep waiting.....waiting for people to be talking about how their new Toyota 1 ton is so great. Big trucks are the best sellers, one of the most profitable too, and they have not been so great in many areas. No quality.

[CompKing]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by LaserModVee
[B]The R/T has a tow rating of 2000 lbs. That's beyond weak. It is the same as the Jeep Wrangler. Pathetic.

The only reason they drop the tow rating on R/T's was for the tires.There a low profile speed rated tire and were woried about overheating the tire.

On the intakes leaking you can get a steel plenum gasket now that wont suck in.

The 4.7's arn't a bad motor but are a little week an torque.The new Durango will have the 5.7 Hemi as a option and are very strong:cool: :)

[Steve Zuckerman]

Jeff,
I had a '99 360 Durango that pulled my 6000 lb (4000 lb boat,
2000 lb trailer) Baja H2X up hills on I40 easily. I put 118,000 miles
on it before I had any issues at all. It hit me for a new computer,
and the trans was begining to slip.
Overall, I'd give the Durango an 8. The '04 will have the new 5.7
Hemi and a new trick body. Definitely worth waiting for.
Regards,
Steve;)

[outboards4life]

I have a 97 Ram SST. Same combo as all the RT's. I have added a couple of bolt on items to mine. k&n Filtercharger, mopar headers, mopar high perf computer. flowmaster exhaust. dropped the back half 2 inches. I absolutely love that truck. The only way I will get rid of it is if I could ever afford the new one coming out next year, the SRT-10 (viper powered Ram).
p.s. the bolt on items also boosted my mpg by a considerable margin. Next item might just be a supercharger. If its still not fast enough for me. Stroker crate motor with all the add ons. Bring on all you camarslows and 5.slow mustangs.:D :D Travis

[skydog]

380hp Tows like a Power stroke, bone stock 13.50 at 100mph!
Skydog

[Outlaw Too]

I've got a 02'quad cab with the 360 and it likes it gas. I changed out the exhaust with a 3" cat back system, put a Jet chip in and K&N total air filter system and gas went up by 4 miles a gallon to about 15+ and the speed and torque went way up to. I tow about 4000Lb's but a helper spring is recomended so it doesn't squat as much in the ass end.

[crazy horse]

My 1993 318 4X4 Dakoda will tow my Kubota all day without any strain at all :D. Stopping is the fun part, If your going to pull much weight you might think about trailer brakes. My tractor and trailer tip the scales at around 5000 lbs. I've owned the truck sence 93 and the brakes are my ONLY complaint :).

[Bob A]

Sam Baker borrowed his buddies Dakota RT 2 years ago to pull his Allison drag down to Florida for a race we attended. We had some transmission overheating issues both ways. It also really liked gas. My girlfriend Angie works for a dodge dealer here in Milwaukee and she said they don't recommend towing with this vehicle.

P.S. How's that STV coming? Looking forward to seeing it and you at the Rumble if not before. Later.