2002 Dodge ram quad cab,4.7 auto and 3.55 gears.Trailer is open,16 ft weighs in at almost 1800#'s Total towing weight is right at 5400#'s. Tows great.

2007 2500 Dodge Ram Hemi...Open trailer, switchin to a 24' box trailer this yr. Gets about 11-13 mpg w/o trailer and 11 with.

2000 Dakota R/T.

IMO,
It is good to get others experience, but to put it all in context, a lot of info is needed:

- Engine size
- Truck weight
- Trailer and car weight
- Rear end gear ratio
- Road grade (incline) flat, hills, mountains
- Elevation (300 ft, or 9000 ft Rockys)
- Fuel mileage while towing
- Brake size, what do you think if a Hundai cuts you off and slams on the brakes, down hill...?

You might get away with a "small" truck on flat roads, at low speeds, with no traffic. But add some grade (up or down hill), weight, traffic, etc. and the bigger truck with better brakes (and better trailer brakes) pays off.

i use a 2004 Dakota extended cab 4.7 with a draw tight hitch from U-haul that has stabalizer bars on the hitch that lift the front of the trailer.open trailer weighs 1300lbs and car 4,000.i have been using dakota's to haul it sense 1994.my 2004 is an auto w/3.55's and the 94 was a 5.2 5spd stick w/3.91's

I tow a 20 ft open trailer with a 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 5.2 and 100K on the clock.

Haul a load of furniture to BelleFouche SD fro eastern ND and back again. Been all over ND and SD with the rigs. 318 3.55 gear. Most people over drive the rigs and forget that they have a load behind them and get themselves into trouble. Give yourself room and drive accordingly. No different pulling a 10000 lb load with a 6-6500 lb 3/4 ton than 6500 lb load with the 5000 lb 1/2 ton rated trucks. Or many cars towing Airstreams back in the day.
Just because the speed limit is 75 doesn't mean you have to drive that fast. I drive 55-60 and feel comfortable there.

Only advatage mine has over a 3/4 ton is the title. It works but I am shopping for a 3/4 ton diesel.

Does a Durango count as 1/2 ton - probably yes. Anyhow here's my experience:

Gen 1, 5.9 @5500#: good tow on hilly interstates
Gen 2, Hemi @ 5500#: easy tow on hilly interstates
Gen 2 Hemi @ 8500#: OK tow with straight hitch and surge brakes. Would be good tow with weight distributing hitch and electric brakes.

05 cummins 2500 2wd 4door long bed 6spd. 24ft enclosed. Truck has tons of power.

I tow with a 2007 Ram 4x4 quad cab and a 20' enclosed. It does alright but I need to get the hitch right. Before that I had a 2003 Ram 2 wheel drive quad cab and an open trailer, and before that truck I used the wifes 1995 GMC 4x4 with the small V-8,it was a little underpowered but still managed. All half ton trucks.

My kid tows with his 1500 hemi all the time.His open trailer pulls his 62 300.That car weighs in at about 4400 pounds.Never a problem and he has towed it sometimes 3 or 4 times a week.Rocky

I tow a 22' open trailer with my '07 Ram Quad Cab Hemi with 3.91 gears. It tows really good. My Mom tows her Duster and 18' trailer with an '04 4.7L Dakota extended cab. We just picked up a '99 Ram 2500 extended cab, long bed, deisel for her to use and for long trips.

Open ecno-trailer with a F150/4.6 liter. Combo is about 1000 lbs ligher than the limit for the truck (5500 lbs). On flat roads it is fine. In the mountains it struggles to maintain 55. Wish that I had gotten the 5.4. Nothing compares to my old Powerstroke. Didn't even know I had a trailer behind me (even an enclosed one). F150 is about 1000 lbs lighter than the diesel, but it still has very good brakes.

I tow with my 2004 Ram Quad Cab with Hemi. It has the highway gears(3:55?),but when in the Tow mode, it actually works out good on the highway--14.7 MPG (last time checked)on the highway while towing my 71 Challenger that probably weighs close to 4K pounds. NO problem at all!

Thanks for all the posts.

I was looking at a new F250 but I found a
2008 f150 4x4 supercab,5.4,3.73 limited slip with tow pkg for $24K.
It is rated for Gcwr of 14000#.
The 24ft. enclosed is 4300# car is 3400# truck is 5500# so I am at 13200# total without me.
I just do not feel like owning another 3/4 or 1 ton truck to drive to the track . I will only go 2 or 3 time a year to the track so It should be fine.

Thinking of selling the enclosed and get a new open trailer next.

24ft enclosed trailer. Probably around 8K. Towed for five years with my 95 1500 3.5 geared 5.9 gas 4x4. Had to pull a couple grades out here in 2nd gear at 25mph. Had three tranny coolers total on that truck to keep things livable. I would still see close to 300. Once you got on the flats and could achieve torque converter lock up it would drop to 180. Only time that truck towed "ok" was on a dead flat with no, or a tailwind.

Current rig is a 01 2500 3.5 geared 5.9 CTD 4x4. Chip/injectors/built trans by me. Those same grades I pulled at 25mph are now 55-60. Set the cruise at 65-70 and GO.

I towed my 20ft Haulmark with this 92 D150 318 S/B 2WD for a few years, I put in Summit shorty headers and went from 3.55s to 4.10s and it really woke it up and it towed great.I retired the 92 and towed with an 02 4.7 Durango with 3.92 rear for 6 years and it also towed good all over the place Indy, Virginia, Pittsburgh etc.

A few months ago I traded the Durango for this 08 Quad Cab 1500 Hemi 4x4 3.92 sure-grip rear. I`ve only towed with it once (brought my trailer back from my local track, very hilly trip) and it towed excellent.