dakota towing

has anyone ever tried towing a car and open trailer with a dakota?

Can’t say I have. But I’ve towed with two suburbans, Córdoba, 72 cutlass supreme, 1976 Dodge van, and three motorhomes.

I would hope it's a light car and you're not going far. Need to check your GVWs or you may end up making a DOT cop's day.

There is a guy at our local track that has someone tow his 2nd race car to the track maybe 2-3 times a yr with a 4 door Dakota. Open trailer, car prob weights 2800lbs and he drives around 130 mile round trip, guess it does alright....

I've towed my challenger with the Dak I had, quad cab 4.7 with 3.55 and towing pkg, WD hitch and brakes on the trailer. i did add heavier leafs on the back. It did fine, some inclines and steeep entrance ramps, you'd have to really give it some gas to get up to speed but it did well.

I have towed a ton with them, just make sure you don't get going too fast or tailgate anyone as the brakeing is going to take more time. Also a trailer with the weight balanced properly makes a hug difference when you are pushing the limits, car too far forward backwards or side to side can make for adverse handling, the tow rating is a safe limit that will acomadate some amount of improper load, if your really pushing the limits make sure it is centered good, strapped down good and tight and use trailer brakes if you can.

Towed many times with a 4.7 4x4 club cab dak. Did very well, better than any of the short 4x4 ramchargers I've had.

I have a 2000 Dodge Dakota 4WD and I pull my 1970 Dodge Charger on a trailer behind it (trailer + Charger weight about 4700Lbs). Like already stated, the 4.7 engine does not have alot of grunt and the gearbox computer is a little dumb when it comes to change down gears, specially going uphill. My Dakota has added airbags in the rear to keep the rear of the car from sagging.

The Dakota does get the job done, but there are better trucks out there. If I had the money Id buy a "new" diesel Toyota pickup with a manual gearbox...

/Tom

The biggest issue is stopping. Pa requires 4 wheel brakes on Trailer over 3000 pounds and brakes must be hooked into tow vehicles brake system to be legal.

I towed many miles with my '00 R/T. Good trailer brakes and brake controller are a must. I put rear air bags on, and that was a great improvement.

I also towed with an '06 AWD with the 4.7 HO. I was not impressed with the 4.7, but the truck handled it ok.

I sold a Dodge Stealth to a guy who came to pick it up with a 4.7 4 door Dak. I thought, "My Gawd, I hope he doesn't kill somebody." when he pulled out of the driveway. That was mainly because of his trailer. Like some have said the trailer and the brake system is the key. This guys trailer was a POS and he didn't have trailer brakes. His excuse, when I passed shade to him, was, "I'll go slow."
My experience with towing is get the biggest rig with good brakes that you can find but I have towed an E-body shell with parts stuffed inside with a 5.7 Tahoe with trailer brakes just fine. The key is to set anything your towing with up for success and not planning HOPE and CAUTION into the equation. Emergency situations will come into play so plan accordingly. You can tow with anything that can realistically pull the weight but can you stop in an emergency situation? Wheel base and track helps with towing, ride, and handling.
Stock, the 4.7 4 door can tow but don't rely on those stock brakes to do be up to the task. Don't just think about the tow rig, think about the equally important factors like trailer and brakes because the rig is only 1/2 of towing. If you do settle on the Dakota plan the purchasing of a light trailer and trailer brakes because what's behind the ball is the other 1/2. They should be factored into whether a Dakota is capable.

thanks for the replys.im really looking at 1500,s but there are so many good deals on dakota,s that i thought i would get some opinions.

I towed an awd stealth from Detroit to the Pitt area with 2wd 318 96 ram 1500... actually got 14mpg on that trip too. Also 2 more engines in the bed and a pile of parts. Probably in the 6k pound range with trailer. I wouldn't hesitate to tow with one if it's basically flat ground. Too hilly where I live not to have more power and reason I have a cummins now.

I live at 500ft and it's 3500ft the two ways out of town.... towing with a Dakota is a pipe dream in these parts.

Can you --sure, should you , not really but ..

I have often towed my ´66 Charger on an open trailer with my 4.7 2007 Dakota. Even across mountains. No problems.

Ragnar in Iceland.

I towed my cuda on an open trailer w/my 88 dakota for about 4 yrs. It had the v6 and had 3.91 gears. Did fine, until I hit a large hill. Then even semis passed me.

I towed for quite a few years with an 02 Durango 4.7 ,tow pkg ,with 3.92 rear and air bags. Trailer was a 20 ft Haulmark enclosed with my Dart, scooter, tools etc it towed fine went to Indy, Virginia, Pittsburgh etc all pretty long trips and it was good and comfortable. Of course my H.Q.C. tows even better!

I would think the area has a lot to do with it. With a light car you'd probably be OK.

In our area of western Pennsylvania, with all the mountains it would be tricky. It isn't the power, it's the stopping power of the trailer truck combo. In our area, a Dakota would be pretty light.

I wouldn't do it.

I wreck a 1968 hemi GTX on a borrow lightweight two axle trailer with no brakes towing it with a 1960 Ford 1/2 ton pickup after hitting a large dog, totaled the car and hurt the trailer pretty badly The dog got up into the front fenderwell and jerk the steering wheel out of my hands and ended up jack knifing the trailer and truck into the other lane, luckily no one got hurt
My message is you can't control all things, especially going to the races so be safe and make sure you have more than enough rig to haul the load safely
Murphy loves messing with drag racers and hot rodders, correct

The dog got up into the front fenderwell and jerk the steering wheel out of my hands and ended up jack knifing the trailer and truck into the other lane, luckily no one got hurt luck


And the dog?

I towed a 24' with my 3800# car to Norwalk 50 Miles a few times without trouble but I had good brakes on the trailer.I would only go 55 mph and leave plenty of stopping distance.

He died, it was a big Great Dain Saint Bernard mix that someone had dumped off out in the country. I saw it about 1/2 mile away, it was eating something dead in the middle of the road, I slowed way down, it was on a slight downhill so I stuck the tranny into 2nd gear when I got close to the dog. It went off to the right side of the road so I let off the brakes and that dang dog waited until I was less than 20 feet from it and it turned around and ran back in front of the truck, I turned the steering wheel a little to left hoping the dog would bounce off the right corner of the bumper and not get ran over, I had my wife and little daughter and the female driver of that race car in the truck with me. Things went horribly wrong after that , I can still remember seeing the car flipping over in the rear view mirror after it had broken the rear tie down chain on the rear axle (the driver had not put it into park or applied the emergency brake, that was the last time I trusted her to load the cars and to remember to do that ) and ran up onto the back of the pickup bed
God was looking after us that day, not the dog

I never hit a dog, but I had some close calls towing with a '99 Club Cab Dakota, 5.2 had plenty of power but brakes were sketchy. I had single axle brakes on the trailer and a Prodigy controller, still inadequate. There is no comparison to my current Ram 1/2 ton, but the Dakota did get 15mpg fully loaded.