Car Trailer/ Tow Vehicle

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Red63440

Red63440

Olddawg
Joined
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Location
Batavia, NY
It always seems that questions pop up about car trailers, open or enclosed and what it takes to tow them. It would be nice to have a thread where questions could be asked so you wouldn't get into trouble by making a purchase......

Here is an example......
2016 Durango with the V-6, limited model, listed 6200# tow weight. I would like to get a car trailer but I doubt if I could tow an enclosed car trailer hauling a 68 Barracuda. Pretty sure I could handle an open trailer but would prefer an aluminum trailer unless there are draw backs to aluminum trailers. I would appreciate feed back from those who own and tow or better yet those who may have a 3rd generation Durango.
 
Really it all depends on your needs. Like pulling a car to the body shop for paint or pulling it across the country.
Summer or winter use is another.
Using it in winter, enclosed is best, but they take a beating from the salt.

A proper car hauler,3/4 ton truck minumum. My 1/2 ton with the 65 on it to the body shop and into town for a safety. Thats it.
I dont dare go very far as the DOT frowns on car haulers behind anything less than a 3/4ton.
 
Red63440 said:
It always seems that questions pop up about car trailers, open or enclosed and what it takes to tow them. It would be nice to have a thread where questions could be asked so you wouldn't get into trouble by making a purchase......

Here is an example......
2016 Durango with the V-6, limited model, listed 6200# tow weight. I would like to get a car trailer but I doubt if I could tow an enclosed car trailer hauling a 68 Barracuda. Pretty sure I could handle an open trailer but would prefer an aluminum trailer unless there are draw backs to aluminum trailers. I would appreciate feed back from those who own and tow or better yet those who may have a 3rd generation Durango.
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I have an open trailer, my old tow vehicle was a 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 5.2 V8; I'm in the process of looking for another tow vehicle, quite possibly a Durango; it will be a v8, I want enough weight in the tow vehicle so the tail does not wag the dog......there are too many hills around here in my opinion to get away with a 6 banger unless it was diesel.
 
I have a 2010 Silverado with a 5.3 and 6L80 automatic.

I pull a 1750 lb trailer with a 3000 lb car on it, and the truck doesn’t even break a sweat.

I also have a 24’ enclosed with 8’ ceilings and cabinets, generator, air compressor, etc. My 1997 GMC Suburban with a 454 pulls it ok, but it’s not real happy about it. The enclosed trailer without car is around 3700 lbs IIRC. It’s over 7000 lbs fully loaded with car and gear. But it’s the wind drag of the tall trailer that makes it tough.

My buddies diesel even grunts a little pulling that pig. Lol
 
I have pulled just about anything and everything with my 1/2 ton Ram pickup, first a 2wd and now a 4wd. My open car hauler is a very heavy trailer, boiler plate deck and heavy duty frame, it was used to haul scizzor lifts before I bought it. I’ve never had a problem loading it with anything that my truck couldn’t pull. And, I pull my 29’ camper with it as well, no problem.
 
Just my opinion, but a Durango is too short of a vehicle to do any serious towing. The longer the wheelbase of a tow vehicle, the easier life is while towing.
 
JDMopar said:
Just my opinion, but a Durango is too short of a vehicle to do any serious towing. The longer the wheelbase of a tow vehicle, the easier life is while towing.
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Several years ago I towed a U Haul open trailer to Toronto and picked up a 1963 Dodge 440. It was an all day deal but all went well.. the trip was made using a first generation Durango with a 4.7 engine.
 
Just my $.02. I spent my entire work life in trucking, and have owned pickups and trailers for almost as long. I would not do any serious towing with anything less than a 3/4 ton. My truck is a 94 2500 TCD, and it will haul a 16' flatbed with just about anything that will fit on top of it. I've pulled 26' travel trailers easily. All done with authority. Weight and length of the tow vehicle will greatly enhance your towing experience. Will a half ton work? Well, yes, sort of. But it's just not a good idea. The time to figure out I-need-more-truck is not when you find out the hard way, that my truck isn't big enough. The tail-wagging-the-dog business mentioned above is a real deal.
 
Tooljunkie said:
Really it all depends on your needs. Like pulling a car to the body shop for paint or pulling it across the country.
Summer or winter use is another.
Using it in winter, enclosed is best, but they take a beating from the salt.

A proper car hauler,3/4 ton truck minumum. My 1/2 ton with the 65 on it to the body shop and into town for a safety. Thats it.
I dont dare go very far as the DOT frowns on car haulers behind anything less than a 3/4ton.
Click to expand...

I agree except that the original "White Whale," a 95? 1500 had "beefed" rear springs. It did fine, actually. In my opinion most modern trailer tow ratings are somewhat "imaginitive."
 
I tow my 68 Barracuda on a new light weight aluminum open trailer behind the slant six powered a833 od ‘83 D150.
I have towed local and cross country. I have a good brake controller and have changed the rear gear in the D150 from a 3:23 to a 3:73 and I have a front stabilizer bar on the D150 and air lift bags in the back. The slant in the D150 was reworked and is set up for low rpm torque.
On the highway I tend to run in the right lane around 65 mph. The aluminum trailer weighs 1100 lbs and is rated to carry 7000 lbs. If I had a steel trailer, my rig would be over matched.
 
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One HUGE problem with lighter / lesser tow vehicles is the "tail wagging the dog." Many especially older light trucks and cars had a long rear overhang (8' bed EG) and poor rear suspension. As you get a longer load with more weight "back there" you can get into a sort of swinging pendulum effect.......which can land you in a bad way.
 
I found that if I loaded the car (open trailer) too far back I wagged A LOT easier than if I loaded it more forward. Tongue weight saves. Long wheel base good. Electric brake too, must be biased to come on before the tow vehicles brakes do. No radio or distractions was a good idea, just the sounds of the road. 0.02.
 
clementine said:
I found that if I loaded the car (open trailer) too far back I wagged A LOT easier than if I loaded it more forward. Tongue weight saves. Long wheel base good. Electric brake too, must be biased to come on before the tow vehicles brakes do. No radio or distractions was a good idea, just the sounds of the road. 0.02.
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This is where load equalizer hitches shine. But there IS a limit to them.
 
This is why when I had the opportunity from my last job I bought a 14 Ram 3500 with a 6.7, crew cab dually, never have to worry about if it will or wont be enough to tow to anywhere it need to go. Plus I use it as my daily, and we take it on all our long trip when we go to my parents house up in Idaho.

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I use a 1980 Dodge b300 4x4 van with a 360.Converted from full time 4x4 to part time with free wheeling hubs.Plus it's my house when I get there! Lol every track around here is minimum 3hr drive

IMG_0258.JPG
 
halfafish said:
Just my $.02. I spent my entire work life in trucking, and have owned pickups and trailers for almost as long. I would not do any serious towing with anything less than a 3/4 ton. My truck is a 94 2500 TCD, and it will haul a 16' flatbed with just about anything that will fit on top of it. I've pulled 26' travel trailers easily. All done with authority. Weight and length of the tow vehicle will greatly enhance your towing experience. Will a half ton work? Well, yes, sort of. But it's just not a good idea. The time to figure out I-need-more-truck is not when you find out the hard way, that my truck isn't big enough. The tail-wagging-the-dog business mentioned above is a real deal.
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The problem with what you are all saying about the trailer waging the dog has to do with setting your tongue weight correctly. If you have to little tongue weight you will have a trailer that will “wag” the dog all day long. This problem has nothing to do with the ability of a vehicle being able to pull a trailer.
 
Too much tongue weight can also cause the rear of the truck to get dragged around, especially on bumps/dips in the road.

I've towed more than a dozen B body cars and a few full size trucks, almost all the way across the state with my Dakota R/T 5.9 and a car dolly.

Eliminates the tongue weight issue, but you can't back up.

I wouldn't want to tow one to California that way, though.
 
My wife drives a 2012 Durango with the 3.6L V6 and there is no way in hell I would try to pull a loaded car hauler with it. It is “peppy” enough to haul the family around the hills of Pennsylvania, but a 3000lb car on a trailer would kill it. The 1st or 2nd gen Durango-sure because they were a full frame SUV. The 3rd gen is just a big car.
 
Red63440 said:
The problem with what you are all saying about the trailer waging the dog has to do with setting your tongue weight correctly. If you have to little tongue weight you will have a trailer that will “wag” the dog all day long. This problem has nothing to do with the ability of a vehicle being able to pull a trailer.
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Well yeh. IT DOES have "everything" to do with "the ability."

As I said earlier, if the vehicle suspension is "too light" if there is a lot of rear overhang, and or you have a lot of weight "out back" and that is REGARDLESS of tongue weight, it WILL wag. It WILL be unsafe.
 
Well yeh. IT DOES have "everything" to do with "the ability."

As I said earlier, if the vehicle suspension is "too light" if there is a lot of rear overhang of the tow vehicle, and or you have a lot of weight "out back" on the trailer and that is REGARDLESS of tongue weight, it WILL wag. It WILL be unsafe
 
Red63440 said:
The problem with what you are all saying about the trailer waging the dog has to do with setting your tongue weight correctly. If you have to little tongue weight you will have a trailer that will “wag” the dog all day long. This problem has nothing to do with the ability of a vehicle being able to pull a trailer.
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I will agree with this to an extent. I was not specific enough in my previous comments, so let me edit for clarity. Too little or too much tongue weight will contribute to trailer sway, or "the tail wagging the dog". Stabilizer bars will help reduce this dramatically. I wasn't implying the ability of a vehicle to PULL a load. I was focused on the ability of the vehicle to CONTROL a load. If you have too much trailer weight in comparison to the tow vehicle weight, and to a certain extent the tow vehicle length, you can get into trouble on curves, when turning, and certainly when stopping. What you do with your truck and your trailer is your business, and we can agree to disagree if needed. As noted above, this us just my two cent's worth.
 
halfafish said:
I will agree with this to an extent. I was not specific enough in my previous comments, so let me edit for clarity. Too little or too much tongue weight will contribute to trailer sway, or "the tail wagging the dog". Stabilizer bars will help reduce this dramatically. I wasn't implying the ability of a vehicle to PULL a load. I was focused on the ability of the vehicle to CONTROL a load. If you have too much trailer weight in comparison to the tow vehicle weight, and to a certain extent the tow vehicle length, you can get into trouble on curves, when turning, and certainly when stopping. What you do with your truck and your trailer is your business, and we can agree to disagree if needed. As noted above, this us just my two cent's worth.
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I towed my 20 ft Haulmark enclosed trailer all over the place with my Dart in it towing with my 02 Durango 4.7, trailer tow pkg. , air bags and 3.91 rear went to Indy, Virginia, etc and it towed good of course my 08 H.Q.C.tows even better

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Ugh I need a tow rig... thought about putting a tow hitch on my Jeep but that thing is barely 3500 lbs with me in it and super short wheelbase compared to a pickup. I think it would have enough power to pull an open car hauler with my Duster on it but the first downhill sweeping turn I hit on the freeway might turn into a train wreck. The brakes on that thing are barely adequate for just the Jeep by itself.

I agree about the V-6 Durango not being a good choice, my mom's 2014 300C hauls a$$ with the V-6/8-speed combo but I can tell at highway speeds it's got significantly less torque than the 5.7 Hemi and would have a really hard time pulling 4000 lbs more weight from a heavier truck and trailer with a car on it. My dad is thinking about getting a Ram 1500, 3rd-gen Durango or newer Grand Cherokee because he wants a vehicle that can tow and no way I'll let him get a V-6 model lol.
 
dicksmidlac said:
I use a 1980 Dodge b300 4x4 van with a 360.Converted from full time 4x4 to part time with free wheeling hubs.Plus it's my house when I get there! Lol every track around here is minimum 3hr drive

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Hi had mine wagging once,Moved the car on the trailer ahead 6" and all was good.Marked the trailer where it sat for the future and never had another problem
 
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