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GraphiteDak
GenIII
 
4/12/2005
00:34:36
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 Subject: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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Last night I towed my friends travel trailer from a storage yard near payson down to Scottsdale.
Holy sheep sh*t that was one HEAVY a$ bitch!
I can tow THIS load just fine maintaining 70 to 80 MPH on the bigger hills when I want to.
I'm not sure how much a older 22 or so foot trailer weighs. It's got lots of REAL WOOD in it for furnishings and what not.
plus...
It was loaded to the hilt with his personall JUNK he's left in there for a few years.
Right there is TWO rolls of Cable TV wire.
That area loaded too.
yikes!
It didn't seem to sag the rear of my truck bad at all. We must have had the weight prett centered in the trailer.
Over big bumps I could feel that pig push my truck somewhat.
This was the first time I drove NO MORE than the speed limit. Even UNDER the limit many times :P
Lucky for us. No spare and no heavy jack. This tire seperated just 5 miles from my friends house. We made it to his house just fine WHEW!
The trailer has the full set up. bath/shower. Water tanks. Septic tanks. W.H. A/C on the roof. Furnace. Referidgerator. And like I said, heavy a$$ wood cabinets and all.
Not even counting the 1000+ Lbs of cargo he had stored in there, does anyone have an idea what the weight may have been here?
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GraphiteDak
GenIII
4/12/2005
00:40:19
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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Oh yeah (DUH!)
I forgot to mention.
On this BIG hill in the high altitude it slowed down and bogged down. Seemed that the clutch fan (back on for now) grabbed and dropped my power even more. It was like at one point the computer really retarded my timing. I let off a bit, hit it again and let it downshift into 1st where it reved up and 2nd gear seemed to pick me back up to 40 to 45 or so until it was not so steep.
Weird. I set the cruise between 55 and 60 most of the way and it stayed in OD just fine on the flat.
I had to take it out of OD and even used 2nd once downhill to keep from using the brakes.
The 4 wheel disk DID stop this b!tch pretty good when I needed it.
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DSW
Dodge Dakota
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4/12/2005
01:50:51
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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DAMN, looks to be 5K+ easy,,, especially if there's a big log jam in the holding tank LOL
Would have been worth $7 to stop by a truck stop and scale the thing.
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Keystone
Dodge Dakota
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4/12/2005
02:23:52
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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Great Post GraphiteDak...I have no idea the amount of weight you towed but its a great story with Pics. Our Daks are great little trucks and can handle almost anything I see now. Do you have the 4.7 or the 5.9? Also, you said you where in Scottsdale...do you live in the Phoenix Metro?
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Duh...
Dodge Dakota
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4/12/2005
02:47:14
|  RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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Read his signature.
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Figols
Dodge Dakota
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4/12/2005
09:43:20
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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The heaviest I've towed had to be either my old 71 Caddy Sedan De Ville which alone was 5300 lbs with the flat bed that weighs 1950 lbs or on the same trailer my buddys 98 3/4 ton ex cab long bed 4x4 chevy which weighs about the same as the caddy, but the center of gravity was obviously hogher. Power wise my '00 Dakota handled it pretty well.
The 4.7 lacks low end torque and the 45rfe tranny likes to stay in a higher gear so on steep hills I've found it best to down shift manually. In second gear with the RPMS up the 4.7 pulled strong and was able to accelerate. Down hills wasn't a problem because my truck has the whole trailer brake set up. Even with all of that weight I can stop the truck by just hitting the trailer brakes! The biggest problem is the Chasis. With those big vehicles it was tough to balance the weight on the 16' flat bed so my rear was pretty much bottomed out the whole way.
GraphiteDak, the "pig push" that you were experiencing while towing I was able to reduce by installing a set of Edlebrock EAS shocks. They also reduced the amount of rear axle hop over rough roads.
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Dan M
Dodge Dakota
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4/12/2005
11:53:54
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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Now find a toyota and nissan to try towing that and see what happens.
- Dan M
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daffydak
GenIII
4/12/2005
14:20:10
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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Dan M... I couldn't have said it any better ;-P
Dan
MOPAR=More Power!!
00 CC Sport Plus 4.7L 4X4 Auto, 3:55 LSD
Flowmaster orig. 40 series (2 chamber) muffler, adjusted tps to .76V, ported TB, home brew intake setup w/K&N filter, Superchips 3715 Tuner more mods to come!!!
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Kowalski
GenIII
4/12/2005
16:26:48
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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Older trailers were heavier - that looks late '60s, early 70's maybe ? I'd guess right around 5000 empty but I wouldn't be surprised if there was at least another ton of stuff in it for a minimum of maybe 7000, quite possibly more. I can tow 5000 with same gears as you no problem, there might be close to 2 tons of "treasures" in there, given how you say it pulled on the hill. You might have pulled 8000 or 9000 there.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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93Dakota
Dodge Dakota
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4/12/2005
19:17:47
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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I have a 29' travel trailer packed with stuff that weighs in access of 10000 lbs. My '93 dakota with 171,000 miles on it pulls it with no prob. The 4.10 gears in the rear help but this dakota just keeps on going.
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GraphiteDak
GenIII
4/13/2005
02:27:26
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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Keystone
I live in the WEST valley. I'm talking 130th ave!
My friend lives on about 80th street in Scottsdale!!! We towed from Payson to Scottsdale. Payson is in about 5000 ft altitude going up and down some BIG hills in between.
The trailer is somewhere along the lines of late 70's I am told.
The cabinets inside seem to be approx 1/2 inch dense wood!
The truck has the tow package including the extra leaf(s) for towing. It did not bounce much at all and didn't sag much. But when I would hit a bump doing 60 or so I could definitly FEEL it back there. Night and day from the 12 foot trailer of quads, or the 16 foot trailer of quads (shown at the Dunes above).
Oh. My 5-45RFE satys in OD fine on the flat. And when I go up hills it drops from OD and stays out even with half throttle all without touching the OD button. I don't know about some of you other guys, but this 5-45RFE puts the 46RE to SHAME!
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Jecht X
Dodge Dakota
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4/13/2005
14:54:53
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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WOW!!! is all I can say . I cant believe you was able to tow that big monster. it dwarfs your truck. but glad to see our trucks can handle that if the need rises. but dout I would ever tow something that big. I just got done towing a lil trailer moving a bed 200 miles and had to go up a moutain in VA. can safely say I never felt the trailer back there. never turned the od off untill I hit the moutain. and kept it at 65 all the way. I know its nothing you have towed graphite. the trailer looks like your trailer's lil brother . I did question how it would handle it but after I got done. I will never question my truck towing capiblity again. I do need to get a transmission cooler as I dont have the tow package.
with the tow package what all comes on a dak? besides a trans cooler.
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Kowalski
GenIII
4/13/2005
18:37:39
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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Tow package includes extra cooling/charging, receiver, and wiring to simplify addition of a brake controler. Some years it also included larger rear brakes. The extra leaf is actually a different package, not included with the tow package. That trailer is really not all that big for a Dak; I tow a 24' camper with no problem. Its mostly the stuff in it that brought the weight up; and the feel when hitting a bump was likely largely due to less than ideal load distibution. Unless there is more weight ahead of a trailer's axles than behind, you can get some pretty funky (even downright scary and dangerous) handling. A trailer thats loaded with more weight behind the axles can push your truck right off the road.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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HDtv
Dodge Dakota
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4/13/2005
21:53:04
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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Nice load but seems as your truck is modded engine wise also your truck is lifted right
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RadioMan
Dodge Dakota
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4/14/2005
13:00:26
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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One thing is for sure GraphiteDak, you never
should use OD (over drive) when pulling a trailor
that heavy. You're taxing the hell out of tranny
clutches.
I pull a 26' travel trailor twice a year to the
U.P. of MI (Gods country) at 70 to 80 MPH on I75
with no problems BUT no over drive. My 02 Dak also
has the tow package.
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deerridge
GenIII
4/15/2005
16:18:00
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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People always sell the Dakota short for towing and work. Set up right, it will do most things as well or better than any of the 1500 trucks. I personally think they're way underrated for towing. I pull over 6000# must of the time when I hookup, no sweat. If your going to pull long distance on a regular basis you should be in a 2500 or 3500 truck anyway, not a 1500 of any make or model.
Real Horsepower
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Kowalski
GenIII
4/15/2005
17:38:38
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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Radio man - how can this be stressing the clutches when I've found the same thing as Graphite says - that the tranny behind the 4.7 only actually shifts into OD in low load situations ? I believe many tow with the OD on with this combination with no trouble. Maybe you're thinking of the other transmissions ?
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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mccamp
Dodge Dakota
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4/15/2005
18:10:11
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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I have a lanscaping company and use mainly f350s but I also use my dak quad cab (4.7)when I have to. If I don't take off the overdrive it bogs down almost every time I start up from a stop sign with a full trailer load...with the OD off I dont notice a thing...I am pretty sure it makes a difference
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Kowalski
GenIII
4/15/2005
18:19:52
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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From what I've heard, what you are noticing is a difference in line pressure. It's been claimed that turning off OD for drag racing gives firmer shifts due to higher line pressure.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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GraphiteDak
GenIII
4/15/2005
22:18:37
| RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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Yeah. Running in OD is the way to go with the electronic controled 45-RFE
It will stay out of OD on it's own when needed.
I can pull slight inclines half throttle and it will stay out of OD. It does an excellent job at sensing load. At least the 2003 programming does.
Like I said. It puts the 46RE to shame. To absolute shame!
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Jim
Dodge Dakota
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4/15/2005
22:53:32
|  RE: My Dak towing. Met it's match????
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That was a stupid move.
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