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DaveZ
Dodge Dakota
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4/02/2003
08:12:45
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 Subject: Droopy rear - towing
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I have a 98 Dakota 4x4 5.2 w/a dealer tow pkg. Last year I towed a uhaul (heavy MF) 4 wheel car hauler with a 3600 lb car on it. The car was parked engine-foreward and the tongue weight caused the rearend of my truck to mash down pretty hard.
I would like opinions on spring-booster kits or whatever to increase my tongue carrying weight so this does not happen. I plan on purchasing a much lighter trailer but I'd guess that the tongue weight with my camaro on it would be similar.
Thanks for any advice.
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4wDakota
GenIII
 
4/02/2003
09:43:47
| RE: Droopy rear - towing
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You don't need to change anything on your truck. Go to the trailer shop and get them to put mounts for a load equalizer hitch.
This will load the front wheels of your truck more and also the trailer and balance everything out. I have towed a 7000# camper that would put the bumper of the truck on the ground because it had so much tongue weight. All campers come with these, they work great.
Corey
98 CC 4x4, 5.2 Auto 3.55LSD
3" Body Lift, 1" Torsion Bar Lift, 33" BFG A/T KO's
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Z28tt
Dodge Dakota
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4/02/2003
10:19:03
| RE: Droopy rear - towing
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Message:
I'll second that motion. I tow a 6000 lb car/trailer w/ my Durango R/T. The weight distributing hitch makes towing at super-legal speeds much more stable. :)
Andris
Z28tt-'89 IROC T56 DFI Twin Turbo
Wolf-'00 Durango R/T, mostly stock 15.6@86
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dakotaguy
Dodge Dakota
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4/02/2003
10:49:57
| RE: Droopy rear - towing
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Message:
solved the same problem with roadmaster-active suspension...
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MarkM
Dodge Dakota
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4/03/2003
16:13:20
|  RE: Droopy rear - towing
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Message:
A weight-distributing hitch by itself may not compensate for a heavy trailer.
I tow a travel trailer which weighs around 4900 lbs fully loaded. The axels on the trailer are a little further back than usual, which makes the tongue weight a little higher than a trailer of this weight would normally have. I've weighed the tongue at 890 lbs. I'm OK from a GVW stand point, but even with the weight distributing hitch, the rear of my '02 4x2 quad cab squats a good four inches. I previously towed the same trailer with a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer (Ford Exploder) which handled it very well.
I've had two really good RV/hitch shops in San Diego try setting up the hitch and this is the best we've been able to do. I'm now looking at my options for beefing up the rear of the truck without screwing up the non-towing ride quality.
Any suggestions?
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Z28tt
Dodge Dakota
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4/03/2003
17:48:25
| RE: Droopy rear - towing
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Suggestions for a temporary (only while towing) fix would be to install air bags on top of the leaf springs. You'd inflate them when towing, and deflate them for daily driving.
Andris
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MarkM
Dodge Dakota
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4/03/2003
20:50:01
| RE: Droopy rear - towing
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Message:
Thanks, Andris.
The air bag route is what I was originally thinking. One of the reputable RV shops I mentioned told me that air bags with a WD hitch setup is a no no. They said that many places will set you up with it, but using air bags will "snap the head off the hitch". I'm going to research this a little, 'cause I don't understand why airbags & WD would be a problem. Maybe the guy I talked to was saying that if you hook everything up and set the chains with no air in bags, and then put air in bags that you would be asking for trouble. I can see that being dangerous, but if you inflate the bags first, then hooked up, you should be good.
Sound about right? Or am I missing something?
Mark
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John W.
Dodge Dakota
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4/05/2003
08:56:42
| RE: Droopy rear - towing
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Message:
I have a used weight distributing hitch if you’re interested.
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Chris
Dodge Dakota
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4/05/2003
14:03:05
| RE: Droopy rear - towing
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Message:
Mark
IF you got your information from Rick's Rv in El Cajon Don't Lession to them. They have screwed up many Rigs. I have air bag on a tow rig and use them with weith distribution and it works great. You just use it to aid in the ride and breaking quality.
CHris
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MarkM
Dodge Dakota
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4/07/2003
10:10:37
| RE: Droopy rear - towing
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Message:
Chris,
Rick's RV was the first place to setup my Dakota to tow. They did an OK job overall, but I got the feeling they were winging it a bit when it came to configuring the hitch. Second up was County RV in Santee. They substantially improved the setup to where it is now, and I'm convinced that this is the best possible given the very soft rear of the (this) Dakota.
One of the guys at County RV gave me the no air bags with WD advice. I've heard from a number of people who do use air bags with WD, and no one has confirmed that this is a bad thing to do. I'm probably going to go this route.
Mark
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