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lefthand
Dodge Dakota
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3/18/2004
12:35:08

Subject: Car-Dolly, Flat-Tow or Neither
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I recently (yesterday) bought an '04 2wd Dakota Club-Cab, SLT (if that even matters) w/ a 3.7 V-6 and auto transmission.

I bought this truck to replace my old 4wd 1-ton rig as it is MUCH better suited for DD duties. I also bought it with the intention of finding a beater 4wd for trail use only.

Well, I found a beater non-running 4wd Sami that is located in Murphy, NC. I'm in B'ham, AL that is about 4.5 hours away.

I never bought the Dakota w/ the intention of it being a tow-vehicle, so it does not have any heavy-duty cooling upgrades or the like. But this deal is too good to pass up.

My question is what would you do? With the Dakotas max-towing capacity of 5k (if I read it right) and the Sami's curb weight of a hair under 2k, would it be better to flat-tow it (cheapest), rent a car-dolly (cheaper) or rent a U-haul and roll the Sami inside to get it back to 'bama (expensive)?

I've done some searching and have found people have pulled heavier or longer loads w/ mixed results. I'm really scratching my head on this matter as I don't want to fry my new truck's tranny, but I'm also a little cash-strapped so the cheaper I can this beater rig back the better.

Thanks in advance for the replies,

Lance



xmr
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3/18/2004
17:01:45

RE: Car-Dolly, Flat-Tow or Neither
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I don't think that you will have any trouble towing the Sami with your truck. What I would do is borrow a 16 ft. trailer and pull it back or use the car dolly. You would run a lot less risk of damaging the Sami's drive line that way. The last time I tried flat towing I wound up with a jack-knife when attempting a sudden stop.

'98 cc auto /Home brew cold air with K&N,Dynomax, Superchip Tuner, 1.7 RR,, F&B tb. NAPA cap and rotor, 3923 plugs,relocated iat, 180 t'stat, Crankshaft sensor mod.

lefthand
Dodge Dakota
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3/18/2004
17:40:41

RE: Car-Dolly, Flat-Tow or Neither
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Thanks for the response. There is no worries about damaging the drive-line on the Sami as most of it is sitting in the back seat. :)

I think I'll get a Class III Hitch installed tomorrow and rent a car dolly from U-haul when I go to pick it up and just hope for the best. I don't really think I'll be taxing the Dakota's pay-load, I'm just nervous as the truck is brand-spanking-new.

Thanks again and if anyone else has some input it will be appreciated.

Lance



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