anybody tow with a dakota v8?

[haybaler]

with the crazy price of diesel I'm looking at a 2001 Dodge Dakota 4.7 V8. It would mostly be personal truck/ looking at jobs, but it would be nice if I needed it in a pinch to pull the mowers around. it has a tow hitch and I would add a brake controller.

[lawnmaniac883]

Aint gonna be any cheaper to run than a diesel.

[lawnman456]

that v8 will get no more than 12 mpg dodges suck down that gas

[THEGOLDPRO]

actually we pulled quite a few times with my brothers 2002 dakota v8 and it did great, no matter what we put behind it. We used to tow our trailor with 2 z-mowers on it and it did just fine.

[THEGOLDPRO]

http://www.msprotege.com/members/THEGOLDPRO/dakotatrailor.jpg

[mike lane lawn care]

i know a guy who pulled a firebird 3100 miles accross the country and then back with a dodge dakota V8, and he had no complaints. he said it pulled as good as a full size.

[haybaler]

thanks for the replies. I know the mpg isn't great, but I still think it will cost less to run overall.

[Tim03]

Dakota owners, how does your truck hold up reliability wise?

There is a slight chance that I will have to give up my current truck and rely on the Dakota as both work truck and main transportation. I would be looking at getting a new truck.

[rfed32]

never towed with one...but did see one townin an camaro on the tp and was keepin up with trafic for the most part

[PLM-1]

Again, i don't think it's a matter of power. More an issue of stopping power. I wouldn't pull too long of trailer because of the size of the truck.

[Budget]

Funny, i was just talking to my mechanic this morning and told him i was looking for second truck and he said the Dakota was good pick for a small truck and tows well.

[Andyinchville]

Gas costs less UNLESS you convert to SVO or part WVO or cut diesel with
"Black Magic" (filtered WMO).....The above achieves max reduction in fuel costs....as low as Free fuel.
Andrew

[Herrick]

had a dakota for a while... pulled just as good as any full size truck I've owned... most of the hauling I did with it back then was cars. Fuel milage wasn't any better than a full size though.

[THEGOLDPRO]

to be honest i believe the tranny is the weak link in the dakota, if i was to buy one for towing i would def get a tranny cooler, and if your trailor has brakes def get a brake controller as well.

Also on a side note we had to haul our deer tractor in a pinch with the dakota, thing weighs about 8k pounds and it pulled it without hesitation.

[Tim03]

The most I would be looking to tow is a 3500# trailer, a couple of walk behinds or maybe 1 36" wright or Gravely stander, not a whole lot of weight.

[THEGOLDPRO]

The most I would be looking to tow is a 3500# trailer, a couple of walk behinds or maybe 1 36" wright or Gravely stander, not a whole lot of weight.
then its the perfect truck for you.

[haybaler]

I'm buying it. I think the tranny cooler is a good idea.

[THEGOLDPRO]

cool man let us know how you like it.

[FearThisDeere]

I love my Dakota. I've towed a lot of smaller trailers with it and a few times I hauled my Scircco on a 21' car trailer to NH and back. It tows just as good as any full size truck. You just have to remember it is a little smaller. It was origionally my dad's and now has just over 117K miles on it. All that has been replaced were the ball joints (covered under warranty at 23K miles) and the front axle seals. Other than that it's just been regular maintenance. Not bad for a truck that's almost 5 years old!

[THEGOLDPRO]

i loved the dakota because it felt like a mustang, lol it just had really snappy power, and lots of it for a small truck. we did however have to replaced the tranny on our's at 30k when my truck went down one snow storm i plowed all night with the dakota, and she just gave up on me, lol other then that it was an awesome truck.

[FearThisDeere]

i loved the dakota because it felt like a mustang, lol it just had really snappy power, and lots of it for a small truck.

Yeah, it does have a lot of get up and go. It'll spin the tires pretty easy too.

[FearThisDeere]

Here's a pic of mine just because she's my baby and I love to show her off.:usflag: