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Comments
It sounds like the aerodynamics were affecting you far more than the weight.
Bookitty
I live in Colorado and pull some steep hills, some are quite long and a steady grade with sharp turns. I was very very pleased with the performance and had no problems at all. Sure, I was not in OD and also dropped into lower gears when I really hammered it. I caught and passed cars and never felt like the truck was training at all. As a matter of fact, my buddy in a diesel f250 could not keep up with me. ( yes I was proving a point to him as he said the 4.7 dakota he test drove did not have the power he wanted.)
On the freeway, it tows beautiful with no problems, on the flat sections, I will tickle the OD back on and cruise at 70-75 with ease at 22-2400 rpms. I never measured the mileage but I beleive it to be in the 13-15 range both times.
You are talking another 1000 lbs and alot more wind resistance. Maybe your dealer will let you test drive one and pull the trailer at speed? I think if I were to pull your load on a regular basis( more than 20 times a year) I would opt for a larger engine and 3.92 gears.
Hope that helps,
Brett
If you tow the trailer more than twice a year or in many mountains you would be better off with a diesel , there's no replacement for pure torque when pulling unless you like to listen to a screaming engine for your whole trip ( not a relaxing holiday , stress on your truck means stress on you.)
Here's my advice: Get something bigger than a Dakota for pulling your 25 foot, 5000 lb travel trailer.
Here's my reasons:
1. You've already experienced marginal power when pulling your trailer with a Jeep GC with the 4.7 which weighs about 4000 lbs (without passengers) and has an 11,000 lb GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating). Switching to a Dakota QC with a 4.7 which weighs more (about 4500 lbs without passengers) and has a lower 10,500 lb GCWR will result in a vehicle which is even more underpowered. Sure, the 3.92 axle on the Dakota will help a little bit, but not that much.
2. The actual scale-verified weight of my 2wd QC is 5020 lb with 2 adults, 2 pre-school kids, a fiberglass tonneau cover, and zero cargo in the bed. That means my maximum towing capacity is 10,500 - 5020 = 5,480 lbs according to Dodge. However, most of the travel trailer veterans on the RV discussion forums recommend using 80% - 90% of that figure as a maximum, so that would make the max recommended towing capacity of my Dakota to be somewhere between 4384 and 4932 lbs. The exact figure doesn't matter - I think 5000 lbs is too close to the limit for my comfort, so that is why I am in the process of selling my Dakota and replacing it with a 3/4 ton truck.
This is a great forum for getting advice from other Dakota QC owners, but for lots of great information and advice from travel trailer towing veterans, I recommend checking out the "Tow Vehicle" sections of the following RV discussion forums:
http://www.rv.net/forums/index.cfm/CFB/1.cfm
http://irv2.infopop.net/2/OpenTopic
Good luck in your tow vehicle quest!
Skyler
Everett, WA
I have also added some floormats by a company called FOX. They are molded, form fitting, heavy duty ABS plastic sheets with carpet attached to the "A" side. Some aggressive velcro holds them in place to the floor carpet and the door sill trim. They are also curved around the edges so they will contain spills, snow, mud, etc. I had to do some trimming to make sure they fit under my pedals when they were fully depressed, but other than that, they fit good. They don't move around at all once they "settle" and you quickly get use to the feel of them under your feet.
Mike
It handles MUCH better than the other goofy setup with the weight-distribution bars. Bonus... you can back it up with some degree of accuracy too.
Kit comes with fuel, ignition, and tranny controls, no intercooler, runs 6psi. It uses an Autorotor positive-displacement blower, which is a good unit.
Anyway, just FYI.
twj
I was just informed by my insurance company that my Quad was "totaled". Got caught in the middle of a 5 car interstate accident while returning from my family visit to N.J.
Incidently, my truck was the only vehicle that did not have the airbags deploy, after a solid hit in the rear, which drove me 30" into the car in front! Luckily there were no serious injuries (myself or other driver/passengers) considering we were traveling in the 65MPH range at the time.
I will miss the truck which I did enjoy for the past 32,000 miles I owned it. It was fun, reliable, and got 18.6 MPG (averaged over the total 32000 miles). The only problem I encountered was the front rotors which I was going to replace after returning on the trip. (sanding the pads only helped for about 600 miles or so). Dang, I just completed replacing the transmission filters & fluid just 1 week prior to the trip!
Although I really liked a lot of things about the Quad, I am not sure about my replacement vehicle seeing how I am not too hip on the following:
- Mexico manufacturing ( quality and consistency in manufacturing appears to have dropped);
- Elimination of the DANA axle (which I had in my 2000, and;
- I was never real fond of the transmission which did not have a true mechanical "lock up torque converter". This was not apparent until I had purchased the service manual.
Anyway, I will keep you posted once I make a decision. In fact, I may be offering up for sale a Bed mat and 2 Extang Tuff Tonneau covers (1 is still sealed in the box). Don't ask "why 2"- it's a 6 month long story which did not cost me for the extra one.
Ed
Thanks,
Tom.
Also, I saw a truck the other day that had some type of rocker panel gaurd on it. It almost looked like running boards but they were alot thinner and didn't stick out far enough. I think their purpose was to stop any debris that flys under the mudflaps from hitting the rocker panel area. I have asked the local truck accessory stores and also scanned the internet but couldn't find anything like it. Any ideas?
By the way. I live in North Dakota and got my truck last March, so I didn't get much of a chance to play in the snow last year. But we just got 9" in the last two days and I LOVE IT. I find myself running arrends for my wife just to go driving. :-)
Hell, I found half as much just by going to alldata.com and I don't have weeks of chrysler schooling behind me.
They absolutely should know what you are talking about or at the least get off their duffs and FIND OUT! My manager said ChryCO KNEW the stalling was a problem (it affected JGC also with the 4.7 engine) they and had quite a few persons INVOLVED in finding a fix. To be told "we don't know what you are talking about" is BS my friend.
Perhaps Ahahser can weigh in with the TSB number here and help you out, I'd be glad to but it was not on my invoice.
Hounding them is the only way as we seem to find over and over again. So here is the exact refrence that my service receipt showed. My PCM flash for the rough idle and almost stalling idle is holding true. Smooth idle and not a hint of a stall... and now the cooelr mornings are here, so far so good:
Note that bpeebles or bookitty can interpret the references and also beware of the consequences of a FLASH before you have it done:
CAUSE: FLASH MODULE
08194496 VEHICLE PERFORMANCE; COLD START
HESITATION - TSB 18-08-96
152 W40
1 4275086 LABEL - GENERAL INFORMATION
1 4669020 LABEL - AUTHORIZED SOFTWARE
FC: FM
PART # 4275086
and at the bottom:
26306 (CHK IDLE) FLASH MODULE 08194496 .5 TSB 18-01-01 FLASHED POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE.
Good Luck..
If you have a truck with the regular 4-speaker stereo, it's pretty easy to mount aftermarket tweets in that location, you just use a hole saw in the plastic and run the wires.
twj
Floormats: I went with the hard type from FOX weatherboots. I liked how they channeled all the water/snow out of my vehicle instead of collecting it inside (then I'd have to dump them) and letting it freeze on my floor like the Husky ones might; also keeping more moisture inside my truck. I also bought door sill guards because the FOX floor trays dump out onto them. At first I didn't like the fit, but I called the company and they had me speak to their molder who thought the Quad cab and regular Dakota front floors were the same. (Which I disagreed with) He recast the mold to make the Quad cab trays fit better and sent me a new one, no charge and let me keep the other one (I gave to a regular cab owner I knew). Great customer service I thought.
Here is their web page in case you are interested: http://www.dwinc.com/fox/
As I said before, if I wanted rough idle and stalls, I would put on a Carter AFB thermoquad and go from there!
Ever try to rebuild on of those? Ain't much fun I will tell you, I was never successful and ended up at a carb exchange for one that worked.
But that was years ago................
Ahahser comes thru again with his duly noted information......what would we do w/o him?
Also, I find myself shifting in and out of 4WD alot in the winter weather. Is this going to cause alot more wear and tear on my drivetrain? If so is it really that bad if I hit some dry pavement pulling into a parking space or something?
One last question. What makes it possible for
the full-time 4WD to be engaged all the time while the part-time binds if it is on dry pavement. It's a little late now, but should I have gone for that option and just said screw the gas mileage?
Any input would be appreciated.
All things considered, I'm glad i had it done.. and as mopar67 says, this high tech modern engine should not idle like something such as my old ford van with the inline 6-banger..
Boy those were the days weren't they?
P.S> were the secondaries VAC operated on your TQ?
Yes, it is hard on the tires and drivetrain to be in 4HI and turn sharp on pavement. Try not to do it. A savvy driver will also notice that turning sharp on a slippery surface in 4HI will cause severe understeer. (front end slides sideways)
SO.... do not turn sharp AT ALL while in 4HI.
It is NORMAL to be switching in and out of 4HI as road-conditions permit.
Do not forget that over about 40MPH... being in 4HI may actually increase the possibility of sliding off of the road.
Why does "Full time 4WD" allow you to turn sharp?
There is an open differential in the transfer case
that is actually sending power to ONLY ONE WHEEL.
AGAIN... FT4WD IS ACTUALLY ONE WHEEL DRIVE!!... if one wheel slips... you loose ALL forward traction with FT4WD.SURPRISE...FT4WD is actually WORSE than a REAL 4X4 system for traction It is a big waste of your money because is COSTS MORE up front and it wears the tires and drivetrain ALL OF THE TIME. The MPG is also lower with FT4WD.
Your REAL 4X4 system with LSD is a "TRUE 3 wheel drive" meaning that 3 wheels have to slip to loose traction.
To the best of my knowledge, unless there was a version on the late smog-laden motors that I'm not aware of, the TQ never had a vac secondary as such. How it worked (as did the earlier AVS model) is there was a spring tensioned air door on the secondaries that opened based on air flow velocity through the secondary venturies. The spring tesion was adjustable through a screw/locknut on the side to allow opening rates to match the engine. This allows the same carb to be used on any engine from a 273 all the way up to a 440 (or larger stroker motors). Very good design, much better than having to take apart canisters and swap springs several times like on Holleys. Additionaly, the phenolic body acted as an insulator, keeping the fuel cooler that an all metal body, reducing vapor lock.
I love my Quad and it does great, but you may want to look at a Supercrew with the 5.4. When they come out with the Ram Quad with the 5.7 in another year, that would be a great combo. Also, the 5-spd is not a good towing tranmission. Using it to tow that weight would destroy the tranny and would not be warrantied.
I was led to believe the following
AWD in the Dakota, has a split between front and rear axles at all times. I can't remember the exact ratio.
I followed this thinking and agree with the slightly increased tire wear theory because of it. When I read that FT4WD which I am taking as the AWD electronic system on the dakota is only driving one wheel, I became even more confused.
If you would rather not revisit the whole scanario here again, can u email me directly? craverbnc@netscape.net
I will say that I have the AWD electronic xfer case. and 3.92 gears and the 4.7.
have 18,000 miles on the original tires and have approx 1/2 tread or better left with 1 tire rotation to date, I average 18 mpg with mixed city, back country roads and highway driving at speeds 75-80 mph in colorado.
I just got back from a 900 mile r/t trip and averaged 21 mpg with pretty aggressive driving over 4 mountian passes and I enjoy passing vehicles of all types on the accent of these passes. Of course, then you have to come down, there in lies the gas mileage numbers.
Overall, I cant be more pleased with the milage numbers especially considering my driving style.
I respect your opinion on the working aspects of the dakota and would appreciate it if you could pass along your knowledge regarding the AWD system as it pertains to the dakota.
Brett
Bottom line, personally, I would avoid drop-in liners and the coice of spray-ins would be based on what you'd be hauling. Again both brands are good choices.
I have heard some spray on bed liner they sand down the surface of the bed...is this true?
that makes me little nervous if thats the case
My 2 cents worth - sounds like a leak around the manifold that goes away when the motor warms up and expands.
The quad's wheelbase and brakes were also given as a reason not to tow a heavy load. The quads wheel base is 131" which is the same as a Ford F-150 regular cab long bed. It is not that short. As far as the brakes on the truck, electric brakes are recommend for trailers over 2000 lbs and this is standard advice in most brochures regarding trailering. I would not buy a Dakota if I pulled a 6500# trailer frequently but would use a heavy duty 3/4 or 1 ton diesel pickup. The Dakota is fine for normal towing requirements up to its intended capacities whether it is with the auto or man. transmission.
Please ask the the Dakota maintenance forum for specific details.
Blue
If it sound like a huge roar and then goes away after the truck has run for while then I think it is the torque converter.
On the contrary, lockup in the 45RFE is not achieved until the transmission temperature reaches approximately 100 degreed F. (From the BOB)
The noise associated with this phenomena is the engine revving slightly higher. RPM will decrease upon engagement of the lockup clutch in the torque converter.