Help choosing first RV
I'm in the market for my first RV, and I'm looking for a bunk house around 21'-22' (I'll be towing with a 2018 Durango R/T). I've narrowed it down to 2 models, and I need help choosing: * Winnebago...
Forum Discussion
dmatt wrote:shanksworthy wrote:dmatt wrote:
What gear ratio do you have on the Durango? Is it a factory tow package? That will make a big difference on how it goes. Years ago I towed a 18' 1600lb boat with a V-8 Durango and it really struggled on any hill. It was my first time towing anything and I didn't know anything about towing. All I knew was it had a good tow rating and was a V8 so it had to tow the boat alright! Well, I was seriously mistaken. Come to find out, it only had a 3:08 ratio geared for highway miles. After towing in the Sierras I Burned up the tyranny! Expensive lesson learned.
All 2015+ year V8 Durango models have a 3.09 ratio, regardless of tow package. However, that doesn’t sound like your problem, since that ratio should be fine for towing. You didn’t say which model you had, but without the factory tow package you were possibly missing other internal components necessary for towing, including HD cooling. Many people have been tricked by unscrupulous dealerships. OTOH the R/T model without tow package (which I have), is only missing a wiring harness and hitch receiver. Also I’ve read that earlier models had a tow mode that you had to manually enable, whereas newer models figure it out dynamically depending on load. I don’t know if that affects gear mappings, but I suspect that not enabling towing mode in a pre-2015 Durango would have been a problem.
I believe it was a 2000 and yup, no tow package. Dealer just told me to have a hitch added :M I didn't know any difference, had never towed anything prior to that. Oh well, sometimes you learn things the hard way!
Not your fault really. Dodge is notoriously stingy with information, and if the only authority on the subject is a car salesman, then you were kind of doomed anyway. There’s no way you could have known. I came very close to making the same mistake, buying a V8 that didn’t have the tow prep package at a local dealership after being assured that just installing a hitch would be sufficient to tow 7200 lb. Luckily the deal didn’t go through, which gave me more time to do more research on the Durango forums.
