First time tower - multiple questions
Good afternoon. I have read many posts regarding towing and am looking for some additional help. Sorry for the dissertation… First – context: Vehicle and weights: - 2015 Durango, Citadel, V8 Hemi...
Forum Discussion
Not apples to apples, but I towed a 23' enclosed cargo trailer a few thousand miles with a recently traded in '17 R/T with factory tow package. The trailer is ~2000lbs empty and I loaded it up with 3000+lbs of stuff many times. These were trips with the wife and 3 kids in the car, all cargo except some essentials in the trailer.
Power wise the Durango will pull a trailer in the 20-25ft range and ~5000ish pound ballpark no problem. Braking was confident with a P3 controller and brakes on both trailer axles. The biggest issue is really the suspension, the rear squats without much tongue weight at all. The load leveling shocks don't seem to do much after a few hundred pounds. I did not run a weight distribution hitch with the cargo trailer and the experience suffered because of it. One is definitely needed to get weight back on the steer axle. As our family grew and we started going up and up in the amount of **** to haul around, I definitely felt I was pushing the limits.
We were also originally planning a similar sized camper purchase, but ended up with a 37' bunkhouse so the Durango is gone and was replaced with a 1 ton truck. Based on my experience I do not agree with the folks on the Durango forums saying a 30'+/6500lbs+ camper is doable. However, if you keep the size of the camper reasonable (which seems you are) and run a properly set WD w/ sway control hitch I think you'll be fine and will have a fun experience with the family. There is a lot of good advice in this thread. Don't expect to be going 65mph+ and max the tire pressure out as others have suggested.
Power wise the Durango will pull a trailer in the 20-25ft range and ~5000ish pound ballpark no problem. Braking was confident with a P3 controller and brakes on both trailer axles. The biggest issue is really the suspension, the rear squats without much tongue weight at all. The load leveling shocks don't seem to do much after a few hundred pounds. I did not run a weight distribution hitch with the cargo trailer and the experience suffered because of it. One is definitely needed to get weight back on the steer axle. As our family grew and we started going up and up in the amount of **** to haul around, I definitely felt I was pushing the limits.
We were also originally planning a similar sized camper purchase, but ended up with a 37' bunkhouse so the Durango is gone and was replaced with a 1 ton truck. Based on my experience I do not agree with the folks on the Durango forums saying a 30'+/6500lbs+ camper is doable. However, if you keep the size of the camper reasonable (which seems you are) and run a properly set WD w/ sway control hitch I think you'll be fine and will have a fun experience with the family. There is a lot of good advice in this thread. Don't expect to be going 65mph+ and max the tire pressure out as others have suggested.
