I decided to see how well my '91 Dakota w/ a 318 and 149k miles would pull my 4300 pound travel trailer up the coast.I have had some gas mileage problems and a slight power loss, but wth, you never know till you try. I was origionally gonna use my '84 power wagon, but the Dakota is so much more comfortable. So off we go. My wife, puppy and me.
The first 66 miles used a HALF A TANK OF GAS!! I was running Chevron regular w/ Lucas fuel additive. [I swear by the stuff.] There were some long hills, but nothing too crazy. I was turning off the o.d. on hills and had my foot into it. Then all of a sudden we were pulling up a long hill, I looked at the exhaust in the mirror and saw faint little puffs of blue smoke, then it cleared up and that truck took off.Now we're cruizin'
After that the truck had little or no problem with power the rest of the trip.There were a few grades that had me down to 50 mph, but it pulled fine. I will say I decided not to turn off the od after a while because I noticed the truck already kicked it off on its own.So I just drove it and let it do what it wanted. The temp. stayed down, etc.
The day after we got to the campground and set up,we went for a drive without the trailer, We topped off the tank and as we drove all around I was astonished to see how many miles I was getting on that tank. I was at 163 miles at a half tank! I usually get 170 per tank, max! I guess the truck just needed a good workout because it ran great all the way back and used a lot less gas.
Heres some pics...

 

Cool. Sounds like a fun trip, and the Dakota treated you good.

How long is your trailer? I got a travel trailer too that I regularly tow with the Dakota, 25ft long and 4,900lbs.

 

nothin like a little truck doing a big trucks job... with ease
i've pulled a couple of cars with myne (most around 4k or so) and a 3000 lb camper up a windy mountain (first and second due to the fact that was so steep and such sharp turns) and it did it with ease. i thought i lost it the first time i pulled it.
the lil v6 ranger i had almost didn't make it up the mountain with that same load. 5 speed floored in first gear and 15 mph was all it could muster. and it beat me to death getting there to and with no ac.
it's really wierd having a reall truck

 

OP

One of the things to keep the truck out of OD is to keep the trannie from shifting in and out of it. Shifting is what puts wear on your trannie.

 

It's an '89 Wilderness Tahoe 19' trailer. We actually sold our '06 Ranier 26' trailer to my buddy.We wanted something smaller so we could use the Dakota, since the kids are all gone.

As far as overdrive goes, I was a little concerned about that, but it never bounced in / out of od. It shifted out of od and just started going, and didn't go back into od until it was ready. I was talking to my buddy [who bought the Ranier] and he said it should be ok if it doesn't seem to be searching for a gear. I am also one of those people that constantly check my guages, and the tach always stayed in one spot, not searching. Does that sound right or am I killing my Dakota?

 

as long as it's not hunting for a gear it's ok. i'd get a external trans cooler though if it were me. heat and shifting all the time are your enemies. keep it cool and in one gear and you should be fine as long as your not holding it to floor.

 

Sounds like you had fun towing, glad the Dak did it for you. . . but a cooler is a must. The trans fluid has to stay cool.

 

The transmission was rebuilt 7k miles ago, and the radiator cooler was bypassed and a cooler was installed. The shop told me it was the only way they would warranty it.

I did have it floored on a couple of hills. Is that bad?

 

as a rule i always stay less than 3/4 throttle if i can. pulling hard like that you may want to put in a fluid temp gauge. if the trans and converter are healthy then it should do just fine. it's just that high load makes things get really hot and if something is weak and slips a bit then you have an inferno going on with no way to know it unless you can see your trans temp. if we are talking 80mph floored in 3rd then i would say slow it to 55 or 60 and pull it into second. yes it spins alott faster but gives the drive train a mechanical advantage and lessens the stress on the eng and trans. the diffs on the other hand remain at the high load but usually they don't give much trouble. i would avise going to 4.10's if you're planning on towing hard like that alott. the extra gas is worth your truck living a longer life.