Trailer Tow Packages for 91 Dakota?
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Trailer Tow Packages for 91 Dakota?
I was wondering which vehicles I could look for that have the same or very similar frame mounting points for a tow package.
I'd like to snag one off craigslist or anywhere I could find it for cheap if possible, I'd just like to know what trucks I could just swap straight over from. I looked online and brand new they are around 165$, hopefully I can find somebody hard up for some cash. :P
I'd like to snag one off craigslist or anywhere I could find it for cheap if possible, I'd just like to know what trucks I could just swap straight over from. I looked online and brand new they are around 165$, hopefully I can find somebody hard up for some cash. :P
Professional
Joined: Apr 2013
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From: San Francisco Bay Area
nice... you lucked out. I love ghetto rigs. I once owned a car that had every single wire replaced with brown lamp cord. Best part, it was two-prong lamp cord, but the PO had only used one side and just left bare ends on the other side. Hate.
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From: Eastside Tucson AZ
Depends on what you want to tow, doesn't it? If you're towing a little utility trailer, a motorcycle, a seadoo, or a small boat, the hitch ball hole in your rear bumper is strong enough.
If you have time to go scrounging the yards, you may find a used one--a wire brush, some black paint, and maybe some new bolts & you might get away with about $50 for the hitch. You'll need to wire up the lights--but that's not too bad a job.
If you don't have time or are flush, get the one off Ebay or Amazon. I put the Kurt (Curt?) brand on a Lumina for towing my m/c trailer. Worked just fine and was first rate.
I got lucky when I bought my Dakota--it came with the factory tow package. I moved the connectors out of the welded on box on the bottom of the hitch frame and to a new connector thru one of the license plate light up on the bumper. Out of harms way and looks factory.
One of the things I noticed towing even my small m/c trailer with the KLR on it was that the truck really, really tends to understeer so slowing down on curvy roads as necessary. (My truck is a 96 4wd, and I am a chicken!)
Brakes are just fine, and one tends to want to turn the overdrive off & gear down on the mountain grades. Btw, my truck has lots of miles, a 5.2, & the 3.55 gearset, and using the o/d on the flats, I got an honest 20 mpg on a 1500 mile (with mountains!) trip last fall.
If you have time to go scrounging the yards, you may find a used one--a wire brush, some black paint, and maybe some new bolts & you might get away with about $50 for the hitch. You'll need to wire up the lights--but that's not too bad a job.
If you don't have time or are flush, get the one off Ebay or Amazon. I put the Kurt (Curt?) brand on a Lumina for towing my m/c trailer. Worked just fine and was first rate.
I got lucky when I bought my Dakota--it came with the factory tow package. I moved the connectors out of the welded on box on the bottom of the hitch frame and to a new connector thru one of the license plate light up on the bumper. Out of harms way and looks factory.
One of the things I noticed towing even my small m/c trailer with the KLR on it was that the truck really, really tends to understeer so slowing down on curvy roads as necessary. (My truck is a 96 4wd, and I am a chicken!)
Brakes are just fine, and one tends to want to turn the overdrive off & gear down on the mountain grades. Btw, my truck has lots of miles, a 5.2, & the 3.55 gearset, and using the o/d on the flats, I got an honest 20 mpg on a 1500 mile (with mountains!) trip last fall.
i would recommend a junkyard or craigslist if you want to go on the cheap(they can pull them off for you also) like everyone else stated. i've pulled light trailers with a ball on my bumper and it was ok but i can turn the truck and trailer better with a hitch/reciever (and the tongue of the trailer doesnt sit as high.
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Depends on what you want to tow, doesn't it? If you're towing a little utility trailer, a motorcycle, a seadoo, or a small boat, the hitch ball hole in your rear bumper is strong enough.
If you have time to go scrounging the yards, you may find a used one--a wire brush, some black paint, and maybe some new bolts & you might get away with about $50 for the hitch. You'll need to wire up the lights--but that's not too bad a job.
If you don't have time or are flush, get the one off Ebay or Amazon. I put the Kurt (Curt?) brand on a Lumina for towing my m/c trailer. Worked just fine and was first rate.
I got lucky when I bought my Dakota--it came with the factory tow package. I moved the connectors out of the welded on box on the bottom of the hitch frame and to a new connector thru one of the license plate light up on the bumper. Out of harms way and looks factory.
One of the things I noticed towing even my small m/c trailer with the KLR on it was that the truck really, really tends to understeer so slowing down on curvy roads as necessary. (My truck is a 96 4wd, and I am a chicken!)
Brakes are just fine, and one tends to want to turn the overdrive off & gear down on the mountain grades. Btw, my truck has lots of miles, a 5.2, & the 3.55 gearset, and using the o/d on the flats, I got an honest 20 mpg on a 1500 mile (with mountains!) trip last fall.
If you have time to go scrounging the yards, you may find a used one--a wire brush, some black paint, and maybe some new bolts & you might get away with about $50 for the hitch. You'll need to wire up the lights--but that's not too bad a job.
If you don't have time or are flush, get the one off Ebay or Amazon. I put the Kurt (Curt?) brand on a Lumina for towing my m/c trailer. Worked just fine and was first rate.
I got lucky when I bought my Dakota--it came with the factory tow package. I moved the connectors out of the welded on box on the bottom of the hitch frame and to a new connector thru one of the license plate light up on the bumper. Out of harms way and looks factory.
One of the things I noticed towing even my small m/c trailer with the KLR on it was that the truck really, really tends to understeer so slowing down on curvy roads as necessary. (My truck is a 96 4wd, and I am a chicken!)
Brakes are just fine, and one tends to want to turn the overdrive off & gear down on the mountain grades. Btw, my truck has lots of miles, a 5.2, & the 3.55 gearset, and using the o/d on the flats, I got an honest 20 mpg on a 1500 mile (with mountains!) trip last fall.
I didn't check amazon, so I'll look there.. I know the local U-Haul will install one for ~200$ plus wire up the lights. As far as going to a junk yard, that may be an issue since there aren't anymore around locally, and the ones I checked online that were a little further away didn't have anything I could use.
If I can't pull one off any other vehicle, what year dakotas would I be able to get one off of? only 1st gen?
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From: San Francisco Bay Area
Again according to Amazon, Reese makes the same hitch for 1989-2004 model Dakotas, with the caveat that our Daks require drilling two holes.
Record Breaker
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it came off a 96 Dakota that just hit the yard... I also got the new 3 row copper/brass radiator from it too.... I hate aluminum/plastic ones (like stock)
IIRC they show the same hitch fitting 72-93 full size Dodge also fitting 87-96 Dakota
its not like the old days when the same hitch would fit any pickup...
from full size Jeep to international or Ford Chevy and our Dodges...
its a far cry from that now a days