No matter what you do to the rears, the fronts will still be less than stellar and there's no way I know of to improve them significantly. But if you can find some way to upgrade the rears AND change the proportioning for towing, you might be able to get the rears to do a lot more work...I know this is possible but it is beyond my experience.

You always need good trailer brakes and a controller of course.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by onemore94dak

Hmmm. I don't have a number in mind. One issue is that I rent equipment and in the last few years they have taken to insisting on a full size truck to tow it away or you have to pay for delivery. When I ask why they claim a Dakota cannot stop safely with the load on it. This is an outfit a few years earlier let me pull the same trailer with the same equipment on it with a Ram50 with a ball in the bumper that had no trailer light hookup ("pshaw no worries" he said to me) and also let me take a full size tractor with front end loader and backhoe with a 95 Pathfinder. In both cases there was no problem towing or stopping. In my opinion its a way to charge extra I think its like another $100 for the delivery/pickup. Anyway I wanted to be able to say I have the brakes of a full size truck.

IMO the issue is not the brakes in towing, heavy loads. When properly set up, the trailer brakes will handle that. The problem is being able to control the trailer you are towing. IE going around turns, crosswinds, etc.
For the company renting.... There is the legal and liability issues of letting a piece of equipment out, knowing the vehicle towing it, is not rated for the load.

I dont know where you live, but here in VA, the state police watch for vehicles towing..... If and when they pull you over, they look at the door plate to see what the GVWR is for your vehicle. They will not care that you have added a V8 engine, 11in brakes or anything else. What the door plate says is what the TOTAL vehicle capacity is, period.

Again, just my opinion, but if you are towing on a regular basis, I would look at a 3/4 or even a 1 ton truck. Yes, the 1/2 ton full size can tow it, but on regular useage it will not hold up nearly as well as the 3/4 - 1 ton truck.

 

Your brakes won't matter. It is the listed tow rating that is important. NOTHING you do to your truck will change that number. If you try and haul something that weighs more than what your truck is rated for, (from the factory) your insurance can refuse to cover you in the event of an accident. The rental place is covering their own legal keester, by NOT letting you tow something away, that your truck isn't rated for. The rental place I go for equipment started doing the same thing a few years back. For most of the equipment I get from them, a 3/4 ton truck is required....... (and with good reason, the stuff is heavy........ )

That said, the company can set their policy on what tows their equipment, no matter if it makes any sense or not. It may also be their insurance companies handing down the requirement as well...... as they insure their equipment as well..... and they would likely be pretty upset if I trashed one of their 40 thousand dollar chippers, because my truck couldn't stop it.

 

Thank You Ragged and Hey You. I did some looking and my GVWR* is 4590lb. According to this site http://whatiscurbweight.com/vehicle-...urb_weight.htm my curb weight is 3440lb which means I can only tow 1150lbs. That seems very very low. BTW I have a class 3 hitch 5000/500.

EDIT-
I had emailed WIldwood yesterday and just got the reply. Anyone know what 5 Star is? He confirms Toby's assertion about wheel size
"Hi..
Sorry pal,, You can't upgrade to a big brake conversion with small 15" wheels. The base disc conversion kits are made for 17" R/T wheels and even these require a small spacer.

18" and larger wheels with spokes angled outward for caliper clearance don't need a spacer.

I think the spindles might be the same as 98-03 Dakota 5.9 R/T unless you have a 6 banger and likely then they are different. Check with 5 star and see.

But again with 15" wheels your out of luck.

Also, the rear kit is based off the big R/T 9.25 rear end. We might have something for the 8.8 rear but you need bigger wheels again.

Nothing else out there for you..

You need to confirm the spindles are same, and rear end size, then buy a 99 -03 master cylinder, and bigger wheels to fit the bigger brakes inside of."

John

 

You actually want GCWR. (gross combined weight rating)

I show 5300 lbs for a 94 Dakota 4x4, 3.9, but, that requires 3.90 gear ratio. If you have 3.55's, it's more likely 4500 lbs.

 

I have the RWD AllPar rates the 1987 max payload at 2550 and max towing at 5500 with it increasing to 2600 and 7100 respectively by 1996. https://www.allpar.com/trucks/dakota-1987.html
Anyone know what 5 star is?
Thank You again.