I had the transmission overhauled on my 2005 Dakota and she's running beautifully now. But, I must make a journey back down to Detroit to pick up my beloved Ramcharger. I've gotten opinions from several friends and family members about how to accomplish this with my Dakota. Everybody seems certain the Kota will tow it just fine. The Ramcharger is a 2WD lowrider. It weighs close to 6,000 lbs. It currently does not run, hence why it must be towed. My Dakota does not have a trailer hitch, but I'm buying one from etrailer. Beyond that, I'm picking your brains to see what you may think what else I'll need to tow my old girl back home. It's a 4 hour drive from my home in northern Michigan to Detroit. I want both my Dakota and my RC to make it home safely. I'll be renting a car dolly from U Haul and taking a Come Along with me. What else? Will the Dakota handle that Ramcharger's weight? It's got the 3.7 and has a tow/haul mode, automatic transmission. Open to all ideas.

 

If the Ramcharger is pushing 6K pounds, putting it on a trailer is highly likely to go over the towing capacity of your Dak. May be better to rent a truck to pull it, and be assured of having equipment that is up to the task. (around her, u-haul rents trucks, and car trailers, if you need one.)

 

You're thousands of pounds overweight running the V6 and don't forget to add the weight of the trailer.
That's pushing it for my Dak and I've got the 4.7 H.O. motor with load adjusting rear shocks on a 4x2 and a performance disk brake and caliper system from rockauto.

Plus it sounds like you'd be running up I-75 which is stop and go often and horrible to be overdoing a load run with at the big exchanges (I-96, I-69). If you can't stop because some idiot cuts off traffic and you smash up your trucks you're insurance won't cover it. For my job I drive around Michigan all over below the bridge about 30k miles a year, no matter what you do I'd recommend leaving Detroit around 930 on a Sunday morning but check for big events to get the best traffic.

Check out this thread:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...7l-v8-mag.html

Smallest truck I'd make that run with is a Diesel Colorado/Canyon.

Check rental prices at Enterprise/U-Haul.
Consider bidding out the work on uship.com, by the time you factor everything in (your time, gas, etc.) this might be your best value.

 

Appreciate the replies. I agree with not using the Dakota. I drive 18 wheelers myself all over Michigan so I couldn't believe it when my brothers and my old man swore the Dakota could tow my RC. My mind went straight to the traffic and the stop and go. During my move from Detroit to my new area, it wasn't so bad with the traffic. Made it from Detroit to Mio in record time. But here comes spring and our other favorite season: Construction! I was already thinking getting a U Haul and car dolly so that's the route I'm taking for sure. I'll use the Kota to tow my dune buggy instead. 😃 Thanks guys. You confirmed my feelings about this.

 

Be sure and vote "Kota" in the name poll.....lol

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...k-or-kota.html

 

Thanks for the rest of the story! We often never know what happens after our advice is given. Figured we'd be hoping not to read about you on mlive!

Even construction isn't too much of an issue north of Saginaw but get it done before mid-May because up there that is tourist season Memorial day to Labor day the camper brigade seems endless between Tawas and Oscoda always seems the worst for some reason.

Speaking of Oscoda I'm not sure if you're familiar with the area or not? If you find yourself in Oscoda during a fair weather day stop at Rob's Mancino's for a smoked Brisket! It's believe it or not the best BBQ I've had in the state and it's at a Citgo gas station! I say fair weather day as if it's raining he's not able to run the smoker so then the food is just good but not awesome. It's just south of Kmart (assuming it's not closed). You can get the sandwich if you're on the go but the bread isn't special. Rob used to own the AuSable Inn restaurant but sold it a couple years ago and now that restaurant isn't much good. I don't know Rob, my favorite hotel receptionist gave me this 411.

FYI I drive around 14 less wheels. I'm an infrastructure engineer and I try to keep the internet online.

Enjoy driving your DAK around the new home base!

 

Another much over looked thing is the brakes on your Dakota or any other vehicle for that matter when used to tow other heavy things. One must be able to stop in a timely fashion and an additional 6K makes it difficult to do!! Best of luck from a '77 Trailduster owner!!

 

@Elite and Cheerios
I'm not too familiar with the area yet, but I'm learning fast. My family is from the U.P. and Roscommon areas. Spent most of my childhood between the two. Never ventured out to the Mio-Lewiston area but it's certainly a wonderful place to live. I'll never go back to city life now. I love what's going on in Detroit and the comeback the city is finally seeing and I'll always have a place in my heart for that city, but I'll never advise anybody to live there. 😂 Heading down there today for Easter and to finally pick up my beloved Ramcharger. Rented a truck and trailer over at 7 and Van Dyke and I'm bringing two comealongs as well. If the truck started, I wouldn't need em but I don't have time to put a new starter in. But who knows, I may be quitting my job at FedEx and give myself more time for the finer things in life. Like my wife and kids and the Ramcharger. I've come to the realization I don't need to make a butt load of money to live here, not like I did in the D. I paid cash for our new house so I don't have a mortgage to worry about and my car insurance dropped significantly. 👍 I'll let you know how the trip goes today. I'll definitely be checking out Rob's though. I've seen the signs around here for the BBQ so I'll definitely be checking it out! Seems all the best food around here IS in the gas stations. We were freaking out because there's no Detroit style pizza up here, but the gas station in Lewiston makes a damn good hand tossed pizza. Best hand tossed I've had. It's far above Hungry Howie's or Domino's. It's no Detroit style, but it does the job. Fingers crossed everything goes smooth today! Definitely didn't want to add 6,000 lbs to my Dakota so I'm glad I posted here to get some advice, Cheerios Kid. Good to know there's people who feel like I do about excess weight on a little truck. My dad and my brothers felt sheepish when I mentioned to them everything you guys have said and I delighted in telling them "told ya so". Thanks guys for all the advice, Ideas and opinions! 😎

 

Well fellas, I got my Ramcharger up north. U Haul gave me a major run around and wanted to slap on an additional $308 after I'd paid online and went to Detroit to pick up the equipment. So I demanded my money back, signed my wife up for AAA and used her account to have it towed to our new house up north for only $200 (the cost to join AAA plus paying for the extra tow miles). The old girl is home now and getting ready to be torn apart and fixed up. Cheers!

 

I loved my AAA+ when I had it. Getting towed home from where my radiator blew up west of cleveland was awesome. (98 miles. )