V6 towing thoughts?
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I have an '11 Crew w/tow package and V6. I pull an 18.5 foot Ranger Reata (fiberglass hull) with 175 HP outboard. The trailer is a single axle Ranger Trail trailer. My estimated trailer, boat, engine weight (fuel and misc items included) comes it at around 3800#.
My tow experience is highway and city. I have to ascend a 2+ mile hill with a grade of 8% coming home. In all cases, the Crew pulls this boat/trailer nicely. I get up to highway speed effortlessly, pull boat out of water effortlessly, move with city traffic effortlessy, and keep up with highway speed (55MPH) ascending the hill on my way home (it uses a fair amount of the 290 horses under the hood, but not abusing/overtaxing the engine in any way).
I use a Reese ball with a 2 inch drop - vehicle is level when trailer is attached. My setup is perfect and ride quality is much better than I ever expected from this vehicle when towing.
Not that this is a fair comparison to pulling a 20' pontoon, I would suggest that the weight of the Durango is significant enough to prevent the pontoon from swaying and control becoming an issue. Do a practice run of towing before taking it on the long trip...
My tow experience is highway and city. I have to ascend a 2+ mile hill with a grade of 8% coming home. In all cases, the Crew pulls this boat/trailer nicely. I get up to highway speed effortlessly, pull boat out of water effortlessly, move with city traffic effortlessy, and keep up with highway speed (55MPH) ascending the hill on my way home (it uses a fair amount of the 290 horses under the hood, but not abusing/overtaxing the engine in any way).
I use a Reese ball with a 2 inch drop - vehicle is level when trailer is attached. My setup is perfect and ride quality is much better than I ever expected from this vehicle when towing.
Not that this is a fair comparison to pulling a 20' pontoon, I would suggest that the weight of the Durango is significant enough to prevent the pontoon from swaying and control becoming an issue. Do a practice run of towing before taking it on the long trip...
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Joined: Sep 2011
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From: Newtown, PA
I've towed my 21' Yamaha that sits on a dual axle trailer once so far, only about 30 miles round trip. Total package I estimate to be shy of 4,500 lbs a bit but relatively low wind resistance compared to a camper, box trailer or even a pontoon.
I got the V6 for the MPG - I only spend about 3% of my miles towing so I can have a bit of patience when towing in exchange for better mileage the other 97% of the time. Towing always adds to the safety concern but I am well within the 6200 lb. tow capacity and don't feel I am pushing a reasonable safety envelope in any way.
It was extremely stable when towing, my trailer has always been stable but I really barely noticed it was back there other than the additional pressure on the gas pedal. I felt that acceleration was plenty acceptable. Getting up to speed and merging onto the interstate was not a problem at all in my opinion and I was not pushing it hard. That said, I know I don't have the same expectations some people do - I live in a congested area and there is almost always some poky car or truck in the way anyway.
Don't even try to tow much of any load in overdrive, it will shift down everytime you touch the gas. Save your tranny and manually bump it down to 4th, this is true for any vehicle but particularly important with the high overall drive ratio of this and other new midsize SUVs. The tranny seemed to do a nice job recognizing the extra load and held gears longer than it normally would. With the route I took I couldn't tell for sure but I think the biggest downside might be shifting down into 3rd with much of any hill - even at 65mph. Not really a surprise given the 3.06 axle ratio. Fortunately 55-65mph in 3rd is still way below redline on this drivetrain so I'm not overly concerned about it, I just hope it won't be hunting between 3rd and 4th a lot. 1st gear is pretty low on this and I have AWD so absolutely no issue at the ramp.
One other observation is that noises from the hitch really carry through into the cabin. The clunks from the surge brake releasing and other rattles were more noticeable than with my old explorer. Another thing I can live with.
I really like that you can see the tranny and oil temps in the vehicle info displays. The backup camera is great for hooking up but I didn't find it useful when backing up with the trailer (couldn't see much other than the boat) - you can use the lines to tell if the trailer is straight behind you but that is about it.
Ball drop/rise is dependent on the rig you are towing. The receiver is the exact same height as on the 2002 explorer it replaced so I used the same setup.
I got the V6 for the MPG - I only spend about 3% of my miles towing so I can have a bit of patience when towing in exchange for better mileage the other 97% of the time. Towing always adds to the safety concern but I am well within the 6200 lb. tow capacity and don't feel I am pushing a reasonable safety envelope in any way.
It was extremely stable when towing, my trailer has always been stable but I really barely noticed it was back there other than the additional pressure on the gas pedal. I felt that acceleration was plenty acceptable. Getting up to speed and merging onto the interstate was not a problem at all in my opinion and I was not pushing it hard. That said, I know I don't have the same expectations some people do - I live in a congested area and there is almost always some poky car or truck in the way anyway.
Don't even try to tow much of any load in overdrive, it will shift down everytime you touch the gas. Save your tranny and manually bump it down to 4th, this is true for any vehicle but particularly important with the high overall drive ratio of this and other new midsize SUVs. The tranny seemed to do a nice job recognizing the extra load and held gears longer than it normally would. With the route I took I couldn't tell for sure but I think the biggest downside might be shifting down into 3rd with much of any hill - even at 65mph. Not really a surprise given the 3.06 axle ratio. Fortunately 55-65mph in 3rd is still way below redline on this drivetrain so I'm not overly concerned about it, I just hope it won't be hunting between 3rd and 4th a lot. 1st gear is pretty low on this and I have AWD so absolutely no issue at the ramp.
One other observation is that noises from the hitch really carry through into the cabin. The clunks from the surge brake releasing and other rattles were more noticeable than with my old explorer. Another thing I can live with.
I really like that you can see the tranny and oil temps in the vehicle info displays. The backup camera is great for hooking up but I didn't find it useful when backing up with the trailer (couldn't see much other than the boat) - you can use the lines to tell if the trailer is straight behind you but that is about it.
Ball drop/rise is dependent on the rig you are towing. The receiver is the exact same height as on the 2002 explorer it replaced so I used the same setup.
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I didn't take the big trip this weekend - I'm still trying to work out winter storage for the boat.
I did pull it out of the water and drove a few miles around town. No issues at the ramp - not even a slip on the ramp with the AWD. The 2" drop on the ball mount was just about right for the trailer I was pulling. I kept the vehicle in 3rd going around town up with speeds up to about 40mph. I didn't notice the engine straining - the real test will be in a few weeks when I hit the interstate.
Any ideas how the load leveling suspension works in these vehicles? I didn't hear a compressor or any other indicator that this feature was working when I connected the trailer.
I did pull it out of the water and drove a few miles around town. No issues at the ramp - not even a slip on the ramp with the AWD. The 2" drop on the ball mount was just about right for the trailer I was pulling. I kept the vehicle in 3rd going around town up with speeds up to about 40mph. I didn't notice the engine straining - the real test will be in a few weeks when I hit the interstate.
Any ideas how the load leveling suspension works in these vehicles? I didn't hear a compressor or any other indicator that this feature was working when I connected the trailer.
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Joined: Sep 2011
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I didn't take the big trip this weekend - I'm still trying to work out winter storage for the boat.
I did pull it out of the water and drove a few miles around town. No issues at the ramp - not even a slip on the ramp with the AWD. The 2" drop on the ball mount was just about right for the trailer I was pulling. I kept the vehicle in 3rd going around town up with speeds up to about 40mph. I didn't notice the engine straining - the real test will be in a few weeks when I hit the interstate.
Any ideas how the load leveling suspension works in these vehicles? I didn't hear a compressor or any other indicator that this feature was working when I connected the trailer.
I did pull it out of the water and drove a few miles around town. No issues at the ramp - not even a slip on the ramp with the AWD. The 2" drop on the ball mount was just about right for the trailer I was pulling. I kept the vehicle in 3rd going around town up with speeds up to about 40mph. I didn't notice the engine straining - the real test will be in a few weeks when I hit the interstate.
Any ideas how the load leveling suspension works in these vehicles? I didn't hear a compressor or any other indicator that this feature was working when I connected the trailer.
Furthermore, the tongue weight of your trailer is probably 150lbs (or so). About the same as having an adult in the back seat or when you fill up the gas tank. This weight should initially lower your suspension about 1/2".
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Joined: Jul 2011
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From: Lansing, MI
There is no compressor, see 3rd-gen-durango/load-leveling-suspension
Furthermore, the tongue weight of your trailer is probably 150lbs (or so). About the same as having an adult in the back seat or when you fill up the gas tank. This weight should initially lower your suspension about 1/2".
Furthermore, the tongue weight of your trailer is probably 150lbs (or so). About the same as having an adult in the back seat or when you fill up the gas tank. This weight should initially lower your suspension about 1/2".
Actually the max tongue weight is 500 lbs which is 10% of the max weight you could possibly pull.