I have a 2014 Durango AWD RT that I love. It has the towing package and I'm in the market for a boat and wanted to get some real-world towing advice. I've seen the quoted 7300 towing and the video of it pulling a larger cabin cruiser by FCA: , but wanted to hear from you all. The boat in the video looks to be 6000 IMO... The boat is important, but I drive the Durango all year and am not swapping for a truck - sorry, just fits me, my garage, and lifestyle perfectly.

I'm looking at a 21' Laveycraft boat that's a little chunky at 4500 with the dual axle trailer. I will have some hills and obviously the boat ramp to deal with. Should I pass on it in favor of a lighter/smaller Checkmate (probably 3000-3500 with trailer)??

 

I see ratings listed right in the neighborhood of 7200-7300. I think a 4500 pound boat/trailer just wouldn't be a problem. If the trailer has electric brakes, I would most certainly hook 'em up.

 

 

I tow a 6000 lb 30' long travel trailer with my '15 durango RT. It has plenty of power and with a Tekonsha brake controller it stops fine. Wind is the bigger issue i encounter, and I live in an area with some really bad concrete freeways which tend to get any large trailer bouncing (Our Ram 2500 at work has the same problem on these freeways, so it's not the Durango).

For campers like mine the weight distributing/anti sway hitch make a big difference. Not sure if boaters use that kind of thing much.

The other thing to watch is tongue weight and your overall cargo capacity. If you have a Durango full of people and cargo then put on a big trailer, your tongue weight is probably pushing the max rating. I suspect I'm right there with my setup.

The 4500lb boat doesn't sound like it should be a problem but keep in mind if it's full of gas, coolers, etc that's all more weight and where the weight sits might affect things too.

 

Thanks and good reminder on the load hitches. I haven't seen many boaters use them, but frankly haven't seen many either way. Everything I've seen and read about them says they are fantastic and should be used so don't know why I couldn't.

Will def keep the tongue weight in mind...that might be a bigger issue than I had thought as we do pack 5 in there and would have luggage, etc.

 

Adding air bags to the rear springs would also help with towing that size of boat. Similar to wi-steve above, I used to have a 2011 Durango with the Hemi and I towed a 5900lb (dry) 30' travel trailer using a weight distribution hitch and Tekonsha P3 brake controller. Adding the airbags to the rear helped a great deal with the towing. And you also definitely want to use the trailer brakes. I previously had a "standard" brake controller, but switching to the P3 was a HUGE improvement. It's worth the extra money.

-Rod

 

In the 2014 RT I thought it had some type of leveling rear suspension but will check that and the upgraded controller - thanks!!

 

The RT has the Nivomat (sp?) rear struts, but so did my 2011 equipped with the towing package. They are not active load leveling per se, but pump themselves up from normal driving. That is not as effective when towing heavy loads as add-on air bags.

-Rod