Lets see those trucks you tow your sxs with

Here is how I take my Teryx to Treverton Pa when we camp in the wilderness. Sucks when I have a 32' gooseneck at home but no way to haul the T4.

http://m.flickr.com/photos/68602924@N03/11300311824/lightbox/

only Toyota I have ever owned, it's been flawless

Haven't towed anything with it yet, but here's my new F150 XLT I picked up the day before Thanksgiving.

Very nice!

My 2014 Black on Black RAM 1500 Hemi

Made a few improvements to my tow pig here lately.

The truck:



Yesterdays dyno numbers:



719HP and 1717TQ at the tires, turbo, intercooler, and exhaust manifold upgrade will get me over 800. Truck will be running mid to high 11's in the quarter this Spring, not bad for a 7400lbs truck with a tractor motor.  

My cousin in SC has a Dodge cummins he says is close to 1,000 hp. I always thought he was bs'ing, but after seeing your dyno sheet, maybe not.

With the right fueling, tuning, and twin turbo's these trucks can get well north of 4 digits with a stock bottom end, they tend not to live long though. 
I have a mildly built bottom end, balanced to 5000rpm that will live at 800hp for many years.

  

1700 ft lbs of torque - how does the tranny live?  Wow....

The transmission is far from stock, I had it built before the motor. It's good for 900rwhp

Hmmm.  I will go the opposite.  This was with a Triton Trailer.  I now use a 6 x 14 trailer.  Rzr also has lots more stuff. I get between 16 and 19 mpg going to Crumpler/Hilltop.  I also have a Jeep to pull with but it does not tow as well even though it has a lot more rating.

Becky's Grandma died and we got her truck.  She bought it new in 02.  It's only a v6, but I like the truck.  It only has 38k miles on it.  My Tacoma got sick and couldn't be cured, also the frame was rotting on it, so I traded it for a Subaru to drive to work and decided to keep this Dakota.  Not my favorite truck, but it does what I need it to do.  I like it.

Hump wrote:

Becky's Grandma died and we got her truck.  She bought it new in 02.  It's only a v6, but I like the truck.  It only has 38k miles on it.  My Tacoma got sick and couldn't be cured, also the frame was rotting on it, so I traded it for a Subaru to drive to work and decided to keep this Dakota.  Not my favorite truck, but it does what I need it to do.  I like it.

Personally I love those trucks, should have a 3.8 in it if I remember right. Years ago when I worked at a Dodge dealership I saw more than a few of those in excess of 200k miles. They are great little trucks when taken care of.

3.9 Magnum,  really nothing "Magnum" about 175 hp, but I guess for the time it wasn't to bad.  It does have the 3.92 gears so that keeps the load from hurting it to bad.  Yeah, I done my research before I decided to keep it.  Seen alot of them with 200k myself.

Heck the Rav4 I'm towing with is only 166hp.  It tows far better then the Jeep with 200 hp.  I'm not sure HP matters as much as the engineering that went into it.

Don't get me wrong my Dodge Truck with 3.92 gears and HEMI had far more power but at 10mpg towing also cost a lot more.

No pictures of my Ole '97 Dodge, but my toy that I pull with it cost 5X plus as much as it is worth     gotta have priorities right  

I'm with you Elmo...  Sink the money in the toy -- not the tow vehicle.

For me a big truck can't be daily driver.  I drive way too many miles and make way too little.

Randy R wrote:

I'm with you Elmo...  Sink the money in the toy -- not the tow vehicle.

For me a big truck can't be daily driver.  I drive way too many miles and make way too little.

I'm in the same boat as you and I agree.  I had that Tacoma and wore it out just driving it to work on dry pavement wearing out those nice expesive tires and making that big payment.  For what?  This Dakota just loses a little when it shifts as it's only a 4 speed auto.  Bigger rpm drop than these newer vehicles.  I have got 11 to 13 mpg towing my rhino with everything I've owned so far.  11 jeep wrangler, the 05 tacoma, and now this Dakota.  I never cut any of them any slack.  I'm that idiot out in the hammer lane with the trailer.  The dakota only sucks on the really long uphill pulls on the highway where there is a truck lane.  Princeton hill on I-77  I get 60 up it in 2nd gear.  No big deal.

If I had a need for a bigger more powerful truck, I would get one.

Randy R wrote:

I'm with you Elmo...  Sink the money in the toy -- not the tow vehicle.

For me a big truck can't be daily driver.  I drive way too many miles and make way too little.

My tow pig is my toy, well, one of them anyway.  

Trucks being geared higher is due to government regulations, just like all the power killing epa crap. An old inline 6 with a 3 speed trans hauled as big a load as modern v8's with 5 speed.

The Ford 300 straight 6 is still one of the most reliable engines ever made.  I've seen 10k lb tractors and huge trailers of farm products towed behind trucks with that engine.  That just blows the hp equation since most I saw were the 120 or less hp models...  Heck we used to take one to the cattle market and never had an issue whereas the similar truck with a 351 was constantly having issues.  I guess it's hard to break too much stuff with only 100 hp in a truck.

http://www.clubfte.com/users/fordflaresides/300.html

My uncle was hard core Ford and dad is a Chevy man, they used to haul or pull loads to out do each other. My uncle had the big six and dad had a Chevy with a big GMC motor he got somewhere. These were 196? models. I was amazed by the stuff they pulled, like what you are saying.
Dad still has the engine sitting in his garage because the man he sold the truck to wanted a smaller engine so dad swapped it.
It's over 300 cu. I told him I wanted it to put in something but he won't let it go.

Randy R wrote:

I'm with you Elmo...  Sink the money in the toy -- not the tow vehicle.

For me a big truck can't be daily driver.  I drive way too many miles and make way too little.

 

The tq from the 300 six Ford was great.  Reliability was amazing.  Seen them overheat to almost 300 deg, put a new thermostat in and drive another 100k with water in the oil.  Most were really noisy and kinda hard on fuel.  My Dad had a few of those trucks.  Later got one with a 302, it ran stronger empty, but put a load behind it and the straight six would make it look weak.  If I found a nice one tomarrow, I would buy it.  Every one I see has a very bad body now.  I had a 88 F-150 300 six with the old 4 speed.  It was my favorite truck to this day.

A 300 six would laugh at a 12' trailer with a little sxs on it.  Never know it was there.

I know I am way off topic here, sorry mods. I called my dad, which I do every day, he lives in Salem. The engine he has is a 302 ci inline 6. He has kept it because it is rare.
Dad ran 'shine in the the '50's in a 1940 Chevy coupe (similar to photo) with that engine, 4.11 gears and a 3 speed trans. It had been a dirt track car, had one seat and a roll cage. Dad drag raced the car after that. He sold the car but kept the engine to use in his truck.

Ford is number one!