How is a 1998-2003ish Durango at towing?

aczlan · Mar 20, 2009

Looking at getting a Durango to replace the wife's Dodge 1500 (regular cab, long bed), we need something that is a little bit more of a family car, does anyone have a 1998-2003 (or whenever they switched to the new body style) Durango with a V6 or a 318 in it? if so, what kind of mileage do you get with it? how well has it held up?

Thanks

Aaron Z

RadarTech · Mar 20, 2009

Towing with a Durango..

I have a 99 4x4 with the 5.2L V8 (318 right?)
And well I have to say I got less than 10 MPG.. I have 27 ft tagalong, about 4500 lbs plus 2 teenagers and 2 adults, and loaded..
So I figure we were about 6000 lbs for trailer and all contents..

Towed from Spartanburg, SC to Myrtle Beach.
It pulled ok. but didn't do as well as the V6 Explorer I used to have..

Anyway, as a towing vehicle it is not the best but can do ok.

Later,
J

aczlan · Mar 20, 2009

RadarTech said:
Towing with a Durango..

I have a 99 4x4 with the 5.2L V8 (318 right?)
And well I have to say I got less than 10 MPG.. I have 27 ft tagalong, about 4500 lbs plus 2 teenagers and 2 adults, and loaded..
So I figure we were about 6000 lbs for trailer and all contents..

Towed from Spartanburg, SC to Myrtle Beach.
It pulled ok. but didn't do as well as the V6 Explorer I used to have..
Anyway, as a towing vehicle it is not the best but can do ok.

Yes, (as I understand it) the 318 is the 5.2 V8. What kind of mileage do you get normally?
Her current truck (the 1500 with the 5.2) gets ~10 mpg around town (about the only place it goes), we are looking to get somewhat better mileage and she still wants something tall (or at least taller than my Volvo 940) and it has to be a Dodge...

Aaron Z

RadarTech · Mar 20, 2009

I get around 12 - 13 on average...

If you want better mileage, stay away from the Durango..
I am going to a Tacoma real soon myself.

Good luck!
J

Skyco · Mar 21, 2009

I had a 2000 Durango with a small V-8, don't remember exactly what size. It was a company vehicle, put about 150,000 miles on it. Only averaged around 15-16 mpg overall in it, mostly highway. Towed very little with it, but it did have pretty good power, just the crappy fuel mileage.

ScottAR · Mar 21, 2009

Go for the models with the 4.7. It's more expensive to repair but the mileage is far better
than the 5.2 or the 5.9 engines... A friend at work has a dakota with the 4.7 and it does
high teens when it's not on the floor which is not very often.

Dmace · Mar 21, 2009

You haven't stated a price range but you should be able to get in a newer style Durango (2004+) with the 5.7l HEMI for under $9k. Equipped with the HEMI and tow package you can tow up to 8,950lbs! Most full size suv's can't touch that. I have not towed with a Durango but have towed with a 98 Dakota, same frame and V6 3.9l engine and it did very well for loads under 4000lbs. If I were looking to tow more, I would look for the HEMI the old 5.9l V8 is designed more for speed than torque and is not good down low. The 2003 Durango V8 tow capacity is 7300 but you will not win any races or mpg wars with it. The 5.2l (318) was in the 1998-2000 Durango and I would stay away from it. If you want a Durango in the 1998-2003 model year go for the 5.9l V8 which will give you more of the torque you want for towing.

Also, towing capacity of a newer Durango with the 4.7l is 5900lbs.

Diamondpilot · Mar 21, 2009

Never owned a Durango but a neighbor lady owns one. She stopped by one day and asked if I could check her tire. It had a nail so I plugged it. She is a single mom of 3 and she said it was killing her on repairs and gas. Its about a 2004 or 2005 with just over 100,000K and the 4.7L. She said she averages 13 mpg. Seems right in line with what others are saying. By the way here drive to work is 40 miles on the highway each way 5 days a week.

She would love to sell it but a compact car will not work due to the fact she has 3 kids and where we live the county does not plow the snow so as long as its 10" or less she can get out the 1.8 miles to the main roads. Anything more than 10" she has to wait as do we all until the guys like me get the tractors out and take care of it ourselves.

Chris

Dmace · Mar 21, 2009

Also, take everything Diamondpilot (Chris) says with a grain of salt because if it's not a Ford then he knows someone who owns it and has problems with it...

You could leave a Durango V8 4.7l in 3rd gear on the highway at 60 mph and still get better then 13mpg. That just does not make sense, my truck with a much bigger (5.7l) engine, much heavier chassis (6300lbs vs. 4600lbs), and much lower gearing gets 15-17mpg on the highway.

It wasn't a Durango but we had a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the same V8 4.7l (305hp) engine and it consistently got 18-20mpg (calculated, not on-board computer) on the highway and get this, it was full-time AWD. We sold it for a Chrysler Pacifica 3 years ago and still miss it.

stuartshomepc · Mar 21, 2009

aczlan said:
Looking at getting a Durango to replace the wife's Dodge 1500 (regular cab, long bed), we need something that is a little bit more of a family car, does anyone have a 1998-2003 (or whenever they switched to the new body style) Durango with a V6 or a 318 in it? if so, what kind of mileage do you get with it? how well has it held up?

Thanks

Aaron Z

I had a 2000 model year 4x4 Durango with a 4.7L engine in it. It had about 80k miles on it when I sold it and it held up pretty well. Then I got a 2005 model with the new body style and a 5.7L engine in it.

I tow an enclosed utility trailer that weights 3500# and both vehicles do a fine job with that. However the rear springs on the 2000MY are pretty soft and it squatted a lot with 500 or so pounds of tongue weight.

I once towed my 37 ft 5800# travel trailer with the 2000MY Durango and it was about the scariest thing that I ever did. I only had to go 60 miles on the highway and I didn't think that it would be a big deal. While it's true that that is a big trailer and I did not have a load equalizing hitch, the vehicle squatted a lot, would sway side to side and could never figure out what gear to be in at 60MPH. It would drop down one and rev to 4000rpm, then upshift and slow down, down, up... repeat. Even with the tow mode on. After running over a groved section of road it started to yaw back and forth and the light rear suspension made the vehicle pitch a lot. I really thought that I was going to lose it. It was a heart pounding "OH my god" moment.

Now the 2005 has a totally different suspension and a slightly longer wheel base. That in itself make it a much better tow vehicle. I've towed the travel trailer with it and there is no tendency to sway. And it is not very sensitive to tongue weight (like the 2000MY was). Plus the 5.7L gives me the same average fuel economy as the old 4.7L at about 14 city and 18 highway (75MPH). It even gets about 1MPG better then the 4.7L towing the 3500# trailer at 70MPH.

If you are towing a small trailer, either will work. If you have something larger, like a travel trailer, the 2000MY is a poor choice.

I've had both for about 80,000 miles and 4 years. The 2000MY had more comfortable seats, but the 2005 is head a shoulders a better vehicle.

There is a special additive that needs to go into the rear end if you are going to tow. The 2005 was "supposed" to have it, and yet the rear end pinon bearing went out as about 50K miles. Luckily it was still under warranty.

Stuart

Diamondpilot · Mar 21, 2009

Dmace said:
Also, take everything Diamondpilot (Chris) says with a grain of salt because if it's not a Ford then he knows someone who owns it and has problems with it...

You could leave a Durango V8 4.7l in 3rd gear on the highway at 60 mph and still get better then 13mpg. That just does not make sense, my truck with a much bigger (5.7l) engine, much heavier chassis (6300lbs vs. 4600lbs), and much lower gearing gets 15-17mpg on the highway.

It wasn't a Durango but we had a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the same V8 4.7l (305hp) engine and it consistently got 18-20mpg (calculated, not on-board computer) on the highway and get this, it was full-time AWD. We sold it for a Chrysler Pacifica 3 years ago and still miss it.

Don't see how I was knocking it in any way. Just reporting what she told me. She loves the truck and has had good luck with it other than a bad master cylinder and a front axle problem. She just hates the mpg. She said 13, not me. All in all looks like it fits a market no one else covers being smaller than a Expedition/Suburban but larger than a Trail Blazer/Explorer with a choice of V8's.

I can see where the Hemi will do better. Lots of vehicles will do worse mpg wise with the smaller engine versus the larger offerings. They just have to work to hard to overcome the drag that is universal no matter what engine it has.

Chris

aczlan · Mar 21, 2009

Thanks to all who have responded, Price limit is ~$6.5k (for an exceptional vehicle we could go higher). We don't tow all that often (and the just a 8x10 single axle trailer with anything up to a B7510 on it (that hasn't happened yet, but will in a few weeks), but it is good to know...
Out of curiosity to those with the V6, what kind of mileage does it get (average)?

We need to get 17-20 minimum average, if we cant get that we may have to go for a minivan

, I would prefer not to because I don't want to work on a minivan (too much crammed under the hood) and I don't like buying disposable vehicles (hence the Volvo wagon). But we need (or will need in a few months) something that we can put a kid in.

Aaron Z

Diamondpilot · Mar 22, 2009

aczlan said:
Thanks to all who have responded, Price limit is ~$6.5k (for an exceptional vehicle we could go higher). We don't tow all that often (and the just a 8x10 single axle trailer with anything up to a B7510 on it (that hasn't happened yet, but will in a few weeks), but it is good to know...
Out of curiosity to those with the V6, what kind of mileage does it get (average)?

We need to get 17-20 minimum average, if we cant get that we may have to go for a minivan , I would prefer not to because I don't want to work on a minivan (too much crammed under the hood) and I don't like buying disposable vehicles (hence the Volvo wagon). But we need (or will need in a few months) something that we can put a kid in.

Aaron Z

I would not plan on getting 18 mpg average with any SUV by any manufacture unless its one of the little 4 cylinder types like a Escape.. You may get that on a 500 mile trip down a flat highway lightly loaded. From what I have read the Suburban and Expedition do just as good as the Durango.

Chris

Dmace · Mar 22, 2009

In your case I would look for a Jeep Grand Cherokee V8, our 2001 V8 AWD got better gas mileage then my mother 99 I6 4WD. Either engine choice should have no problem towing up to 5000lbs but I believe they did not recommend towing with the AWD version.

Another option is the Dodge Dakota Quad Cab, plenty of room and seating for 6, V6 3.7l (210hp/235lb ft.) or V8 4.7l (235hp/295lb.ft) available and either 5 speed manual or 4/5 speed auto (4 speed V6 / 5 speed V8). My 98 Dakota was a great truck that I sold with 165,000 miles and it is still on the road with over 240,000 miles.

shvl73 · Mar 22, 2009

Our 2001 Explorer gets 17-19mpg fairly consistantly with the 4.0 V6, not towing anything, of course. I believe it is rated around 5000lb towing capacity. The heaviest thing I've ever towed behind it was a snowmobile trailer with 50 bales of hay.

Skyco · Mar 22, 2009

Diamondpilot said:
I would not plan on getting 18 mpg average with any SUV by any manufacture unless its one of the little 4 cylinder types like a Escape.. You may get that on a 500 mile trip down a flat highway lightly loaded. From what I have read the Suburban and Expedition do just as good as the Durango.

Chris

Actually I now drive a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a V6. It averages 18mpg in the exact same type of driving I got 16 in the Durango mentioned earlier.
Note however it is gutless compared to the Durango.
Dang near got me in trouble the first few weeks I had it, I'd pull out into traffic that was no problem in the Durango and almost get run over in the V6 G.Cherokee.
BTW the wife drives a V6 AWD Honda Pilot and averages about 18 mixed / 22 highway, it has plenty of power but isn't rated to tow much.

BruceWard · Mar 25, 2009

I have a 04 Quad Cab 4.7 V8 AWD Dakota with an extra leaf in the rear. It gets around 16 MPG combined. I have seen 19 MPG on freeway trips around 75 MPH.

I towed a 14' enclosed trailer and got 10 MPG loaded or empty. Towing my B21 (4000 pounds) on a ~ 3000 pound equipment trailer (with brakes) I got down to around 9 MPG. Towing a heavy 4 wheeler on a trailer was around 14 MPG.

It handles towing loads well. I do not hesitate to two 7000 pound trailers with it and would consider 10,000 as long as teh trailer has brakes.

The fuel mileage is not what you would get with a diesel but I like the smaller truck.

KeithInSpace · Mar 27, 2009

Diamondpilot said:
I would not plan on getting 18 mpg average with any SUV by any manufacture unless its one of the little 4 cylinder types like a Escape..

Honest to goodness: I have averaged 19 MPG 70 MPH INTERSTATE mileage on relatively flat (Fredericksburg, VA to Outer Banks, NC, for example) driving with my 5.4L V8 Expedition with small children, wife, luggage, fishing poles flat on roof and tray hanging off trailer hitch.

I get similar mileage going to Richmond, which I do regularly, but that doesn't burn a whole tank. Typical for a "Richmond" trip, up and back (100 miles each way), with a fair amount of City driving would be 16.5 MPG.

Dock 1 MPG if driving in mountains (to Ohio, for example, which I do twice a year).

It trails off to 17 MPG if I push 80 MPH. I can do a solid 20 MPG in constant 55 MPH driving (no lights).

Unloaded and around town I get an average of 14 MPG in normal driving.

Empty trailer around town is more like 12.

Loaded trailer around town is closer to 10.

Loaded trailer on the interstate at 70 MPH speeds (I've only towed my BX tractor and implements on the interstate...~5,000# load and trailer combo) getting 13 or 14 MPG.

Don't know what to tell you. I'm 35 years old and drive pretty normally. This is all according to my trip computer which I reset every time I fill up.

Diamondpilot · Mar 27, 2009

Fords trip computers are fairly accurate. I have 3 trucks with them and they show within .5 mpg.

What I was saying was to get 18-20mpg consistently is not going to happen. 15mpg will but not 18-20 unless its a pure highway trip like you are mentioning.

Take my F-350 diesel for example. I average 17 but if its pure highway like to my inlaws I can get near 24.

Chris