Dodge Dakota Quad Cab towing a fifth wheel?

[Les P.]

I have an '03 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab that I would like to use as a TV for a Bigfoot 5th Wheel. As you can probably guess I have a short box ( the truck that is). I was wondering if any of you folks out there are already doing this and if so how did you accomplish the deed, and what kind of issues did you or have you run into. My wife and I had a Trillium 4500 that we sold a couple of years ago, and are now looking into getting a new "egg". ( I miss having a trailer ..........)

[Donna D.]

Until someone pipes in, here's a link to the EscapeForum, showing a Dodge Ram quad PU towing an Escape 5th wheel... http://escapeforum.org/index.php?top...sg6240#msg6240. Note the matching graphics!

[Liz&Kev]

My father in law towed a 24' fifth with his quad cab dakota with the 6 foot box. He did order a different gear ratio (escapes me now) and ran a chip to change shift points. Otherwise it towed back and forth to Florida yearly with no compplaints. A bigfoot probably comes in MUCH lighter than the fifth he had.

Kev

[Lyndon Laney]

I have an '03 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab that I would like to use as a TV for a Bigfoot 5th Wheel. As you can probably guess I have a short box ( the truck that is). I was wondering if any of you folks out there are already doing this and if so how did you accomplish the deed, and what kind of issues did you or have you run into. My wife and I had a Trillium 4500 that we sold a couple of years ago, and are now looking into getting a new "egg". ( I miss having a trailer ..........)

We have pulled a scamp 5er for some 90,000 miles with our 2000 Dakota quad and it handles it great I did move the hitch back of the reaR WHEELS ABOUT 10 INCHES TO ALLOW FOR SHORTER TURNS. Get around 14 MPG At Shipshawana meet there were 4 Doge Dakotas with 5ers so they are quite popular.

[Alf S.]

Hi: Lyndon Laney...I did notice a lot of Dakotas in Indiana!!! There was one odd ball there with an Escape 5.0 pushing a GMC pickup!!! We did make it to Frankenmuth and at the repair garage they put in a new battery. I only got 8 yrs. service from the original...SHEESH!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Lizbeth]

Depends on the tow rating of the truck. Our BF single axle weighs 1000 lbs over the GVW stated on the sticker lightly loaded for a 4 day trip. BF 5ths are pretty heavy.

As for the short bed we solved that problem by buying a Super Glide hitch. We bought it used and it's magic.

http://www.pullrite.com/superglide.htm

[Lawrence W]

Originally Posted by Les P.

I have an '03 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab that I would like to use as a TV for a Bigfoot 5th Wheel. As you can probably guess I have a short box ( the truck that is). I was wondering if any of you folks out there are already doing this and if so how did you accomplish the deed, and what kind of issues did you or have you run into. My wife and I had a Trillium 4500 that we sold a couple of years ago, and are now looking into getting a new "egg". ( I miss having a trailer ..........)

I have a 2000 Dakota extended cab, 4.7L V8, it has a complete tow package. It pulls my 16' Scamp just great.

[Lee Senn]

Les "back in the day" late 90s we towed a 24 foot Odyssey (no longer in business) 5er and a 24 foot Coachman 5er with a shortbox Chevy. This was before the sliding hitch came along. I measured the distance from the center of the pin to the corner of the 5th wheel added 2 inches for a little clearance which indicated that the center of the jaws on the hitch needed to be about 8 inches behind the axle center. Both rigs towed extremely well with no noticeable difference between the shotbox and a long bed with the hitch mounted over the axle that I later bought. I don't have any idea what the dynamics would be on your Dodge. I once had a "truck" salesman tell me you couldn't tow a 5er with a shortboxtruck with my shortbox Chevy hooked to the 24 foot Coachman right in front of us. At that time I had probably pulled the Coachman about 30,000 miles with the set up as detailed above. We then had an interesting conversation. Lee