What are you all hauling your Viper with?

Mopar Boy

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Have towed many loads with many vehicles. Have had 500 lbs trailers to 44' trailer with a Gross Combined of 34,000.

My advice? What you want to sacrifice is what you need to ponder.

You can get away with a 20' ALUMINUM (not steel) trailer with the viper inside behind a Durango if you want. What will you sacrifice? You will not have much extra space In The trailer, you will not be able to have many passengers, luggage, tools etc with you, and you will need to drive a little bit slower than normal. Depending on the type of person you are and how hell bent you are on having a smaller SUV will determine if you can live with that.

On the other hand if you want to run the speed limit or above, have a 24' trailer (I do NOT recommend a 20'. Too tight), carry your family with you, luggage tools etc, then you need to have the right equipment. 2500 is ideal although a 1500 can do it.

Whatever you do, make sure the tow vehicle has a solid frame. None of this pansy mobile like most of the European SUVs.

As for me, have towed vehicles with suburbans, dodge full size B vans, 1500, 2500, 3500 rams. Currently in stable is a 1989 W250 Ram and a 2007 Mega cab. Great tow vehicle. And as mentioned, diesel is great for towing.
 

past ohio

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Easy to tow with a reg. cab SRT-10, BUT have to stay out of 6 gear....also don't try to race a Ferrari off the line with the trailer in tow....plenty of torque, power, etc....just keep in mind the weak link is the clutch....the 06 models with auto had the hitch installed ....agree with all the previous discussions, it says that a Jeep/Durango can pull that much towing capacity BUT the car bounces all over the lane and wheelbase too short, also have all towing equipment---weight distributing bars and sway bars as well as proper loading of weight in the trailer.......MY $.02
 

Richie7

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i pull a 17.5 foot featherlite with an X5, just under 5000lbs. it works great but i wouldnt go any heavier. You need a real truck to haul an enclosed trailer.
 

commandomatt

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Stay well below your maximum capacity when towing and consider the fact that what takes the load when pulling something is not the engine but the transmission. Many look at the power the engine has to determine what they can tow. This wont tell you much. Look at the transmission in all proper tow vehicles and you will see some serious equipment that the smaller vehicles don't have.

Nothing beats a diesel when it comes to torque and capacity. Smaller framed cars and suv's mentioned will not handle the towing well. Don't care if they have powerful engines.

Get a 3/4 or a 1 ton chassis. Having something like this will allow you to pull most anything you choose and also get the trailer size you want without having to consider if your vehicle can handle it.

Matt
 

TrackAire

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Diesel F-350 and Diesel Excursion.

Open trailers weigh less and are much less prone to getting pushed around by the wind, etc. Having said that, I'd never haul my Viper in anything but an enclosed trailer (24 ft long) and you need a weighty tow vehicle to safely tow in all conditions (side winds, long downhill stretches, curvy roads, etc)

Cheers,
George
 

Cobraken

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Reg cab SRT 10 is a not recommended towing. I tried to tow with mine with a 4500lb trailer and it was dangerous at any speed above 45mph. I have towed with my quadcab SRT 10 and any other longbase pickup would probably do better. I tow with an '08 Ford F-350 diesel (twin turbo) Harley Davidson truck.

Although the clutch and auto tranny are prone to failure towing with the respective SRT 10's, the suspensions have to be modified for stable towing.
 

10 BANGER

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NO HEMI

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Yukon/Tahoe, Armada(nissan),Toyota(the big one, forgot the name),Durango, your wife will love them, you can seat 7 adults comfortably, and you can tow an enclosed trailer with a viper, no prob. !!.... I ve been looking at them too! ;D
 
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ViperSmith

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Yukon/Tahoe, Armada(nissan),Toyota(the big one, forgot the name),Durango, your wife will love them, you can seat 7 adults comfortably, and you can tow an enclosed trailer with a viper, no prob. !!.... I ve been looking at them too! ;D
The baby talk has the noose tightening around my neck :(
 

NO HEMI

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haha yes i know, i have ANOTHER on the way.. and if she's going to be driving it daily, and you'll just use it to tow the viper maybe once or twice a month(and not every month) the choices i gave you are the best ones, the other choices are just overkill for that and you would have to buy her another car because she won't like to go to the mall or to the spa in a dualie or a turbo diesel truck, so she smells like smoke everytime she gets out of the truck... just my .02
 

vancouver-gts

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I tow with an 03 Navi too.
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The Navigator is a capable tow vehicle with 8900# capacity.

I also tow my 8300 # boat/trailer combo no problems what so ever .

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challengerta

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I think it boils down to how often you tow. There's no reason to live with a giant dually diesel truck on a daily basis if you only towing a few times/year.
I've towed with 8 different vehicles, and everyone's right, with a dually you won't know the trailer's back there. Currently doing most of our towing with a 25' motor home
with Dodge V-10. But also use our 2008 Durango, Hemi, 4x4. It has a 120" wheelbase, which is about 10" longer than the Grand Cherokee or Commander.
Very stable towing about 6000 lbs, and 17-18 hwy mileage. You do need the right hitch. A load equalizer that fits close to the bumper.
The Durango is great as a daily driver, really about the same length as a Caravan, or Charger. I'm sure the aluminum trailers are wonderful, but again, if you're not using it much, it's tough to justify the expense. The Durango is rated to tow over 7000lbs.
 

JAY

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New Ram is Rated at 850 ft/lbs of Torque and 30,000 lb Towing Capability , That Blows everyone else out of the Water ! :2tu:
 

challengerta

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I think it boils down to how often you tow. There's no reason to live with a giant dually diesel truck on a daily basis if you only towing a few times/year.

The Durango is great as a daily driver, really about the same length as a Caravan, or Charger. The Durango is rated to tow over 7000lbs.

Ok, I just found my Durango catalog, so get this, Max towing capacity is 8,950 lbs!

This is 2wd, with Hemi, tow package, and optional 3.91 gear.

And don't forget the Chrysler Aspen, specs identical to Durango, and comes standard with 3.91 gear, when ordered with Hemi, and tow package, might be easier to find.

Let's keep it in the family, please!:)
 

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