Cat Cracker

'03 3500 srw/lwb 4x4, 4:10, HO/6-speed. pulling a 31.5 5th wheel, 2 slides, approx 12k. I bought my truck at the end of the camping season, so the only place I have "towed" my trailer is the my brother-in-law's storage building, approx 30 miles away. I dont anticipate any problems at all towing next year. I thought the truck pulled hard in every gear, and had no problem maintaining 70 mph. (Ofcourse this is flat-lander area) Someting must be wrong with Dodgeclown's truck. My first suggestion would be before you buy a fueling box of some sort, put gauges on your truck. EGT/Boost/Fuel Press. Those three gauges can tell you alot about how your truck is running, or why you have a power loss. FWIW CC.

Nevada

Towed a Durango on a car hauler from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City last month. I would guestimate 6,000 to 7,000 pounds. Granted there are no serious grades on I-15 between those two points, but from the time I got on the freeway I only had to downshift out of 6th gear once. That was only because some idiot pulled right in front of me on a grade and slowed down. Even though the truck had about 1,000 miles on it I still got 15mpg.<br><br>Color me impressed.

rydblue

Mine is an 03 2500 qc swb 4x4, SO/auto, 4.10 gears. So far the heaviest thing I've towed is a 4-place enclosed snowmobile trailer (loaded weight approx. 5000 lbs), truck handled it with ease at 1700 miles on odo. Kept pace with a 3/4 ton Yukon XL 8.1L and a 3/4 ton Suburban 7.4L at 75-80 mph and still got 12.5 mpg. (Made those guys fuel mileage look pretty sad - 6-7 mpg) Just to give you a comparison, I came out of a 2001 Ram 2500 qc swb 4x4, V10/auto, 3.54 gears. That truck drove great unloaded but as soon as I hooked the same trailer to it it was like someone left the emergency brake on. Truck wouldn't stay in OD at 70-75 mph, so I had to lock it out and run at 3000 rpm. Always got 6-7 mpg. Loved the truck but hated the powertrain. The new truck pulls in OD without breaking a sweat, and seems to get stronger with more miles on odo. I am planning to add an Edge EZ when they become available, even though I am satisfied with the current power output. For what I tow it will work great. I could see needing the HO for the guys who are towing 10K and above. Anything under 10K, the SO works fine. Just make sure to get the 4.10 gears, especially with the auto. Compared to my 01, I can tell the gearing makes a ton of difference in towing capability, especially at hwy speeds. The OD gear ratio on the auto is so high, it runs the rpm's too low to maintain decent engine rpm.

Luke S

Amen on the 4.10 gears thing there rydblue. I have been preaching that all along 8)

PADZZ

Truck: SO Auto, 4.10<br>Trailer: 9000 lb. toy hauler, and a 2 place ATV trailer. Goes up any hill I point it at at 65 OD off. 80 mph+ level groung OD on. Floored.<br>Mileage unloaded 16.8 city/hwy mix.<br>ATV trailer: 15ish<br>Toy hauler loaded: 11ish<br>Toy Hauler unloaded (6800 lbs): 13 ish.<br>

Billk

My wife and I just returned today (Feb. 4) from trip that was just under 5000 miles. Our truck and Alpenlite fifth wheel weigh 22,760 pounds. We have an '03 HO 3500 FWD extended cab with the 6 speed and 4:10 ratio. The truck only had 1400 miles on it when the trip started. We averaged 10.73 mpg towing and 17.48 while running solo. These are real averages, not from the trip computer, although it was very close. My speed was as close to 70 mph as I could keep it. I feel my average would improve considerably if I had driven 60 instead of 70. Also this was on winter fuel.<br><br>I am soooo pleased and happy with the truck. It drives great and rides very well. Power, well I cannot imagine ever wanting to add any enhancements. We pulled the fifth wheel from Kingman, Arizona to southern Illinois along interstate 40 and 44 and 64. As you may know there are many long hills and some mountains and I never ever had to shift out of 6th gear on any of them. I do admit to getting a run at the highest ones. The absolute lowest speed we were pulled down to was 56 mph.

rkelso98

Billk &quot;Alpenlite fifth wheel weight 22,760 pounds&quot; whats lite about 22K Question, why only SRW and not DRW?

rkelso

The Boss Hog

You can now add The Boss Hog to those who have towed. As I said in the tow report, for my load (8,000 lbs), the 3.73 was great but I'm guessing the 4.10 would be &quot;greater&quot; if I towed really heavy loads like some of you do.<br><br>The Boss Hog<br>(Happy in Florida)

Billk

The Alpenlite weighs 14,800# loaded. The truck weighed 7960# with my wife and I in it.<br><br>The reason I did not get a dually is I own a Chevy dually now that I used to tow with several years ago and after having that one,I will probably never own another. I feel the single wheels have a few advantages such as easier riding, better off road, easier to park, and my wife hates dual wheels.

rkelso98

Just kiddin with ya Billk. My wife doesn't want the dually either, so. . .I think I'll get the dually just to wind her up

danny

[quote author=rkelso98 link=board=17;threadid=10473;start=15#102415 date=1044757033]<br>Just kiddin with ya Billk. My wife doesn't want the dually either, so. . .I think I'll get the dually just to wind her up <br>[/quote]<br><br><br>Brave soul! I got the dualie and love it, but then I don't have a wife, heh.