The '18 Durango RT

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Coolharts

From the pics you look level well maybe a little too high in the front. Because of the Durango's short wheelbase and trailer size you may want to think about a Hensley or ProPride hitch (if it will fit your receiver, My ProPride will not fit my Durango's receiver, I believe because it is a Class V ball mount/stinger) because that trailer could really sway and yank you all over the road. Once you have a white knuckled ride you will never forget it. Truck weight is your friend, the heavier the truck the less it is pushed by the trailer.

A ProPride won't help if he's WAY over payload!

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by Coolharts

No worries. We have a 2013 and 2018 Fusion, we take the Excursion just because it rides better. The Ex is great when we pull the trailer because our fur babies ride in the back in their cage with A/C and windows to look out of.

The biggest concern I have with towing is not pulling, it is stopping.

The Excursion usually has a terrible payload. Maybe if it's not a 4x4, or if it has the wimpy 5.4 then it might be OK but I bet if you go weigh your EX you are 1500-1600 away from GVWR completely empty, with no gear, trailer, or passengers but a full tank of fuel. Although the Durangos listed 1200 on the door in reality it is also about 1500 pounds from GVWR unloaded.

[malcolmjwhitaker]

Thatguy33;
I also have a 2018 Dodge Durango RT, v8, 8 speed trans and factory tow package. My trailer is a 2018 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109s. I am using a Kurt tru trac wdh with the hitch set on the middle of the five positions (for approx 650# tw). When loaded with me, wife, 60# propane, two 12 v batteries, etc. both durango and trailer sit level. Ride is very smooth on bumpy roads and very little sway from big rigs passing me. I only drive 60 to 65 mph on the freeway. I am not so sure I would be as happy driving a substantially longer trailer however. Just my 2 cents.

[Heymirth]

Originally Posted by malcolmjwhitaker

Thatguy33;

I also have a 2018 Dodge Durango RT, v8, 8 speed trans and factory tow package. My trailer is a 2018 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109s. I am using a Kurt tru trac wdh with the hitch set on the middle of the five positions (for approx 650# tw). When loaded with me, wife, 60# propane, two 12 v batteries, etc. both durango and trailer sit level. Ride is very smooth on bumpy roads and very little sway from big rigs passing me. I only drive 60 to 65 mph on the freeway. I am not so sure I would be as happy driving a substantially longer trailer however. Just my 2 cents.

How much do you feel the trailer? Do you feel any bounce and light sway- porpoising? My truck feels like a “hooptie”

[rjc1024]

Originally Posted by DieselDrax

That doesn’t make any sense, the payload sticker is a certification based on the vehicle weight as it left the factory. Every vehicle is different. Can you post a pic of your payload sticker?

I always thought payload was simply a weight calculation too until recently (just a few weeks ago). My brother works for a very large truck upfitter. They are building a big run of vehicles for the Government Service Agency. Whether they are cars or trucks they have to re-weigh and put in a new payload sticker after any modifications. My brother had been finding that there were significant discrepancies in what the payload should be based on weight and what they were actually finding. So for example (made up numbers for simplicity)-

GVWR=7000
Factory payload sticker says 1500
That should mean the curb weight is 5500

He was finding that even after adding a couple of hundred pounds in equipment to the vehicle they would weigh it and find that it weighs 5200 pounds.

So the payload based on weight is actually more even though they have added equipment. They find this with all of the big 3, trucks and cars.

My brother talked to the guy he works with at the GSA and neither could make sense of this. The GSA guy said he has an engineering contact at one of the big 3 (I'll leave out which as it makes no difference here). They called him and he said "Your problem is that you aren't factoring in emissions." What?! His explanation was that a big driver of payload is loading a vehicle with increasing weight until it fails emissions. That limit is the maximum payload. It's more complicated than GVWR-curb weight.

I don't have a lot of background details - I.E. I'm sure they don't do this test for every vehicle, it's probably a model/trim package that's tested then actual weights factor in some for a unique payload sticker.

If this wasn't a direct conversation with my brother who was the one raising the question I would be inclined to think this wasn't true. Definitely an interesting conversation and I thought it was worth sharing.

[malcolmjwhitaker]

Heymirth;
How much do you feel the trailer? Do you feel any bounce and light sway- porpoising? My truck feels like a “hooptie”

Basically I'm pulling 5000# parachute at 63 mph, so yes I feel the trailer and rarely get above sixth gear on level ground. No bounce or porpoising since the wdh basically turns my tv/trailer combo into one vehicle with a very long wheelbase. I do however get a little wiggle in gusty wind conditions which is absent in calm conditions.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by rjc1024

I always thought payload was simply a weight calculation too until recently (just a few weeks ago). My brother works for a very large truck upfitter. They are building a big run of vehicles for the Government Service Agency. Whether they are cars or trucks they have to re-weigh and put in a new payload sticker after any modifications. My brother had been finding that there were significant discrepancies in what the payload should be based on weight and what they were actually finding. So for example (made up numbers for simplicity)-

GVWR=7000
Factory payload sticker says 1500
That should mean the curb weight is 5500

He was finding that even after adding a couple of hundred pounds in equipment to the vehicle they would weigh it and find that it weighs 5200 pounds.

So the payload based on weight is actually more even though they have added equipment. They find this with all of the big 3, trucks and cars.

My brother talked to the guy he works with at the GSA and neither could make sense of this. The GSA guy said he has an engineering contact at one of the big 3 (I'll leave out which as it makes no difference here). They called him and he said "Your problem is that you aren't factoring in emissions." What?! His explanation was that a big driver of payload is loading a vehicle with increasing weight until it fails emissions. That limit is the maximum payload. It's more complicated than GVWR-curb weight.

I don't have a lot of background details - I.E. I'm sure they don't do this test for every vehicle, it's probably a model/trim package that's tested then actual weights factor in some for a unique payload sticker.

If this wasn't a direct conversation with my brother who was the one raising the question I would be inclined to think this wasn't true. Definitely an interesting conversation and I thought it was worth sharing.

The "payload" number on the sticker is also a newer incarnation. My 2011 Chrysler says nothing about payload just the axle ratings and the GVWR. Also I was thinking maybe they aren't counting hitch weight as payload. Meaning in the Durango example you could have 1200 of passengers and cargo and another 350 pounds on the hitch, maybe they aren't counting hitch weight as cargo or passengers. In the Excursion example I once heard Ford just used 150 pounds per seat as the goal. So 9 seats 1350 pounds payload and your good. Forget that they allowed over 10,000 pounds of trailer which means another 1000-1500 pounds possible.