Forest River Shamrock 21ss and a V6

[5andadog]

We just bought this and are looking to purchase a V6 Durango to pull this . It is about 4240 dry weight and close to 6,000 GVWR . Wondering if anyone here has experience towing with a V6 and how that goes for them.

[Rrickim63]

What year Durango?

[5andadog]

2011 w tow package rated at 6,200

[Rrickim63]

Although by the numbers it would pull ok..you may run out of payload when everything is packed. I'm sure someone else may chime in. If you're not towing in mountains, it will probably work ok. My small v8 in Silverado with 6500 lb capacity struggles in hilly area. But Chrysler v6 are powerful for their size. Definitely use sway control and weight distribution if you choose this combination.

[5andadog]

Thank you for your reply rrickem63. Would love to hear if others have experience pulling w something similar . We do live in MI so pretty flat but do want to pull in hills too.

[zackbo]

I'm pulling my 26' that has a dry weight of 4900 with a V6 4.0L Tacoma with tow package. The hardest thing I've pulled is the Saluda Grade which is 5% for about 3 miles. I can maintain 45 mph pretty easily which is faster than most the semi's. But I think that's about as much as I would push my current TV. The convenience of having a smaller truck is worth it to me for daily driving. Now, when I retire, I plan on having the biggest, loudest, most obnoxious diesel TV on the road

[RamsFan1]

We have a 2011 Chevy Traverse V6 and pull a hybrid weighing 3154 dry. It is rated to pull 5200.
Our Traverse does fine in flatter areas and in the smaller mountain canyons where hill grade is not too steep. Going up some of the bigger climbs here in Colorado like Vail Pass or the Eisenhower Tunnel it is a bit of a slow go, but manages it fine. I just keep it a bit slower than most of the other traffic as not to put too much stress on the TV.
The weight and drag of the trailer has the TV pulling around in 4th gear most of the time and sometimes 5th, but usually can't hold 5th for long.
I get 9-11 mpg towing.
We like our set up and works great for our family.
I think you will be fine just with the set up you propose, just be realistic that you and I are not towing with a truck.
I hope this helps, good luck and happy camping!

[ChibullsAN]

Originally Posted by 5andadog

Thank you for your reply rrickem63. Would love to hear if others have experience pulling w something similar . We do live in MI so pretty flat but do want to pull in hills too.

I have a 2010 xterra pulling a 21dk. Around town and flats it's fine. In WV mountains at 70 mph it struggles a bit but never been too slow or chugging up a hill. I however am not afraid to run 5000 rpm for a mile up a hill. ... no wonder I get 7.4 mpg. Ahhh.

[rockfordroo]

We have a 2011 Chevy Traverse V6 and pull a hybrid weighing 3154 dry. It is rated to pull 5200.
Our Traverse does fine in flatter areas and in the smaller mountain canyons where hill grade is not too steep. Going up some of the bigger climbs here in Colorado like Vail Pass or the Eisenhower Tunnel it is a bit of a slow go, but manages it fine. I just keep it a bit slower than most of the other traffic as not to put too much stress on the TV.
The weight and drag of the trailer has the TV pulling around in 4th gear most of the time and sometimes 5th, but usually can't hold 5th for long.
I get 9-11 mpg towing.
We like our set up and works great for our family.
I think you will be fine just with the set up you propose, just be realistic that you and I are not towing with a truck.
I hope this helps, good luck and happy camping!
__________________
2011 Chevy Traverse
2014 Solaire 147X

I pulled my Roo 19 with a 2011 Traverse for one season (dry 3383lbs, GVWR 4770lbs, but probably not actually over 4000 lbs). Just the DW and myself. I was NOT happy running in 4th all the time (~3100rpm at 60mph) on flat and level. Any little incline dropped it into 3rd. And I was just tooling around the mid-west, so I wasn't looking forward to any real hills. As mentioned above, it's not the weight, it's the drag. I'm on the Traverseforum.com and a lot folks there pull even more and don't seem to mind, but not me.

So I got a 2009 Silverado and I'm a LOT happier.

[campbuzz98]

The manual for the Durango tells you the max tongue weight is 620lbs for the six cylinder as well as a s40 sq foot frontal area. The hemi has a 740 tongue weight max and a 60 sq foot frontal area.

[rockfordroo]

NOBODY with a TT can meet a 40 sq ft frontal area. That's just a little over 6x6 ft. That's got to be a thinly veiled attempt to sell Hemi's.

[thebrakeman]

I can't think what trailer would weight 6200 lbs and still meet that 40 sq-ft frontal area limit. Even if you allow for the usual reduction in true hauling ability, and call it (say) a 5200 lbs loaded trailer, no highwall popup weighs that much. Perhaps one of those crazy hi-low models.

I would not let that 40 sq-ft limit stop me from towing a full -height camper. But I also would not take it to the limit. A 4200 dry weight Shamrock can be kept to around 5000 lbs once loaded. That is the most I would try, but I think it's OK as long as you don't head into any serious hills.

[Taybrynn]

A v6 might pull it on the flats ... but your going to quickly kill the vehicle and tranny and have no power and horrid mileage ... Why? Imho, Get the right tow vehicle or get a popup. My diesel pulls a 10k trailer easier than my 1/2 ton pulled a 5k trailer. I now realize the right vehicle is super important.

[John4th]

That's cutting it close, at least for my comfort. 6000 pound gross weight to me means tow rating of no less than 8000 pounds. But there are folks who cut it this close and get along fine. In the end, it's how comfortable you feel.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[5andadog]

So is see this is not done very often towing more than a pop up with a V6!

[thebrakeman]

Originally Posted by Taybrynn

A v6 might pull it on the flats ... but your going to quickly kill the vehicle and tranny and have no power and horrid mileage ... Why? Imho, Get the right tow vehicle or get a popup. My diesel pulls a 10k trailer easier than my 1/2 ton pulled a 5k trailer. I now realize the right vehicle is super important.

V6 engines are putting out more grunt and power than many V8's from 10 years ago. And the 6-speed transmissions help these engines remain in the sweet spots to avoid overrevving and large rpm changes, for better protection.

No offense, but I think it's getting a bit outdated to make these blanket statements, and exclude a 295hp/260ft-lb motor, simply because it has 2 less cylinders. And a diesel is certainly not required to tow a 5000 lb loaded camper.

[thebrakeman]

Originally Posted by 5andadog

So is see this is not done very often towing more than a pop up with a V6!

No, it's not. The issue here is that I can't think of any other V6 vehicles that have greater than 6000 lbs max tow rating:
-Current gen Explorer (crossover) = 5000 max
-Previous gen V6 Explorer (truck-frame) = 5500 max
-GM Lambda platform (Traverse, Acadia, etc) = 5200 max

Until now, advising use of a V6 vehicle for a camper that could weight as much as 5000 lbs meant almost certainly exceeding your ratings by the time you put any passengers/cargo in the truck (reducing the effective tow rating). That's not the case here, with 6200 lbs tow rating.

I think the OP needs to get on a Dodge chat site and talk to people who have actually towed 4500+ lbs with a Durango V6.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by 5andadog

We just bought this and are looking to purchase a V6 Durango to pull this . It is about 4240 dry weight and close to 6,000 GVWR . Wondering if anyone here has experience towing with a V6 and how that goes for them.

What is the tongue weight on your camper?

What is the cargo carrying capacity on the durango?

You'll run out of ccc waaaaay before anything else and is way more critical on a short wb suv then a pickup.

Ooooh not to long ago dodge had a serious problem with rear axle failures while pulling trailers at or near capacity.

[TURBS]

Quick edit:
Looks to me like the v6 durango 2wd ccc is about 1300 lbs
Subtract this from that number.
All passengers excluding driver.
All gear and accessories hualed in durango.
Pets.
Wdh hitch and sway control.
Fully loaded camper hitch weight.

Example.
Adult 160
2 children 100
Gear / whatever 100
Dog 40
Wdh 100
Tt tongue weight 850 "seen 650 lbs mentioned earlier in the thread"
Added 200 lbs for loaded weight.

If my math is up to par......
1350lbs

[bikendan]

i tow a 23SS, similar to the 21SS in weight, with a v-8 Avalanche.
it easily weighs over 5000lbs. loaded for camping, which eliminates many v-6 tow vehicles.

the only v-6 vehicles, i would even consider towing with would be:
of course the F-150 Ecoboost, Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma.

but the new Durango v-6 seems to be above the rest of the v-6 non-trucks.
but payload will probably eliminate it, for towing a loaded 21SS.