Towing

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ewbloom

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Sourthern Illinois
Ram Year
1988 D100
Engine
3.9L V6
What is the real world practical limit for towing with our beloved Gen. 1 D-100 trucks with the V-6?

I see I can get a hitch rated up to 1000/10K with WD. But is this practical? I do want to tow a lighter trailer.

Are the oil & trans fluid coolers and radiator large enough to pull something bigger than a pop-up?

Would I need to find a 120AMP alternator as well?
 

crazzywolfie

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81 93
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5.2
i don't think you would want to hook onto a trailer that weighs more than 5000lbs. i think with the v6 you might have difficulty pulling that much. i know my d150 was pretty sluggish with about 2000lbs in the bed and i got a 318. i also don't know how well the stock leaf springs would hold up to hauling weight.

whatever alternator you have should be fine
 
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ewbloom

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Thanks

Good to know.

I planned on adding a booster spring leaf kit with the hitch.
 

RamV10

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With my D250 2wd 360 4sp it would haul more than 5000# but it was pretty slow pulling hills with 5000# behind it. But it also had an all steel Utility bed & camper shell which was heavier than a stock bed.
I agree a 2000# is about it with helper springs or not. Without a trans cooler pull nothing unless you want to be rebuilding a trans.
 

crazzywolfie

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you may want to count how many leaf spring you have in the rear. there are a couple ways to add a leaf. you can buy one of those add a leaf kits or you could buy a set of leaf springs out of another truck, cut the ends off and put them under your current main leaf spring and then bolt everything back together. that is how it was done on my ramcharger. the person that upgraded my 81 kind of butchered it but it does the job. they slid an extra 2 leaf in each side.
the ramcharger
IMAG0507.jpg
IMAG0508.jpg
the 81
IMG_0001.jpg
 
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crazzywolfie

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With my D250 2wd 360 4sp it would haul more than 5000# but it was pretty slow pulling hills with 5000# behind it. But it also had an all steel Utility bed & camper shell which was heavier than a stock bed.
I agree a 2000# is about it with helper springs or not. Without a trans cooler pull nothing unless you want to be rebuilding a trans.
i might have hauled more than 2000lbs in the bed of my truck but i don't know what a box full of dirt and rocks weighs but i don't think i would ever try it with a v6 unless i had to. everyone on most forums say the v6 is really too small and that you are better off with the v8. you get more power but the same gas mileage as a v6.
 
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ewbloom

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1988 D100
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3.9L V6
Thank you

Thank you for the info everyone.

My FIL has the same '88 V-6 with the manual 5-spd gear box. He regularly pulls a 4000lb camper about 20 miles to/from camp ground, and a larger trailer with a bobcat around town for landscaping work. Nothing at highway speeds and not really that far.

I just wanted to make sure that, even though the hitch and frame can handle the load, the power train was up to task.

I will keep to a pop-up or one of those 14 footer travel trailers.

The oil cooler and transmission coolers measure larger than the OEM sizes as listed on-line at the major parts sites. So maybe I lucked out there.
 

crazzywolfie

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a manual transmission makes a huge difference to how much you can pull since they usually have a low first gear for pulling and have no power loss. automatic transmission trucks usually have a fair bit of power loss which is why standard transmission trucks usually get way better gas mileage.
 
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