surveyorjp wrote: I used to try to defend Caddywhompus, or at least tried to seek a middle ground, but he lost my support with his ramblings in a previous thread about how superior a minivan was to a Dodge Dakota for towing trailers. I have towed my current TT with a Dakota up many hills that I seriously doubt any minivan could. I have also towed some heavy loads of gravel on a dump trailer behind a Dakota. I had no problems and plenty of power and stability for the load.
I had the benefit of using both vehicles first hand. Can you say the same?
No. The loads I towed with my Dakota I would never put behind any minivan and expect any success whatsoever.
If you mean simply driving, yes I have driven and ridden is various minivans. They all rode soft for passenger comfort. I did tow a small popup with a 1994 Plymouth Grand Voyager for a couple years. It did fine, but that was about the max load I would tow with that particular vehicle.
Like I said before, I agree that minivans can likely tow more than their 3500 towing capacity. And there are some sedans out there that can safely tow some TTs. But you are simply incorrect about the Dodge Dakota and I have many hundreds of miles of towing to back that up.
2005 Surveyor SV-291 Tows smooth as silk!
1995 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie SLT 4x4 5.9L V8 low miles, It ain't pretty, but it's paid for!
It is starting already:
Toyota Highlander has a 5,000# tow rating.
GMC Acadia / Saturn Outlook 4,500#.
Honda Pilot 4,500#.
These are all minivans disguised to look like SUVs (aka crossovers). 2/3 use identical powertrains to the minivans in their lineup. Only reason the third doesn't is that maker doesn't BUILD minivans anymore (or possibly is quitting their ancient model this year).
The GM one even comes prewired for brake controll and aux power and has a tow/haul mode that includes boosted voltage for better battery charging on the trailer.
If profit margins swing away from SUVs and trucks and into more efficient vehicles, expect to see bigger tow package ratings real soon on the more efficient vehicles.
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