Towing Feedback

[jeffhoward001]

Hello All -

We're thinking about buying a 15-17 ft travel trailer to tow behind our 2012 V6 journey, and I was surprised to see so many negative posts. Given the high output V6 and thr six-speed gearbox, this seems like as good as it gets for normally aspirated V6 towing.

The trailers we're looking at are 2500-3000 dry weight, so should be less than 4k loaded up. Questions to the forum are:

1) Why is the journey towing cap 1K less than the caravan. That makes no sense

2) If my expectation is to cruise at 55mph on the flats and I'm Ok with gearing down to 35-40 mph on the hills, will this be a decent towing experience?

Ten years ago we were towing campers with engineswith 25% less horsepower and only 4 speeds. Not sure why the Journey has such a bad rep for towing. Maybe the high-powered diesels have raised the bar way higher?

- Jeff

[jkeaton]

Its not a body on frame vehicle. Unibody can't handle as much towing as there is no "frame" to support the additional weight. Vehicles getting lighter and using thinner metal, plastic, fiberglass, etc. Trying to meet government mandated mileage standards results in loss of towing capacity.

Edited September 30, 2015 by jkeaton

[webslave]

Along with the good information from jkeaton, I'll add that the DJ doesn't have the engine cooling or transmission cooling capacity required for any serious towing. The DJ's towing is aimed at a bicycle rack in the hitch or a small, open landscaping trailer. Before you rush out and buy an RV (travel trailer), even one within your DJ's weight limit, look up the frontal area restriction for your DJ. Regardless of the weight of the trailer, you will also find a "frontal area maximum" that is allowed. Frontal area and weight are the two biggest limiters for trailers. The ability to pull a large flat wall through the air at highway speeds demands much more from an engine / drive train, than does a smaller frontal area as found on popup RVs or utility trailers and boats. I've been RVing for quite a few years and the DJ is not a vehicle I would choose to pull an RV trailer.

[jkeaton]

Along with the good information from jkeaton, I'll add that the DJ doesn't have the engine cooling or transmission cooling capacity required for any serious towing. The DJ's towing is aimed at a bicycle rack in the hitch or a small, open landscaping trailer. Before you rush out and buy an RV (travel trailer), even one within your DJ's weight limit, look up the frontal area restriction for your DJ. Regardless of the weight of the trailer, you will also find a "frontal area maximum" that is allowed. Frontal area and weight are the two biggest limiters for trailers. The ability to pull a large flat wall through the air at highway speeds demands much more from an engine / drive train, than does a smaller frontal area as found on popup RVs or utility trailers and boats. I've been RVing for quite a few years and the DJ is not a vehicle I would choose to pull an RV trailer.

Good info. Research towing capacity when buying a vehicle if you plan on towing. It's not like the old days when you could buy a country squire off the lot and pull a 6000lb trailer with ease.

Edited September 30, 2015 by jkeaton

[dhh3]

I believe the the DJ is limited to 32 sq ft frontal area, which makes for a small trailer. The Mopar hitch for the DJ is rated for 3,500 lbs.

[jeffhoward001]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the insight. I was also hoping for some feedback from people who have done some towing with their Journey.

[dj cowboy]

I tow with mine pretty often. I can say that wind resistance seems to affect my car more than weight. Example, with both atv's on my 5 x 14 my fuel mileage is around 18 to 19 mpg. My trans temp hovers around 185. With one atv, I have to put it in the middle of the trailer so I don't overload the tongue. That puts the atv farther behind the car, and into the wind. With no wind, I drop to around 16 mpg. Last time it was windy, mpg dropped to 13, and my trans temp was 208. Most of that trip, I held the trans in 5th gear because it kept shifting back and forth. Btw, my trailer and both atv's weigh 2500 lbs. with one it's 1800.

[niagaraowner]

Hi Jeff,

I have a 2012 DJ crew. I just started towing a TT this summer exactly like you are looking at. I travel as light as possible, the trailer is 2500 lbs. The curb weight of the DJ is 4000 lbs so if you use the new (after 2010) GCWR of 7300 you don’t have much allowance for gear and passengers. I have an equalizer weight distribution hitch and as others have posted it tows very well, I monitored all temps with no issues . I am not new to towing TT's. I have towed similar weight trailers with other CUV's and a dodge truck for comparison. Of course you know it’s there as you would with any 4000 lb tow vehicle, regardless of its towing capacity (and most v6 4000lbs vehicles are rated for 3500 lbs). One thing I think may have contributed to the lower towing capacity from 2010 is the redesigned rear suspension. BEFORE I started towing I had to adjust the rear suspension due to negative camber. As I was told by the tech (and I agree) the suspension is soft. The weight distribution does a nice job of keeping the weight off the rear of the DJ. The Caravan (with same engine and trans specs) as you mentioned is good for 3600 lbs towing, but that is with a different rear suspension and added airbags with the tow package. Hope this helps.

[jeffhoward001]

That's great feedback and makes sense. We're looking at one of the lighter Forest River R-Pods. They get good reviews, and are targeted at the CUV market with low tow/tongue weight, and low air-resistance. I find that towing with non-truck vehicles tends to be a very polarizing issue - one side being the "I should be able to tow the Class III limit if a Class III hitch fits!" Then the other side being the towing purists who balk at towing with anything less than a real "truck" or diesel.

As with any argument, most real use-cases tend to fall towards the middle. For example, does towing a heavier trailer put more wear and tear on the car? Probably, but there are so many variables. How often do you plan to tow? How far is your average trip? Are there a ton of hills, or is it relatively flat? Will you be against a 40 mph head-wind for half your trip? Will you pay attention to your trans temp gauges?

Anyway, we definitely fall in the less-frequent crowd. We make probably 4-5 trips per year and stay within a 100 miles of home. There are definitely some hills, but I'm fine taking them slow and using my gears. We already have a brake controller and I wouldn't tow without one. There's a local rental shop that has some R-Pods for rental, so we'll probably do that next spring before making any real purchasing decisions.

Thanks again for all the feedback so far, I'd love to hear more examples if people have them.

Edited October 5, 2015 by jeffhoward001

[niagaraowner]

Did you go with a RF brake controller? I did and it works great. As you stated towing any TT without a truck is open for many opinions (I have also towed with a truck). I decided to tow with my DJ after doing some research. This is what I found...from what I researched the structure of the vehicle did not change from 2010, which had a GCWR of 8300 lbs, so I don't think the reduction in tow cap has anything to do with body structure. As mentioned the Caravan with same engine and trans combo with exact shift pattern is rated for 3600 lbs with the only addition being an auto level rear suspension, nothing else, so I don't think it has anything to do with engine and trans. Also my DJ crew has a trans cooler, found the part number on it and looked it up. The only other change was the rear suspension which may account for the reduction as mentioned in my last post. Also, with seven passengers and their luggage you could be close to rear GAWR as well as the GVWR, so that leaves no room for added tonque weight, Dodge needed to take this into account as well. As far as being safe there are a few 4000 lbs vehicles rated to tow 5000 lbs. I feel safer knowing my tow vehicle weighs 1000 lbs more than my trailer rather than rely on a manufacture rating their vehicle to tow a trailer that's a 1000 lbs more than their vehicle. Just keep an eye on all temps, and pay attention to shifting, as you should no matter what you tow with. Happy camping!