Any Durango owners?

[jhelgesen]

Looking to consolidate vehicles between a Ram 1500 and a Xterra. Looking seriously at a durango, 4x4, 5.7l, etc. (sorry, not a ford or gm guy). Anyone have experience with them. Guy at the track I talked with pulls his 20'+ box trailer at 70mph on the highway and loves it.

[Jims5543]

I had a Durango for a year then needed a pickup and sold it for my Dodge Dakota quad cab. It is essentially a Durango. My Druango had the 5.7 and it is a very strong engine. I now have their smaller engine I know its a Mercedes engine its a 4.7 and tows my RX-7 on a older steel traler with ease. I can travel 80 MPH with it and have pulled the car over the mountains on I-75 in Tennessee without a problem.

The 5.7 or 5.9 are much stronger than my 4.7 so you get the picture.

I have 60K+ miles on my Dakota now and the onyl issues I have had recently have been to replace to upper ball joints and I had a front brake caliper freeze up. I replaced both fronts to be on the safe side.

I have done nothing but tow with and drive this truck with nothing more than scheaduled fluid changes.

Hope I was helpful.

[rcecale]

Been driving our 2000 Durango since we got it in 1999. this thing pulls like nobody's business! It's not the fastest vehicle on the road, but she definitely has no problem towing.

We've driven from Michigan to Lake Tahoe, and from Tahoe here to Georgia, both times carying crammed packed U-haul trailers. (Sure, they're not a "20' box", but those trailers are bulky as he!!)

As Jim said, the mountains of Tennessee, down I-75 were nothing. Kept up and even passed other traffic with no issue.

What really impressed me though, was the way it handled itself through the mountains out west. Those Tennessee "hills" got nothing on the Sierras or the Rockies.

If it's pulling power you're looking for, my Durango has my vote!

Randy

Oh...the ride is pretty comfortable too. Right now, it's my daily driver.

Not mine...but a very good likeness.

[cegerer]

My wife has an '04 Durango with the 5.7 "Hemi". Really strong motor. I've got a 7200LB trailer that pulls easily. I've been quite impressed with the truck actually. It's one of the most stable vehicles in crosswinds I've ever driven - not sure why? It's got about 25,000 miles and we've had very few problems.

[Hugh R]

Had one, the trannie overheated whenever we pulled the trailer in the summer up to Shaver Lake, about 5000' above sea level. I think it was a 2000. Leased it and turned it back in.

[jhelgesen]

Just the info I was looking for guys, thanks!

[DavidI]

Our 2002 Durango is great. We use it to tow a 3500# camping trailer with no problem. Very reliable and safe car.

David

[928ram]

Whether you intend to tow or not, get the factory tow package. You just can't add all those upgrades for anywhere near the price of the factory option, and the extra cooling and HD charging are a plus no matter what you use the truch for.

[cashflyer]

We had a 1999 Dodge Durango, 5.2L.

Our experience was that they are a POS. Lots of little items kept going wrong (like window regulators binding & motors burning-out), lots of front suspension problems, etc. Definately NOT a puller with that 318 engine.

No experience with the newer ones.

[Tim Hancock]

Well, all I can say is that my 98 Dakota 4 x 4 was a pc of ***** and had 8 seperate problems in the 40 mnths and 40,000 miles that I had it. It was my wife's daily driver for most of that time. Maybe Dodge has improved lately, but based on the swamped huge service bays at the local dealership, I kind of doubt it. I replaced it w/ a used '99 Toyota Tacoma 4 X 4 and 50k miles later it has not had one problem! The Dodge dealership (30 miles from home) used to make us rent a "loaner" even during warranty repairs and always had a week minimum backlog.

I stopped at a local Toyota dealership and their small service bay was EMPTY!

Maybe Daimler has straightened them out now, I will never know though, as I will NEVER buy one of those POS UAW built vehicles EVER again!

[madmmac]

Torque converters on the automatic's are a known problem and have been for years.

[cashflyer]

Originally posted by madmmac
Torque converters on the automatic's are a known problem and have been for years.

+1 on the transmissions....

My 1998 Ram 1500 trans needs rebuilt now after hauling an EMPTY 20' car trailer. Truck allegedly has a 6000 pound towing capacity, but that 3200 pound trailer smoked the trans.

Last summer my fathers 2001 Ram 1500 trans had to be rebuilt and he does no towing. A servo failed in the valve body.

[cegerer]

There's a HUGE difference between the old style Durango which was known for numerous problems and the new style Durango (I think it came out in 03 or 04) which is a completely different vehicle. Apples and oranges.

[rcecale]

Originally posted by cegerer
There's a HUGE difference between the old style Durango which was known for numerous problems and the new style Durango (I think it came out in 03 or 04) which is a completely different vehicle. Apples and oranges.

Perhaps we were just lucky with our 2000, but this thing has been a real PEACH!

Randy

[2.7RACER]

I put 80,000 miles on my 2000, 5.9L Durango. Towed my trailer with my Porsche all over New Mexico with no problems. 80 MPH in 80 to 100 degree temps.
I see lots of SUV's without the third seat, they seem small.
Only downside with the 2000, 16mpg regular gas. At 5,000 feet elevation doesn't need super.
Too narrow for a 4X8 sheet of plywood.
I now own a 2005 Durango. Smaller motor, not the Hemi. Rides better. Still tow the trailer and race car. Not as much power as the 5.9L, but does get a couple mpg better.
It will take a 4X8 sheet of plywood.
I still wonder why folks pay big bucks for smaller SUV's.
I do not use the four wheel drive, so no evaluation there.
Dealer service is excellent.
I really like the third seat function.
If I was towing more I'd have got the Hemi.
Oh, I do have the dealer service the trans and diffs every 30,000 miles.
If you want Bling, spend more, get Bling. Wouldn't trade my Durango for anything else.

[cegerer]

"I still wonder why folks pay big bucks for smaller SUV's. "

Me too. We bought ours new, but 1 model year old, and it was $27K out-the-door! It's loaded with a Hemi, AWD, DVD player, 3rd seat, leather, etc. I thought that was a great deal.