[Rhodes22-list] Tow vehicles.

[R22RumRunner at aol.com]

One of the most asked questions on this list concerns tow vehicles. Well, 
last weekend I finally had an opportunity to put mine to the test.
I have a 98 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup. It came with automatic transmission, 
factory tow package and the V6, 3.9 liter engine. We towed a R22 approximately 70 
miles through eastern Georgia which has some long and fairly steep grades. The 
boat was on my single axle trailer and it towed perfectly. No fishtailing and 
it climbed the hills without ever dropping below 50 mph, but the engine was 
humming. Just to try everything out, I climbed to 75 and we never experienced 
any problems. Most of the trip was done at 65 mph. My partner was surprised at 
how well it towed the R22 and didn't think the V8 would have had anything more 
to offer. The coolant temperature climbed slightly on the grades, but went 
down quickly once we flattened out. We were in no danger of overheating at any 
time, although the outdoor temperature was around 80 degrees.
All in all I was very happy with the way everything went. I would recommend 
this setup as a great tow vehicle. I don't know how it would handle the really 
steep grades in the Rockies, I think that might be better handled with the 8 
cylinder.

Rummy