Towing with a Dodge Caravan?

Let's assume I'd be pulling a 2000 lbs. IT car & gear 150 miles round trip once a month the summer. Do you think a '97 Grand Caravan would be up to the task? It's rated at 3500 lbs. with the tow package and I'll be adding an external trans. cooler. The IT car would be on a dolley and I estimate all my stuff tipping the scale at 2900 lbs.

Am I nuts? Has anyone towed with the '96-'00 Caravan?
Mine has the 3.8L V6 with a class 3 hitch. On the plus side the trans. was already replaced by the previous owner and they upgraded the torque converter.

My brother used to tow with his '01 Town and Country with the 3.8...never had any problems.

I'm really not a fan of tow dolleys. I've heard too many horror stories of cars jumping off at speed, even when "properly" secured.

fornetti14 wrote: On the plus side the trans. was already replaced by the previous owner and they upgraded the torque converter.

Get an Astro, really, the Caravan tranny is THAT weak and Astros can be had cheap... Hell Tony your deForester would be better than a Caravan.

please tell me the tranny's got better by the 05 models?

I know the Aurora can't tow... so the wife's van is the only way.

Personally I wouldn't tow anything with a mopar van ever. They're great vans and I'd buy one in a heartbeat, but yeah, that tranny...

I tow alot. I think alot has do with driving style and terrain. Is your trip lots of hills and stop and go?

ManofFewWords wrote: I tow alot. I think alot has do with driving style and terrain. Is your trip lots of hills and stop and go?

Agreed.

I tow with ~This MiniVan~, no problem.

And have been towing with it since '05 (that's at least 35 events).

I drive gently and keep things under 65 mph. I wouldn't try this without four wheel electric brakes, though. My previous tow-vehicle was a 30 Series Chevy...I like this better. One of the other guys I know tows with a Honda Odyssey with good results.

And, I know two guys who tow with Chrysler minivans. Both tow small vintage cars like mine. And both seem to have good luck as far as I can tell (actually I was inspired to get a minivan after seeing one of these guys).

I thought all the problems with Chrylser fwd minivan transmissions were resolved in the early 90s? No? We've had several in our family (one with a particularly brutal driver). No trans problems that I've seen.

I'm looking at towing with an Odyssey or a Sienna right now Weight will be less than 3000, but it is an enclosed trailer.

Per

aeronca65t wrote: I thought all the problems with Chrylser fwd minivan transmissions were resolved in the early 90s? No? We've had several in our family (one with a particularly brutal driver). No trans problems that I've seen.

We towed quite often with our '98 Town and Country, which we bought new. Had the towing package with transmission cooler. Pulled a small open trailer with about 3,000 pounds total--Ro-Spit, as I remember? Rebuilt the tranny at 89,000 miles.

It's J.G.'s now, and has 153,000 miles on it. He tows a good deal with it too, says no problems, but that's mostly bikes. He also says he "heard" that the rebuilt transmissions are good for more miles than original stock, thanks to tips 'n' tricks that are common on these rebuilds. No details there, so YMMV.

Our next van was a 2002 Odyssey, it towed a larger open trailer, but aluminum and so probably still around 3,000 pounds, and needed a warranty transmission rebuild in the 50,000-mile range. Again, had the towing package/tranny cooler. And again, it now lives with a friend, has for the past several years, and seems to be enjoying a happy life with no problems.

Margie

We used to tow with a grand caravan and had no problems. If it was a high mileage tranny that would be a concern, but if it was in good condition and you would trust it driving, I wouldn't worry about towing. We also had a 90 grand/towing that left us stranded a few times because of the transmission.

The towing package was essentially a better cooling package(w/larger tranny cooler) bigger brakes, heavier hub's/bearings and bigger springs. Replacing the tranny cooler with a larger one would be a great idea.

Towing might accelerate the death of the trans, but I would be willing to bet if it dies it was already on its way out.

I used to tow fairly regularly with a 99 Chevy Venture, no trans. problems at 161000 miles. It replaced a Caravan that was a nightmare. I was almost glad when my son stuffed it under a pickup. Everything about the Venture was better. Most of my towing now it with a e150 van with the 5.4. No contest I will never tow with a small van/car again. The extra fuel is worth it. My .02

I think that caravans are rated for 2000 lbs. Increases to 3500 lbs. with a tow package.

Check with a Dodge dealer.

You sure it's a class 3 hitch? I don't think there is any such thing as a class 3 for a minivan.

chrysler kept saying they fixed the trans by xxx

my 97's trans went at 80, 150, and 218k

the 98's went at 70, 138k, and the reman one lasted 2 weeks.

the 3 speed has a weak rear planetary set, the gear teeth shear off. i found them all in the trans pan on the 97. the 98 had a 4 speed and i dunno what happened but there was so much aluminum in the pan(the diff pin did not let go) that i bought a reman. and it puked 2 weeks after install. junked it and chalked up as $1100 lesson to never buy another chrysler product again.

We have a 2004 Sienna - up until 2007 they came standard with the "tow package". 3500# tow capacity, bought some air bags for the rear ($70 on Amazon). I tow carefully on a U-Haul dolly, 2000# vehicle. It does okay. I'd feel a little better with a full size truck, but the trade-off is that my wife and kids love the van. I'd really like to get a lightweight open trailer and electric brakes, but I'm only towing 2 or 3 times a year, so it's hard to justify.

patgizz wrote: chrysler kept saying they fixed the trans by xxx my 97's trans went at 80, 150, and 218k the 98's went at 70, 138k, and the reman one lasted 2 weeks. the 3 speed has a weak rear planetary set, the gear teeth shear off. i found them all in the trans pan on the 97. the 98 had a 4 speed and i dunno what happened but there was so much aluminum in the pan(the diff pin did not let go) that i bought a reman. and it puked 2 weeks after install. junked it and chalked up as $1100 lesson to never buy another chrysler product again.

there are always exceptions, but I'd call this the norm.

Toyman01 wrote: I used to tow fairly regularly with a 99 Chevy Venture, no trans. problems at 161000 miles. It replaced a Caravan that was a nightmare. I was almost glad when my son stuffed it under a pickup. Everything about the Venture was better. Most of my towing now it with a e150 van with the 5.4. No contest I will never tow with a small van/car again. The extra fuel is worth it. My .02

GM may be the way to go if your in the market for a used fwd mini. If you already have the dodge, I would tow with it. It probably will blow up, but I don't think towing will kill it exponentially faster.

We also got an Olds silhouette(venture twin), haven't got a chance to tow with it but it has 150+ k on the original trans and gets 25-26 mpg on highway trips. Night and day difference between the 19-20 from the dodge and I still can't believe I'm not on trans #3. But, the dodge had a nicer ride and I would rather take it on a long trip if comfort was the top priority.

just for comparison for the above poster - i had a 92 lumina APV. it towed every day from 100k on - my electrician owned it and towed his tools/equipment in a 12' long enclosed trailer and the van was permanently hooked up to it. i bought it from him with 268k intending to just use it for parts, and i wound up hooking up a trailer and using it for work for 4 more months, the only reason i ended up using it for parts was because the fuel pump died and the front end was just worn out and we didn't want to mess with it since i got 4 months out of a $200 van.

My .02: I wouldn't tow anything serious (over 3k pounds) with any of the FWD minivans because honestly to keep the gearbox small enough for the confines of a FWD setup concessions had to be made leading to a greater chance of eary tranny death. Not to mention I don't like the idea of the drive wheels being way at the front of the tow rig.

I'd like to have a full size van, but that would probably be more than I really need, I can't see needing more than 5K capacity. I keep threatening to do a V8 Astrofari and for me I think that would be the best compromise. Next would be a short wheelbase full size van. Just for ease of parts interchange it would probably be a GM piece.

My company car is a 01 voyager with the 3.3 flex fuel and 217,000 miles. On trans #3. It just started the stupid "super hard downshift at 26mph" thing again. Supposedly the fix is just to take it to the dealer and let them do a "quick learn" on the transmission computer. I'm just not going to drive it any more.

I guess that doesn't really answer your question though...

SVreX wrote: I think that caravans are rated for 2000 lbs. Increases to 3500 lbs. with a tow package. Check with a Dodge dealer. You sure it's a class 3 hitch? I don't think there is any such thing as a class 3 for a minivan.

It's an aftermarket Curt brand hitch (bolts on in 6 places too). I'm going to roll the dice and go for it. We already own the van and have next to nothing in it. The white stallion is a pimped ES model with leather and 7 speaker Infinity stereo. We've taken care of it and my wife never puts it into overdrive when she's running around town. Needless to say I'll pull at 65 and just take my time.

After studying the rear suspension I noticed that an additional coil over spring can be installed where the bump stop currently resides. Anyone look at modifying this? My current rear shocks were already replaced with some nice coil over units.

if you have the small bolt circle wheels i'll shoot you some brake rotors/pads for shipping, the pads i put on the day before the van died a horrible death(97 grand caravan) and the rotors i think were either brand new or almost new.

You should be fine.

I wouldn't put that 900 lbs of extra gear you've got in the back of the van. Try to put it in the towed car.

BTW- I tow all the time. All kinds of rigs. Unlike several folks here, I actually LIKE tow dollies. Tehy tow like a dream, just DO NOT try to back up!

Keith wrote:

I wonder if I could do this to an E150... Hey Jensenman warm up that plasma cutter...