Dodge Durango Towing Capacity: The 8,700 lb Question

Dodge publishes a "best-in-class maximum towing capacity of up to 8,700 pounds" for the 2025 Durango, and states that "All 2026 Dodge Durango models deliver best-in-class towing of up to 8,700 pounds." Both figures come from Stellantis's own press material for those model years. There is one important catch in the 2026 sentence, covered below, and one physical problem with the 8,700 lb number generally: a conventional trailer at that weight puts roughly 870 to 1,305 lb straight down on the ball, and that lands on the payload of a three-row SUV. The tow rating and the payload rating are different accounts, and on this vehicle the second one runs out first. Your own ratings are on the labels in your driver's door jamb and in your owner's manual.

Dodge Durango Towing Capacity: The Published Figures

Not published here, because it could not be traced to a Stellantis document: payload, GVWR, GCWR, tongue weight rating, a per-engine or per-trim tow rating for the 2025 lineup, or any rating for a Durango without the tow package. Figures for those circulate on dealer and aggregator pages and disagree with each other. This site does not restate them.

The 2026 Catch Worth Knowing Before You Order

The sentence "all 2026 Dodge Durango models deliver best-in-class towing of up to 8,700 pounds" was published alongside a lineup described as HEMI V-8 across the board, with the GT, R/T and SRT Hellcat all carrying a V-8.

Stellantis subsequently announced that it was reopening orders for a Durango GT powered by the Pentastar V-6, quoting that engine at 295 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. That later release publishes no towing figure for the V-6 GT.

So the position, stated as plainly as it can be: the "all models" claim was made about a V-8 lineup, and the V-6 GT rejoined afterward without a published rating attached to it. Do not assume 8,700 lb applies to a V-6 Durango. If you are ordering or buying one, get the rating in writing from Dodge's own specification material for that model year and configuration, and confirm it against the labels on the vehicle when it arrives. This is exactly the kind of gap that where to find your real towing capacity exists to route around.

The Ball Load Problem

The Durango's headline is high for a vehicle of this size, and that creates a specific trap. Tow rating is a combination limit. Tongue weight is a payload limit. They are set by different constraints and they run out at different times.

A conventional bumper-pull trailer carries 10 to 15 percent of its loaded weight on the ball. At the top of the Durango's published range:

Now add everything else that comes out of the same account. Take a trailer loaded to 7,500 lb:

• Tongue weight at 13 percent: 975 lb
• Weight-distributing hitch hardware: 100 lb
• Two adults and three children: 600 lb
• Cargo behind the third row and on the roof: 250 lb

1,925 lb of payload consumed, and the tow rating never entered the calculation. A three-row Durango with all-wheel drive, a sunroof and a full trim package has already spent a large share of its payload at the factory. It is entirely possible to be thousands of pounds inside 8,700 lb and over your payload rating at the same time, which is the failure this site exists to argue against. The mechanism is set out in payload vs towing capacity and the percentages in tongue weight explained.

A weight-distributing hitch is usually required at these weights and is genuinely valuable, because it redistributes the tongue load across the axles and restores steering and level ride. It does not reduce the total weight carried by the vehicle by a single pound.

What Moves a Durango's Rating

• Engine. The published maximum belongs to V-8 configurations. The V-6 is a different rating, and Dodge did not publish it in the material checked for this page.
• The tow package. Ratings are published for properly equipped vehicles. Cooling, wiring and a rated receiver are factory content, and the Tow N Go package on the R/T is named by Dodge alongside the 8,700 lb figure.
• Drivetrain and trim. All-wheel drive and heavier trims add weight, and added weight is subtracted from payload and combined capacity.
• Model year. Ratings are re-established each year and the Durango's engine lineup has changed, so a figure from an earlier year does not transfer to a current vehicle.

Durango Against Its Own Stablemate

The Durango and the Jeep Grand Cherokee are frequently cross-shopped, and their published tow ratings are not close. Jeep publishes up to 6,200 lb for the 2025 and 2026 Grand Cherokee, which is roughly 2,500 lb below the Durango's headline. If your trailer sits between those two figures, the choice between them is genuinely decided by the rating rather than by taste. The full breakdown, with the same sourcing discipline, is in Jeep Grand Cherokee towing capacity.

What neither comparison settles is payload, because neither manufacturer publishes it in a press release. That has to come off the placard of the specific vehicle in front of you. The method behind every figure in this cluster is set out in towing capacity by vehicle.

Reading Your Own Durango, in Order

1. The Tire and Loading Information placard in the driver's door jamb: your payload, in the sentence beginning "the combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed."
2. The certification label in the same area: GVWR and front and rear GAWR.
3. Your owner's manual and Dodge's specification material for your model year: the rating for your engine, trim, drivetrain and installed tow equipment.
4. A public scale, loaded the way you actually travel, with the trailer attached. Everything above is a rating. A scale is the only measurement.

Trailer weight, incidentally, means loaded weight. The number on the trailer's brochure is a dry figure and understates what you will really pull, which is the point made in wet weight vs dry weight.

FAQ

What is the towing capacity of a Dodge Durango?
Dodge publishes up to 8,700 lb as the maximum for both the 2025 and the 2026 Durango in its own press material. It is a lineup maximum for properly equipped vehicles, so the rating for a specific engine, trim and drivetrain has to come from Dodge's specification material for that model year or from your owner's manual.

Does the V-6 Durango tow 8,700 lb?
Do not assume so. The "all models" statement for 2026 was published with the lineup described as V-8 across the board, and the later release reopening orders for the Pentastar V-6 GT carries no towing figure. Get the V-6 rating in writing for the model year you are buying.

Can a Durango tow a 30-foot travel trailer?
On weight, often yes, since many 30-foot travel trailers have GVWRs around 7,000 to 7,600 lb. On payload, frequently no, because a trailer that size puts roughly 900 to 1,100 lb on the ball before your family and cargo. Check the total against your door jamb placard before you buy the trailer.

Is the Tow N Go package required for the maximum rating?
Dodge names the Tow N Go package alongside the 8,700 lb figure for the R/T. Published ratings assume the factory tow content is fitted, and it cannot be reproduced afterward by adding a receiver, because it also covers cooling and electrical provision. Confirm the exact requirement for your configuration in Dodge's material for that model year.

Why is the Durango rated so much higher than a Grand Cherokee?
They are different vehicles with different powertrains, structures and cooling. Jeep publishes up to 6,200 lb for the Grand Cherokee against Dodge's up to 8,700 lb for the Durango. The gap is real on the tow rating, but it does not carry over to payload, which is set separately on each individual vehicle and printed on its own door jamb placard.

The door jamb placard and the owner's manual for your exact VIN and trim are the authority. Towing capacity, payload, GVWR and GCWR vary by engine, trim, drivetrain and installed equipment within a single model year, so a figure that is correct for one Durango can be badly wrong for another. Every vehicle figure above is quoted from Stellantis's own press material for the named model year and was retrieved 2026-08-24. No payload, GVWR, GCWR, per-engine or non-tow-package rating is published here, because none could be traced to a manufacturer document, and this site does not reconstruct capacity figures from dealer or aggregator pages.