spoon059
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2015
- Posts
- 496
- Reaction score
- 343
- Location
- Just north of Washington DC
- Ram Year
- 2015
- Engine
- 6.7 CTD
OP, I think you made the right decision by passing on this trailer. That is a LOT of weight and a LOT of wind resistance to have to deal with.
I disagree with this. The weight distribution hitch will move weight off your rear axle and to your front axle... but it won't make any of that hitch weight disappear. Furthermore, the WDH is a heavy piece of equipment and will further eat into your payload.
You are right about packing things in the trailer though, as that will only transfer about 12-15% of the weight to the truck. But from my experience, this is too much weight for a half ton.
Most Ram 1500's come with P rated tires, not heavier D or E rated tires. Those tires will have a lot of flex and allow a lot of up/down and left/right movement. Ram 1500's are known for having a softer suspension, which is great for driving unloaded, but not very good for hauling a heavy trailer.
Trailer towing specs from the manufacturer are the best case scenario. A lot of half tons are rated to haul 10K plus lbs... but with a relatively low payload rating, it is almost impossible to haul a 10K lbs RV and maintain a low enough tongue weight to meet your specs. If you were hauling a boat or a flat trailer, you might get closer to that 10K number, but the high front wall on a travel trailer requires a higher tongue weight to prevent sway.
I had a Tundra and bought my new trailer, a 34' long 7200 lbs empty, 9500 lbs GVWR trailer. I originally did the math and thought that I could squeeze the numbers and make it work with my Tundra. I had E rated tires and air bags, so I didn't have the squishy suspension to deal with. Even as much as I tried, I couldn't finesse the weight around to keep my payload low enough, my tongue weight high enough and still haul my family and dogs around with that trailer.
I ended up trading my Tundra and getting the Ram 2500 with almost double the payload. It was an expensive lesson to learn, but I learned it. Trying to force too small of a truck to handle too big of a trailer is not worth the effort. Especially with longer trips, you will be further from home, you will be loaded heavier than for a short trip...
Good decision to bypass this trailer for now. If you are going to do it, do it right and do it smart. I am paying a trailer payment AND a truck payment because I tried to get by with what I had. I don't have regrets, I love my truck and trailer, but I wish I didn't have both payments at the same time.
You will be using a weight distributing hitch, put more stuff in the camper and not the truck, you WILL be fine.
Don't let all these people discourage you, yes, you are border line at the limit, but, you still have room to pull that camper.
Just be smart about it.
I disagree with this. The weight distribution hitch will move weight off your rear axle and to your front axle... but it won't make any of that hitch weight disappear. Furthermore, the WDH is a heavy piece of equipment and will further eat into your payload.
You are right about packing things in the trailer though, as that will only transfer about 12-15% of the weight to the truck. But from my experience, this is too much weight for a half ton.
Most Ram 1500's come with P rated tires, not heavier D or E rated tires. Those tires will have a lot of flex and allow a lot of up/down and left/right movement. Ram 1500's are known for having a softer suspension, which is great for driving unloaded, but not very good for hauling a heavy trailer.
Trailer towing specs from the manufacturer are the best case scenario. A lot of half tons are rated to haul 10K plus lbs... but with a relatively low payload rating, it is almost impossible to haul a 10K lbs RV and maintain a low enough tongue weight to meet your specs. If you were hauling a boat or a flat trailer, you might get closer to that 10K number, but the high front wall on a travel trailer requires a higher tongue weight to prevent sway.
I had a Tundra and bought my new trailer, a 34' long 7200 lbs empty, 9500 lbs GVWR trailer. I originally did the math and thought that I could squeeze the numbers and make it work with my Tundra. I had E rated tires and air bags, so I didn't have the squishy suspension to deal with. Even as much as I tried, I couldn't finesse the weight around to keep my payload low enough, my tongue weight high enough and still haul my family and dogs around with that trailer.
I ended up trading my Tundra and getting the Ram 2500 with almost double the payload. It was an expensive lesson to learn, but I learned it. Trying to force too small of a truck to handle too big of a trailer is not worth the effort. Especially with longer trips, you will be further from home, you will be loaded heavier than for a short trip...
Good decision to bypass this trailer for now. If you are going to do it, do it right and do it smart. I am paying a trailer payment AND a truck payment because I tried to get by with what I had. I don't have regrets, I love my truck and trailer, but I wish I didn't have both payments at the same time.