towing question

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joe tut

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I have a new 2017 ram 4x4 quad cab express 5.7 with 3.21 gear. its max towing is 8100 lbs. the travel trailer I'm interested in is 7000 dry weight, and 9200 max. I have trailer breaks and equalizer weight dist. with sway control. I don't think ill ever exceed 8100 lbs. the tt is 30 feet long. Not sure if its a good ideal. your opinions would be welcomed.. thanks
 

69GWC

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I would guess you might want to think about some heavy duty springs or air bags.
I would guess you will be fine I will be pulling a 28' with mine just alittle lighter than yours.
 

pcschwenke

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That's very similar to our trailer. We towed it with a a truck like yours, and I would be surprised if you don't exceed the payload. Pulling this load was no big deal but ours bounced. I added air bags & D rated tires whiched helped.
 

mtofell

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In the nicest way I can say it - not even close. That trailer is waaaaaay too much for that truck. Your gear ratio limits you and your payload likely limits you. A 7000# dry trailer is borderline too much for even the most capable 1/2 ton. You are at the opposite end of the spectrum with a half ton of lower ability. Your max towing of 8100# can only be achieved with essentially nothing in the truck. Even the WDH that you mention comes off that #. Any other people in the truck? Anything in the bed? Take all that weight off the 8100#. Next, it would be virtually impossible to get that 7000# "dry" trailer on the road at anything under 8000#. Are you going fill the propane tanks? Any water? Surely, you must have some pots, pans, and clothes? It all adds up incredibly quickly. I mention all this not to rain on your parade but because truck manufacturers do a HUGE disservice by bragging about weights that are pretty much unattainable and misleading.

Aside from the weight a 30' TT will throw that truck around like a rag doll.
 
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Shady

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In the nicest way I can say it - not even close. That trailer is waaaaaay too much for that truck. Your gear ratio limits you and your payload likely limits you. A 7000# dry trailer is borderline too much for even the most capable 1/2 ton. You are at the opposite end of the spectrum with a half ton of lower ability. Your max towing of 8100# can only be achieved with essentially nothing in the truck. Even the WDH that you mention comes off that #. Any other people in the truck? Anything in the bed? Take all that weight off the 8100#. Next, it would be virtually impossible to get that 7000# "dry" trailer on the road at anything under 8000#. Are you going fill the propane tanks? Any water? Surely, you must have some pots, pans, and clothes? It all adds up incredibly quickly. I mention all this not to rain on your parade but because truck manufacturers do a HUGE disservice by bragging about weights that are pretty much unattainable and misleading.

Aside from the weight a 30' TT will throw that truck around like a rag doll.



Truth^^^
And it's not hard to find guys on a (1500 centric) forum that will support the idea with "I've hauled the same (or more) with no problem" statements.
Think about the consequences before you load your family up in a underrated truck/tow vehicle.
 

GsRAM

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In the nicest way I can say it - not even close. That trailer is waaaaaay too much for that truck. Your gear ratio limits you and your payload likely limits you. A 7000# dry trailer is borderline too much for even the most capable 1/2 ton. You are at the opposite end of the spectrum with a half ton of lower ability. Your max towing of 8100# can only be achieved with essentially nothing in the truck. Even the WDH that you mention comes off that #. Any other people in the truck? Anything in the bed? Take all that weight off the 8100#. Next, it would be virtually impossible to get that 7000# "dry" trailer on the road at anything under 8000#. Are you going fill the propane tanks? Any water? Surely, you must have some pots, pans, and clothes? It all adds up incredibly quickly. I mention all this not to rain on your parade but because truck manufacturers do a HUGE disservice by bragging about weights that are pretty much unattainable and misleading.

Aside from the weight a 30' TT will throw that truck around like a rag doll.

Absolutely 100% correct. That's a no go. Your payload is your limiting factor. Tongue weights are typically in the 12% of trailer weight range, so with tongue weight alone your nearly out of payload.

Good call coming here to ask before you buy. Salesman will tell you, you can pull it no problem. Don't listen to them. If you buy that trailer, you'll be upgrading to a truck like mine in short order. The engine has pleanty of power to pull it, but the trailers size and weight will move the truck around a lot, especially in windy conditions. Even with a wdh and good sway control. Think tail wagging the dog.
 
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muzupan

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I have a new 2017 ram 4x4 quad cab express 5.7 with 3.21 gear. its max towing is 8100 lbs. the travel trailer I'm interested in is 7000 dry weight, and 9200 max. I have trailer breaks and equalizer weight dist. with sway control. I don't think ill ever exceed 8100 lbs. the tt is 30 feet long. Not sure if its a good ideal. your opinions would be welcomed.. thanks

I have a 30 foot travel trailer dry weight of 6100 and the max weight 7600 pounds. I did pull it with my 2015 ram 1500 CC with a hemi 5.7 with the 3.21 gears. Does the truck have enough power to pull your trailer, absolutely. But you will be overweight on payload and the CGVW. I hit the limit with my trailer and at one point I was over about 400 pounds. Also, as mentioned in a previous post, if you had strong winds you'll be blown all over the road plus there will be a lot of bouncing. I just sold my Ram 1500 and upgraded to a Ram 2500 to pull my travel trailer what a difference it made.
 

gofishn

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By the time you do enough upgrades, so the truck will actually pull the weight, without killing itself or you, it;d be cheaper to replace it with a 3.4 ton. Specially since the truck will always be illegally overloaded, even with the upgrades.

Do other folks do this kind of stuff? Yes, all day long.
Lots of people, do lots of dumb stuff, don't be one of them.

Definitely do not do this with your family in the truck, even after upgrading tires, shocks springs. Do not plan on long term survival of your pick up.


Never good to max out anything, if yo want it to last.
Rule of thumb, for weight , is 75% of max limits.
 

norville

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In the nicest way I can say it - not even close. That trailer is waaaaaay too much for that truck. Your gear ratio limits you and your payload likely limits you. A 7000# dry trailer is borderline too much for even the most capable 1/2 ton. You are at the opposite end of the spectrum with a half ton of lower ability. Your max towing of 8100# can only be achieved with essentially nothing in the truck. Even the WDH that you mention comes off that #. Any other people in the truck? Anything in the bed? Take all that weight off the 8100#. Next, it would be virtually impossible to get that 7000# "dry" trailer on the road at anything under 8000#. Are you going fill the propane tanks? Any water? Surely, you must have some pots, pans, and clothes? It all adds up incredibly quickly. I mention all this not to rain on your parade but because truck manufacturers do a HUGE disservice by bragging about weights that are pretty much unattainable and misleading.

Aside from the weight a 30' TT will throw that truck around like a rag doll.


yep, the whole reason i ended with my ram was my 2003 avalanche(#7100 tow rating) was not up to the task of towing my #5500 dry weight TT.. I bought an '11 outdoorsman with 3.93 gears that is rated to tow #10,000.

I'd say my Travel Trailer is pushing #6500+ with empty tanks. Crap adds up...
 

dRAMbuie

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I have a new 2017 ram 4x4 quad cab express 5.7 with 3.21 gear. its max towing is 8100 lbs. the travel trailer I'm interested in is 7000 dry weight, and 9200 max. I have trailer breaks and equalizer weight dist. with sway control. I don't think ill ever exceed 8100 lbs. the tt is 30 feet long. Not sure if its a good ideal. your opinions would be welcomed.. thanks

As others have already said, that's way too much trailer for your truck.

By the time you get that trailer loaded up, chances are you're going to be over weight, and therefore unsafe. Plain and simple.
Even the dry weight is pushing it for regular towing on a truck with an 8,100lb tow capacity.

You don't indicate whether this is a 5th wheel trailer or a bumper pull.
Either way you're likely going to exceed your GVWR between tongue weight and people/gear in the truck.
Keep in mind that should be 10%-15% of total trailer weight (25% on a 5th wheel).

My 1500 has a max. tow capacity of 10,300lbs, and that trailer fully loaded would be more than I'd want to tow on a regular basis.
 

dRAMbuie

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Your max towing of 8100# can only be achieved with essentially nothing in the truck. Even the WDH that you mention comes off that #. Any other people in the truck? Anything in the bed? Take all that weight off the 8100#. Next, it would be virtually impossible to get that 7000# "dry" trailer on the road at anything under 8000#. Are you going fill the propane tanks? Any water? Surely, you must have some pots, pans, and clothes? It all adds up incredibly quickly.

You're right on the money here.
I think most people don't realize just how much all that extra "stuff" weighs.

The dry weight on my trailer is about 4,500lbs. The GVWR is about 7,500lbs.
Fully loaded with water, propane, food, BEER!, and the endless amounts of gear you inevitably pack in there, I figure that trailer is about 7,000lbs going down the highway, with about a 700lb tongue weight.
(I actually bought a tongue weight scale the other day so I'll know exactly what it is soon)

That's not including all the gear in the box, the WDH setup, and the two of us (plus the 4-legged beasty) in the front.

Honestly, I'm probably over my GVWR some days, with much less of a trailer than the OP is talking about.
That's aside from the fact that in this ridiculous Province, vehicles are limited to a GVWR of 6614lbs before you're supposed to pay extra for a high capacity vehicle permit at the registry.
 
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joe tut

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Thank you very much for all of your inputs. I truly value you opinions, so it looks like I need to look for a smaller, and lighter camper... I wish I had this info. before I bought my truck. o well, there are plenty of campers out there... Thanks gentlemen . This is a great forum. Ill keep you guys posted... thank you
 

GsRAM

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Thank you very much for all of your inputs. I truly value you opinions, so it looks like I need to look for a smaller, and lighter camper... I wish I had this info. before I bought my truck. o well, there are plenty of campers out there... Thanks gentlemen . This is a great forum. Ill keep you guys posted... thank you

Very wise decision. There are lots of options out there. Don't go by dry weights, go by gvwr so you have some safety margin.

I'd suggest you look at campers 25' overall (ball to bumper) and under, and 6,000 lb GVWR and under. Just my. 02
 

rontimmer

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I used to pull a 34 ft TT with a GVWR of 6500 with my 2011 1500 with a 5.7 and 4:10 gears and my truck handled the weight pretty well. The problem I had was with the length, it was like a big sail behind me, there were times when a strong gust from the side would cause me to have to drop down to 30 MPH to get it to stop swaying and that was with two sway controls attached to it.

Like GsRAM said, stick to a trailer under 6,000lbs and 25ft and you should be good to go and able to comfortably pull it.
 

GsRAM

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I used to pull a 34 ft TT with a GVWR of 6500 with my 2011 1500 with a 5.7 and 4:10 gears and my truck handled the weight pretty well. The problem I had was with the length, it was like a big sail behind me, there were times when a strong gust from the side would cause me to have to drop down to 30 MPH to get it to stop swaying and that was with two sway controls attached to it.

Like GsRAM said, stick to a trailer under 6,000lbs and 25ft and you should be good to go and able to comfortably pull it.


Wow, 34' is a monster, as you said, like a giant sail behind you. With that length you need a 3/4 ton truck to control that weight. What you were experiencing was the tail wagging the dog. Very common with half ton trucks towing very long trailers, unless you invest in a very good hitch like a Hensley arrow
 

2015HD

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Thank you very much for all of your inputs. I truly value you opinions, so it looks like I need to look for a smaller, and lighter camper... I wish I had this info. before I bought my truck. o well, there are plenty of campers out there... Thanks gentlemen . This is a great forum. Ill keep you guys posted... thank you

Happens all the time, I bought a 2014 Silverado 1500 before I knew I was going to be a 'camper person'. 2 months later I buy a camper and realize I need more truck. Expensive lesson, I wish I had asked before I got my camper. Good Luck!
 

Skerj

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The dry weight on my trailer is about 4,500lbs. The GVWR is about 7,500lbs.
Fully loaded with water, propane, food, BEER!, and the endless amounts of gear you inevitably pack in there, I figure that trailer is about 7,000lbs going down the highway, with about a 700lb tongue weight.
(I actually bought a tongue weight scale the other day so I'll know exactly what it is soon)

Any updates here? I'm curious as I'm currently in a 27 ft Class A but will probably switch to a 25ish ft TT in the future. And OP, how is your search going?
 

yillbs

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Any updates here? I'm curious as I'm currently in a 27 ft Class A but will probably switch to a 25ish ft TT in the future. And OP, how is your search going?

I have a 28 foot TT with a ACTUAL weight ( for all my stuff ), of 6470 pounds, and a tongue weight of 700 pounds. ( give or take 20 pounds ), it's pretty spot on around 700 on the digital scale though.

I have a lift, and with that lift ( weight ) components, my wife, two kids, small dog, and some other crap, I have a TRUCK weight ( weighed ), at 6460LBS,

The GVCWR is 13500? ( i think? ) , and my GVWR is 6900 pounds, with everything in the truck, plus my Tongue, that puts my GVWR at 7170~ , which means i'm over on my GVWR by about 300~ pounds.

The trailer had a DRY weight of 5960 ( weighed ) and a brochure weight of 5600 pounds.

Maybe that'll give you some insight ?
 

dRAMbuie

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Any updates here? I'm curious as I'm currently in a 27 ft Class A but will probably switch to a 25ish ft TT in the future. And OP, how is your search going?

The weather hasn't been very cooperative on my days off lately.
This coming Sunday is supposed to be decent so I may try to do it then.
I've got a new power tongue jack to install at the same time.

Will post back.
 

dRAMbuie

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I know this is a bit out of date now, but life has been a little chaotic lately and I haven't had time to log in for a while.

According to the scale I bought, I'm sitting right around 675lb tongue weight.

On a slightly different note, never cheap out like me and buy the type of tongue weight scale that fits into the ball hitch on the trailer.
Thing is downright dangerous. If I could find the receipt I'd take it back.
 
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