What will our 08 Dodge 5.7 Tow and does it have HD Tran Cooler?

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aimcat

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Hi guys, my husband and I have an 08 Dodge Ram 1500, Quad Cab, 5.7 Hemi, 4WD. We are going to purchase a 3800lb camper and wanted to make sure it will safely tow this, along with getting the hitch weights, etc so I can get the proper weight dist hitch. Also will we be able to do the plug and go brake controller with ours? We got the build sheet for our Ram and here is what it says about the installed factory options pertaining to the tow package:
XFHP Class IV Receiver Hitch
XFKP 7 Pin Wiring Harness
XFUS Trailer Tow w/4-Pin Connector Wiring
NHBP Auxiliary Transmission Oil Cooler
 

justin13703

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It'll easily pull that. You will know it's back there, but depending on your gear ratios it can pull twice that weight and then some. Does it have 3.92 gears?

And yes you should have the brake controller plug. If you want to be certain just look up under your dash near your emergency brake pedal. It will be a blue plug.
 
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aimcat

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Yes it has 3.92 gears
 
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aimcat

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What would opinion be on a 3.55 gears with the HD cooler? Would it tow as good or better?
 

justin13703

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No. The higher the number is for the gear ratio, the better the truck will tow. A truck with 3.92's will tow much better than a truck with 3.55's.
 
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aimcat

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According to our build sheet we just have an aux tram cooler though?
 

justin13703

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You can install the HD cooler off of a 3500 truck if you want the added cooling capacity. I've pulled a few loads over 10,000 lbs with the stock cooler and haven't had any trans temp issues but there's a lot of variables there. The HD cooler is pretty much a direct swap if you want the added cooling capacity, I don't believe you will need it towing that load, but it wouldn't hurt.
 
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aimcat

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Ok I was confused, because I saw a thing somewhere that said without the HD cooler our 5.7 with 3.92 would only tow 5500lbs? But then other places say 8200. We were considering trading it for an 09 with 5.7 but 3.55 but sounds like ours is better for towing, but the 09 had the HD stuff added.
 

justin13703

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Your truck will tow much more than 5500lbs, I'm not sure where you saw that. But yes 3.92 gears are much better for towing than 3.55s.

If you're really worried about the cooler issue just pick up one of the HD coolers. I think they're around 200 dollars and they'll pretty much just bolt in.
 
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aimcat

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Ok thanks for that info. If we were to try and trade up a few years for the 4th gen design which packages in the 1500 will give us the bigger gears?
 

justin13703

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Most of the time the tow package will come with 3.92s but if you're buying it new it should say on the window sticker, or if you get it used just grab the vin and get the build sheet just to be safe.
 

ST-8

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I think I remember seeing that a 2wd rcsb 5.7 with 3.55 was rated at #8200 an 3.92s was #9200
 
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aimcat

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We found an 09 we liked but it only had the 3.55 gears. It was a big horn. But said it had the HD towing packages. So that is why I was trying to get an idea of which trim levels had the 3.92.
 

justin13703

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We found an 09 we liked but it only had the 3.55 gears. It was a big horn. But said it had the HD towing packages. So that is why I was trying to get an idea of which trim levels had the 3.92.

There really is no way to know for sure from a package. Most of them, at least in the 3rd gens, that had the tow package had 3.92s. I say most because there is always a chance that they won't depending on how the dealer or customer ordered it. The only real way to know is to get the build sheet or find it on the window sticker.
 

kbrown

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