I have a 2016 RAM 1500 5.7L Hemi quad cab (6 ft. bed) 4x4 with cooler package. My daughter is a barrel racer and tows a 3 horse goose neck trailer all over Michigan. The horses are 1200 lb+. When she bought the trailer I questioned pulling with a 1500, but the trailer owners (we know them) said that's all they used......Dodge 1500, except traveled out west and into Canada.
The trailer is a Exiss 306 SS
The truck squats slightly but is not out of the ordinary, especially for a Dodge coils. I'm thinking about air bags.
I've had 3500 owners with diesels come and talk to us. They are amazed that we get 11-12 mpg loaded up with two horses on the E-Way. We get better than that @55 mph. On the highway @55 I get 24-26+ mpg no trailer, to work and back 20 miles each way mixed, 18-20. It pulls straight and true, brakes fine, trailer brake used. No engine strain or down shifting except on hills. Oil/engine/trans temps remain normal. It has 3:21 gears. Yep, that's right. No 3:54 or 3:92 gas pig gears; don't need it for 6-8000 lbs. A 8 speed with 3:21 has a mathematically lower gear than a 3:92 with a 6 speed.
The improvements made on newer trucks are amazing. Like many, I was living in the past. It's 2017 guys, forget about the "good ole days". They sucked. I still have my 1982 Dodge 360 1 ton dually 4 door, with 4 speed and creeper. Sure it would pull/haul anything, but top speed was 50-55 and fuel mileage was 10 mpg whether empty or full. I was still living in the 90's at the latest before getting this 2016 RAM. It's a different world now.
Go to any horse show and you'll find 1500 Dodge/Ram 5.7's pulling goose necks, but you won't see a Ford or a Chevy 1/2 ton. Why? They don't have the horsepower is my guess. Only until the 2017 GM trucks put the 6.2L in could they compete. I don't care what the tow rating is on the Fords/Chevy's......people aren't using the 1/2 tons to pull heavy stuff, and definitely not goosenecks.
Could not find picture with truck connected, but this is the model trailer.