2014, 1500, 5.7 Litter, 4x4, 5.21 axle ratio

[Lorenzo]

Hey guys I just bought a 2014, 1500, 5.7 Litter, 4x4, 5.21 axle ratio, quad.

I was woundering how much could I actually tow? The website says just 8k :/ but 8k is still alot. I remember my very old e350 gas box truck held 7k pounds and that was over the manufacture amount. hmmm

I wanted to buy a 18 foot trailer with 6k pounds inside the trailer and not including the actual weight of the trailer either. Can this truck go above the factory limit safely or even at all?

Also maybe there would be any way to improve this vehicle to go above?
Plz help

 

[smurfs_of_war]

Hey guys I just bought a 2014, 1500, 5.7 Litter, 4x4, 5.21 axle ratio, quad.

I was woundering how much could I actually tow? The website says just 8k :/ but 8k is still alot. I remember my very old e350 gas box truck held 7k pounds and that was over the manufacture amount. hmmm

I wanted to buy a 18 foot trailer with 6k pounds inside the trailer and not including the actual weight of the trailer either. Can this truck go above the factory limit safely or even at all?

Also maybe there would be any way to improve this vehicle to go above?
Plz help

3.21 gears I assume you meant? What trim level is your truck? The higher trim levels (Larmaie, Longhorn, Limited) have really dismal payload ratings and that will dictate what you can legally tow. I am WAY overweight with a tiny 5500lbs trailer for example. Yes your truck will move 8000lbs quite handily (with 3.21 it won't be much fun though) but the weight that an 8000lbs trailer will place on your truck at the hitch will be your limiter.

Yes- mechanically you can go above your limits quite easily. Safely? Guess it depends on how much over. It will accelerate wear for sure, but it won't self destruct if you are a few hundred over- but what you describe is a trailer with 6000lbs inside the trailer, not including the trailer weight itself? The combination weight rating is the driveline rating for your truck and trailer combo together. Look that up, see what it says. If, for example, it is like mine- 15650lbs, that means my truck is rated to power a load weighing up to that much (truck and trailer combined) without stressing the driveline beyond it's capacities but that still ignores the GVWR of the truck itself. Your best upgrades you can do to mechanically help you (this won't change any legal ratings) is to regear- but that is costly. If you have air suspension, not much you can do there, if you have coil suspension- swap in heavier coils or add air bags, switch out the crap-year tires for an LT tire (D or E), and get better shocks.

 

[audio1der]

You didn't buy nearly enough truck. Even a properly equipped/geared 1500 would be taxed with the load you're describing, and you handicapped yours before you started by choosing 3.21s.

 

[smurfs_of_war]

^^ Agree.

 

[MiRamDriver]

This seems to be at least a weekly thread. You purchased the wrong truck to do what you need to do, you bought a truck with highway gears.

 

[Lorenzo]

i really hurt myself with the axle ratio. I didnt know it was going to be that small. is there any way to change the axle rate or buy a new 1?

How much does a race horse weigh? Some1 said 2,250 pounds?

I wanted to buy a house trailer and have 3 horses on it. My truck cant handle that?

 

[cdhd2001]

2500 territory...

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[smurfs_of_war]

i really hurt myself with the axle ratio. I didnt know it was going to be that small. is there any way to change the axle rate or buy a new 1?

How much does a race horse weigh? Some1 said 2,250 pounds?

I wanted to buy a house trailer and have 3 horses on it. My truck cant handle that?

Yeah, like mentioned. 2500 or better. You can regear to 3.92 or better for a couple grand, but getting it moving will be the least of your worries. Controlling it will be what bites you. A quick google shows the average weight of a race horse in the 1000-1200lbs area. But, add in all the essentials for transporting those animals and I'd bet that 2200lbs per animal isn't too far off.

Forgive me though, I had to rely on google for those stats because I simply know NOTHING about them, but a few trailers I looked at based on what you describe puts you well into 2500 territory. 3500 might be better.

 

[audio1der]

As stated above, re-gearing can be done but that is only part of the equation. It's also ridiculously expensive. Trading up wouldn't cost much more and would net an overall more capable platform.
If you're looking at horses, that is a significant investment you will want to safely transport; not a good opportunity to cut corners.
Some folks quote bigger brakes on a 2500 but all my reading has yielded a 7% improvement there; that could be equalled with affordable aftermarket parts. The big gains are frame strength and the floating axle. How 3/4 and 1 ton trucks carry their load using additional sets of bearings and not directly on the axle tube makes them more stable.

 

[Lorenzo]

I have 70 miles on my truck. It came with 30 and I bought it last week, I just drove to the bank. If the dealer says yes, do you think giving him an extra 2 grand would be fair to give me another truck with bigger axles?

 

[smurfs_of_war]

2 miles or 200, unless you have a really stand up dealer, pretty sure you'll eat a chunk on this one. Sorry man.

 

[Lorenzo]

I hope not. Yea maybe your right
They told me to call him tomorrow because he left for the day. There dealership is very huge, they have so many trucks they can't even find them. I guess I should ask him if 2k would work for him. I payed 49. sh1*...

 

[audio1der]

Geez,this seems genuinely doable to me. I hope it works out for you.

 

[2711]

Good luck


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[MiRamDriver]

Good luck. I have a feeling that you're going to take a big hit. Should've bought a 2500 at the very least for what you intend to tow.

My max tow rating is 10,000 lbs. In about a week I'll be towing right at my limit, I've installed airbags as well. I never intended on doing this but circumstances necessitated it. I'm pulling it for 900 miles, so it should be interesting. I'm going to take it very slow and monitor everything.

 

[DannyMK2]

i really hurt myself with the axle ratio.

no, its not the axle ratio, you need a bigger truck. even with 3.92's, youll be pushing it, probably even still over the limit. if its local towing, maybe not so bad, but long distace theres no way i would do that with a 1500.

im just curious, did you discuss your towing plans with the dealer before you purchased the truck?

 

[preachp]

Hi Lorenso,

+1 you should have gotten a 2500, but this is what I found on race horse weight:
"The weights of racehorses depends on what they race. Sprinters, for example weigh no more then 1,000 to a 1,500 pounds. These horses are smaller because they have to be easier to maneuver in a short period of time. Racehorses running the long distance, on the other hand, weigh about 1500 to 2000 pounds since they need the lung capacity to finish the race."

Also do you have the 6 speed or the 8 speed tranny? It makes a big difference in what your truck can reasonably handle. Did you go to the RAM truck site and calculate your tow rating? That would give you a number that should be pretty close to what your truck is rated for.
In any case good luck and hope you get it sorted.

preachp

 

[Lorenzo]

no, its not the axle ratio, you need a bigger truck. even with 3.92's, youll be pushing it, probably even still over the limit. if its local towing, maybe not so bad, but long distace theres no way i would do that with a 1500.

Your very right. I will be going 15-20-30k pounds. I will need a diesel vehicle, no 1500 can do that.

This truck will do 300-400 miles per day so it is best to get the smallest axles and then latter go diesel.

I called the dealership yesterday and he wanted me to call my sales rep today because he had already left (7pm), to try and make a switch. (Google my dealer"Barbera's Autoland" they have over 1k ram trucks on their lot, if anyone would make the switch, it would b them) But I figured that I wont even call him because I wanna keep the lower axles, its much more suited for what I wanna use it for. higher 1500 isn't "Truck" for my experiance. I will need to go diesel. Thanks every1 for the luck. I havent even called the dealer, though they asked me too because I like this better. extra 2k pounds is nothing when I rather have the gas mileage.

What I do wanna know is, do I have an 8 or 6 gear tranny

 

[smiley]

I might have read it wrong but if you have 8 speed that will make a big difference on what those 3.21's can do. Based on trailer you described a 3.92 geared ram with 8 speed could do that as long as trailer is not super heavy. I have towed both 22 and 24 ft enclosed trailers with that much weight in them on multiple occasions and I have 5 speed and then only had 3.55 gears a couple trips. I now have 4.56 which is huge difference but does not change legal limit as we talk about in all these towing posts. I think you would enjoy towing that load more with a 2500 but not necessity from what I read.


$miley

 

[jbnimble]

I had the same dilemma 3.21 vs 3.92. I had opted for the 3.21 based on 8K towing performance. I just finished this week towing a 31' TT weight somewhere between 7000~7400. My 1500 5.7 8 speed did just fine although you knew it was there. Not looking to win any races but it was able to get out of its own way. Only noticeable drawback was going uphill. I went with the 3.21 because of only 10~15% towing time and wanted the better fuel economy of the 3.21 at highway driving the other 85% of time.