2014 Ram Big Horn 4x4 towing a travel trailer *Newbie Here*

[MrKoolics]

Hey guys,

I'm a newbie to the forums but I'm really looking for experience subject matter experts to possibly give me some peace of mind or feedback.

I have a 2014 Ram Big Horn 4x4 5.7 Hemi. My travel trailer camper is a 29 foot Heartland Pioneer, guessing the dry weight is around 6175 lbs. Typically it is just my wife and I camping but so we're loading food up for 2 for about short trips. I'd really like to start traveling further distances with the camper but on our short trips I've noticed the truck doesn't really have the acceleration I'm used to when entering a freeway. Now I know I can't accelerate like when I'm not pulling anything at all but even still it seems the acceleration isn't really there. And if it is going up here I feel it even worse.

Some additional towing information is that I do not have the water tank full. That is empty, the Black and Grey tanks are always emptied after a camping trip. At the beginning of the trip the food for the week is inside the camper. I take some bundles of firewood and camping chairs in the bed of the truck. Clothing and such is also stored in the camper.

My questions here are could I be towing too much for the truck? Am I just babying the truck because I love the thing and don't want to cause any damage? I believe the truck is rated to tow 7200 or 7300 lbs.
When towing if I give the truck some serious gas the RPM's obvious go up also. How high can the RPM's get before I should lay off a bit? What temps should the oil and Transmission gauges read?

I'll finish here with I love the truck, love the camper, I just want to make sure their a match. I've had people tell me I'm fine that the truck should be able to handle all my scenario's without a problem. But I thought that these forums are chalk full of really smart and experienced people that this would be some additional knowledge.

Any feedback or information anyone has to give I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Loudram]

What's the year and model number of your trailer? You can look up the dry weight and tongue weight that way. Those are starter weights. What gearing do you have? That will help us figure out what your tow rating is. You may have to get a copy of your build sheet for that info. Your weak point is your payload. Here is a video to explain what the various weights are and what they mean.

 

[Travelin Ram]

I’d load it up for travel and hit the scales. Then you’ll have data instead of assumptions.

It probably weighs more than you expect.

 

[MrKoolics]

Here are the specs for the camper:


As far as the gearing on my Ram I'm not sure how to tell. All I really know is what the specs are on the dealer website when I bought the truck and the various websites for Ram that I've visited.

Thanks for the video. I'll check it out.

 

[crash68]

My questions here are could I be towing too much for the truck? Am I just babying the truck because I love the thing and don't want to cause any damage? I believe the truck is rated to tow 7200 or 7300 lbs.
When towing if I give the truck some serious gas the RPM's obvious go up also. How high can the RPM's get before I should lay off a bit? What temps should the oil and Transmission gauges read?

As someone else pointed out, find a CAT scale and weigh the truck and trailer loaded up the way head out. Ideally weight the truck without the trailer, then with the trailer but you want each axle individually (front, rear and trailer). These numbers can help you determine if the WDH is set up properly also.
You probably are babying the truck when it comes to stepping on the throttle, which is fine as towing isn't a race. The Hemi torque peak(410 ft/lbs) is 4K rpms so expect to be up around there at times when accelerating, climbing a grade, etc. your not going to hurt the engine having the rpms up around 4-5K rpms. A lot of people freak out about thinking that's too much, as I've told them: If you want to tow at 2K rpms you should have bought a diesel. To put that statement in perspective the EcoDiesel torque peak(420 ft/lbs) is at 2K rpms.
As for temperatures go your coolant could get upwards of 220°F, oil 250°F and your transmission 215°F(it shouldn't stay above your coolant temp), these temps will probably been seen while pulling up a grade. If temps start going over those numbers just back off the throttle a little. If fluids are good and you use a full synthetic oil your not hurting anything temperature wise.

 

[62Blazer]

Without knowing what your perspective is (or what you are used to/comparing it to) on the acceleration it's hard to answer this question. All I can say is that with the trailer you are doubling the overall weight of the rig plus the rolling resistance and wind resistance of a trailer. Then add in your comments about babying the truck and it seems like you likely not even using full throttle and I would expect significantly slower acceleration when pulling the trailer as compared to an empty truck.

The engine computer will not let you over-rev the engine and I would not hesitate to bury my foot to the floorboards if needed for acceleration. Same thing for pulling grades on the freeway as you should be able to go to and hold full throttle. If everything is in proper working order you will not overheat anything, and if the trans or engine does get too hot the engine computer will start throwing warnings and put the truck into reduced power or limp modes.

 

[Enscheff]

That truck should not be struggling with that camper, and it is perfectly fine for towing that rig regularly. I'm guessing you have unrealistic expectations of how a half ton should perform while towing.

 

[MrKoolics]

That truck should not be struggling with that camper, and it is perfectly fine for towing that rig regularly. I'm guessing you have unrealistic expectations of how a half ton should perform while towing.

You could be totally correct with my expectations. This is the first time I've owned a pickup AND camper of this size. I was driving a mini-van pulling a Jayco pop-up and then a Spree Escape. Got the truck that I wanted for a long time and then decided this camper fit the specs. So the *NEWBIE* title probably isn't just about posting to this forum but also pulling a camper. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[crash68]

The engine computer will not let you over-rev the engine and I would not hesitate to bury my foot to the floorboards if needed for acceleration. Same thing for pulling grades on the freeway as you should be able to go to and hold full throttle. If everything is in proper working order you will not overheat anything, and if the trans or engine does get too hot the engine computer will start throwing warnings and put the truck into reduced power or limp modes.

Just stomping the throttle to the floor is a good way to put needless heat into the engine and transmission. While towing heavy you don't want the truck to derate itself. The more heat you have in the combustion chambers, the more likely the engine will pull timing further lowering HP which will inspire some to try and push it harder. Given the torque curve of the Hemi, it pretty much done pulling effectively by about 4500 rpms.

 

[Bldrinker]

Put your foot down. My ‘13 1500 4x4 with 3:55’s pulled my 32’ 7500lb trailer easily.
Maybe you are expecting to much.

 

[Bldrinker]

Just stomping the throttle to the floor is a good way to put needless heat into the engine and transmission. While towing heavy you don't want the truck to derate itself. The more heat you have in the combustion chambers, the more likely the engine will pull timing further lowering HP which will inspire some to try and push it harder. Given the torque curve of the Hemi, it pretty much done pulling effectively by about 4500 rpms.

With that lite of a trailer he will be over the speed limit before anything gets to hot lol.

 

[crash68]

With that lite of a trailer he will be over the speed limit before anything gets to hot lol.

That depends on how much and how long of a grade your pulling. That trailer is about 500lbs less that yours It's better to give it just enough and have some left if you need it than to have the truck not be there if you do need to hammer it.

 

[OC455]

What @crash68 said find a CAT scale, get your weights for truck and then truck trailer and calculate your tongue weight between 10%-15% adjusting where things need to be. Then, set the Tow/Haul button and let the truck do the work.

I've got my hitch set, load the camper evenly, and just accelerate smoothly to get to speed. Do the same and you shouldn't have any problems. I travel the interstate to go to my campsite and set my cruise to 65MPH and just drive.

 

[Tom8]

Is your truck a Hemi? Your setup is like mine but my 2014 big horn has tow rating of 8000 lbs. my trailer is 30 feet and about the same weight. I haul with now issue. I have the smaller differential with the Hemi engine.

 

[62Blazer]

Just stomping the throttle to the floor is a good way to put needless heat into the engine and transmission. While towing heavy you don't want the truck to derate itself. The more heat you have in the combustion chambers, the more likely the engine will pull timing further lowering HP which will inspire some to try and push it harder. Given the torque curve of the Hemi, it pretty much done pulling effectively by about 4500 rpms.

My comment states that if everything is working properly it will not overheat, and therefore not derate anything. Should you floor the accelerator just for the heck of it....really no reason to. But if you are trying to merge onto a busy freeway or at least halfway keep up with traffic pulling a grade there is no reason you can't use all of the throttle. I was in automotive testing for a long time and manufacturers made sure they tested their trucks under very extreme conditions. They are not going to set up a new truck that is going to blow up and overheat if somebody hooks up the maximum size trailer to it and holds it to the floor pulling a mountain grade. My last truck (Chevy 2500HD 6.0L gas) had 150k on it when I traded it in with zero repairs done on the engine, trans, or rest of the drivetrain and spent many miles with my foot to the floor in 2nd gear with the engine at 5,000 rpm pulling trailers up interstate grades.

 

[NH RAM]

Your setup is pretty close to my last truck, which I traded in this year for my 2500.
I had a 2016 Ram 1500 with hemi, 8HP70, and 3.21 gears.
Here's the numbers from my last trip from NH to Quebec:
Gross weight over the CAT scales = 13,200
Rated GCWR = 13,800
Rear Axle weighed = 4060
Rear Axle Rating = 3900
GVWR Rating = 6900
GVWR weighed = 7440

My trailer is a Coleman 2855BH with about 6000# dry weight. In the mountains of NH, and VT the truck is working hard, no doubt about that, but pulls fine most times. Towing in Canada was a bit easier with the lower speed limits and less severe terrain.

I like longer trips and I didn't like the overall package of the 1500 combined with my trailer. As you can tell, I was over the rear axle weight, I was close to max GCWR, and over GVWR. We planned a trip to Badlands, South Dakota for this summer so I decided the 1500 was going and I was getting a truck that wasn't overloaded, so I have my new 2500.

With that being said, I had 275/65/20 (34" tall and 60+ lbs) and my truck was leveled. NOT conducive to better towing performance. I used a Blue Ox Swaypro to try to level things out and distribute as much weight as possible. I also had Airlift 1000's, which it certainly needed.

 

[MrKoolics]

Thanks everyone for all the feedback. I've gotten some good information in here.

 

[MrKoolics]

By the way, I found the gear ratio on my truck is the 3:21.

 

[tron67j]

Those gears are better for mileage and not as good for towing. The higher the number the more mechanical advantage. You should also look at your set up, while you may be under your maximum rating, you are getting up near it. Do you have transmission oil cooler and other trailer accessories? And also you have to factor in to the trailer weight your propane (probably 50 pounds), dishes and silverware, linens, awnings, batteries, and other items you might consider as already accounted for in dry weight. As others said, first thing to always do is go to Cat scales totally stripped to get true dry weight. Trailer manufacturers don't all calculate dry weight the same way. Important to know what they did include and scales tell no lies. Good luck.