30'+ TT Hauling in a 1500

[jc55]

I've been doing a bunch of research into which travel trailers we'd be looking at buying. Recently went to an RV show and found a few models we were interested in, but the one we really want is about 35.4' total length. Reading this forum, I've come to the realization that this might be a bit too long for a rookie to towing and RV'ing.

I'm curious to see if anyone had any thoughts on this setup for towing a 32' travel trailer:

'14 RAM 1500 5.7L 6.4' bed, 149.5" wheelbase
3.92 gears
Factory 4 corner air suspension
18" wheels w/ Load: E rated tires
ProPride 3P hitch

The concern here is sway, really, as we'd ideally like to go on long trips.

Travel Trailers I'm looking at have are in the neighborhood of 5-6000lbs dry weight, with hitch weights of 5-750 lbs.

My thoughts, which are not based on personal experience, is that with the wheelbase of my truck, the tires, and the hitch, I -should- be okay with a 30-32ft trailer.

Should I scale down my expectations to only 30ft and below, or would that set up be okay with 32?

 

[WhiteExpress]

I would scale up your truck personally.
Could it work? Absolutely
Is it a great idea? No.

A trailer like that will 'wag' a 1500 easily.

 

[Dubstep Shep]

Personally I've found almost all trucks are underrated when it comes to towing...

I routinely have towed 100%-150% of my dad's F-150 King Ranch "towing capacity" without issue. You can't do it at 80mph and you have to be careful, but for the few times we do it a year, there was no reason to upgrade to a larger truck.

I'm planning on pulling a fully loaded Gooseneck car hauler with my R/T to track events at some point in the future. You just have to be set up well. Goosenecks pull A LOT better than bumper pulls, that's for sure.

 

[toofart]

The concern here is sway, really, as we'd ideally like to go on long trips.

You should be. The weight of those things is the least of your worries.

If you have leisurely drives on country roads where there's no wind or big rig trucks, you might be fine.

Put it on a busy Interstate, or drive through a field with side wind gusts, or encounter heavy truck traffic passing you at 70mph, and you're not going to enjoy the ride. IMO, 20+ feet is too much side area for a 1/2 ton bumper pull under those conditions. Heck, I don't even want to haul my 20' enclosed car trailer under those conditions anymore and will either get an open car hauler or avoid those areas of interstate.

 

[WhiteExpress]

The two posts above show a difference in age and responsibility.

Dubstep, everything you posted is a disregard for your own safety and the safety of those on the road around you. SMH

 

[14hemiexpress]

You should never tow above your manufactured rated capacity. Even if your truck can "handle it" there is way to many potential legal issues. With that being said, pulling a 32ft TT you have to imagine the wind load it will take. A 7-8ft tall 32ft wide sail with a head or tail wind not a big deal it's the cross wind that will have you white nuckeling it. If you never planned on going very far you would be fine, but long trips I say scale back the trailer to 26-28ft depending on the weight and areo dynamics of the trailer, but 24, or 26 would be optimal. Or scale up to a 2500. It's not a lack of power it's a lack of weight with the tow rig, a 7000lb TT and heavy cross wind will move your 5500lb truck around very easy. It does sound like you have the best setup possible with a 1/2 ton, 3.92, air suspension, good hitch and the E rated tires. Tires help these trucks more than anything when it comes to towing.

 

[Dubstep Shep]

The two posts above show a difference in age and responsibility.

Dubstep, everything you posted is a disregard for your own safety and the safety of those on the road around you. SMH

I'm glad to hear your opinion on the matter, but I'm not here to argue or cause a stir. I'm more than happy to explain the logic and reason behind my decisions if we can have a mature, reasonable conversation. I would like to think of myself as open minded, but for me to be so requires intelligent dissertation, not implied insults and assertions of opinion as fact. Otherwise I'm not going to participate.

 

[xrsman]

I'm a young guy, but I'm a sales rep for RV manufactures. I've been pulling trailers since I was 16. I'm better than a lot of older people with trailers because of how often I pull. I disagree with the comment about age and not being responsible. 20+ feet is also not too much at all for these trucks at all. In fact, the only trailer I've pulled under 20 feet is my sea doo trailer. You can go as long as you want for a trailer, but I wouldn't go with one that's over weight capacity for the truck. The percentage of trailers under 20 feet in our industry is small. People buying under 20 feet usually are driving minivans or SUV'S. Plus units 20 feet in length are usually between 2800 and 4000 lbs, which is nothing for these trucks. The RV I have is 35' in length, weighs 6800 lbs, and has a 900 LB pin weight. It's no trouble at all behind my truck, especially when you put the weight distribution bars and sway bars on. It's all about the level of skill you have pulling, and being careful. The truck would be fine for that size of trailer, but if you've never pulled before than maybe it's a bit much for you. The only way to learn is to do it, when you're driving just be extra careful and cautious!

 

[Dubstep Shep]

I'm a young guy, but I'm a sales rep for RV manufactures. 20+ feet is not too much at all for these trucks. In fact, the only trailer I've pulled under 20 feet is my sea doo trailer. You can go as long as you want for a trailer, but I wouldn't go with one that's over weight capacity for the truck. The percentage of trailers under 20 feet in our industry is small. People buying under 20 feet usually are driving minivans or SUV'S. Plus units 20 feet in length are usually between 2800 and 4000 lbs, which is nothing for these trucks. The RV I have is 35' in length, weighs 6800 lbs, and has a 900 LB pin weight. It's no trouble at all behind my truck, especially when you put the weight distribution bars and sway bars on. It's all about the level of skill you have pulling, and being careful. The truck would be fine for that size of trailer, but if you've never pulled before than maybe it's a bit much for you. The only way to learn is to do it, when you're driving just be extra careful and cautious!

A 110% agree experience is everything when it comes to towing.

I got started early; my father had me pulling 10,000lbs the week I got my drivers permit at fifteen and a half year old. It was years later before I ever pulled that same tractor without my dad in the truck with me. It took those years of pulling it to really learn what was and wasn't safe, and I would always recommend caution when pulling an unknown load.

 

[toofart]

not implied insults

There are no applied insults. At 41 with 2 kids, I am older and probably have more responsibility. He is right.

Towing 150% of the rated towing capability is unwise no matter how you look at it.

Just because you've never had an issue doesn't mean you're not putting _other people_ at risk. What you do to yourself is of little consequence to me, but I must share the road with you.

 

[Dubstep Shep]

There are no applied insults. At 41 with 2 kids, I am older and probably have more responsibility. He is right.

Depends on how you look at it, but it's a tangent I'm not interested in.

Towing 150% of the rated towing capability is unwise no matter how you look at it.

I disagree. It really depends on the situation, and unless you somehow know who my father and I are, I seriously doubt you understand that situation. That said I'm more than happy to explain it.

Just because you've never had an issue doesn't mean you're not putting _other people_ at risk. What you do to yourself is of little consequence to me, but I must share the road with you.

Depends on what you mean by "putting other people at risk." I agree that just because you've never had an issue with something before doesn't mean you won't in the future, but using something beyond it's ratings also doesn't guarantee it will fail. Again, this goes back to the fact that you aren't familiar with the situation.

 

[troutspinner]

You can visit this site Ram Trucks - Towing Capacity Chart and see what your actual weights are but assuming I understand your configuration correctly, your max tow should be 10k +/- lbs. and your payload 1600 lbs.

Let's say you have a family of four. Your family weighs roughly 600 lbs. You won't load up your bed much, gear will be in the trailer so you technically have 1k left of payload. Tongue weight should not exceed 10% of your max. towing rate, deduct that from your payload weight. In the trailer length and weight you are seeking, tongue weight is going to be about 500-600 lbs. leaving you with roughly 400 lbs. of payload left, i.e., still safe by the numbers.

One thing that I do recommend is that if you do not already have it, get a factory brake controller installed so that the Ram can interact with the trailer and control sway. This is extremely important. After-market brake controllers are good but our trucks have "logic" for this purpose and to keep you safe.

The numbers are there and your truck is capable to safely tow the caliber of trailer you are seeking. Now let me give you real world experience.

Before my current 14 Dodge, I had an 11 Ford F150 Ecoboost 4WD Crew Cab with 3.55's that I used to drag my 31' 6,700 lbs. dry weight trailer. That truck laughed at the weight, the ecoboost motor is downright impressive. Max. Tow on that vehicle was 9,200 lbs. I have no doubt the 5.7 in our Rams will do just as an impressive job with 3.92's so no worries there.

Real world driving, this is where it gets dicey. People mention getting pushed by large trucks, swaying, etc. and they are right. Towing what you are looking at, like my 31', you will find yourself applying the death grip to your steering wheel often when getting passed, passing or in windy conditions. This is all attributed to the length of your trailer and not so much the weight as there is just too much area for "pressure" of winds to affect.

I've towed that trailer on 300 mile trips and I can tell you at the end of that trip I am stressed! If you wanted to travel across the country or up and down the coast, figure 400 miles would be the maximum you could achieve in a day before you are just exhausted. Throw some young kids in the back seat, decrease that number.

Further, the 32' trailer seems awesome and spacious, probably has a bunk for the kids, a big kitchen and maybe even a fireplace but it is not needed! You'll find that no one goes in the trailer except for sleeping. A bunk seems like a neat idea for rainy days, nah, the kids are going to go out anyways.

You will also find that a 30' or larger trailer is not allowed in certain spots at campgrounds. And those spots are always the preferred ones with the best scenery and lake access. You'll also pay increased fees for storage if you need storage off of your property.

My wife and I decided to sell our camper this year but we both said that if we ever did it again, we would definitely get a smaller trailer in the 24-26 ft. range. We would however make sure that it had an outdoor kitchen. It is the best feature we ever had in our trailer. Simply put, Bacon cooked in the trailer in the morning smells awesome, that lingering smell for the rest of the day sucks. Outside cooking is where it's at.

Hope my ramblings help in some way or another.

troutspinner

 

[WarrenRam]

These things are engineered not to simply be able to 'handle' 100% or more of the rated capacity, but to handle it safely. It's not a matter of whether the truck pulled it, or how well it pulled it. It's more a matter of how safely the vehicle can tow a certain weight/length load. I don't have thousands of hours of towing experience, but I have to err on the side of caution here.

Just positing here... How easily can a 1/2 ton pickup recover from an unexpected side wind shear or an serious evasive maneuver from the driver, while it's towing at 150% the rated max? I'm serious, I'm asking because I want to know how easy it is to recover in a situation like that. If it's total cake with little effort at 150% then fine, but if it takes an experienced hand, fresh underwear, and a good bit of luck to recover, then for cripe's sake don't take a chance on public roads.

 

[Dubstep Shep]

These things are engineered not to simply be able to 'handle' 100% or more of the rated capacity, but to handle it safely. It's not a matter of whether the truck pulled it, or how well it pulled it. It's more a matter of how safely the vehicle can tow a certain weight/length load. I don't have thousands of hours of towing experience, but I have to err on the side of caution here.

Just positing here... How easily can a 1/2 ton pickup recover from an unexpected side wind shear or an serious evasive maneuver from the driver, while it's towing at 150% the rated max? I'm serious, I'm asking because I want to know how easy it is to recover in a situation like that. If it's total cake with little effort at 150% then fine, but if it takes an experienced hand, fresh underwear, and a good bit of luck to recover, then for cripe's sake don't take a chance on public roads.

In my opinion the driver is the most important aspect of safety. I've seen inexperienced drivers wreck pulling 2,00lbs, and I've seen experienced drivers avoid accidents pulling over the capacity of the vehicle.

What are the real concerns here? How do we measure safety?

Here are a few I think of:
Stopping distance
Trailer sway
Component fatigue and failure
Load stability
Etc...

Let's get real here; there are concrete reasons the towing capacities of certain vehicles are different. These reasons are usually easily established. If there's a "weak link" so to speak, get rid of it.

I 100% agree that you should not tow a dangerous load. I, however, believe it is possible to properly setup a vehicle to tow well beyond its "rated" load and tow that load safely.

 

[14hemiexpress]

I'm glad to hear your opinion on the matter, but I'm not here to argue or cause a stir. I'm more than happy to explain the logic and reason behind my decisions if we can have a mature, reasonable conversation. I would like to think of myself as open minded, but for me to be so requires intelligent dissertation, not implied insults and assertions of opinion as fact. Otherwise I'm not going to participate.

I will step in a have a mature conversation with you. Not that age has anything to do with it but I'm 25 and can help bridge some gap there. I will speak from a legal point of veiw and leave the trucks capabilitys out of it. Imagine driving along a freak accadent happens you hit someone and cause a fatal accent, even if the trailer had nothing to do with the reason the accident occurred. ( I don't know you and this isn't a swing at your capability of driving but freak accidents happen.) now DPS comes along and says hey that trailer is really big for that size truck and they weigh it. Bam 2000lbs over weight how do you think the courts will see that? You would be on trial for vehicular manslaughter so fast it would make your head spin. And that is by far the worst case senario but is purposefully pulling above the maximum towing capacity of your truck worth that risk? I had a co worker fall asleep at the wheel and hit and kill a lady and he is in prison for 18 years and the guilt on his conscience. To me the possible ramifications are not worth the risk. Every time your truck is over loaded you taking a risk, the risk of jail time, the more likely risk of getting pulled over, getting weighed and being ticketed and stuck on the side of the road till you can obtain a vehicle rated to pull that load. Imo age has nothing to do with it but it is a experience and knowledge of actual consequences of the dicsions you make. At 16 I was pulling open top race car trailers And at 19 I was pulling a 20 ft 8000lb trailer through Dallas traffic, I have experience pulling everything from a 4x8 with a golf cart to a 39ft gooseneck weighing in at 12-13000lbs (with a 3/4 deisel).

 

[WarrenRam]

And there are plenty of idiots that wreck while not towing at all, I understand that. No doubt the driver is a major factor, and that's why I was asking about unexpected occurrences.

I'll ask a different way... If a mechanical failure is not present, and the emergency is due to an evasive maneuver or sudden strong crosswind, is it more difficult to recover while towing at 150% rated capacity vs. towing at 75% rated capacity?

 

[NYCruiser]

The key here is that the OP is a rookie without tow experience. He is looking at a lot of trailer for that situation. The weights are fine for the truck, and there is no "length rating" to avoid.

I would take the load without hesitation, but I'm an experienced trailer driver with a class "A" cdl. The main thing my experience would tell me as soon as I started pulling the load is how much to take my time. If windage is an issue, I'm likely to keep the rig at 55mph in the right lane and enjoy the scenery. No reason for white knuckles.

 

[Dubstep Shep]

And there are plenty of idiots that wreck while not towing at all, I understand that. No doubt the driver is a major factor, and that's why I was asking about unexpected occurrences.

I'll ask a different way... If a mechanical failure is not present, and the emergency is due to an evasive maneuver or sudden strong crosswind, is it more difficult to recover while towing at 150% rated capacity vs. towing at 75% rated capacity?

The question is rhetorical. Clearly at 75%. An even better solution to ease of recovery is to not tow at all.

In fact, you could easily make the argument that even a properly equipped vehicle, such as a 2500, would have more difficulty controlling 75% of it's capacity than a 1500 unloaded.

These are completely irrelevant arguments though. We aren't comparing apples to apples.

The key here is that the OP is a rookie without tow experience. He is looking at a lot of trailer for that situation. The weights are fine for the truck, and there is no "length rating" to avoid.

I would take the load without hesitation, but I'm an experienced trailer driver with a class "A" cdl. The main thing my experience would tell me as soon as I started pulling the load is how much to take my time. If windage is an issue, I'm likely to keep the rig at 55mph in the right lane and enjoy the scenery. No reason for white knuckles.

Bingo. Experience and judgement are everything here.



I'm beginning to sense this thread getting a little of course thanks to some of my comments though, so if we want to continue this "over capacity" tangent, I would suggest a new thread. I would rather not get any more off the OPs topic.

OP, good luck to you!

 

[WarrenRam]

The question is rhetorical. Clearly at 75%. An even better solution to ease of recovery is to not tow at all.

In fact, you could easily make the argument that even a properly equipped vehicle, such as a 2500, would have more difficulty controlling 75% of it's capacity than a 1500 unloaded.

These are completely irrelevant arguments though. We aren't comparing apples to apples.

That's not true, and it's not irrelevant. I asked a question; is it easier to recover in an emergency situation when towing at 75% rated capacity vs. 150% rated capacity? It has to be an answerable question. I'm not arguing for or against your position, I'm asking a question. From how you answer, you sound like no one should ever tow anything. Don't be so defensive. I'm asking a question out of curiosity, and from a lack of any deep towing experience. Anyone with experience can answer, not just you.

 

[toofart]

I'm beginning to sense this thread getting a little of course thanks to some of my comments though

I believe the OP is gathering much wise advice from this thread, and much of that is thanks to your comments.

I'm not being snarky. You've established yourself as an experienced tower who considers an overloaded rig as acceptable provided it is "set up well".

The OP is a self-proclaimed "rookie to towing and RVs" who thinks he "should be OK".

Let's hope the OP makes the right decision according to his skill level, set up, planned route and desired level of comfort and sense of security.