Can i tow 9400lbs with 37" tires

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Joined
May 12, 2016
Posts
30
Reaction score
36
Location
Las Vegas NV
Ram Year
2016
Engine
5.7 hemi
I have a 2016 ram 1500 4x4 with a hemi 8 speed and 3.91 rear.It has 37x13.5 tires. I want to tow a car trailer with a Unimog total weight of about 9400 lbs. Ram rates it for a max towing weight of 9970lbs. Any thoupload_2018-10-24_22-57-45.pngughts how well it might do?
 

GsRAM

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2016
Posts
2,929
Reaction score
2,743
Ram Year
2017 Dodge Ram 2500
Engine
Hemi, 6.4L
I'd suggest not very well. The 37s will reduce the effective gear ratio and the advantage you'd usually get from the 391s. At nearly 10k your in 3/4 ton truck territory. I'm not one who says you can't tow heavy with a half ton, but in your case I wouldn't. You will almost certainly be way over your payload rating even with wdh installed and properly set up you will also likely be over your grawr (very bad)

You'd have to scale it to know for sure but it's not a good idea in my opinion. The oems and their marketing throw out these huge tow ratings for half tons. The problem is and what they don't tell you is thst most half tons run out of payload well before they reach the tow rating. Not exceeding grawr is the most important but I think you may possibly be over thst also with that much weight.

Remember your payload rating includes you and all passengers, gear in the truck and bed and the trailer tongue and hitch weights. At 9970 trailer weight, at 12% tongue weight your at 1200 lbs tongue weight. Probably close to if not over your receiver weight rating. Your call, but I'd find a 3/4 or one ton truck to pull that load. Good luck
 

Blkhammer

Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2018
Posts
38
Reaction score
4
Location
Arizona
Ram Year
2012
Engine
5.7
It’s very risky with those tires. Personally I wouldn’t do it.

How far are u towing, is it just one time or all the time?
 

spoon059

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2015
Posts
496
Reaction score
343
Location
Just north of Washington DC
Ram Year
2015
Engine
6.7 CTD
My thoughts? Too much weight, too much wind resistance, too much tire, too little truck.

The 1500 can theoretically tow 10,000 lbs... but only in the absolute most ideal of conditions. Whats your payload? How much tongue weight can your receiver handle? How much frontal area are you allowed at 10,000 lbs? Does your trailer have a weight distribution hitch? What are your tires rated to handle?

I agree that kind of weight and that high center of gravity wants a much heavier truck than a 6000 lbs half ton. An 8000 lbs 3/4 or 1 ton truck would be better.
 

VernDiesel

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2015
Posts
440
Reaction score
676
Location
Dayton OH
Ram Year
2014
Engine
ED
I wouldn't with the 37s for the risk of burning up the transmission or other transmission wear/damage. Although towing to a 9,100 travel trailer and commercially for 475,000 miles now I will say the 8 speed is tough. (no issues knock on wood) Dramatically better that the by comparison junk it replaced. Naturally you can watch your trans temp as well as coolant and oil temps which could be acceptable at lower speeds with no long grades but only experimentation would find out and for how long. Certainly Ram would tell you no and not warranty it. Also you can change your transmission & differential fluids afterwards if you do run them into red temps for very long. But don't run well into the red zone for trans temp for extended time or you run a serious risk of fire.

Now if you can throw on some factory rims especially 17s with say a 33 or better yet 31" load rated tire then their should be no problem in that area.

Personally I don't care much about exceeding GVWR in fact often for larger loads I set them up over GVWR when I wouldn't have to in order to get the more important items such as tongue weight and axle weight distribution all withing spec and in balance so to speak for my priority of the safest and most stable setup. In order to find that you have to take it to a CAT scale. I realize this isn't always practical just saying. If you want to tow that safely and at speed you need to prioritize getting your tongue weight in the 10 to 15% range ideally normally 12 to 13% of gross trailer weight. Then you should have no sway issues even when windy and at speed especially if you additionally have a WDH with built in sway control. Also you want to replace your unloaded trucks steer axle weight and keep your drive axle weight to its limit when loaded with trailer and unimog so that your truck handles with stability and full braking power.

People with little actual at limit experience towing who have never taken a dangerous to drive and stop "white knuckle" over spec setup to a safe stable within spec setup only by changing the weight distribution with no weight loss talk about payload. People who know how and have done it talk mostly about tongue weight and axle weights.

The 1500 platform can be made to control to an 8k trailer well but beyond that you generally get into having more weight on the trailer axles than on the truck axles and the bad side of the laws of physics when things get pushed due to other traffic, in-climate weather, downhill sweeping curves etc. When I took the 9,100 pound 36.5" ball to bumper box travel trailer 1,000 miles over 5 & 6% grades on the 5 past Cali's Mount Shasta and up the grapevine into LA the only benefit my 14 1500 had over yours was the tune provided turbo brake from the Ecodiesel for assistance controlling speed down grades, and good axle to frame airbags. Naturally assuming you have a properly sized no sway WDH.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
5
Joined
May 12, 2016
Posts
30
Reaction score
36
Location
Las Vegas NV
Ram Year
2016
Engine
5.7 hemi
Thankyou for the replys. The weight I gave is worst case. The Unimog weight is beteew5500 to 7000lbs yet to bring to a scale. Could also buy an aluminum trailer to save some LBS and switch to smaller tires.We go offroad ofton with the ram but if we take the Unimog maybe once a month out the ram will be parked because the trails are to ruff. Thanks again for all the input and I will see what I end up doing. Mike
 
Last edited:
Top