DHC4570
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2020
- Posts
- 17
- Reaction score
- 15
- Location
- Southern Arizona
- Ram Year
- 2020
- Engine
- Hemi 6.4
I will state up front that I did not read all of the replies...We currently have a Grand Design Imagine 2400BH with a GVWR of 7500lbs (weighed weight loaded for travel for us was 6600lbs) but if we travel more I guess that number will definitely get higher. We have no future plans to get a larger trailer and currently tow this with a large SUV rated to tow almost 9000lbs. We want to travel more and further distances and we feel that for the size of trailer and the amount of travel is where we would prefer to be in 2500 territory. Just wondering if those with experience with the 2500's if the 6.4 Hemi would be up to the task travelling 1000's of miles with some mountain travel as well. My other concern with the Cummins is this travel would be for 1-2 months a year and then otherwise the Truck would only travel a 100-200km a week at best unloaded.
I appreciate any feedback!
Thanks!
I drive a 2020 Ram 2500 Laramie, 6.4L Hemi, 4WD, CC, SWB with an Outlaw Premium HD front bumper, Diamondback HD bed cover, 4 PAX, plus a fairly full bed. We tow a GD Imagine XLS 2100BHE with a GVWR of just under 6400lbs. I've never weighed everything but my truck has had ZERO problems towing from southern AZ to Camp Pendleton, CA through the Cleveland National Forest with four 4,000' summits crossed at some seriously steep grades. We've also gone east to vicinity Ruidoso, NM climbing to 7,550' elevation into the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico with no issues. My father-in-law has a 2019 Ram 2500 Tradesman 6.4L Hemi towing an almost 6800lb GVWR travel trailer. He's close to max weight when he travels as they travel with all of the amenities loaded. Again, no issues. We almost always go together as a family though they do a lot of other traveling without us due to our schedule.
I've been driving turbo diesels since 1993 when I bought a brand new Chevy 2500 with the 6.5L GM turbo diesel (long story why I didn't go Cummins... still smarts...). Blew the head gasket in 2003. In early 2004 found a 95 Dodge 2500 5.9L 12valve Cummins, 5spd, 4wd, SC, LB which I still own. Great work truck, lousy family of four truck... Had and sold an 07 Ram 3500 5.9L Cummins 6spd QC which I traded for the current 2020 Ram as it needed more engine work than I could afford up front (and my wife HATED the seats). While I miss that 07, I haven't regretted getting the 6.4L Hemi, though I did get an extended warranty to 110K miles/8 years. Just in case.
On a side note relating to 1500s... I've NEVER been a fan of towing a travel trailer the size of ours with a 1500. My father-in-law had a Ram 1500 2wd, CC, SB when he first bought his travel trailer. When I recommended he consider getting a 2500 for towing, he said it's well within the towing capacity of the 1500. Nuff said. While that's true, his 1500 was approximately 1,750lbs lighter than the 2500. Our FIRST trip to Camp Pendleton, he was leading. My wife and I were chatting and I never saw the moving truck coming up in the passing lane doing about 20mph faster than we were. It was a gusty, windy day. When that high pressure air mass being pushed by the nose of that truck hit my trailer from behind, it caused me to warble a little bit. Kinda startled me but was really a non-issue. My father-in-law didn't see it coming either as that air mass pushed him onto the shoulder of the road. He over-corrected and almost ran the moving truck off the left side of the road. He didn't say much at the next stop but my mother-in-law was still visibly shaken. I didn't say anything to him. When we departed Cp Pendleton, they headed north for another 4 weeks of traveling. When they got home, my mother-in-law told my wife they are looking for a 2500 and asked us to keep an eye out for one. When my wife asked her what happened, she just said they had a second similar incident...
Now the experienced drivers out there will tell you that they have the skill to handle such an event. While that's great and all, not everyone has that kind of experience. And there are going to be times when you as a driver get complacent. Anyone that says that doesn't happen to them is lying. It happens to all of us. While travel trailers are getting lighter all the time, they STILL have a high aspect ratio that can be affected by cross-wind or the turbulence created by a tractor trailer, etc. I for one prefer to have a tactical (and arguably strategic) advantage thus drive a heavier truck. Just my twin Lincolns. But opinions are like belly buttons, just about everyone has one, and they are all different. (Some just have more lint than others...)
Dave