Towing with a 3.6L V-6 what is safe and realistic for this engine

[Willmsy]

Hey everyone, looking for some advice...
The wife and I have been toying around with the idea of getting a travel trailer. I am a novice to this, I understand GCW/GCWR, Trailer Weight, Tounge weight as part of the truck payload capacity.
What I am unsure of is what is actually a safe target for towing without ruining my transmission and what I can tow with the stock setup. What, if any upgrades I should think about. (air bags, etc...)
I have a 2020 Ram 1500 Classic with the 3.6L V-6. Axle Ratio is 3.55, Per the attached chart it says my max trailer weight is 7400lbs.
I was told to target 85% of max as a rule of thumb.
Looking for any info.
Thanks

 

[csuder99]

I used to tow a Nash 17k with a GVWR of 7400 lbs with the 3.6 V6 and 3.55 gears, however it was only 6600-6800 lbs when traveling (plenty of unused storage and I weighed it occasionally). Objectively the truck does fine with the load but if you're traveling in the mountains the high RPMs make it subjectively feel like the engine is within an inch of it's life. Obviously the engineers tested this and signed off on the numbers. Plus, I have driven cars flat out for 10, 15, 30 minutes so I know modern engines can take it.

 

[gfh77665]

I have a 2019 Classic, rigged exactly the same as yours. The 3.55 gearing really helps. Whoever told you 85% is right on. Pushing any vehicle to its mechanical limits is not an optimal course. As long as you don't plan to tow into the high Rockies, or try to win races, feel confident that towing 85% of max is comfortably within your Rams capabilities. Drive relatively easy and you will be fine.

 

[jvbuttex]

Ya might want to rent a few trailers before hand. Take them out for a weekend, drive them over some hills to get to camping. See what they feel like.

 

[2003F350]

Some good advice here. Stick with smaller campers to keep the weight down on that V6. Might be a good idea to rent a couple trailers for a few weekends and see what it feels like - you may find you won't like it.

If you search, there's a thread on here where someone took a VERY similar truck that was 'gifted' to them and added a supercharger to make more power, I can't remember what else he did to the truck to make it tow better, and he seemed to have no issues. This was some time ago so it'll be further back in the threads. There was a LOT of good info in there too.

 

[Travelin Ram]

Maximum rated weight with an aerodynamic trailer like a car hauler is easier to tow than a lighter travel trailer. The frontal area wind load on a TT will be very much felt with a V6. There’s also more susceptibility to swaying from side loading winds when trucks pass a TT.

In my experience 5k is about the most I find pleasant to tow in a TT with that power level.

Hills and mountains are soon crested and done. But get into a headwind on the plains and you may buck that all day long.

 

[Willmsy]

Thank you for all of the information!

 

[farout75]

Hey everyone, looking for some advice...
The wife and I have been toying around with the idea of getting a travel trailer. I am a novice to this, I understand GCW/GCWR, Trailer Weight, Tounge weight as part of the truck payload capacity.
What I am unsure of is what is actually a safe target for towing without ruining my transmission and what I can tow with the stock setup. What, if any upgrades I should think about. (air bags, etc...)
I have a 2020 Ram 1500 Classic with the 3.6L V-6. Axle Ratio is 3.55, Per the attached chart it says my max trailer weight is 7400lbs.
I was told to target 85% of max as a rule of thumb.
Looking for any info.
Thanks

Having had a 2013 and a 14 with the 3.6 I would say it's safe to tow no more that 4,500 lbs. But do the math right! These trucks with the 3.6 are a light duty truck. Going up steep hills wilt a trailer is going to mean keeping it 5th or maybe 6th and it's still going to slower than the BIG trucks that pass you by going a whole lot faster. It's all doable and mpg will be less than a Hemi. Consider a light weight trailer.

 

[stormcom]

Simple, when you go trailer shopping, hook it up and pull it down the road for a little bit and watch evic. If you are comfortable, buy it. I have a 19 V6 and as long as I do not get ridiculous, it is fine.

 

[Aggie86]

I have a regular cab 2x4 with the 3.6 and 3.55 gears. I towed a Jeep Compass on a UHaul trailer from Gillette, WY to Dallas, Texas. No troubles at all. Not any big mountains though.

 

[star_deceiver]

Coachmen 223rbs. Wet weight is about 5600lbs. Got a little over 8000kms towing this over the last year and a bit. Fuel economy between 7.5-12mpg depending on wind and mountains and speed. You'll get much better mileage towing at 105km/h than at 115.

 

[Sweetee]

We don' have a TT, but we do have a 14x7 cargo trailer with a V- nose. Our Ram is a '17 with the same drivetrain combo you have. Our TT weighs about 2K lb empty but I've carried my 1800 lb. Bug several times. With ramps, jacks, a spare and tools the trailer probably weighed out at about 4500 lbs. I truly wouldn't want to tow much more if hills were involved. The rpms when ascending longer hills were terrifying at times. However, the Pentastar certainly seems able to handle the weight. Wind is a big factor. The suggestions listed above are all good information. Good luck!

 

[tron67j]

Hey everyone, looking for some advice...
The wife and I have been toying around with the idea of getting a travel trailer. I am a novice to this, I understand GCW/GCWR, Trailer Weight, Tounge weight as part of the truck payload capacity.
What I am unsure of is what is actually a safe target for towing without ruining my transmission and what I can tow with the stock setup. What, if any upgrades I should think about. (air bags, etc...)
I have a 2020 Ram 1500 Classic with the 3.6L V-6. Axle Ratio is 3.55, Per the attached chart it says my max trailer weight is 7400lbs.
I was told to target 85% of max as a rule of thumb.
Looking for any info.
Thanks

You need your numbers in your door stickers to know exactly what you can do.

Using chart, 1740 pounds payload capacity and estimating 200 pounds per person including personal gear in truck plus 50 pounds of hitch stuff and absolutely nothing else in truck, and also estimating 15% of trailer weight on tongue of trailer, your maximum trailer weight is 1740-450 = 1290 / .15 = 8600 which exceeds your 7400 pounds. So in this exact scenario you can get maximum trailer rated for truck. Of course get your axle weights once all hooked up to be sure you aren't over on either.

But, again, get numbers off your door jamb to know exactly. Also, any aftermarket additions like running boards, bed cover, changes in rims, etc. will reduce your trailering capabilities.

 

[Random_Walk]

A touch late, but...

3.6L engine, 2017 model, 3.21 gears. My max tow is a gargantuan 4400lbs. I tow around a 2022 Forest River No Boundaries model 19.2 that I bought in February, and have taken it out camping 3x so far. While the trailer has a GVWR of 4600lbs, I keep it at around 4000lbs, and have confirmed as such.

Towing has been incredibly smooth (in spite of the A/T tires on the trailer and the truck), and I can comfortably drag the trailer at 65 mph with no WDH and no issues whatsoever. If I bother to put a WDH on and calibrate it, I could probably do 70-75mph no sweat. I've been able to accelerate on even some wicked-steep hills (though to be fair, my max tow isn't due to limits in the engine or transmission, but due to the axle pumpkins.) Off-road (okay, dirt trail) driving is smooth and consistent, with bags of power to spare (the trailer has an off-road suspension, torsion axles, 14" of clearance, and A/T tires.)

Fuel mileage while towing it in and around the Pacific NW is around 11.3 mpg for me. If I find myself somewhere flat, I could probably get that up to 13-14mpg.

I will say that I'm going out once more in it before winter, but I think a change in tires will help. My current (and worn-down) Falken Wildpeak A/T 3's are (IMHO!) a bit soft and squishy for towing duties, so I'm switching them out for a slightly stiffer set of Firestone Destination X/Ts to see if that helps a bit.