Travel trailer weight advice needed

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Mike77

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I have a 2015 1500 Ram Crew Cab, 3.21 gears and 8 speed trans. I'm looking at getting a travel trailer. I found one that I'm interested in that has a dry weight of 5880 lbs and a hitch weight of 635 lbs.

According to Dodge, my truck has a trailer towing capacity of 8170lbs and a payload of 1724 lbs and GVWR 6900 lbs.

I would be travelling with passengers for a combined weight of around 575 lbs.

With a weigh distribution hitch, would this be a safe weight range to look at for a travel trailer?

Thanks for your input!
 

NewBlackDak

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Don’t believe that hitch weight for one second. Once you get batteries, propane, etc it’ll be closer to 900lbs. Trailer loaded out, you could be in the 1100lb range. Your WDH also has to be subtracted from your payload.
You could probably make it work with careful loading. Only you can determine if you’re comfortable being at the upper limits of all your capacities.


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NCRaineman

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As NBD said, by the time you add fuel, passengers and gear you are likely to be at the very top of what's suggested to tow with the 1500.
 
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Mike77

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What would be a better dry weight to be looking at? 4500 lbs? We haven't committed to anything yet, just doing our homework at this point. Thank you again for the info!
 

crash68

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Mike if you haven't towed a big trailer, towing upwards of 8K can be an eye opening, gripping the steering wheel tight, and butt cheek clinching experience for a first timer. Now with that said, that will be right up there but if you set things right and take your time, you'll be fine.
Find a place you can rent a trailer or two first before buying. You'll get a better feel for what you want in a trailer and what to expect.
 
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Mike77

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Mike if you haven't towed a big trailer, towing upwards of 8K can be an eye opening, gripping the steering wheel tight, and butt cheek clinching experience for a first timer. Now with that said, that will be right up there but if you set things right and take your time, you'll be fine.
Find a place you can rent a trailer or two first before buying. You'll get a better feel for what you want in a trailer and what to expect.
Thank you for the advice. The "try before you buy" definitely sounds like a good starting point to start out.
 

NCRaineman

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Mike if you haven't towed a big trailer, towing upwards of 8K can be an eye opening, gripping the steering wheel tight, and butt cheek clinching experience for a first timer. Now with that said, that will be right up there but if you set things right and take your time, you'll be fine.
Find a place you can rent a trailer or two first before buying. You'll get a better feel for what you want in a trailer and what to expect.

Some sagely advice there for those who haven't towed a real trailer before. Those little things you put out back to haul some yard equipment don't count.
 

OC455

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It is an eye opener for sure as far as what the truck is capable of doing. Dry weight vs. GVWR and how you load your truck and what you will be taking with you. MY experiences so far, trusting the dealer setting up a WD hitch they've never used before and hauling a large trailer is something I would not do again.
 

VernDiesel

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With that dry weight you would commonly have a wet weight of about 7K. The Hemi 3.21 8 speed will tow that ok but will spend time in 4th 5th & 6th being smart & using tow haul. Wouldn’t really want to tow any heavier TT with a 3.21 in mountains or windy plains. Need to keep speed down to 65 & less to get any even relative mileage out of it.

Stability success at that weight TT with a 1500 would only be guaranteed by selecting a no sway WDH and setting it and your truck & trailer loading by CAT scale results to within Ram towing specs.

Or you could achieve what Crash described. :)

Adjusted and set to 12 percent tongue weight (TW) that would put about 850 pounds toward your GVWR. Put with 575 passenger weight & truck weight puts it about 7K on the truck axles as you would see on the scales. This is good because that would be a solid 800 pounds more on the truck axles than on the trailer axles to assure the tail won’t wag the dog.

Setting your hitch and load so that scales show 3,200 ish on the steer axle (replacing unloaded steer weight) & 3,800 ish on the drive you would have great stability, retain max braking traction/power and best possible COG. Set up like this my daughter could drive the rig. Mind you setting a rig up like this takes a bit of time and trial & error and re-weigh. Its not hitch & roll but at least its generally a one time thing.
 
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OC455

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What would be a better dry weight to be looking at? 4500 lbs? We haven't committed to anything yet, just doing our homework at this point. Thank you again for the info!

Low 5000lbs dry weight, with low to middle 7000lbs GVWR.

My TT is 5158lbs dry, 7600lbs for GVWR. When I loaded my trailer for camping and my goal was to keep it below 6000lbs. Trailer weighed in at 5520lbs. Combined total vehicle weight of truck and TT is 12000lbs.

I have a max tow capacity of 7990lbs for my 2018 Big Horn crew cab. 8spd, 3.21 gear ratio and 5.7 Hemi. Load it right and set your WD hitch with sway and you shouldn't have a problem

The trailer weight I suggested is my opinion only.
 

mtofell

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Trailer GVWR is kind of a useless # for this discussion. It's what a trailer "could" hold not what you "will" put in it. To get overly-technical, the difference between dry weight and GVWR is often called the CCC or cargo carrying capacity. I've seen them as little as 1000# and as much as 4500# for similar trailers. Anyone starting to see why I say it's useless for this discussion?

Without having a lot of RV experience it's difficult to know how much stuff you will bring with you but I'd plan on 1500-2000# above the dry weight of the trailer. In talking with other RVers on message boards over the years this seems to be pretty conservative average. Keep in mind there is a lot of variation depending on if/how much water you have on board.

When deciding on your trailer keep in mind the two numbers - how much can your truck carry? This is payload. How much can your truck pull? This is often called tow capacity. Understanding your truck's abilities within BOTH of these numbers is critical.
 

GsRAM

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One of the best "lanes" on this forum. Great real world thoughts. Can only imagine how many people are having positive/safe tow runs, as a result of the information/help found here.


Agreed. I do truly enjoy talking to you guys who are obviously as passionate about camping and towing as i am. It's great and it's also fun helping others who may just be starting out.

I appreciate y'all that's for sure. This group could have us some great campfire chats, that's for sure.
 

Snyd

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I have a 2015 1500 Ram Crew Cab, 3.21 gears and 8 speed trans. I'm looking at getting a travel trailer. I found one that I'm interested in that has a dry weight of 5880 lbs and a hitch weight of 635 lbs.

According to Dodge, my truck has a trailer towing capacity of 8170lbs and a payload of 1724 lbs and GVWR 6900 lbs.

I would be travelling with passengers for a combined weight of around 575 lbs.

With a weigh distribution hitch, would this be a safe weight range to look at for a travel trailer?

Thanks for your input!

That's a LOT of trailer for your truck. I'd look at trailers with dry weight 3700- 4000lbs. Ya, your truck will move the trailer but a trailer of that size will push it around. This is supposed to be fun not white knuckle survival mode! The other thing is tires. What do you have for tires? p rated tires have soft sidewalls that sway under load.

Or... you could buy the trailer and then you'd have a reason to buy a new truck! :D
 

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Snyd study my last post. The 4th gen will do 6 to 7K confidently & assuredly with safety & stability IF you use no sway WDH and take the time to set it up to meet all Mfg specs per CAT scale.

No trailer pushing the truck as within spec truck axles at that weight will have 800 pounds more on them than the trailer axles.

Even with only SL standard load tires properly inflated.

White knuckle rides are only for people who grossly overload their truck or poorly load it because they havent learned how to set up their rig via CAT scale results. 100 percent avoidable but it happens every day.

The frustrating thing is their is more enthusiastic well meaning blind leading the newbs on RV forums than their are people who actually know the how & why to setting up truck n trailer via the numbers. Even useing time & consistency seems futile against the never ending sea of newbs.
 

Snyd

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I hear ya. It also seems that guys want to max out the numbers because that's what the manufacturer says it can handle. When the wind catches that sail behind that truck he's gonna know it! Even Ram says 1500's (light duties) are for towing atv's, boats and trailers. HD's are meant for towing RV's. https://www.ramtrucks.com/towing-guide.html




Snyd study my last post. The 4th gen will do 6 to 7K confidently & assuredly with safety & stability IF you use no sway WDH and take the time to set it up to meet all Mfg specs per CAT scale.

No trailer pushing the truck as within spec truck axles at that weight will have 800 pounds more on them than the trailer axles.

Even with only SL standard load tires properly inflated.

White knuckle rides are only for people who grossly overload their truck or poorly load it because they havent learned how to set up their rig via CAT scale results. 100 percent avoidable but it happens every day.

The frustrating thing is their is more enthusiastic well meaning blind leading the newbs on RV forums than their are people who actually know the how & why to setting up truck n trailer via the numbers. Even useing time & consistency seems futile against the never ending sea of newbs.
 

VernDiesel

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I’m not about maxing out a truck but rather teaching how to set up a safe n stable tow. But in learning one you find the other.

Ram will also tell you 1500s are capable of safely towing RVs depending on the size hense Ram gives you the specs for your specific truck. Max steer & drive axle, max tow, CVWR, GVWR, even max receiver. My focus is to share what people actually need to know the if & how to set up a safe & stable tow. If a guy knows the how & why he can know for himself whether he needs a bigger truck smaller trailer or just proper set up. You start this on the overview of what needs done then the specifics if & when they get closer to doing it.

Yeah I’ve heard about that sail thing. ;). Just brought a 28’ floorplan from Ohio to San Diego 6,300 pounds. Coming from Yuma the 8 has a serious climb coming into SD area. New Mexico & parts of AZ can get really windy at times. Good thing I had a no sway WDH set up for good steer, drive, & TW she was solid. But yea it would have been easier to just drop her on the hitch of a dually. Except I don’t have one & well I don’t want to buy one .
 
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Mike77

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That's a LOT of trailer for your truck. I'd look at trailers with dry weight 3700- 4000lbs. Ya, your truck will move the trailer but a trailer of that size will push it around. This is supposed to be fun not white knuckle survival mode! The other thing is tires. What do you have for tires? p rated tires have soft sidewalls that sway under load.

Or... you could buy the trailer and then you'd have a reason to buy a new truck! :D
I have P rated tires but plan to change them soon. The plan is to assess how much the family is into the whole camping/travelling thing and then perhaps a few years down the road upgrade both truck and trailer. Based on the suggestions here I'm looking to stay under 5000lbs dry weight. I've been considering the Winnie Minnie Micro 2100BH, the dry weight is 3800lbs.
 

911ems

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I have the 3.21 8spd also and I tow a 32’ TT with a dry weight of 6400. Verndiesel is spot on with his advice. You can safely tow if you take the time to set the wdh up at the CAT scales and keep your camper load balanced. My loaded weight was 7100#. Don’t skimp on the wdh, I use an equalizer 4pt and it does extremely well. LT tires and an oem brake controller make it a pleasant experience. We have 2200 miles on our set up so far. 8ac4af3630e818eea92ffbdb2e6fa708.jpg


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OC455

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I have P rated tires but plan to change them soon. The plan is to assess how much the family is into the whole camping/travelling thing and then perhaps a few years down the road upgrade both truck and trailer. Based on the suggestions here I'm looking to stay under 5000lbs dry weight. I've been considering the Winnie Minnie Micro 2100BH, the dry weight is 3800lbs.

Do you have the ability to rent one? Then you can figure out what you would be comfortable with and how you like it. Weight Distribution Hitch with sway control/anti-sway built in will make life easy for you. Setup correctly you should have no worries.
 
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