Ram 1500/2500 SxS on bed + towing a boat

New to the forums here - looking to get some advice on what the actual practical limits are for the 1500's and 2500's quad cab with the 5.7 Hemi? I'm looking into getting one of those SxS UTV truck bed racks to haul a 2-seat Can-Am Maverick or Polaris RZR on the bed, and I already have a 19.5' Yamaha jetboat (around 2500 lbs) that I tow. Looks like the 2-seater UTVs run about 1500 lbs or less, so 4000 lbs total. On paper, it all looks beautiful, but I'd like to know if in real life I'm setting myself up for a disaster of epic proportions. Do I just need to get a 2500 with the Cummins? Or is the real problem that I'm trying to haul too much, period?

My issue is that we head down to Arizona for vacations in the spring and summer, and I'd like to spend time on both the water and offroad. They have a ton of trails down there that are setup perfect for UTVs, and for the prices they charge to rent, I could just buy a used one and it would pay for itself. But, I need a way to get it down there with one rig. Is it possible/advisable/stupid to try to do this?

If you want to do it legally at a minimum 2500. Payload is the number you gotta worry about and I would say with a SXS in the bed and towing and all your gear you may even be past the payload of a 2500.you have figure in the weight of the bed hauler thing as well which I would imagine isn't light. On the other hand either have the power to do it. But I would go 2500 for the added stopping power.

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You really don't have enough weight for to warrant a CTD unless you plan on buying a fiver toy hauler for the SXS then double pup the boat(some stats allow a second trailer behind a trailer but the first one has to be a fifth wheel hitch).
A 6.4 Hemi 2500 will work fine for that small load, plus the lighter engine weight gives you more room to stay under the GVWR/GAWR(a CTD weighs about 1K lbs more than a 6.4).
Getting SXS up on the bed of a truck might not be to your liking. You might want to consider a gooseneck flatbed trailer. Then use the SXS to pull the boat onto the trailer. It will also be less wind drag than a SXS sticking above the cab of the truck. Higher wind load will hurt you fuel economy faster than more weight.

Thanks - after doing a bit more research and thinking on it a bit more, I'm wondering if trying to haul even a small SxS on top of the bed is such a great idea. Ideally, if I trailer it with the boat, I'd like to have a setup that's as small a footprint as possible, since when we go down to AZ, we'll likely be camping. Most campgrounds we visit down there aren't really setup for storing a long/large gooseneck trailer, and running tandem is out of the question due to legal restrictions in the state I live. Does anyone make some kind of a combo or modular trailer that would allow me to haul a SxS behind the boat, then remove/unbolt that portion of the trailer once we arrive? Kind of a tall order, since something like that would have to be pretty stout to deal with the loads/stresses of 1500 lbs. over the long haul.

I have seen bi-level boat trailers before where they haul jetskis on the upper portion and a boat down below, just nothing like one for a UTV or SxS.

You are going to want a 2500 minimum, maybe even a 3500. Your problem is going to be with that bed mounted hauling system. You are going to have a fair amount of weight up high. You are going to get a lot of body roll even with a 2500. If that was my setup I'd be looking at a 3500. Not for towing capacity but for stability

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Need a 2500 minimum. You blow past the payload of a 1500 instantly with the rack/deck to hold the side by side and the side by side, without even including any gear in the bed, passengers and more importantly, the tongue weight of your boat trailer

Next question is if I get a 2500, do I go with the 6.4 or the Cummins? Aside from the differences in the maintenance and such, if I'm hauling long distances with all of that weight behind me up and over mountain passes, is it going to suck having the 6.4 from both the MPG and power point of view? I'd hate to put the money out for a 2500 with the 6.4 then wish I'd have just gone with the Cummins in the first place.

I'll dive into the engines forum here to see what I can see - there's probably a ton of threads on the gas vs. diesel argument over there already, but my question is as it relates to long haul payloads and towing.

You will need to see what your actual payload requirements are and then look at what payloaf is available with the different configurations/engines. The Cummins well eat up quite a bit of payload, maybe 800 lbs. You may very well be in Ram 3500 territory.

Boat + boat trailer = 2935 lbs. dry
SxS + bed UTV rack = 1960 lbs. dry

Ram 1500 5.7L (gas) 4x4 crew cab, 6' bed = up to 1840 lbs cargo, up to 11340 lbs towing
Ram 1500 3.6L (diesel) 4x4 crew cab, 6' bed = up to 1770 lbs cargo, up to 7370 lbs towing
Ram 2500 5.7L (gas) 4x4 crew cab, 6' bed = up to 2367 lbs cargo, up to 13190 lbs towing
Ram 2500 6.4L (gas) 4x4 crew cab, 6' bed = up to 3301 lbs cargo, up to 15630 lbs towing
Ram 2500 6.7L (diesel) 4x4 crew cab, 6' bed = up to 2380 lbs cargo, up to 19010 lbs towing

(all from this URL/website: https://www.ramtrucks.com/towing-guide.html)

The 'up to' part is highest values for the cargo/towing capacities in the range of configurations possible (some configs are less, like with the Ram Rebel, etc).

So, using those numbers alone as a guide, I could go with a 2500 with the 5.7L, but somehow I suspect that I wouldn't be all that happy with the setup, both from a performance and MPG point of view. So that would leave me to choose between a 2500 with the 6.4L HD Hemi or the 6.7L CTD (which is what you guys have been suggesting). I also notice that the CTD has over 900 lbs less cargo capacity (which was also mentioned by you previously).

The real question then is do I spend the extra for the CTD, or would I be happy with the 6.4L HD Hemi? Does the new 8-speed with the 6.4L Hemi make a huge difference, to the point where it becomes a more difficult proposition justifying the extra expense of the CTD?

Another thing I was thinking about is if I could just buy a 1500 and beef up the suspension components to allow for a bit more cargo? Somehow I have a feeling it's more than the suspension that woule need to be upgraded though, and by the time I spend the money to do all of that, I could have just gotten a 2500 in the first place. Plus the performance and MPG would probably suck.

Oh, and one other thing, my boat trailer has brakes, so braking is a non-issue with that, though undoubtedly still adding a bunch of weight to the equation with that SxS on the bed.

You will likely be over payload with a 2500 CTD but might be ok with the 2500 6.4 Hemi. My 6.4 payload is about 2900lbs. Given the weights listed you would have about 2000 with the SxS and rack and about 300-500lbs of tongue weight so definitely over with the CTD and cutting it close even with the 6.4. A 1500 is definitely out of the question 'legally'. Beefing up the 1500 suspension does not change the legal ratings, only the ability to handle it but from a legal standpoint your weight limits will not change.

Seems like a fairly easy decision after reading your posts. If this is actually the setup you want with a bass boat on a trailer and SxS on the bed/cab of the truck then I'd be going 3500 Longbed with Cummins. And since you have a SxS maybe down the line you go to a large travel trailer or even a toy hauler and the 3500 helps out a lot with more allowable payload.

How about replacing the bed with a aluminum flat bed, then the sxs isn’t so high in the air

stevenk2 said:

The real question then is do I spend the extra for the CTD, or would I be happy with the 6.4L HD Hemi? Does the new 8-speed with the 6.4L Hemi make a huge difference, to the point where it becomes a more difficult proposition justifying the extra expense of the CTD?

Another thing I was thinking about is if I could just buy a 1500 and beef up the suspension components to allow for a bit more cargo? Somehow I have a feeling it's more than the suspension that woule need to be upgraded though, and by the time I spend the money to do all of that, I could have just gotten a 2500 in the first place. Plus the performance and MPG would probably suck.

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Will the CTD tow and haul better than the 6.4 Hemi, all day long. If your willing to ignore the Payload Police and keep in mind that a 2500 is artificially limited to a 10K GVWR, go for the CTD. You'll probably be just as happy with the 6.4 w/8 spd also maybe even more so since you seem unsure about "going over the numbers".
As for hauling this load with a 1500, if it was all a trailer it wouldn't be a problem. Being you want to haul the SXS in the bed will probably max out the GAWR of a 1500. I tow a 28' 8K lbs enclosed trailer behind my EcoDiesel without issues.

Thanks for all the thoughts/advice. I just have to decide if I want to go CTD or 6.4 now.

Another question tho - I saw a lightly-used 2018 Power Wagon for sale at my local dealership, but in looking at the specs, I see where the payload on those is like 800-900 lbs less than the standard 2500. What is the reason for that? Is the suspension/brake/trans different in the Power Wagons versus the normal 2500's? Given the name, I would think that the Power Wagon would be the mac daddy of the lineup instead of just some kind of appearance package.

UPDATE - NVM, I just got onto the Power Wagon forum here and saw the info regarding the suspension (and purpose of a Power Wagon). Sounds like I may want a standard 2500 instead of a Power Wagon.

Yep. PW isn't made for towing or hauling. I was thinking of going that route but then found it was barely better than the 1500 in terms of specs

It's too bad - the PW looks pretty BA. But that won't get you down the road with a ton of payload in the bed and a boat in tow. Now maybe if I was using it just for offroading…...but even doing that, the thing is huge.

stevenk2 said:

It's too bad - the PW looks pretty BA. But that won't get you down the road with a ton of payload in the bed and a boat in tow. Now maybe if I was using it just for offroading…...but even doing that, the thing is huge.

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One option is to get a 3500 and swap to a PW front end thats what I'm doing with my 1500 is swapping to a rebel front end.

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