Before I purchase this camper

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le_butters

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I have a 2019 Ram 1500 classic crew cab with 5.7 HEMI with the 3.21 rear end. I'm looking at a camper with a hitch weight of 895lbs, dry weight of 7148lb, and gross weight of 9985 lbs (when fully loaded with gear). The camper is 33ft. I am a light packer, grill and some other things, I don't believe I will be over 500lbs in the trailer. I will be buying a proper WDH and having the company install it. I have towed a 4500lb dry weight camper no worries, and I'm use to hauling bigger items around. I know my particular ram per dodge says 8070lbs towing and 1230lbs payload. With the proper WDH, items loaded in the vehicle, and a minimal items in the camper, would I be pushing. I don't imaging to many super steep hill or mountain trips. I live in a flat area as well.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm looking at buying in the next week or two.
 

Farmer Fran

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If you can... you can balance some of the weight behind the trailer wheels to reduce the hitch weight. I did this with my Denali (34 feet and 7k lbs). Then I imagine 7148 + the 500lbs would put you in the 7700lb neighborhood, with ~800lbs of tongue leaving you 430lbs to play with.

~100lbs for the WDH leaving you about 330lbs. Minus your weight and anyone/thing else in the truck - Going to be close.
 

rmill

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I would get your truck to a cat scale with a full tank of gas for starters. Since you are pushing the boundaries of your weight limits you don't want any surprises. Actual weight may be better or worse than you thought. Then add your WDH/passenger/cargo weight and see where you end up.
 
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le_butters

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So the camper I wanted is pushing it to much. I went with another one that's 5800lbs dry weight saving me a lot of hassle and wear and tear. With a hitch weight of 600lbs. Add in a properly set up WDH and proper packing, I'm good to go. Only downside is I'm deployed and its going to be along time before I can get it out lol. O WELL
 

pkman

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Good choice. If you only have 1230# payload you would have anything left for occupants. Thank you for your service! Come home safe and enjoy that new camper.
 

Elkman

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You also need to add the weight of your and your passengers and subtract that from the payload rating for the truck. With your truck I would look for a lighter trailer. These are easy to find as for the past 20 years the trailer manufacturers have been working to reduce trailer weights so they can be towed by much smaller cars and trucks.

The Trump tax on aluminum boosted the price for buyers but there may be less pain with a used one that was manufactured before he took office in 2016.

Lots of RV forums where you can check and find known problems with a particular trailer before you buy.
 

OC455

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You also need to add the weight of your and your passengers and subtract that from the payload rating for the truck. With your truck I would look for a lighter trailer. These are easy to find as for the past 20 years the trailer manufacturers have been working to reduce trailer weights so they can be towed by much smaller cars and trucks.

The Trump tax on aluminum boosted the price for buyers but there may be less pain with a used one that was manufactured before he took office in 2016.

Lots of RV forums where you can check and find known problems with a particular trailer before you buy.
He already bought a lighter camper....
 

Riccochet

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Don't forget the weight of battery(s) and propane tank(s) are not included in the dry hitch weight. Plus most TT's storage compartments are forward of the axles, so anything you put in there contributes to hitch weight.
 

Fediej

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So the camper I wanted is pushing it to much. I went with another one that's 5800lbs dry weight saving me a lot of hassle and wear and tear. With a hitch weight of 600lbs. Add in a properly set up WDH and proper packing, I'm good to go. Only downside is I'm deployed and its going to be along time before I can get it out lol. O WELL
Congratulations on the camper! Keep your head on a swivel and make smart decisions so you can enjoy it when you get home.
 

dhay13

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Congrats and thanks for your service!
Your tongue weight will likely be at least 100lbs over advertised tongue weight, and maybe up to 300-400 over depending on how heavy you load it. Actual weight off the lot will likely be at least 500 over listed dry weight. You should still be good given the info you gave but just for reference figures I'd throw that out there. And yeah that first one you mentioned would have been really pushing a 1500
 

tron67j

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Congratulations, and again thank you for your service. Hope you get some quality time away as quickly as possible after your return
 

turkeybird56

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JUST a thought. Check on yer Actual Hitch Max Weight and Ball. Most standard hitches, balls are only good for 6,000 lbs, so U may want to get a different hitch, ball setup for the added weight. A lot of PPL forget to check that. U may be OK all the time, but that (1) time, just saying.
 

Taspeace

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I strongly suggest that packing enough weight behind axles of the tow vehicle to meaningfully lighten the load at the hitch will significantly contribute to trailer "wag" when going down the highway. Most weight distributing hitches are good at managing the up/down motion of the trailer, but to my knowledge, they're far less effective at controlling side-to-side forces. I hope this new rig works out great.
 

TomB 1269

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Congrats, But be aware you are approaching your limits with this setup. The factory setup 600 tongue/5800 dry means your transferring 10.3% of trailer weight to truck (FYI, based on my experience this is very low for a travel trailer as they are usually 11% - 13%).
I made an assumption that you had at least 1000lbs of payload capability in TT. There tends to be a generally given acceptance that nearly every camper own (exception is toy haulers) tend to get very near trailer payload with in 2 years of use do to odds and ends added to camper during the 1st 2 years of use.
So with this assumption you would be looking at closer to 6800lbs towing weight which would mean around 700 lbs of tongue weight. Therefore leaving you around 500-600lbs of payload capacity in your truck....

FYI, tonnuea covers, step boards, light bars, brush guards, all add up and take await from trucks payload capacity, along with anything put in the truck cab or bed.

As a general rule of thumb it is best to determine hitch weight % based on dry weight numbers then multiple by gross trailer weight rating to obtain the max possible tongue weight, and use that in determining "if" you can tow it.

I.e. dry tongue = 895, Dry trailer 7985, trailer gross weight = 8650
895/7985 = 0.112 or 11.2%
8650 X .112 = 1081 - this is represents the like range of what you will end up with for a hitch weight that you would want to deduct from your trucks payload capacity.

So if your truck, family, and the general stuff you keep in or take in truck on a camping trip weighs in at 6400 and your trucks gross weight rating is 7200 this trailer would like cause you to be at least 200 - 300 lbs over weight on the truck.

I know the tow capacity (as well as the general ability) for these trucks is to be able to tow 8500 or more, but the payload capacity or the truck gross weight rating is the limiting factor..........
 

Bricknhank

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So the camper I wanted is pushing it to much. I went with another one that's 5800lbs dry weight saving me a lot of hassle and wear and tear. With a hitch weight of 600lbs. Add in a properly set up WDH and proper packing, I'm good to go. Only downside is I'm deployed and its going to be along time before I can get it out lol. O WELL
Good decision on going with a lighter trailer. I was in almost the exact same boat as you in terms of a tow vehicle only I purchased a trailer that by numbers seemed to be within specified capacity but in reality it was far too close. The 3.21 gear was the killer IMO. I didn’t like how it towed and we had to constantly be aware of any extra weight that we loaded either on the truck or the trailer. I decided to get a 3/4 ton truck. I had a Ram with a 6.4 gas on order but I got impatient after 3-1/2 months and found a GMC Sierra 2500 with a diesel and Allison 10 speed and its like night and day compared to the Ram 1500. Happy camping.
 

CliffordK

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If you are planning on just ferrying the larger trailer around every once in a while, then you're probably fine.

On the other hand, if you are planning a few cross country road trips, and a new campground every night, then you're probably best with the smaller trailer, or a bigger pickup.

I assume these are bumper pull.

The big thing is to get some of the weight forward. So, the weight distribution hitch.

A 5th wheel or gooseneck would also be worth considering, getting the hitch right above the rear wheel instead of behind the bumper.

Weight of passengers in the cab won't be a big issue as they will have the weight forward. But, you can mash down the weight of the vehicle filling the pickup bed.

An option to consider would be air assist for the rear springs.

Don't just fill the back of the trailer to unload the tongue. At least not much. You need tongue weight to be able to handle the trailer.
 

runamuck

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the first trailer would have been too much for your truck. I have a similar '19 laramie 4x4 ccsb and my trailer is 6000# and 28' and it is about as big as I would suggest and I have the 3.92 rear end. the truck pulls it fine but if you go much longer you will get tossed around a little on windy roads and getting in and out of gas stations will be more difficult. get your truck weighed. mine weighs 5960# with just me and 1/2 tank of fuel. subtract that from the 7100# you're allowed and you will see how much you can add to the truck in terms of trailer tongue wt. and cargo. the 1140# I can add goes fast with 600# tongue wt. and wife and fuel and a few pcs. of gear in the bed I'm done. I added air bags to the rear, changed out the sway bar and run more air in the tires when I tow just to stiffen things up a little. I have towed our trailer all over the place with this truck and it has done a great job. By the way dont go 100% by that chart..it shows over 1800# cargo for my truck yet the door sticker shows 1324#. quite a bit of differance. get it weighed is your best bet.
 
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Ratman6161

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Important: don't believe the RV manufacturers numbers they publish in their brochures and online. Don't even believe the stickernon the actual camper. The new one w3 picked up earlier this month had a published weight of 6836. The sticker on our camper says 6807. But it was a special order and we got table and chairs instead of he usual dinette. I figured that was probably the reason. I've got a gas 2500 2ith payload of 2974 so I've got gobs of extra payload for the camper I've got. But just to be sure, I weighed the truck alone and then stopped at a CAT scale again on the way home from the RV dealership. The real weight when empty except for two batteries and two full propane tanks was 7051. FYI this particular manufacturer claims full propane tanks are included in their dry weights. Anyway, just an example to show there is no substitute for getting a real weight from a scale...particularly if you are pushing the limits.

I previously had a Sierra 1500 with a 1645 payload that would have been close to maxed out. I ended up with the RAM 2500 6.4L and 4.10 rear end just so I would not have to constantly stress out over weights.
 

Ramagain

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Stay alert out there mate, looking foward to hearing about some camping trips when you return home.
 
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