azaustin
Junior Member
Several people have posted towing reports, so I thought I’d throw in my recent trip experience. My trailer is a 22 foot Rockwood with a listed weight of just under 5,000lbs. With our gear, two propane tanks, and my KTM 350 EXC hanging off the back, I’d say it weighs around 5700-5800lbs. My partner and I weigh about 300lbs together (most of it mine),plus our Chihuahua (14lbs), and we had about 400lbs of clothes and in gear in the cab and bed. We drove from our summer cabin in Munds Park, Arizona (just south of Flagstaff) to Ouray, Colorado, via Dolores and Lizard Head Pass, which is a little over 10,000 feet. My calculated average fuel consumption was 10.7 going and 11.2 on our return, cruising from 50 to 65mph depending on conditions. Most of the time I was running 55-60mph. Total trip length, including local excursions, was just under 1,000 miles.
My truck specs: 2022 Laramie 1500 4WD, 5.7 E-torque, 3.91 gears, 33 gallon fuel tank.
Earlier this summer we took a three-week, 4300 mile trip in our 2021 Jeep Gladiator Diesel Rubicon, which I ordered new in 2021. It did the job, but wore me out in high cross winds, and trying to manage my speed to keep oil temps below frightening levels made it no fun. Overall, I towed the same trailer about 8,000 miles with it before throwing in the towel and moving to a regular half-ton pickup. A big factor was my partner’s three back surgeries in the last two years, which meant that our light-duty off-reading was over. I liked the Jeep ((it was our second, the first being a 2017 Unlimited Rubicon) but our needs had changed.
In comparison to the Jeep, the Laramie is a Cadillac. More, room, much more comfort, and incredibly quiet compared to the Gladiator.
Some notes on towing:
The Laramie does pretty well in crosswinds, but I found that it was more sensitive to the adjustment of my Anderson equalizing hitch than the Gladiator. It seemed to get into a roller-coaster effect on undulating roads that forced me to slow down excessively sometimes.
Power on hills was amazing. Just as good as the Jeep, and 10-15 degree cooler oil temps at 10-15mph higher speeds on hills. Even on some long 6 and 7 percent grades, I always had power in reserve. I was really impressed with the torque the engine had.
The towing package worked very well, and the brake controller was basically a set-it-and-forget-it affair. The downshifting thing it does acts like an exhaust brake. I’m going to research this some more, because I don’t really understand how it works, and sometimes it was unwanted. On the long stretch from Ridgway to Delores the truck didn’t seem to be really working right until I remembered to press the Towing Mode switch, after which it settled down a lot. The Gladiator did this automatically when you connected the hitch plug, according to Jeep.
Brakes were more than adequate. Really outstanding, especially compared to a 2000 Ford Super Duty 7.3L I owned (also probably the best truck and the best thing I’ve ever owned.)
Overall, I’m extremely pleased with the truck. I need to study the owner’s manual some more, and also taLK to Anderson about their hitch. It needs very little pre-load compared to the Gladiator, and I’m not sure why. Even a little bit too much pre-load makes the Laramie a little squirrelly on downhills and flat road. It appears that the truck is sensitive to the caster change that raising the rear even a little causes.
My truck specs: 2022 Laramie 1500 4WD, 5.7 E-torque, 3.91 gears, 33 gallon fuel tank.
Earlier this summer we took a three-week, 4300 mile trip in our 2021 Jeep Gladiator Diesel Rubicon, which I ordered new in 2021. It did the job, but wore me out in high cross winds, and trying to manage my speed to keep oil temps below frightening levels made it no fun. Overall, I towed the same trailer about 8,000 miles with it before throwing in the towel and moving to a regular half-ton pickup. A big factor was my partner’s three back surgeries in the last two years, which meant that our light-duty off-reading was over. I liked the Jeep ((it was our second, the first being a 2017 Unlimited Rubicon) but our needs had changed.
In comparison to the Jeep, the Laramie is a Cadillac. More, room, much more comfort, and incredibly quiet compared to the Gladiator.
Some notes on towing:
The Laramie does pretty well in crosswinds, but I found that it was more sensitive to the adjustment of my Anderson equalizing hitch than the Gladiator. It seemed to get into a roller-coaster effect on undulating roads that forced me to slow down excessively sometimes.
Power on hills was amazing. Just as good as the Jeep, and 10-15 degree cooler oil temps at 10-15mph higher speeds on hills. Even on some long 6 and 7 percent grades, I always had power in reserve. I was really impressed with the torque the engine had.
The towing package worked very well, and the brake controller was basically a set-it-and-forget-it affair. The downshifting thing it does acts like an exhaust brake. I’m going to research this some more, because I don’t really understand how it works, and sometimes it was unwanted. On the long stretch from Ridgway to Delores the truck didn’t seem to be really working right until I remembered to press the Towing Mode switch, after which it settled down a lot. The Gladiator did this automatically when you connected the hitch plug, according to Jeep.
Brakes were more than adequate. Really outstanding, especially compared to a 2000 Ford Super Duty 7.3L I owned (also probably the best truck and the best thing I’ve ever owned.)
Overall, I’m extremely pleased with the truck. I need to study the owner’s manual some more, and also taLK to Anderson about their hitch. It needs very little pre-load compared to the Gladiator, and I’m not sure why. Even a little bit too much pre-load makes the Laramie a little squirrelly on downhills and flat road. It appears that the truck is sensitive to the caster change that raising the rear even a little causes.
