5.7 HEMI 8 Speed with 3.21 rear end

[BULL55]

Good Morning Members,

After reading, searching, listening to other RAM owners. I have made up my mind about the 1500 Ram with the above towing set up. Your input is important thank you.
You can tow 7950 lbs plus your family and gear. I feel this is plenty for a half ton truck! If I needed to tow more on a regular basis's I need a 2500 truck. I know the towing power of the Hemi with the 3.92 or 3.55 gearing is greater,but really wouldn't a 2500 do the heaver job better day in day out? Yes I own the 4X4 CC RAM with the 3.21 8 speed 5.7 Hemi. Thank You for your reply s

James

 

[14hemiexpress]

I'm not sure on the specific question you are asking. According to Rams website you can tow 7950 with the 8 speed 3.21 on the lower end models. I'm not sure what model you have but when you get into the heavier models such as the larmie's towing goes down some not a lot. you have to include your family in the towing capacity and add anything you might weigh over 150. So in my case I weigh 230 and my wife is about 2. I have to take 280lbs on my towing capacity to start off. And say I have 500 lbs worth of luggage and dogs with me now my towing capacity drops 780lbs. A heavy duty truck will always out tow a half ton the bigger trucks are setup to tow more and handle more weight. The half ton with 3.93 and 8 speed is rated to just over 10000lbs. and when they rate it as such it will handle that much if properly equipped, such as weight distribution hitch, Heavyduty coolers and trailer brake controler. Hopefully this answers your question.

 

[Crianor]

The best way to think about towing is safety first. As said above 7950 is your max, all in including driver, passenger, all gear, and everything loaded I the trailer and the truck. Worst case scenario, if you get in an accident and are overweight, not only could you be held criminally liable for any injuries, but your insurance company could also refuse to cover the claims.

I went with the 1500 with3.92 gears and heavy duty suspension knowing that I would be towing on occasion. But I would rather give up a little bit on mileage and maybe a little harsher suspension knowing the towing capacity is there. I just can't justify going up to a 2500 so I will pick a trailer and load based on what I have.

That being said, there are plenty of really nice trailers to be had that will of max out your towing capacity.