Can I tow it - Safely?

[Bobbymiller17]

Hey everyone,

Just joined, and I'm stoked to tap into the wealth of knowledge here. Might have made a bit of an oopsie, though. I’ve been sitting on a Catalina sbx 301 camper for around five years, parked at a campground because I never had a truck. Recently, I caught the bug to roam around my province in Canada, checking out different spots. With zero truck experience, I traded in my two-year-old SUV for a sturdy 2022 Bighorn 5.8L 4x4 crew cab. I laid out my plan to the salesperson, a fellow RV enthusiast, aiming to tow a 9500-pound camper. He reassured me, “This truck can handle it.” The truck's specs, with its class 4 receiver, tow button, and beefy suspension, all seemed to check out. I even lined up an appointment for brake control hardware and ordered a Husky weight distribution hitch with a sway bar rated for over 12k, thinking I was all set.

But then, I started getting into axle ratios and realized the truck’s towing capacity tops out at 8180 pounds. The silver lining? My trailer's dry weight is 7600 pounds. Still, it’s pretty snug, especially considering the 80% towing guideline. I’m looking at dropping around 100 pounds from the trailer by stripping away some unused items, aiming to be under the truck's 13900-pound max combined weight rating by about 400 to 500 pounds. After spending a good amount on the hitch, running boards, and tonneau cover, this whole situation is kind of a drag. Realizing I need to cut back on carrying water or extras, I’m left wondering about safely towing my 33-foot trailer within these limits. The parks I plan to visit are about an hour or two away.

I’d truly appreciate any thoughts or wisdom on this.

 

[Daniel12]

Send us a picture of your truck's door sticker so we can see your exact payload numbers based on your build. Based on what you've said so far, I'd say you don't have enough truck. Are you going to be doing many long trips with this trailer or just a couple short trips?

 

[Bobbymiller17]

Here it is. Thx in advance! No long trips. 2 hours to camp grounds a few times year. That said if it's not safe or if I am going to be bothered by police I would rather just not take the chance.

 

[Bobbymiller17]

.

 

[chopperman1]

The other sticker, has the tire info on it.

 

[dhay13]

I'm gonna bet you will be over your GRAWR, which can cause premature bearing failure and axle failure. Your GRAWR is 4100lbs as you can see on that sticker. I towed a 9300lb TT and had about 4260lb rear axle weight. This can be fudged a little with how you load the trailer but combined with being so close to your max weight I'd say you need a 2500. Will your truck tow it? Sure. Safely? Probably with someone with alot of towing experience. Legal? Pretty unlikely.

 

[crash68]

well this thread has the beginning makings of ..

The sticker posted has all the information needed, the main numbers to watch are the GAWRs

It will be right at the top of the limits but the numbers Ram publish already have a safety factor added in, no need to limit the truck to 80% of.

 

[Bobbymiller17]

Would you mind taking a look at this, I am considering trading if my truck will tow it. https://www.rvworld.ca/New-Inventor...-TRAIL-RV-World-Fredericton-11778002?ref=list

 

[Randy Grant]

Hey everyone,

Just joined, and I'm stoked to tap into the wealth of knowledge here. Might have made a bit of an oopsie, though. I’ve been sitting on a Catalina sbx 301 camper for around five years, parked at a campground because I never had a truck. Recently, I caught the bug to roam around my province in Canada, checking out different spots. With zero truck experience, I traded in my two-year-old SUV for a sturdy 2022 Bighorn 5.8L 4x4 crew cab. I laid out my plan to the salesperson, a fellow RV enthusiast, aiming to tow a 9500-pound camper. He reassured me, “This truck can handle it.” The truck's specs, with its class 4 receiver, tow button, and beefy suspension, all seemed to check out. I even lined up an appointment for brake control hardware and ordered a Husky weight distribution hitch with a sway bar rated for over 12k, thinking I was all set.

But then, I started getting into axle ratios and realized the truck’s towing capacity tops out at 8180 pounds. The silver lining? My trailer's dry weight is 7600 pounds. Still, it’s pretty snug, especially considering the 80% towing guideline. I’m looking at dropping around 100 pounds from the trailer by stripping away some unused items, aiming to be under the truck's 13900-pound max combined weight rating by about 400 to 500 pounds. After spending a good amount on the hitch, running boards, and tonneau cover, this whole situation is kind of a drag. Realizing I need to cut back on carrying water or extras, I’m left wondering about safely towing my 33-foot trailer within these limits. The parks I plan to visit are about an hour or two away.

I’d truly appreciate any thoughts or wisdom on this.

AAAHHHH!!!! And another can of worms is opened.

 

[crash68]

Would you mind taking a look at this, I am considering trading if my truck will tow it. https://www.rvworld.ca/New-Inventor...-TRAIL-RV-World-Fredericton-11778002?ref=list

This one will definitely give you more flexibility with how and what you load up.
You'll want to swap out the WDH load bars for 8K lbs rated ones, 10K max if the 8's aren't available. Be sure to set up the WDH while the truck and trailer are fully loaded for heading out and preferably by weighing using a CAT scale.

 

[nlambert182]

Hey everyone,

Just joined, and I'm stoked to tap into the wealth of knowledge here. Might have made a bit of an oopsie, though. I’ve been sitting on a Catalina sbx 301 camper for around five years, parked at a campground because I never had a truck. Recently, I caught the bug to roam around my province in Canada, checking out different spots. With zero truck experience, I traded in my two-year-old SUV for a sturdy 2022 Bighorn 5.8L 4x4 crew cab. I laid out my plan to the salesperson, a fellow RV enthusiast, aiming to tow a 9500-pound camper. He reassured me, “This truck can handle it.” The truck's specs, with its class 4 receiver, tow button, and beefy suspension, all seemed to check out. I even lined up an appointment for brake control hardware and ordered a Husky weight distribution hitch with a sway bar rated for over 12k, thinking I was all set.

But then, I started getting into axle ratios and realized the truck’s towing capacity tops out at 8180 pounds. The silver lining? My trailer's dry weight is 7600 pounds. Still, it’s pretty snug, especially considering the 80% towing guideline. I’m looking at dropping around 100 pounds from the trailer by stripping away some unused items, aiming to be under the truck's 13900-pound max combined weight rating by about 400 to 500 pounds. After spending a good amount on the hitch, running boards, and tonneau cover, this whole situation is kind of a drag. Realizing I need to cut back on carrying water or extras, I’m left wondering about safely towing my 33-foot trailer within these limits. The parks I plan to visit are about an hour or two away.

I’d truly appreciate any thoughts or wisdom on this.

Ignore towing capacity if you're towing an rv because they're not loaded the same as a flatbed trailer. Often times you'll max out payload before you reach towing capacity. Also ignore dry weight because that number goes out the window the second it hits the dealer lot.

Here's the simple way to get into a ballpark on paper without actually hitting a weigh scale. (I'm going to use a generic payload number from Ram for the example and since I don't know your axle ratio I'm assuming 3.21)

Find the payload sticker on your truck (as someone said, it's with the tire info) and find that number. For a 2022 Ram 1500 Tradesman, 5.7 4x4 CC with 3.21 gearing, you're looking at 1560 lbs... Your payload is likely lower being a BigHorn.

Get your base numbers:
Payload - 1560 lbs (per Ram website)
Trailer Gross Vehicle Weight Rating - (2018 Catalina SBX301) 9,000 lbs (per RVUSA website) - find the GVWR sticker on your trailer to be sure.
Estimated Hitch Weight (15%*9000 lbs) = 1,350 lbs

Figure out the adjusted payload by subtracting the weight of anything added to the truck (tonneau, step rails, cargo, etc...). Let's call it 65 lbs for the example.

1560 - 65 = 1,495
Total passenger weight = 400
WDH hitch weight = 60 lbs
Adjusted payload - passenger weight = (1495-460) 1,035 lbs. <-- This is the available payload.

Available payload = 1,035 (This is with no cargo in the bed)
Hitch weight = 1,350 lbs
Over by 315 lbs

Properly adjusted the WDH will redistribute somewhere between 20-25% (it varies by trailer) of the weight from the tongue back to the trailer.

If you end up at the 25% number, the WDH might move 337 lbs off the hitch bringing you right to the edge.

Available payload = 1,035
Hitch weight = 1,037 (1,350 - 25%)
Over by 2 lbs


If you end up at the 20% number, the WDH might move 270 lbs off the hitch.

Available payload = 1,035
Hitch weight = 1,080 (1,350 - 20%)
Over by 45 lbs


Anyhow, this is how you calculate it.

If you're staying close, staying on relatively flat ground, don't exceed your rear axle weight rating of 4,100 lbs, and take it easy it might do it. If all of these things were true and I never planned on towing often with it I might stick with what I had until I could move up to a slightly larger truck down the road. If you're going to tow often and over longer distances with challenging terrain I'd consider moving up now. Another consideration is that 33' is long for a travel trailer behind a 1500 truck so anticipate the risk of tail wagging in crosswinds. It's possible.

If your trailer is truly 9,500 lbs then the numbers change even less in your favor.

If it were me and I could afford it, I would definitely consider stepping up to a 3/4 ton with a Hemi. That would fit the bill quite nicely and leave you with plenty of room to spare.

Before you do anything though, you really need to scale both the truck and trailer. That is the only real way to know.

 

[2003F350]

You've been presented with a LOT of good info here.

To directly answer your question, you MAY be able to tow it safely, that depends on your skills and the quality of your equipment, but it won't be a comfortable pull and your ******** will likely be puckered up tight for most of the ride. I would definitely consider trading for a LOT more truck if you're going to want to tow that trailer a lot - it'll just make things a LOT more comfortable pulling with a more capable truck.

 

[Bobbymiller17]

After all the input here I think I will try to get a smaller trailer, one under 5000pounds. Thank you all for your help! Someone suggested swapping out the wdh for an 8000pound rated one if I go with smaller trailer. Are there safety issues of I use a 12pound rated one on a smaller trailer? Can you go to big with a wdh?

 

[nlambert182]

Yes, you can. It should be properly sized to the load. If you set it up properly you might get away with it and the only negative be a stiff ride.

Generally you'll want the tongue weight of the trailer to fall somewhere in the middle of the WDH range, otherwise you'll get a really stiff ride. From the perspective of the hitch itself, there is no issue.

The bars are where the issue gets introduced. Too heavy of a bar can put extra stress on the A-frame above what it was designed to handle if you improperly use it. It could potentially also cause axle fatigue if trying to put too much weight on the trailer axle by over-distributing. A properly sized WDH won't allow for that. You could possibly change out for a lighter set of bars.

 

[Bobbymiller17]

Ok, good to know. I sincerely appreciate all the guidance I hace received here. Thank you!

 

[Bobbymiller17]

If you would mind d looking, do you see any issue pulling this trailer? https://www.dougsrecreation.net/product/new-2024-forest-river-rv-aurora-26bhs-2445631-29

 

[nlambert182]

If you would mind d looking, do you see any issue pulling this trailer? https://www.dougsrecreation.net/product/new-2024-forest-river-rv-aurora-26bhs-2445631-29

At a glance and without really knowing the true numbers from your truck, it looks doable. But again, you're going to have to get the actual numbers from your door stickers and do the math to be sure.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I'm gonna bet you will be over your GRAWR, which can cause premature bearing failure and axle failure. Your GRAWR is 4100lbs as you can see on that sticker. I towed a 9300lb TT and had about 4260lb rear axle weight. This can be fudged a little with how you load the trailer but combined with being so close to your max weight I'd say you need a 2500. Will your truck tow it? Sure. Safely? Probably with someone with alot of towing experience. Legal? Pretty unlikely.

Please stop with the "it may not be legal" crap.
I already asked for someone to post a pic of the citation they received after being stopped, inspected and weighed while driving a recreational vehicles.
It just doesn't happen.

 

[nlambert182]

I am a proponent for not exceeding the numbers, but I agree that you're not going to find many (if any) citations for someone being over their weights with a recreational vehicle. RVs are typically left alone. Now.... if you have an accident, could it be determined that you were negligent and at fault because you were overweight? I suppose it's possible and I'm sure if the situation were bad enough and in a jurisdiction where they want to chase it, probable. I've seen some insurance policies when we were looking for RV insurance that had a clause in them that said the gross weight of the trailer + tow vehicle could not exceed the GCWR of the truck. I don't know if they actually enforce that though.

 

[crash68]

Are there safety issues of I use a 12pound rated one on a smaller trailer? Can you go to big with a wdh?

With a too heavy of rated WDH the spring bars may not give enough potentially causes the axles to go light or heavy when flexing. A lot of times it's just the spring bars that need to be changed, the actual hitch stays the same.

If you would mind d looking, do you see any issue pulling this trailer? https://www.dougsrecreation.net/product/new-2024-forest-river-rv-aurora-26bhs-2445631-29

When getting close or going over the 7K lbs mark with a trailer behind a 1500 is when you really need to pay a lot of attention to how the load is situated and the WDH is tuned.