Determining Towing Capacity from Online listings

[StansRam]

I'm looking for a truck to haul my 25' Airstream (GVWR 7100 lbs) and am looking at the 1500 (as opposed to the 2500) as a compromise between towing capacity and daily drivability. I've read the towing spec charts and it seems like the 1500, if optioned correctly, can tow 10,500 lbs and more. My question is how can I identify (online) those vehicles that are optioned so as to be able to tow to my requirements? Am I looking for the "Tow and/or Trailer package"? or the 3.92 gears? Only some of the sites like cars.com or trucar provide filters to identify specific packages like this. I've also used the VIN lookup tools to identify the 3.92 gearing and other equipment specs. Any help would be appreciated.

To be honest I towed with a 1500 5.7, towing a 2500RL GD, and any wind you will notice that wind is not your friend. I purchased a 2500 6.4, and it was night and day, the 2500 is more planted.

 

[Jas34]

I just went through this myself. I was looking for a 4wd Big Horn 1500 with a 5.7 and 331 rear end and factory brake controller to tow our Grand Design 22mle TT. I found a very nice 2017 quad cab that I'm really happy with.

To find your specs, you can use this vin lookup tool but it's only going to work with 21+ model year trucks:

Ram Towing Capacity | Towing & Payload Capacity Guide

Explore the Ram Trucks towing & payload capacity guide. Find information like Ram 1500 towing capacity, Ram 2500 towing capacity, payload specs & more here.

www.ramtrucks.com

I used a combination of other things to narrow my choices. Pic of the tailgate will tell you 2 or 4wd. Interior pics of the dash will show you if it has the factory brake controller. In most cases, if it has this, it was ordered with the heavy duty towing package and came with the 392 rear, but not always (like mine). If looking at dealers pages, they will often have a free link to the Carfax. Carfax will show you the original window sticker, where you can see what options it came with. You may also be able to find a build sheet online using the vin. If you have the truck year, style and options, you can look up a tow and load rating for the truck on one of Rams published tables for that year and find the specifics for your truck. As others mentioned, you'll run out of payload before you run out of tow rating.

A couple of things concerning your trailer. With the GVWR of 7100 you're pretty much within the limits of just about any of the 1500's. I'm not convinced you even need the 392 rear. As a daily driver, then you'll effectively have one gear higher than if you had the 392 and you'll likely get better mileage on the highway, at least. Both axle ratios will have the same payload, fwiw. Just some thoughts I went through when I was looking recently.

 

[OC455]

Payload and Towing, Information and Where to Find It

Maybe this can become a sticky, not going to give any opinions or conjecture. Just a start where to look stuff up to find cargo & towing information. This is the location of the cargo capacity sticker on the driver's side door jamb. This is what it looks like and has the cargo capacity...

www.ramforum.com

 

[Wire4money]

Not necessarily so. The gear ratios really only apply when 'getting off the line'. After the truck and trailer get moving at highway speed it's pretty much a wash.

I sad tow rating, not performance. The biggest jump in Ram rating is gear ratio.

 

[luckydiyer]

Enter your VIN here: https://www.ramtrucks.com/towing/towing-guide.html/vin-lookup#/landing/bytowing That is specific to YOUR vehicle.

Get yourself a weigh-safe hitch that shows you the hitch weight from your trailer. Subtract that from your payload rating and that is the amount you can have for people, cargo, etc on / in your truck.

Of course, the link tells you what you can tow with that specific vehicle, too.

 

[greg mayrhofer]

To be honest I towed with a 1500 5.7, towing a 2500RL GD, and any wind you will notice that wind is not your friend. I purchased a 2500 6.4, and it was night and day, the 2500 is more planted.

I have been towing my 29 ft trailer 7200 lbs. loaded front stow ( dry 6193) rear end 3.92 no problem, Chrysler canada specs on the chart states max tow is 10500 , however i would not cross or get close to that figure

 

[MN2500]

This is a good tool.

Ram Towing Capacity | Towing & Payload Capacity Guide

Explore the Ram Trucks towing & payload capacity guide. Find information like Ram 1500 towing capacity, Ram 2500 towing capacity, payload specs & more here.

www.ramtrucks.com

 

[lAWROSA]

I would by a truck with leaf springs. Rams suck at towing as the independent suspension needs a bigger sway bar and sumosprings at a minimum.. That stiffens the rear up but its still fishy.. Look at chevy or ford with leafs.. It will be planted better. My first and last dodge.

 

[Big Red1]

I agree with the comments above. I originally purchased a 23 foot Airstream which had a measured hitch weight of 600#. I also had a 1500 limited RAM with all the bells and whistles that comes with the limited. It had a payload of 1200 lbs. It was a great truck to drive and handled the AS flawlessly. However, I probably exceeded the payload on most trips. Two adults, the dog, the various camping equipment, the tonneau cover etc. I had the 3.92 rear end, etorque engine, 33 gallon gas tank etc. Long story short, we upgraded the AS to a 27' (should have bought our 2nd AS first)! You will hear that a lot in the AS forums.

I knew I was going to exceed the payload significantly on the 1500. Towing and power was never the issue. It was payload. So I traded the 1500 for the RAM 2500 gas engine and now have ample payload for our travels. I also decided that I wanted a canopy rather than the tonneau cover so that adds another 300 lbs. etc. You could certainly tow the 25' with the 1500 but you will undoubtedly exceed the payload. Welcome to the AS community. Good luck on your hunt for the perfect vehicle.

 

[Panduh]

How the trailer pulls comes down to the weight distribution set up and tuning of the trailer with the truck.
Ideally to set up the truck/trailer by weighing it on a CAT scale. Weight the truck and trailer fully load ready for traveling, then drop the trailer and weigh just the truck. With those numbers you can determine tongue weight percentage and how much weight is retuned back to the front axle.
7K lbs is completely doable with a 1500, it's getting close to the limits but those numbers already have a safety factor added (no need to add more). I tow an 8K lbs 32' overall length enclosed trailer behind my 1500, properly adjusted I go down the road with one hand on the wheel with the cruise control set

100% agree with crash68. For your reference: I tow a 6500 lb. fully-loaded 29 ft. trailer with a 2016 1500 crew cab w RWD, 5.7 hemi, 8 speed and 3:92 rear. No sunroof, no power seats. So I've pretty much got the most payload for any crew cab 1500. I believe my WDH is properly set up and, like crash68, it all drives very comfortably and I easily pass a lot of cars going up mountain roads. My limiting factor is my rear axle weight: it's at 3740 lbs. and the max is 3900 lbs. That's with wife in front and miscellaneous cargo in the bed. I'm curious, crash68; what are your axle weights when hooked up to your 8k trailer? I'm using the correct bars on my Centerline WDH and have as much tension on them as I can muster, but my front axle weight still drops 260 lbs. while the rear gains 1180 lbs. with the trailer. There's no visible squat, but, as you know, the unloaded 1500 sits higher in the rear.

 

[crash68]

@Panduh the tongue weight is kept on the light side around 800lbs. Probably where the difference is the WDH I use is rated for 10K, word of caution using higher rated bars is it cause cause the rear end to get light

 

[Tulecreeper]

@Panduh the tongue weight is kept on the light side around 800lbs. Probably where the difference is the WDH I use is rated for 10K, word of caution using higher rated bars is it cause cause the rear end to get light

Using a WDH that is too heavy/strong can also damage your trailer frame. Whatever the GVWR, go just one step above that because bigger/stronger is not always better.

 

[crash68]

Using a WDH that is too heavy/strong can also damage your trailer frame. Whatever the GVWR, go just one step above that because bigger/stronger is not always better.

Exactly..
The next step down in the bars for my WDH are rated for 8K. Also the trailer is gross rating is 10K lbs so the frame can hold it, it also gets towed with an HD truck when the weight warrants the load.

 

[1STRAM2500]

Not necessarily so. The gear ratios really only apply when 'getting off the line'. After the truck and trailer get moving at highway speed it's pretty much a wash.

I agree. My 5.7L Tundra with 4.35 gears was fast out of the hole (I never could consistently take off in gravel without spinning, or throwing my wife into back seat with the instant acceleration), but I could pretty much idle my 9000lb trailer back into a leveled concrete pad site. With my 6.4L Hemi 2500 with the standard 3.73, I have to keep giving it gas to move backwards.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I agree. My 5.7L Tundra with 4.35 gears was fast out of the hole (I never could consistently take off in gravel without spinning, or throwing my wife into back seat with the instant acceleration), but I could pretty much idle my 9000lb trailer back into a leveled concrete pad site. With my 6.4L Hemi 2500 with the standard 3.73, I have to keep giving it gas to move backwards.

What model Classic is that in your picture?

 

[ramffml]

I agree. My 5.7L Tundra with 4.35 gears was fast out of the hole (I never could consistently take off in gravel without spinning, or throwing my wife into back seat with the instant acceleration), but I could pretty much idle my 9000lb trailer back into a leveled concrete pad site. With my 6.4L Hemi 2500 with the standard 3.73, I have to keep giving it gas to move backwards.

Have you actually calcuated the final gear ratios? Not saying you're wrong, but the ZF 8 speed has pretty short first gears, don't remember off hand about reverse.

May surprise you, but my ZF 8 speed with the 3.21 has a higher final gear ratio than your tundra 6 speed with the 4.30. And funny enough it also has a taller final gear, so more power off the line while still having a lower RPMs in final overdrive, and more gears to choose from while towing: win win win.

 

[1STRAM2500]

I would by a truck with leaf springs. Rams suck at towing as the independent suspension needs a bigger sway bar and sumosprings at a minimum.. That stiffens the rear up but its still fishy.. Look at chevy or ford with leafs.. It will be planted better. My first and last dodge.

I had to solve the sway problem with an expensive ProPride Hitch system (which works well). Never bothered trying to alter suspension, was afraid of warranty issues.

 

[1STRAM2500]

Have you actually calcuated the final gear ratios? Not saying you're wrong, but the ZF 8 speed has pretty short first gears, don't remember off hand about reverse.

May surprise you, but my ZF 8 speed with the 3.21 has a higher final gear ratio than your tundra 6 speed with the 4.30. And funny enough it also has a taller final gear, so more power off the line while still having a lower RPMs in final overdrive, and more gears to choose from while towing: win win win.

Never got that involved cuz I'm not mechanically inclined enough to think it thru. My Tundra is long gone, it was eaten by the RAM2500 I now enjoy.

 

[OBSteve]

FWIW, this is the best explainer I've found about the vehicle dynamics of towing a trailer - all started by a violent sway incident from an improperly loaded trailer.

Here's The Physics Behind Tongue Weight And Why Some Trailers Sway Out Of Control - The Autopian

My fellow Autopians. Welcome to another edition of Ask An Engineer. This time we are going to look into a question sent to me by one of you astute readers relating to towing a trailer. The question is: Why do some trailers sway back and forth as they are being towed while most others track […]

www.theautopian.com

 

[KeithP]

I'm looking for a truck to haul my 25' Airstream (GVWR 7100 lbs) and am looking at the 1500 (as opposed to the 2500) as a compromise between towing capacity and daily drivability. I've read the towing spec charts and it seems like the 1500, if optioned correctly, can tow 10,500 lbs and more. My question is how can I identify (online) those vehicles that are optioned so as to be able to tow to my requirements? Am I looking for the "Tow and/or Trailer package"? or the 3.92 gears? Only some of the sites like cars.com or trucar provide filters to identify specific packages like this. I've also used the VIN lookup tools to identify the 3.92 gearing and other equipment specs. Any help would be appreciated.

I’m late to this party but I’ll throw this out there. Call the dealership with the vehicle you’re interested in and have a sales person text you a picture of the sticker on the driver’s door frame with the weights for that particular vehicle. Then, you have accurate information to make your decision. Yes, you’re going to have to deal with multiple sales reps but, I’d rather do that than buy the wrong truck and not be able to tow what I needed to safely.