Good example of why I prefer more truck than a half ton

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dhay13

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Leaving Monday morning with my son to tow his camper 1350 miles to Crosby, TX. He towed it 1500 miles to North Dakota last year. I'm sure he is within all weights but he has never weighed it. He mentioned he wants to scale it when we leave Monday. His dry weight on his camper is about 6500lbs. His truck is a 2018 2500 6.4 with 4.10's. He has a Husky TS Centerline WDH. He just towed it 300 miles home from Altoona yesterday. It will be pretty loaded up so guessing the TT will be about 8500lbs and the truck about 8000lbs with 3 of us in it plus another 1000 or so tongue weight. My truck and his trucks are identical and mine weighed 7250 with me in it and 1/2 tank of fuel. Add about another 350lbs of people, 100lbs of fuel and about 300lbs or so of stuff in the truck that should be a close guess.
 

Socalramfan

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I tow with a half ton and my camper is 7000# dry. It tows just fine. Without facts we can only speculate.

  • Maybe his WD setup wasn't up to par. Some of these kits are better than others. My dealer refused to transfer my old WD kit because they couldn't confirm the what the bars were rated for. I could imagine some dealers would just toss them on.
  • Maybe he had a decent WD kit but it wasn't dialed in right. I had to take mine back to the dealer for them to re-adjust once. Mine is really solid now. Passing tractor trailers don't quite scare me as much anymore.
  • Maybe he was going too fast. I typically drive between 60-70. If I go over 70 it doesn't handle nearly as well. If I encounter a lot of wind, I drive closer to 55-60. It's OK to be under the speed limit.
  • That's a pretty old Expedition. Maybe there was a mechanical problem. Still the original shocks? Looks to be around an early 2000 Expedition. I had a 2003 Expedition. While it did tow my camper, it did not tow it well. The camper was too heavy and I knew the truck wouldn't last long towing that camper. That's how I ended up with my RAM.
I wouldn't necessarily resort to saying a half ton was his problem. It could have been any one of these items.


Speaking of load distributing....... doesn't the rear look like its weighted down a bit here? :boxed:

wieghted.png
 
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GsRAM

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Speaking of load distributing....... doesn't the rear look like its weighted down a bit here? :boxed:

View attachment 221262

Lol yep, perfect example of a poorly set up wdh, improper trailer loading, too much payload and in need of airbags amongst other things.

I wouldn't want to be anywhere near that rig going down the road. Steer axle braking, tire grip and steering effort would all be adversely affected. Sadly, An accident waiting to happen.
 

sandawilliams

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Leaving Monday morning with my son to tow his camper 1350 miles to Crosby, TX. He towed it 1500 miles to North Dakota last year. I'm sure he is within all weights but he has never weighed it. He mentioned he wants to scale it when we leave Monday. His dry weight on his camper is about 6500lbs. His truck is a 2018 2500 6.4 with 4.10's. He has a Husky TS Centerline WDH. He just towed it 300 miles home from Altoona yesterday. It will be pretty loaded up so guessing the TT will be about 8500lbs and the truck about 8000lbs with 3 of us in it plus another 1000 or so tongue weight. My truck and his trucks are identical and mine weighed 7250 with me in it and 1/2 tank of fuel. Add about another 350lbs of people, 100lbs of fuel and about 300lbs or so of stuff in the truck that should be a close guess.

It's more likely you TT will be over weight with 2K of cargo.
 

turkeybird56

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I’ve always followed one simple rule, your tow vehicle, your car, your motorcycle, your boat or even your roller skates have nothing to do with safety and accident’s as much as the person operating said items.


THAT is the same argument I tell PPL ref firearms. Not the weapon, but (1) specific finger and total lack of ne commonsense and Moral Turpitude.
 

turkeybird56

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Thanks, MADDOG!

I thought i was at 9800lbs, mainly because of the package, and I thought that was as high as the rating went. 10,050 seems like a bite much for my size truck. Not that i would even want to tow 9800, but i guess that gives me some wiggle room.

Me thinks it is the WIGGLE U R trying to avoid. The High number is the optimum load unda optimum conditions. Just IMHO, but if U R that close, U may wanna consider and upgrade to yer ride, like a 2500, just saying.
 

MRFREEZE57

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have learned a lot reading this forum that one must not look at just the tow capacity rating but figure in the GVW of the truck also. not that I plan on towing anything that heavy but is good to know this info in the event in case someday may decide to tow a travel trailer. that tow capacity rating is a bit deceiving as my truck is rated around 9800lb but my payload capacity is around 1200lb so would likely never be able to tow something in the upper 9k lb class. for those of you with experience in towing, what size of trailer would my truck be able to handle, is a 2016 bighorn crew cab 4wd with the 3.92 rear end?
 
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GsRAM

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have learned a lot reading this forum that one must not look at just the tow capacity rating but figure in the GVW of the truck also. not that I plan on towing anything that heavy but is good to know this info in the event in case someday may decide to tow a travel trailer. that tow capacity rating is a bit deceiving as my truck is rated around 9800lb but my payload capacity is around 1200lb so would likely never be able to tow something in the upper 9k lb class. for those of you with experience in towing, what size of trailer would my truck be able to handle, is a 2016 bighorn crew cab 4wd with the 3.92 rear end?

If I was you, under 30' overall ball to bumper, trailer GVWR 7500lbs and under.
 

sam darakjy

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About truck campers.
I bought a 1 ton DRW for my Arctic Fox.
I researched this thoroughly and watched internet videos. There was no other option.
What if you get a rear wheel flat with a half ton?
I have seen people stretch it and see their trucks sway in a turn. That can be unsafe on a forest road.
I like the stability of a DRW and have actually used my 6WD to to climb steep gravel hills to get to camp sites.
The only thing I had to agonize over was diesel or gas. I went gas because the camper loaded weights about 5600lbs.
There is no way a half ton can haul that.
The 6.4L Hemi with the 8 speed tranny can move 5600 lbs easily up the steepest grades on gravel. Gas mileage sucks. I get 9.5 to 10 mpg on forest roads and 13 mpg on freeways.
Mileage isn't a big issue for me because once I get to a camp site I stay for a couple of days.
One thing I must always be aware of is that I don't have extra brakes for the extra weight.
Also, one must stick pretty much to the posted recommend speed limits at the turns on the twisty forest roads..
I think I made the right choice.


Great choice for both truck and camper. What was the increase in payload with the gasser vs diesel?
 

BigM4x4sc

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Me thinks it is the WIGGLE U R trying to avoid. The High number is the optimum load unda optimum conditions. Just IMHO, but if U R that close, U may wanna consider and upgrade to yer ride, like a 2500, just saying.

So far I have not had any wiggle issues. My biggest concern is that this particular camper, though not a toy hauler, IMO has the axles set a little further rearward than it really needs. Like i said, its only 5600lbs dry and GVW is 7100lbs but the tongue weight seems high even mostly unloaded. Although for the moment, that is based solely on the amount squat on the truck. But admittedly that could be miss leading considering the truck is (I believe) factory leveled, and maybe because the truck itself only has a payload of 1025lbs. Certainly going to scale everything on the next trip, and if i decided to keep both truck and TT invest in some quality airbags!
 

turkeybird56

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So far I have not had any wiggle issues. My biggest concern is that this particular camper, though not a toy hauler, IMO has the axles set a little further rearward than it really needs. Like i said, its only 5600lbs dry and GVW is 7100lbs but the tongue weight seems high even mostly unloaded. Although for the moment, that is based solely on the amount squat on the truck. But admittedly that could be miss leading considering the truck is (I believe) factory leveled, and maybe because the truck itself only has a payload of 1025lbs. Certainly going to scale everything on the next trip, and if i decided to keep both truck and TT invest in some quality airbags!

If not, a High Quality WDH for sure,....
 

dhay13

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On my 2014 payload is more with the 6.4 than the 6.7
payload will always be more on the 6.4 than the cummins by about 800lbs due to the weight of then engine. my payload is 2973lbs
 

GsRAM

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My payload is higher on my 6.4 also
Yep. The weight of the Cummins over the 6.4 makes the difference.

I have over 3100lbs of payload available. Most 2500s with the Cummins are in the low 2,000s lbs for payload. That's why I personally would not buy one. If I ever have a diesel, it'll be one ton/3500 series. But that's just me
 

Sturoc

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In terms of load distribution,
How would one set this up ?
Using my truck as example 2005 Ram 1500 5.7 Hemi quad cab factory tow package. Camper shell @150 lbs.
Me and one other person.
Full tank @ 26 gal. = 230 lbs

Load truck with gear maybe (125-150 pounds) in back seat area and minimum amount of gear or all the lightweight stuff in bed ?

Keep trailer wet load closer to minimum rather than maximum ?
and the CG of that a little forward of its axles ?
 

GsRAM

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I don't know the specific tow rating of your 2005 ram 1500 or what it's payload rating is, or what the loaded weight of the trailer you want to tow is, or its overall length.

Too much unknown info to give you any real meaningful advice. However in general terms, you want 12-15% tongue weight minimum for a safe and stable tow, along with a properly adjusted wdh so some of that loaded trailer weight is distributed to the front axle so your trucks front end is close to where it was, unloaded.
 

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