Horse trailer+ slide in camper? Or LQ?

[Horsehappy]

I'm currently debating between a slide in camper and pulling my current three horse trailer, OR going with a three horse small living quarter horse trailer. I have a 2018 Laramie 4door, 6.4L V8, door jamb says payload is 10k. My horse trailer loaded with three horses is probably around 7000 lbs, the camper I'm considering has a dry weight of 1700 lb (Lance 650). I'll include a link of a horse trailer similar in size to what I would be looking at. https://www.dhmco.com/shadow-horse-trailers/living-quarters/3-horse/
I don't know the tongue weight of my trailer and I've never weighed my truck.

Thoughts?

 

[crash68]

I have a 2018 Laramie 4door, 6.4L V8, door jamb says payload is 10k.

The 10K is your trucks Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, that is the total weight the truck can weigh including the truck itself. To get you actually payload you would need to weigh the truck at a CAT scale and subtract that from 10K. A good guesstimate of the trucks weight will be around the 7500 lbs mark.
When towing on the heavy side also be aware of the GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating), those are the numbers you really don't want exceed.
As for a slide in with a three horse trailer, you'll probably go over on axle weight in the rear. Best to load up the trailer as you would be using it and head to the scales.

 

[dhay13]

^ yep. Your GRAWR is 6500lbs. Empty your rear axle should be right around 3500lbs (mine is 3400 with full fuel and just me in it). The trailer should add around 800-1000lbs so that will put you close to 4500lbs. Check the GVWR of the camper. If it's below 2000lbs and you keep it that low then you should be ok with GRAWR but a CAT scale is the only way to know for sure. A 2000lb slide in will put a certain % onto the front axle so the full 2000lbs wouldn't be on the rear.
A big tip here...do not listen to sales people about whether or not your truck will handle it.

 

[tron67j]

The above responses are spot on. You can enter your truck VIN in the link below to find your payload of the factory-configured truck, but know it is before any after-purchase add ons such as running boards, different rims, etc. Your best bet is to load the truck with who ever goes on the trips, throw all the gear you would take in camper like clothes, put your hitch in bed, and go weigh your front and rear axles. You may find you don't have enough payload with your 2500 for both a truck camper (which light ones can run around 2000 pounds) and a horse trailer (again, low end weight horse trailers loaded can be adding 1000 pounds or more against your payload capacity). Your use seriously sounds like you should be in a dually 3500 to avoid problems and give you the best experience. The last thing you want to worry about is if your truck will buckle under the load at the worst time and hurt your horses.

The link that I can see, but shows differently to you all, is following. Maybe you can find the VIN search box I can't. https://www.ramtrucks.com/towing/towing-guide.html#/landing/bytowing

 

[Travelin Ram]

Weight concerns are well addressed above. I expect you’ll be maxed out in either case, whether it’s GVWR with a camper or GCWR with a bigger trailer.

Of the two combinations, I’d much rather drive a heavier gooseneck trailer than a camper/ trailer combo. Because of the higher COG mainly.

Loading and unloading a slide in is not as easy as just connecting a trailer.

Of course there are other factors to consider such as will you benefit from being able to separate your accommodation from the horses etc.

 

[Random_Walk]

A big tip here...do not listen to sales people about whether or not your truck will handle it.

Quoted for emphasis.

I have a puny 4400 max tow and a subsequently derived 440lb max tongue on the bumper... the salescritter originally said "Oh, a Ram half-ton? You can do 10,000lbs just fine!" I had to correct him pretty quickly, following it by a quick education about engine size, gear ratio, and GVWR.

This is the definitive from-the-horse's-mouth max tow chart for your model and year: https://www.ramtrucks.com/content/dam/fca-brands/na/ramtrucks/en_us/towing/2018 Ram 2500.pdf - make sure you know your body type, engine, transmission type, and axle/gearset ratio.

 

[tjfdesmo]

Be aware that gooseneck LQ horse trailers will tend to put upwards of 30% on the hitch.

 

[18CrewDually]

Be aware that gooseneck LQ horse trailers will tend to put upwards of 30% on the hitch.

Yes, but the weight will also be over the axle instead of hanging off the back which the advantage may be worth the extra weight.
Plus all the other advantages of a gooseneck horse trailer with living quarters including it's one unit to hook up and disconnect, 1 unit to maintain, smoother ride and safer handling than a tag-a-long trailer with a slide-in camper.

My vote is gooseneck with living quarters. Now to get past the cost!

 

[BadHemi2014]

I agree with 18CrewDually. Slide in campers are heavy, period. Everyone plans to 'pack light' but in reality once you add food, clothing, gear, random supplies, you can easily add 500 to a thousand pounds of stuff. Even if you plan to only run empty, you need to take into account fully wet weight meaning if you needed to travel with full gray and black tanks and full water. Always overestimate your loaded weight. That Lance 650, depending on year, runs closer to 2K dry and could easily be 2500 to 3K fully wet and loaded. That plus pulling a trailer is a huge load; I personally don't think that would be a fun ride.
You might be able to get by with a smaller camper, a pop up is much lighter for example. Otherwise I think it would be easier to deal with a gooseneck LQ horse trailer or something along those lines. Another thing to consider is if the camper would be on the truck full time? Because those slide ins are a serious PITA to get on and off the truck.
We had a big Lance, the model escapes me at the moment, ~2600K dry but easily 4K wet and loaded (we boondocked or dry camped only). No way would I have hauled that thing with less than our dually.

 

[2003F350]

There really isn't much to do here except echo all the responses you've already gotten. 2500s aren't really the best truck for a slide-in truck camper in general, and if you're going to tow a heavy load behind it they REALLY aren't the right truck for it. If you DO want to go this route, I would suggest a 3500 dually at minimum, maybe even stepping up to something like a Ford F450.

You also need to make sure your truck camper doesn't stick out the back of your box - if it does, you'll need to run a hitch extension, which lowers your tongue rating because it moves your hitch point out away from the truck.

In all honesty, I would suggest the trailer with living quarters. It might put the same amount of weight on the truck, but it's going to put more of it on the front axle instead of hanging off the back of the truck, so it's going to ride quite a bit better.

 

[Dean2]

All weight considerations aside, I would go trailer with living quarters. A truck and camper are a pain in the butt to drive around town, park etc. They also are not off-road friendly at all. Finally, a 5th Wheel horse trailer with LQ will tow much easier than a ball pull and simple to unhook and go. Just for overall convenience, the trailer to me is the right answer.

Even for regular camping with no horses, the Horse Trailer with LQ can be had very nicely optioned out, including air, showers etc and you have room to carry quads, SXSs or Snowmoblies.

 

[tron67j]

Quoted for emphasis.

I have a puny 4400 max tow and a subsequently derived 440lb max tongue on the bumper... the salescritter originally said "Oh, a Ram half-ton? You can do 10,000lbs just fine!" I had to correct him pretty quickly, following it by a quick education about engine size, gear ratio, and GVWR.

This is the definitive from-the-horse's-mouth max tow chart for your model and year: https://www.ramtrucks.com/content/dam/fca-brands/na/ramtrucks/en_us/towing/2018 Ram 2500.pdf - make sure you know your body type, engine, transmission type, and axle/gearset ratio.

One thing to note. This is for a general truck in that base configuration. Numbers can vary due to packages selected and other options chosen by the buyer or dealer. So the VIN search gives the maximum payload as built.

On that note. I have tried to paste that VIN search page but the link takes you to a general page. I don't know why I can see the VIN search box in my browser but can't actually share the identical page. I am assuming Ram has redirected the link, but on there new page I can't find that VIN search box. Maybe someone can help.

 

[ppine]

Do you always camp with horses? Then it is easy, get the LQ. If you frequently camp without horses then the camper and slant load are more versatile.

 

[tron67j]

An update, it appears RAM has turned off the payload search by VIN number. I have the site still available to me in my history pages. When I typed in my VIN number both using capital and small letters it returned no value and said then not found. I try to couple other vins that I found online and none of them work. It appears that ram has taken it down. Will be interesting to find out if they're just repairing it, I know some people had had variances appear between what they searched before and what they search recently, or if ram is just not going to support it anymore.

 

[quickster2]

Do you have this sticker in your door jam? There are 3 on my truck including the 1 in your initial post. Payload is called out.

 

[Dean2]

Do you always camp with horses? Then it is easy, get the LQ. If you frequently camp without horses then the camper and slant load are more versatile.

Even for regular camping with no horses, the Horse Trailer with LQ can be had very nicely optioned out, including air, showers etc and you have room to carry quads, SXSs or Snowmobiles. Other big advantage, is the truck is not burdened if you go exploring and you don't have to pack everything up to move. Taking slide out campers off and on to camp so the truck is free, is a pain in the butt.

 

[09SilverRam]

We had a similar discussion and ended up with a Lakota Charger gooseneck.

Most of the slide ins with a wet bath are going to overhang the rear requiring an extension, which is no bueno with a bumper pull horse trailer.

 

[gofishn]

eASIER TO READ.
i DO NOT SEE ANYWAY YOU CAN UTILIZE A SLIDE IN CAMPER AND PULL YOUR HOURSE TRAILER.

BETTER OFF GETTING A HORSE TRAILER THAT HAS FRONT CAMPER UNIT IN IT

opops

cap lock

 

[ppine]

I had a camper once when I was hauling horses. I agree they are a lot of trouble if you have to take them on and off.
Maybe when you get used to hauling an LQ it is no big deal especially when you are not hauling live animals.

 

[GTyankee]

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