I need Mountain towing advice

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Cowboynj

Junior Member
Military
Joined
Sep 1, 2021
Posts
3
Reaction score
5
Location
Jamestown, NC
Ram Year
2011
Engine
5.7
I live in NC and am buying a house in WV to ride the Hatfield McCoy and outlaw trails. We plan on towing two Can Am Maverick X3s up 15-20 times a year. I own a 2011 Ram 1500 Bighorn 5.7 with the 3.92 gears. It has 182,000 trouble free miles. The Mavericks weigh 3600 pounds loaded and I am looking at buying a 2900 pound, 22 foot trailer (6500 lbs loaded trailer). My max tow rating is a tad over 10k. I have also added the Timber Grove Air bags. My fat **** and the wife are 425 pounds and a tongue weight of 700 (est) only leaves me with 400lbs for cargo.

The trip is 200 miles of long hilly climbs with a 7 mile 8% grade 60 miles into the trip. I tow a 14' trailer and one Maverick now and its a piece of cake. But the wife decided she wants to keep my old Maverick and now I am looking at whether I need to buy an Aluminum trailer for $9,000, or spend 50k (minus 15k for mine) on a used 2500 diesel. My Nephew has a 2017 2500 with the 6.4 (160,000 miles) and my Brother owns a 3500 and 4500 diesel. They think I should buy the 2900 pound steel trailer and stop worrying. We've devolved into our Army Ranger vs. 2 Marines name calling, but there is also truth in their jest. Am I worrying too much?

I don't like to worry while I am driving, especially with my Wife in tow. I think an 1800 pound aluminum trailer may be the good middle ground. I owned a 98 Ram 2500 diesel that started the family down the Ram road. I was towing horses in NJ many years ago, and loved it, but also needed it.

Straight with no chaser, what would you recommend?
 

kurek

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2019
Posts
2,498
Reaction score
3,440
Location
Northwest
Ram Year
2015
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Change your trans fluid, it's also time to service your coolant if you haven't yet, use tow/haul mode when towing, downshift manually down hills, validate that your trailer brakes are working properly, keep your eyes on the road (generally don't be a dumb@55) and leave your worries home. You're inside the GCWR of the truck from what it sounds like and you're not towing full time this is totally fine for a competent and sympathetic driver.
 

Burla

Senior Member
Military
Joined
Apr 28, 2012
Posts
23,111
Reaction score
44,449
Ram Year
2010 Hemi Reg Cab 4x4
Engine
Hemi
You should be good with those 3,92's, guys are doing 5k more pounds then you with relative ease.. However, with the mileage you are in the flux area is do you bother to upgrade transmission valve body or not, I assume rfe 6 speed? Watch this not for any "brand" considerations, just to address the weaknesses of that transmission, the hemi is good as is, but one way ot another, you will likely need some rfe work. So the question becomes do you throw money at it now to increase flow and decrease any leakage, or do you just wait and go new rfe? I'm not saying don't get a 2500, just saying it isn't a mandatory thing with the trailer weight you are talking about, you are well in the capabilities of a 1500. It is GREAT you got the 3.92's, it saves you in this conversation. My closest friend has the 3.92's and I drove them with two wave runners on it, way different then my 3.55's. Night and day man, your good here.

like Kurek said use tow haul when you drive to keep mds off.

rfe valve body video

IMO you can make an argument that the 2011/2012 1500's are the best 1500 truck size ever built, mainly because if the 65rfe and the 68rfe's, plus of course hemi's engines. That is why ram won truck of the year like 3 times in 4 years back then. New stuff is just a lot of complicated stuff that can break, and don't get a cummins unless you like DEF, better get an old cummins then a new one, a HO cummuns.
 

Hemi395

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Posts
8,965
Reaction score
15,598
Location
Cape Cod MA
Ram Year
2013
Engine
5.7 Hemi
The 3.92s are what's going to help you here. I towed my 4000lb camper up the Ike Gauntlet in 2018 and with my 2013 65RFE 3.55, the truck did struggle a bit but thats also an extreme climb at a high altitude. I kept it in 2nd gear most of the way up and other than a high oil temp it did great.

As mentioned, change your trans fluid if it's been more than 20-30k. Also and do a once over on all your trans lines, brake lines, etc. I would change your rear diff fluid as well if it hasn't been done recently.

The Timbergroves are IMO the best air bags out there for handing loads so you're good there.

That is on the higher end of the tow rating so just take it slow and watch your trans temps. You should be good tho.
 
OP
OP
Cowboynj

Cowboynj

Junior Member
Military
Joined
Sep 1, 2021
Posts
3
Reaction score
5
Location
Jamestown, NC
Ram Year
2011
Engine
5.7
You should be good with those 3,92's, guys are doing 5k more pounds then you with relative ease.. However, with the mileage you are in the flux area is do you bother to upgrade transmission valve body or not, I assume rfe 6 speed? Watch this not for any "brand" considerations, just to address the weaknesses of that transmission, the hemi is good as is, but one way ot another, you will likely need some rfe work. So the question becomes do you throw money at it now to increase flow and decrease any leakage, or do you just wait and go new rfe? I'm not saying don't get a 2500, just saying it isn't a mandatory thing with the trailer weight you are talking about, you are well in the capabilities of a 1500. It is GREAT you got the 3.92's, it saves you in this conversation. My closest friend has the 3.92's and I drove them with two wave runners on it, way different then my 3.55's. Night and day man, your good here.

like Kurek said use tow haul when you drive to keep mds off.

rfe valve body video

IMO you can make an argument that the 2011/2012 1500's are the best 1500 truck size ever built, mainly because if the 65rfe and the 68rfe's, plus of course hemi's engines. That is why ram won truck of the year like 3 times in 4 years back then. New stuff is just a lot of complicated stuff that can break, and don't get a cummins unless you like DEF, better get an old cummins then a new one, a HO cummuns.
I always tow in Tow Haul, However, don't I have the 545rfe transmission?
 

kurek

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2019
Posts
2,498
Reaction score
3,440
Location
Northwest
Ram Year
2015
Engine
Hemi 5.7
The 65RFE and 545RFE and 45RFE are almost exactly the same transmission. There have been revisions throughout the years. First 45rfe which only shifted 1-2-4-5 during normal operation (2prime was only a downshift not user accessible, no 2nd overdrive) which then became a 5 speed (1-2-4-5-6) with the addition of the 2nd overdrive, then became a 6 speed when Ram added ERS and the user could select 3rd as an upshift. But the hard parts among all of those are either interchangeable or very nearly identical in terms of durability.

Nothing is perfect but I feel that later model RFE's are overall good gearboxes they're just also about at their limits in terms of torque/horsepower behind a modern Hemi and in front of a 15k lb GCW. They can handle it but I wouldn't advise sleeping on maintenance or using tuners or performance upgrades to make them work even harder.
 
Last edited:

pacofortacos

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2017
Posts
3,564
Reaction score
4,341
Ram Year
2016
Engine
5.7
I would go with the aluminum trailer. Same axle/s on the aluminum vs. steel will give you more trailer payload.
My single axle aluminum boat trailer has a 6000# axle with a 5200# capacity. I am running 16" truck tires with a 3195# capacity each. Only weak link is the toyota aluminum wheel of which I have no clue on it's capacity.
This trailer replaced a tandem steel trailer which had less capacity.
 

pjram

Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2020
Posts
43
Reaction score
53
Location
Detroit
Ram Year
2016
Engine
5.7
I have a 16 outdoorsman with the 8 speed trans and 3.92 gears. I go from Michigan to Florida and back each winter and the truck goes through the mountains just fine. I stay at 65 in the right lane and keep the cruise on. It up shifts and down shifts perfectly. I’m mostly on the I75 but did a side trip in Tennessee once that had me on dicier roads. It handled just fine. I added airbags to stop the squatting and don’t feel a need for a different truck. I’m towing a 6300 lb TT that’s probably 7000 lbs or more when loaded.
 

CamperMike

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2019
Posts
418
Reaction score
460
Location
Peoria, IL
Ram Year
2018
Engine
Hemi 5.7
I think you should be fine. But watch coolant and oil Temps and slow down if they start to rise too much. I only ever had issues when in va/WV and going up and down repeated grades. It caught up with my truck and head gasket started leaking. Then again it could have just been weak from the factory. I still will slow down sooner if I see temps rising next time.
 

sandawilliams

Senior Member
Joined
May 29, 2012
Posts
2,799
Reaction score
5,528
Location
Pueblo West, Co.
Ram Year
2021
Engine
6.4 hemi
22 foot trailer (6500 lbs loaded trailer). My max tow rating is a tad over 10k. I have also added the Timber Grove Air bags.

Most trailers in that size range have two 3500 lb. axles. totaling 7000 lbs. of capacity. The trailer weight should be offset with the hitch weight on the truck thereby giving you most of the axle capacity for loads. The truck should be fine with that.
 
Top