RV Towing Newbie

[Panduh]

Hello RAM experts! I am trying to do my due diligence before shopping for a used RAM to tow an RV trailer, neither of which I have ever owned. Still learning all about what specs affect towing capacities, safety accessories, etc. Hoping that a properly spec'ed 1500 will do the job.
My 1st question is: how much safety margin would you advise between the rated max towing weight and the actual GVW of the trailer (with water, some payload, etc.)? For ex., if the truck is rated to tow 8500 lbs, would I be safe towing 6500 lbs? 7000? Assuming the GAWR is within limits as well. Thanks!

 

[Gordo2212]

With half ton trucks the issue you will have will be maxing out your payload before getting near your max tow number. There will be a sticker on the door that states what the max payload is, the hitch weight plus all the stuff in your truck goes against that. The higher the trim of the truck the less the payload will be for the truck because of all the electronics and upgrades that they put in.

Unless you are going to get a really small (lightweight) camper I would jump right to looking at 2500's if you can. The bump in payload will be totally worth it, plus you will have some room down the line to get a bigger camper if you want.

I had a Sierra half ton and ended up upgrading to my current 2018 3500 because of payload capacity.

 

[Panduh]

Thanks Gordo2212! When you say "really small, lightweight", approx. how many lbs. are you thinking? While I understand that it's best to have the biggest truck possible, I have a friend who tows a 30 ft. TT with his RAM 1500 with no problem.

 

[crash68]

how much safety margin would you advise between the rated max towing weight and the actual GVW of the trailer (with water, some payload, etc.)?

Given that Ram trucks comply with the SAE J2807 testing for it's tow/haul ratings, you can go right up to the max ratings(there is safety margins factored in already).
Don't let the payload police on this forum scare you into thinking a 1500 can't tow anything more than a wave runner.

 

[Gordo2212]

Thanks Gordo2212! When you say "really small, lightweight", approx. how many lbs. are you thinking? While I understand that it's best to have the biggest truck possible, I have a friend who tows a 30 ft. TT with his RAM 1500 with no problem.

I towed a 28ft camper with max weight of 7620 with no problems with my half ton. It definitely had to work up hills but I never felt it was underpowered. Ultimately it will be up to you and your comfort levels.

A lot of people say it’s fine to go over payload as long as you stay under the axle ratings, which makes sense to me.

 

[Loudram]

Like the others have said the more options you have the lower the payload. There was recent thread where the guy had a Limited and a 700lb payload where my Express has close to a 1600lb payload. My advice is get an Express with a 3.92 rear. That will give you a few options with a decent payload and a 10k tow rating.

I've towed two 33' trailers with my 1500's without a problem. My current trailer is 29' 3" and my truck tows it easily.

You're off to a good start wanting to get educated before jumping into the trailer world.

The best advice I have, if you can, pick out the trailer you want first THEN buy a truck that can handle it. Know that the trailers tongue weight will increase over the brochure weight by about 100lbs just by adding a battery and full propane bottles. Then factor in that your front pass thru will be close to full. That's the way it is with most of us.

Have fun on your hunt.

 

[tron67j]

Agree with Loudram, find your trailer first, load it up and weigh the hitch weight and then full trailer weight. You need a truck that can handle the hitch weight plus tow the full trailer. One critical weight is payload capacity, that is the total amount of weight you can add to your truck including tongue weight of trailer, hitch, people, gear, etc. and the higher the number the more capable it is for towing, at least at the time if the build. As stated above, in many trucks one will often max out payload before reaching max trailer weight. And any accessories such as bed cover, running boards, bigger tires, lift kits, or the like will subtract from that payload capacity. If you load a prospective truck up with hitch, people, gear, gas and anything you travel with and go to scales, take that weight and subtract from GVW (on door jamb), this is your actual payload capacity for a trailer.

You seeking out information to get the right set up is a great first step.

The 1500s are great trucks, sticking with a Tradesman regular cab 2wd will often net the maximum capacity, crew cab, 4wd, higher packages will deduct. And my recommendation is ignore charts, the numbers that matter are the actual truck you are looking at.

Good luck, and add a picture when you finally pull the trigger.

 

[Panduh]

Does a weight distribution hitch help with optimizing the tongue weight? I've heard that a rule of thumb is tongue weight=10%trailer weight, but it's still really only accurate to get on scales for the true numbers.

 

[Loudram]

Does a weight distribution hitch help with optimizing the tongue weight? I've heard that a rule of thumb is tongue weight=10%trailer weight, but it's still really only accurate to get on scales for the true numbers.

Ideal tongue weight is between 10% and 15% of your loaded trailer weight. 12% to 13% is what you really want but as long as you're in-between 10% and 15% you should be fine.

A weight distribution hitch takes some weight off your rear axles and redistributes it to your front axles and your trailer axles. It moves it around. For the trailer size you're looking at I would strongly recommend getting a weight distribution hitch with built in anti-sway. There are many on the market in a few price ranges.

This is a good video to start with for picking a hitch. I've personally used the Equalizer in the past and now currently use a Weigh Safe True Tow and I like them both. Neither are cheap but safety is one area where you don't want to go cheap.

HITCH BATTLE 2021 /// Testing 6 Different Weight Distribution/Anti-Sway Hitches for 100's of Miles

Two manufacturers wanted to hook you guys up with a discount!!Use code "wanderingweekends" for 10% off of WeighSafe's entire website here: https://www.weigh-...

youtu.be

 

[2003F350]

Like the others have said the more options you have the lower the payload. There was recent thread where the guy had a Limited and a 700lb payload where my Express has close to a 1600lb payload. My advice is get an Express with a 3.92 rear. That will give you a few options with a decent payload and a 10k tow rating.

I've towed two 33' trailers with my 1500's without a problem. My current trailer is 29' 3" and my truck tows it easily.

You're off to a good start wanting to get educated before jumping into the trailer world.

The best advice I have, if you can, pick out the trailer you want first THEN buy a truck that can handle it. Know that the trailers tongue weight will increase over the brochure weight by about 100lbs just by adding a battery and full propane bottles. Then factor in that your front pass thru will be close to full. That's the way it is with most of us.

Have fun on your hunt.

This, absolutely this. Find the trailer, then find the truck.

I'd never actually run into a problem until I bought the Power Wagon, I'd always had standard 3/4 or 1-ton trucks, so there wasn't anything out there I couldn't pull.

Then we bought the place on the lake. My wonderful wife thought we'd never go camping again and I agreed to sell the truck and camper (an F350 dually and a 42' toy hauler) and get the Power Wagon. My other option was a brand-new F350 dually.

I wish I'd bought the new dually - same out the door price but I wouldn't be wanting for payload and tow capacity.

I played conservative with the weights, and while we now have a nice camper...there's features we wish we had, and some room we wish we had, that the Power Wagon just can't handle. It would be over every weight rating it has. And I'm not in the position to just get a new truck.

Find the trailer, and then see what it takes to pull it - you might be able to get away with a 1500, or you may find you need to jump up to a 2500.

 

[2003F350]

Does a weight distribution hitch help with optimizing the tongue weight? I've heard that a rule of thumb is tongue weight=10%trailer weight, but it's still really only accurate to get on scales for the true numbers.

I'm glad you're asking these questions - if the advertised tongue weight of the camper is over 500 lbs you're going to need a WDH and sway control for a travel trailer. There's a lot of options on the market to fit every budget and setup.

Personally, I'm a fan of the OG setup - standard round or trunnion bars with a separate, stand-alone anti-sway bar. It's budget friendly, and more forgiving if you don't quite have it set up perfect. You can quickly and easily adjust your sway control just by turning a handle, and even just take it off for parking if you're in a tight spot (or on a slick surface) without having to unhook everything. Yes, it is two more clips and a handle to loosen/tighten, but when you're a seasoned camper it's only 30 seconds.

 

[grizzstang]

Decide how you want to camp first. I see lots of campers spend a lot of money to drag their 30 plus foot trailers out to the forest and then spend their entire time in them watching TV. I can do that at home for free. If you intend to go camping to actually be outside and plan to spend the bulk of your time outside then a small trailer will be more than enough. Mine is only 19 feet (5500 lbs loaded) and my next one will be smaller. All I need is a comfy bed and a bathroom. Small trailers are easily towed with a half ton truck.

 

[2003F350]

Decide how you want to camp first. I see lots of campers spend a lot of money to drag their 30 plus foot trailers out to the forest and then spend their entire time in them watching TV. I can do that at home for free. If you intend to go camping to actually be outside and plan to spend the bulk of your time outside then a small trailer will be more than enough. Mine is only 19 feet (5500 lbs loaded) and my next one will be smaller. All I need is a comfy bed and a bathroom. Small trailers are easily towed with a half ton truck.

This is also another good point to consider. Personally I love sitting outside under the awning when we're at the camp site, usually trying not to fall asleep in my gravity chair. However, for me it's also nice to have some creature comforts inside when/if the weather takes an unexpected turn.

There's a lot that goes into camping, regardless of how you do it and how adventurous you are. But the important part is to get there safely, make the memories, and get home safe again.

 

[grumpyb]

My own experience says that the first camper will be ok then you see all the ones with more room and extras and start to wish, then end up having a truck that won't handle your wish , my choice would be a 2500 with 6.4 hemi , it will tow better the engine won't work as hard and you will be able to upgrade your camper anytime you wish, it really sucks when you have to change trucks as well as camper , believe me I know !! Unless you don't care if your wife's happy

 

[Ronald E Shelton]

With half ton trucks the issue you will have will be maxing out your payload before getting near your max tow number. There will be a sticker on the door that states what the max payload is, the hitch weight plus all the stuff in your truck goes against that. The higher the trim of the truck the less the payload will be for the truck because of all the electronics and upgrades that they put in.

Unless you are going to get a really small (lightweight) camper I would jump right to looking at 2500's if you can. The bump in payload will be totally worth it, plus you will have some room down the line to get a bigger camper if you want.

I had a Sierra half ton and ended up upgrading to my current 2018 3500 because of payload capacity.

Don't forget that the trailer tongue weight, and all passengers in the truck, also is part of that "payload"!

 

[CaptOchs]

The hardest part of shopping for a 1500 is getting one with the HD tow capacity. It's frustrating when dealers don't know the actual tow capacity. If you're looking at half ton 4th gen, look for something with 3.92 gears. Ultimately it will come down to many variables. Check out https://www.trailerlife.com/trailer-towing-guides/ and you'll see how different variations of the same tuck impact tow capacity. My trailer is 70% of my tow capacity and it tows just fine.

I have a '18 Keystone Springdale at 7000 lbs empty. It's 33ft long. Truck is a Big Horn with HD tow. I keep it around 62-65 mph. I use tow/haul all the time. The truck does great with cruise control on expressways. I have a Reese Dual Cam. It's rock solid. No sway even with passing 18-wheelers. I run a slightly higher air pressure 50 psi on the truck. Having good well balanced trailer tires help. I use Goodyear Endurance. My rig is easy to handle. I have my wife drive it on short trips to get a feel for it.

 

[Danny Phillips]

As a former Log truck driver, I would only tow with a 3/4 ton or bigger diesel, I love the engine brake on mine.

 

[Richard Harter]

Thanks Gordo2212! When you say "really small, lightweight", approx. how many lbs. are you thinking? While I understand that it's best to have the biggest truck possible, I have a friend who tows a 30 ft. TT with his RAM 1500 with no problem.

I have a 2017 Ram Eco Diesel and comfortably tow 6000#. I would not want to tow more than that for safety and comfort reasons.
Canyon

 

[uddyboy54]

No one that tows has ever said”I wish I could tow a smaller/lighter trailer” If I were you I would just buy a 2500 or 3500 right off the bat and not have regrets. I personally love my 3500 diesel dually,but we tow a 16,000 lb 5 th wheel

 

[Loudram]

No one that tows has ever said”I wish I could tow a smaller/lighter trailer” If I were you I would just buy a 2500 or 3500 right off the bat and not have regrets. I personally love my 3500 diesel dually,but we tow a 16,000 lb 5 th wheel

I don't know about that. Last year we scaled down from a 33' 6500 dry trailer to a 29' 6000 dry one.

I know, there's always gotta be one in the crowd.