Towing a camper with my 2017 Ram 1500 hemi for the first time. What can I expect?

[chopperman1]

Does your factory tow package include the trailer brake controller and tow mirrors? You will need both.

 

[DA Smith]

I can tell you that your going to have what we call a white knuckle trip. On the interstate highway every time an 18 wheeler is passing you you better pucker up and hold on tight to the steering wheel. Even if you had airbags on the rear you should still have an equalizer hitch with sway control. Be careful and good luck. By the way I've been pulling travel trailers and fifth wheels since 1980!

 

[2003F350]

Sounds like most of the people are saying what you SHOULD do, not necessarily giving advice on what you are GOING to do. In my opinion you should be fine, I’ve been in the same situation before. Stick with no air support, no WD hitch and a 2in leveling kit. Towed a 3 horse trailer totaling around 8000lbs at highway speeds with zero issues as far as braking and sway goes. Yes it squatted some but that’s to be expected. Make sure the brakes on the trailer work and you will be fine.

A horse trailer isn't the same as a camper, the load is more centered over the axles on a horse trailer than an RV. Same can be said for a flatbed or even an enclosed cargo trailer. You also have the added benefit of being able to move the weight around at least somewhat to get weight off the truck.

An RV basically has its weight distribution fixed, and you can't really move much of it around. Furniture, appliances, beds, etc. are all fixed in place. Sure you can move clothes and items you add around, but generally speaking it's not enough to offset the weights. An RV is also wider and taller than a horse trailer generally.

All that said, I have seen the effects of pulling without the proper equipment. It is disastrous. It's not safe.

I almost watched my FIL make the same mistake. He was picking up and moving a 38 foot travel trailer with his F250 to take 50 miles up to their vacation property. Tried to convince him to buy at minimum a WDH, because it had something like 1200 lbs of tongue weight. He didn't, then tried to get on the expressway. He couldn't run over 35 mph, and even a small side wind almost shoved him off the road. We ended up getting off the expressway and going to find one. I had to set it up in a parking lot for him so he could get it up there. He got a cheap one and didn't get a sway control, so while it was better...it was still all over the place.

I'll say it again. Bare minimum you're going to want a WDH, even if it's a basic one. Sway control is highly suggested, even if it's a stand-alone one which for some reason no one on this site but me prefers. With that much weight trailer brakes are highly suggested, so if you don't have a brake controller get one. I doubt you'd need air bags, but even then those are something to add in AFTER all of the above.

 

[RLJ10X]

^This whole thread has been a lot of really solid advice from a bunch of obviously smart guys.

I don't have a big camper, or even a little one for that matter. But I make my living on the road. I'll never forget last summer, there was a really nice, new looking Silberado on its side, with a debris field about 40 yards long, in the median on I64, here in Indiana. The camper looked like a bomb went off in it. I felt bad for the guy. Vacation, camper and truck were all ruined.

I pull 28 foot UPS trailers. Our wheels are on all 4 corners. I see those long campers with the wheels about two thirds down the length of the trailer. That's got to be like Towing a big teeter totter with a sail mounted. I gotta hand it to you guys. (Almost all of) You guys do a good job.

 

[kurek]

I have no idea what I just walked into but I'd tow 5k lbs of trailer behind my tradesman cross country full time and not think twice. Needs trailer brakes and to be attentive on loading the trailer (center of mass as low as possible and forward of the trailer axles, as little weight as possible behind the axles) ... Otherwise do your safety checks, keep proper pressure in your tires and enjoy your trip. Wouldn't hurt to bring a torx screwdriver to aim your headlights if the trailer weight points them up... Polite to other drivers and even if you don't care about being polite it's annoying to get flashed constantly

 

[dkelly3103]

A horse trailer isn't the same as a camper, the load is more centered over the axles on a horse trailer than an RV. Same can be said for a flatbed or even an enclosed cargo trailer. You also have the added benefit of being able to move the weight around at least somewhat to get weight off the truck.

An RV basically has its weight distribution fixed, and you can't really move much of it around. Furniture, appliances, beds, etc. are all fixed in place. Sure you can move clothes and items you add around, but generally speaking it's not enough to offset the weights. An RV is also wider and taller than a horse trailer generally.

All that said, I have seen the effects of pulling without the proper equipment. It is disastrous. It's not safe.

I almost watched my FIL make the same mistake. He was picking up and moving a 38 foot travel trailer with his F250 to take 50 miles up to their vacation property. Tried to convince him to buy at minimum a WDH, because it had something like 1200 lbs of tongue weight. He didn't, then tried to get on the expressway. He couldn't run over 35 mph, and even a small side wind almost shoved him off the road. We ended up getting off the expressway and going to find one. I had to set it up in a parking lot for him so he could get it up there. He got a cheap one and didn't get a sway control, so while it was better...it was still all over the place.

I'll say it again. Bare minimum you're going to want a WDH, even if it's a basic one. Sway control is highly suggested, even if it's a stand-alone one which for some reason no one on this site but me prefers. With that much weight trailer brakes are highly suggested, so if you don't have a brake controller get one. I doubt you'd need air bags, but even then those are something to add in AFTER all of the above.

As far as your comment goes about the weight distribution being different, that is completely dependent on the trailer. This for example was a 3 horse slant with a tack room in front so the axles were most definitely not centered. A loaded tack room plus 2 out of the 3 horses being on or in front of the axles adds pretty comparable tongue weight and handling characteristics as a travel trailer. I still stand by my first comment, he will be fine.

 

[grumpyb]

One thing alot of people don't realize is 2500 trucks have 10 ply tires and 1500 don't, the weaker sidewalls contribute alot of tralier sway because of that

 

[CaryRamSport]

I have only towed with a WDH so I can’t give advice on towing without one. With that being said, I have a Blue Ox Sway Pro that I can part with relatively cheap because I hated the anxiety from towing and the time that it took to hookup and disconnect. Wind, tractor trailers, and porpoising are the main complaints I had when towing. If you find yourself in NC and still need a WDH, send me a message.

 

[2003F350]

As far as your comment goes about the weight distribution being different, that is completely dependent on the trailer. This for example was a 3 horse slant with a tack room in front so the axles were most definitely not centered. A loaded tack room plus 2 out of the 3 horses being on or in front of the axles adds pretty comparable tongue weight and handling characteristics as a travel trailer. I still stand by my first comment, he will be fine.

If you towed that on a class IV or V with a 1500, you were living dangerously. You had a ridiculously unloaded front axle that could easily have lost traction and therefore steering. You likely had a tongue weight in excess of 1,000 lbs which is well past when you should have had a WDH.

Comments like this bother me - because you're towing dangerously. You are outside the specs for any 1500 I know of on the road - there's a reason they recommend WDHs above 500 lbs of tongue weight. And there's NO WAY it was a comfortable drive, not with the front end that unloaded. If you tow like that all the time, you are playing Russian Roulette with yours and other people's lives, especially at highway speeds.

I know I'll never convince you otherwise, but you are towing unsafely and risking way more than necessary.

 

[dkelly3103]

I never said it wasn’t overloaded. I simply said I was comfortable towing that weight which is what the original question that started this thread was. I’ve personally only towed this trailer 3 times however both were an hour one way trips on the interstate and I was able to go 70mph with zero issues at all. My father in law normal uses his truck, which is a 14 1500 similarly equipped as mine. He tows it every weekend throughout the summer in the same conditions with no issues at all. Once again, I’m not saying that they aren’t overloaded. I’m just saying it can be done.

 

[airrecon]

I think that leveling kit is going to be a killer for you. Truck power wise you’ll be good with the 3.92. I towed a similar sized (tad smaller) trailer with my 17 1500 with 3.21 never an issue. It was stock height with e rated tires and a stout hitch, set up right.

I would agree with some of the other posters, you’re going to be maxed out by the numbers and most likely feel it. The RV dealer when I was looking to by the one I had now said sure you can pull this or that with your truck but we require rams to have air bags to leave with it.

All that being said, my Dad is pulling a same sized trailer but heavier with 2 slides, with a 15 Durango Hemi and had a woman cut him off badly. He was able to maneuver out of a bad situation. He’s been confident in the setup but He admitted to me, not in front of my mom, he was probably going too fast.

You have plenty of power etc. If you MUST tow without leveling bars at least get two sway bars, and do not exceed 65MPH, on the best roads.

 

[Tunaman]

I wouldn’t of put the leveling kit in. The tail Sat a little high stock do you could haul a load without the tail dragging and lights in the trees. Having said that your trailer is NOT over loading the truck….per say…if the thing is leveled properly. Bottom line the truck and trailer should be basically level when you are hooked up, and you will need a load leveling hitch, you would of anyhow even if you had not raised the nose…,,more so now. Anti sway along with the hitch is good. I don’t care what you tie it with if it’s not hooked up correctly….it will sway, I towed 31’ Keystone with an 18 Ram, considerably heavier than your trailer, it was fine.
It WILL sway some even hooked properly, don’t over/react!!!

 

[jhjohnstone]

I towed with a 2016 Laramie crew cab, set up like yours except no front leveling kit. Same engine, tires, and rear end.

towed 2 different Airstreams, a 25 and a 30. I used an Equal I Zer WD and sway control hitch. Towing was fine with the 25. The 30 had more tongue weight and maxed me out on the payload and left the headlights pointed too high. I added some airbags that fit inside the coils to fix that but eventually upgraded to a 2500

Check if your trailer tongue weight is measured with full propane tanks and a loaded trailer. Generally Tongue weights are going to be about 10 to 12 % of the trailer weight as it is loaded. You want to have sway control to minimize trailer sway at highway speeds. Not all WD hitches have sway control so you may need to add that depending on which WD hitch you select. Make sure you select a shank with the proper amount of rise or drop for your trailer and hitch combination so that your trailer will ride level. Your ball should be about 2 in above the top of the hitch before you hook up to allow for the decrease in height as you load the rear springs with the tongue weight.

Your truck may have the built in trailer brake controller, I think that comes with the trailer tow option. I set mine up for "light Electric". You may or may not have the extended mirrors you need, **** makes a pair that slip over the stock mirrors in case you need them.

With the proper hitch and suspension adjustments you should be able to tow your new trailer comfortably.

 

[tron67j]

The truck is a 2017 Ram 1500 Tradesman Express with 20" wheels, 5.7 hemi, 3.92 gears, and factory towing package. Its all stock except for a 2" leveling kit in the front. I do not have air bags and will not have a weight distributing hitch. The camper is about 4900 to 5000 lbs as it will be towed, the hitch weight is 580 lbs, and 29'7" from hitch to rear bumper (It's a 26' model). I'm just curious how it will tow since I will not be able to get air bags or weight distributing hitch until later. I am towing it about 200 miles with 98% of it being the interstate. Thanks

Without a wdh you'll be swinging in the wind. Like most here have said, don't tow without it. Past results of those who advise it is not needed should not be used to " guess" if you'll also get lucky. And weigh your loaded trailer hitch, 580 seems way too light unless you are loading too much behind your trailer axle, and that is just an accident about to happen. Properly load the trailer, check your door jamb to be sure you are under both axle weights as well as payload capacity. Do all that and enjoy the ride, well worth the cost for a wdh.

 

[Willie Mosher]

Go camping trailer can lot fun,
Life long part of life. Go National park
Or Griswold at the in law,
We all started w some missing match
Truck an trailer. But do not let this stop you, but careful, today they lot
Of u tube. Used WD can find on
Craigslist -Offer up regular.
Happy camping, Willie,

 

[runamuck]

you may have already towed that trailer by now but if not, why not rent a wdh from u-haul or an rv dealer. other than that, run more air in your tires for a little more stiffness and go slower and allow more distance for stopping. it wouldnt hurt to find a route that keeps you off the interstate and away from big rigs and faster moving traffic.

 

[turkeybird56]

^^^ DITTO ^^^ Yeah, he has probably completed task and hopefully safe. Classic: tail wag the Dog. I would only add get a WDH, and if possible, go slower, take secondary roads, stay off monster Interstate and get there slower but safely.

MAYBE OP will post back.

 

[Capt Derek]

The truck is a 2017 Ram 1500 Tradesman Express with 20" wheels, 5.7 hemi, 3.92 gears, and factory towing package. Its all stock except for a 2" leveling kit in the front. I do not have air bags and will not have a weight distributing hitch. The camper is about 4900 to 5000 lbs as it will be towed, the hitch weight is 580 lbs, and 29'7" from hitch to rear bumper (It's a 26' model). I'm just curious how it will tow since I will not be able to get air bags or weight distributing hitch until later. I am towing it about 200 miles with 98% of it being the interstate. Thanks

You can expect lots of sparks trying to tow a " camper" as they are meant to be hauled in the back of the truck, if you mean a camp trailer.......