Towing camper with 2021 Big Horn

[Corey M]

So I have 2021 Ram Big Horn with the 5.7 hemi and 3.21 rearend. I have the factory braking sysem also. I'm looking at purchasing a 30' 6300 dry weight camper. Am I going to have issues? Thanks

 

[Bricknhank]

I just went through this with a 30’ (including the tongue) 5800 dry weight Grand Design with the 5.7 and 3.21 gear and I wasn’t happy. I’m going to try to make due for a while since I’m in flat IL but IMO it’s not the long term solution for me. I will be moving up to a 3/4 ton. Do a search for: “Unhappy with 1500 towing. Need Help”

 

[Downzero]

That's going to be iffy at best. No one tows an empty rv. Plan on that weight being at least 7300 lbs when loaded. Those gears aren't going to help.

 

[IvoryHemi]

What’s the GVWR of the camper? What’s the dry hitch weight?

What’s your trucks payload?

 

[Burla]

Don't you ask this question before buying 3.21's? Your gonna be fine, but you might want to do things that you wouldnt have to consider if you got the 3.92's, such as load the truck bed when traveling with your gear instead of just tossing it in the trailer. 500 pounds in the bed will help you control the weight. It would be a 1,000 swing if you consider you are taking 500 out of trailer and adding to the truck. You will also just want to generally go a little slower and granny it, and always drive in tow haul. If you ask me we should always granny it when we tow anyhow, it is just good practice. It's too late make the best out of it, you will be fine. There is benefits from those gears with expensive gas prices, so work with what you got.

 

[rmill]

C- I have a 2014 1500 3.21--I have the same trailer length and weight as yours and have no problems at all. As others have said, just keep it in tow haul. First time I towed way back when, i manually shifted and just messed things up. Tow haul works great and i tend to tow RPMs more than anything. I baby it. As others have said payload is an issue with the trucks. Buying a Sherline Tongue Scale is a must for me and can adjust weight properly for trailer and TV any time I want. As some have articulated here, it is only the 1st and 2nd gears were the 3.21s lack some power but who is racing when towing anyway? Just hit 96000 miles with this truck and just changed the oem pads and rotors. Could have waited too on the backs. You have quality brakes!! Hope you get good tires on the new RV!! Demand Goodyear Endurance! Have an E2 wdh that works great also. Your truck has got this.

This is my first post. I have never done much work on my truck until last year but because of a few horror incidences from the dealerships and i just retired i figured screw it time to learn, I am done getting ripped off. The information on this website has been so helpful and has saved me thousands of dollars. I will not name names but one is on this thread. All i can say is thank you to you and everyone who takes the time here to help educate the masses on all things RAM.

 

[crash68]

So I have 2021 Ram Big Horn with the 5.7 hemi and 3.21 rearend. I have the factory braking sysem also. I'm looking at purchasing a 30' 6300 dry weight camper. Am I going to have issues?

If you think your going to tow a trailer at 2K on the tachometer, then yes your going to have issues. Torque is what tows a trailer, the Hemi torque peak is 410 ft/lbs at 4K rpms expect to be close to that. As mentioned turn on the Tow/Haul mode and let the transmission do what it needs to. Don't try to get the trans to downshift by speeding up faster then backing off. Run 89 octane fuel.
Don't trust the RV dealer to set up the WDH, they can't set it properly. The truck and trailer need to be fully loaded as if your headed out traveling. It's best to use a semi truck CAT scale to adjust the WDH. Weigh the truck and trailer then drop the trailer and weigh just the truck, with those numbers you can calculate tongue weight percentage. Shoot for 10-12% tongue weight, restore any lost weight from the front axle and the rear axle weight should be more than the front. Watch your GAWR

 

[JayLeonard]

So I have 2021 Ram Big Horn with the 5.7 hemi and 3.21 rearend. I have the factory braking sysem also. I'm looking at purchasing a 30' 6300 dry weight camper. Am I going to have issues? Thanks

I had a 17 Bighorn and pulled a 30 ft 5800 lb dry trailer. It had plenty of power and braking was fine, but after a trip to the scales I saw how much overloaded the truck was. And I was over the GCWR as well. And that was only loaded for a 4 day trip.
Much better towing now with the 2500 and I can load the truck with as much as I want.

 

[ChesterJack]

Your gas mileage will be horrible under tow, like 6 mpg horrible. I dumped my 1500 for a 2500 Cummins and nearly doubled my MPG under tow.

Weight wise you should be OK, as long as you stay within you payload but with a 6,000lb camper the hitch weight is somewhere around 600lbs.

 

[dhay13]

Your gas mileage will be horrible under tow, like 6 mpg horrible. I dumped my 1500 for a 2500 Cummins and nearly doubled my MPG under tow.

Weight wise you should be OK, as long as you stay within you payload but with a 6,000lb camper the hitch weight is somewhere around 600lbs.

Likely closer to 700lbs. But yeah towing MPG isn't good. I towed my sons beand new camper with my 2013 1500 5.7 3.55's and got about 7.0 on the highway. The camper was brand new and empty. Dry weight was listed as 6600 so probably closer to 7200-7500lbs. Once it was loaded it weighed 8100lbs. My son had a 2018 2500 6.4 4.10's and averaged about 8.5MPG towing it so got roughly 2 MPG better towing with the 6.4

 

[Wickenburg Geezer]

As others have said, you will not be happy or possibly comfortable. Pay attention to the gross vehicle weight number. That number includes tongue weight, people, dogs, AND the stuff you will put in the bead of the truck. You will be very close. The junk tires that come from the factory are soft sidewall tires. If you insist on doing this upgrade to 10 ply. Probably old enough to be your great grandpa. Towed and hauled most everything you can imagine. Can't believe how I dodged the over gross loads I've done.

 

[runamuck]

like others have said. you can tow it ok, it will just be at the top of your truck's capability so it will work hard. the 5.7 is strong and these trucks have great brakes. hard to say if your oem tires are junk, mine came with Wildpeak AT3 20's and they have been great. my trailer is only 28' and 6000# but I added airbags and run 20# when towing and I switched out the sway bar for a stiffer one. I also run 4-5 more # in the tires when towing. I normally get 8.5-10 towing at 68-69 depending on the terrain. I run regular gas. you may get a little less as you are towing heavier and longer. 30' is pretty long for a 1500 so go slower if it's windy. be sure to set up your WDH hitch correctly. that can make a big difference.

 

[Bricknhank]

Don't you ask this question before buying 3.21's?

Some of us have the truck first and then get the RV bug, buy a trailer and try to make the tow vehicle work.

 

[OC455]

So I have 2021 Ram Big Horn with the 5.7 hemi and 3.21 rearend. I have the factory braking sysem also. I'm looking at purchasing a 30' 6300 dry weight camper. Am I going to have issues? Thanks

What year make and model travel trailer are you looking at. What is your cargo capacity (sticker on driver's door jamb, yellow border/tire information) say? Gross Axle Weight Rating (found on door jamb, white sticker)?

My travel trailer has a listed tongue weight of 645lbs, listed dry weight is 5158lbs. I was towing it with my Bighorn 1500 which had a cargo capacity of 1310lbs. My actual tongue weight was 710lbs with propane, battery and an electric tongue jack that I added (which IMO didn't add any extra weight compared to the hand crank jack). So the actual tongue weight is 10% heavier than the listed tongue weight. Something to be mindful of.

Me and the family and dogs, we were almost max'd on the axle weight and over on payload. Trailer was never close to being really loaded, and I never carried a full fresh water tank and always drained grey/black tanks before leaving any site. Truck handled well and never felt unbalanced. It took me a while to setup my weight distribution hitch to be perfect. I was just over 12000lbs with my gross combined vehicle weight rating (GCVWR) truck/trailer together. Was under my max with that.

How you load your trailer and the weight distribution hitch being set right, will all play into how everything tows. If you can get the numbers, then you can plan and get things figure out.

 

[dhay13]

My son has a 2018 Grand Design Imagine 2670MK I think the advertised tongue weight was 650 but all loaded up it was actually 1000lbs. Step son had a 2021 Grand Design Imagine 3250BH with advertised tongue weight of 695lbs. I towed it home from the dealer and completely empty except the 53 gallons they left in the fresh water tank it weighed 9300lbs with 1100lbs tongue weight (all numbers CAT scale verified)

 

[Fediej]

So I have 2021 Ram Big Horn with the 5.7 hemi and 3.21 rearend. I have the factory braking sysem also. I'm looking at purchasing a 30' 6300 dry weight camper. Am I going to have issues? Thanks

Weight Distribution Hitch. Proper load plan. You'll be fine. Unless you call a decent hit to your fuel mileage an issue.