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This is what valve body will need at that heavy weight.
Towing capacity
- Thread starter Firefighter6567
- Start date
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Ole 340
Junior Member
I would not have been a good source of advice for towing as a young man. Had a 5,500 lb. boat and tandem axle trailer combo behind a D50 ram with a 2.6 motor, 2wd. Welded the bumper, threw a ball on it and went. Nearly every summer weekend for (2) years. Towed the same setup for many more years with setups that were in towing and payload spec compliance. I never had an issue and I had to brake hard with it a few times. Good trailer brakes assisted. Would I do that today? No way and I don't recommend it. Did it tow well? Surprisingly well actually. Would outrun my F150's with the 300 sixes and be maybe a vehicle length behind the F250 with the 302 and 4.10 gears to 60 MPH. Beat me up if you want, wasn't the only silly thing I did in those days. That setup was actually a little better handling than my 150 series trucks were too. Low center of gravity seemed to assist. The 250 was certainly a handling improvement though. D50 was the second best vehicle for maintenance I ever owned, pounding it like that too. Subaru Legacy commuter now holds that title now but it does no real work. Miss changing the oil from the top on that little truck. Only vehicle I ever owned you didn't crawl beneath for that operation. Slide the pan under and pull it out, done. Spent more time waiting for the oil to drain.
Dolfan1967
Junior Member
Firefighter6567
Glad you may get an RV...and what everyone is saying is correct. Discuss how your family will RV, where you'll stay (state parks, national parks, rv parks, boondocking). Lots of the places you will pay to stay have RV size length limits. Travel trailers are a good option also. 50amp RVs also cost more and sometimes have less slots than 30amp rigs (and you could still have room for a quad in your truck bed).
As your in NY definitely consider a rig that is 4 season rated, they have better insulation and an enclosed underbelly.
Happy shopping
Glad you may get an RV...and what everyone is saying is correct. Discuss how your family will RV, where you'll stay (state parks, national parks, rv parks, boondocking). Lots of the places you will pay to stay have RV size length limits. Travel trailers are a good option also. 50amp RVs also cost more and sometimes have less slots than 30amp rigs (and you could still have room for a quad in your truck bed).
As your in NY definitely consider a rig that is 4 season rated, they have better insulation and an enclosed underbelly.
Happy shopping
dhay13
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Yep. Son has a 2018 Grand Design Imagine 2670MK. It's about 32' total front to back (including tongue). Dry weight is about 6500lbs but it is a 4 season with the heated underbelly. He lives in it on job sites. Currently in North Dakota (from Pittsburgh). Towed it there with his 2018 2500 Ram 6.4 Hemi 4.10's. No problem towing at all. A little smaller than you are looking for but Grand Design makes bigger ones too.
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Did you watch the video? That is all I ask. Forgive my enthusiasms.
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Mind you my brother who owns a landscape business burnt through his transmision in his cummins 3 times before he traded it in for a manual. He tows heavy equipment daily, but still this was all in like 30k miles total. Still under warranty but they don't pay because it is a business. They literally have an out if it is something that tows commercially. They even told him, we will pay for the first one even though they knew it was business related, then he paid for the other two. He does huge landscapes where most jobs are like 500k, so it was just a business expense, buy these transmisions are not known to be great. So this added to what I hear around here and that video is why I believe it is real smart to upgrade at least the valve body.
mtofell
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I just watched some of it - the guy is obviously very skilled and knowledgeable. This stuff is just outside of what most folks are looking for if they want to keep their warranty intact. I get the enthusiasm though.... I'm very envious of guys that get to hang out in garages with expensive tools and trucks all day
I wish I could find a way to pull that off and make a living!
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Be very careful with towing at or near capacity.
https://www.ramtrucks.com/content/dam/fca-brands/na/ramtrucks/en_us/towing/2018 Ram 3500.pdf
You must consider several items, to be safe, and legal.
Even though your trucks towing capacity maximum trailer weight is 15620, on paper, you must consider your GCWR (truck, fuel, cargo, people, and trailer loaded).
Refer to the chart at the link above, and then do some math to figure out your prospective weights.
- Your truck is 6810 base weight without fuel
- gasoline is about 8lbs/gal (240lbs for 30 gals)
- average driver weight is 200lbs (add accordingly for actual and passengers)
- cargo weight in the truck is ??
- tongue weight is likely to be 2500-3000lbs as others have noted
- trailer weight - dry vs loaded - having had several RV’s in the past, folks are very accurate with previous comments - dry weight might be 11500-13500 on a 15000 lb max weight trailer - refer to the tag on the rig then take that with a grain of salt, as some manufacturers really fudge with these numbers - I know for a fact.....the only way to really know is to have the RV weighed.....
The really important number is the rig overall GCWR - take all the loaded weights for your situation and add em up - your limit is 22900 lbs.
So, for example, your truck weighs 6810, you weigh 200, full tank of 30 gals of gas is 240, you are already down to a max remaining weight of 15650 for the loaded trailer AND any cargo in the truck.....
You also must consider your states laws - for NY for example, I believe the standard drivers license legally can tow up to a GCWR of 25000 or 26000 lbs, BUT, every state is different.
CA for example, if the trailer GVWR is above 15000 lbs, a driver must have a either a class A non-commercial license, or, a commercial license.
Don’t get caught driving out of your drivers license class - you won’t like the ticket $$$, AND, if you are an accident, you likely would NOT be covered.....
Also, size up on the 5th wheel hitch - if you plan on a rig that has a GW of 15000 lbs, get a 20, 22, or 25k hitch.
On paper, you are fairly close to the maximum towing capacity, and possibly over, without having your exact specifics.
Can your truck do it? Yes, I personally think it will, but, that also depends on your driving while towing.
If you are in a lot of hill country, your fuel mileage will be awful, and you might be really hard on the transmissions life span.
These are the exact reasons I personally went from a 1500 (ate a transmission towing way too much in the hills), to a 2500 quad cab long bed CTD, finally to a 3500 quad cab long bed dually.....the most extreme case I personally saw was a 2500 crew cab 4x4 short bed CTD towing a really really heavy 38ft 5th wheel - he weighed his rig at a truck stop on the way out to the desert camping trip - his rig was almost 6000 lbs over legal GVWR (the 5th wheel was loaded at about 20000 lbs itself)......
Be careful - towing safely, and being able to stop safely in an emergency are the most important things.
https://www.ramtrucks.com/content/dam/fca-brands/na/ramtrucks/en_us/towing/2018 Ram 3500.pdf
You must consider several items, to be safe, and legal.
Even though your trucks towing capacity maximum trailer weight is 15620, on paper, you must consider your GCWR (truck, fuel, cargo, people, and trailer loaded).
Refer to the chart at the link above, and then do some math to figure out your prospective weights.
- Your truck is 6810 base weight without fuel
- gasoline is about 8lbs/gal (240lbs for 30 gals)
- average driver weight is 200lbs (add accordingly for actual and passengers)
- cargo weight in the truck is ??
- tongue weight is likely to be 2500-3000lbs as others have noted
- trailer weight - dry vs loaded - having had several RV’s in the past, folks are very accurate with previous comments - dry weight might be 11500-13500 on a 15000 lb max weight trailer - refer to the tag on the rig then take that with a grain of salt, as some manufacturers really fudge with these numbers - I know for a fact.....the only way to really know is to have the RV weighed.....
The really important number is the rig overall GCWR - take all the loaded weights for your situation and add em up - your limit is 22900 lbs.
So, for example, your truck weighs 6810, you weigh 200, full tank of 30 gals of gas is 240, you are already down to a max remaining weight of 15650 for the loaded trailer AND any cargo in the truck.....
You also must consider your states laws - for NY for example, I believe the standard drivers license legally can tow up to a GCWR of 25000 or 26000 lbs, BUT, every state is different.
CA for example, if the trailer GVWR is above 15000 lbs, a driver must have a either a class A non-commercial license, or, a commercial license.
Don’t get caught driving out of your drivers license class - you won’t like the ticket $$$, AND, if you are an accident, you likely would NOT be covered.....
Also, size up on the 5th wheel hitch - if you plan on a rig that has a GW of 15000 lbs, get a 20, 22, or 25k hitch.
On paper, you are fairly close to the maximum towing capacity, and possibly over, without having your exact specifics.
Can your truck do it? Yes, I personally think it will, but, that also depends on your driving while towing.
If you are in a lot of hill country, your fuel mileage will be awful, and you might be really hard on the transmissions life span.
These are the exact reasons I personally went from a 1500 (ate a transmission towing way too much in the hills), to a 2500 quad cab long bed CTD, finally to a 3500 quad cab long bed dually.....the most extreme case I personally saw was a 2500 crew cab 4x4 short bed CTD towing a really really heavy 38ft 5th wheel - he weighed his rig at a truck stop on the way out to the desert camping trip - his rig was almost 6000 lbs over legal GVWR (the 5th wheel was loaded at about 20000 lbs itself)......
Be careful - towing safely, and being able to stop safely in an emergency are the most important things.
Last edited:
Swampmule
Junior Member
If it's close or a little over it's fine. You know they put more limitations on things than what things can handle. They do this for the ********'s that don't know how to drive, load, hookup, and secure what they are hauling. Start out making short trips slowly and then work your way up. Go with your gut and common sense.
