Towing limits

[Ohiokid56]

2016 Longhorn Limited with air ride.
What or how can I determine my true towing capacities?

 

[tron67j]

Capacity, look at your door jamb and find payload capacity number. And then put your vin in the Ram site linked in other towing threads, will give you maximum trailer weight. Not sure what you have, 1500 to 3500, but most likely your payload capacity will dictate how big of a trailer you can tow.

 

[Dinky]

There is rams payload/towing vin look up.

 

[crash68]

what engine? What axle ratio?
Most configurations can pull 6K-8K without issue provided you distribute the load correctly and set up the WDH properly.
If yours is a 3.6L V6 w/3.21 gearing you looking about 4K lbs tops
You can look up your truck's build sheet here: https://fcacommunity.force.com/RAM/s/equipment-listing
This will tell you what it's a equiped with when it left the factory.

 

[pacofortacos]

Payload as mentioned (if a 1500) is the biggest limiting factor.
After that the rear gear ratio is the limiting factor for most every series - 1500-2500-3500 SRW.

Be careful going by what RAM says you "can" tow - most of those max numbers are pulling a wagon or something similar.
For ex. I can "tow" 10,500 lbs (or something like that) with my 1500. But if it's a camper or something like that and will put 10-15% of it's weight on the hitch, my real limit is more like 7000-8000 lbs max and that is if I am the only thing in the truck and run a light hitch weight. But if it was a wagon that supports all of the weight and I am only pulling it, then an easy 10,500 .

Most people seriously underestimate how much is in the truck and the true trailer hitch weight - then you blow past payload or rear axle max loads.

 

[rmill]

Make sure you go to closest cat scale and get your trucks true weight. Anything posted online is worthless. Subtract that number from the gvwr on sticker to get payload which as mentioned will be your limiting factor for your tow capacity once tongue weight is figured in. Good luck.

 

[dhay13]

Depends on the type of trailer too. With a 1500 and a bumper pull travel trailer you will likely be reaching GRAWR limits at about 9000-9500lbs. Best way to know would be taking it to a CAT scale loaded as you would normally be towing it. Step-son has a 2020 Tundra (yeah I know not a RAM) but with his 2021 Grand Design Imagine 3250BH it weighed 9300lbs empty off the dealer lot and he was 160lbs over GRAWR with 12% tongue weight. His max GRAWR was 4100 and he was at 4260 and that was with the camper empty. I think the 1500 Ram has a 3900lb GRAWR.

This was the 3250 with the Tundra. Oh...and when he was trying to ack it up a small grade into his spot his trans overheated and the light came on. And his max tow was 9800lbs

 

[tron67j]

The site for finding trailer tow maximum is here. https://www.ramtrucks.com/towing/towing-guide.html#/landing/bytowing/search/

The following is long, and a combination of real and theoretical numbers to show how loading weights isn't a simple thing, and only fully loading and then measuring at a CAT scale will give you full information needed to know if you are within specs or not. Don't use my numbers as a rule of thumb, as I said they are not technically correct but just to help visualize things.

With my 2500, I have 3,000 payload capacity and 12,500 trailer towing capacity. Assuming a 60/40 front/rear split for vehicle, my center of gravity is nearer the front when full of fluids and devoid people and stuff. This would have about 4300 pounds on front axle and 2700 on rear. As I add weight two of the things that impact cog are obviously where new weight is put (usually behind base cog) and height of weight added. Since the bed is naturally where a lot is added, that shifts cog back a bit. Then a travel trailer and hitch really shift cog back even further. So it is possible that the if the tongue weight of a trailer + hitch (say 1500 pounds total) results in a larger added total weight measured at the rear axle than just the total of the payload added. So say maybe that 1500 plus 10% of GVW (7,000 from above) shifting from front to back axle changing total of rear not just 2700 +1500, but 3400 + 1500 = 4900. This is just for example and not exactly how the math goes, but idea is there. If I max my weight to 2500 in bed plus 500 pounds people in cab, I could have shift of cog with numbers being 15% moved to rear, 3750 + 3000 payload = 6750 gawr rear or 250 pounds over even though I am within total payload capacity.