Towing Travel Trailer

[spalmer]

Does anyone have experience towing with a 2019 power wagon? In particular a travel trailer that’s around 7500 lbs dry...9800ish loaded? We are currently towing this trailer with a 2015 Ram 1500 sport, it pulls but feels like the front end floats and wouldn’t want to tow anywhere other than flat land. Just don’t feel confident. We’ve been looking at a 2019 PW I know it only has 10,620 towing capacity but would it make enough of a difference from the 1500 (which tows about 10300) because it’s a heavier 2500? Want to be able to tow more than a couple hours away and into terrain other than the flatland prairies. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[crash68]

Sounds like the WDH isn't adjusted correctly if the front end is floating. It should put all the weight and then some back on the front axle.
Measure the height of the front wheelwell to the ground before and after you hook up the trailer, if the measurement increases when hooked up the front end is light. You'll want to find a CAT scale weigh just the truck and then the truck /trailer together to see where your at. You'll also be able to see how much tongue weight you have, you want to be around 10-12% of trailer.
Would a 2500 PW tow this load, yes it will and you'll have a lot of responses saying you should. 10K lbs behind any pick up truck is a handful. Yes you'll still need a WDH and have it adjusted properly for a 2500 also.

 

[spalmer]

Thanks @crash68 , tongue weight is just over 900 lbs which is the 12-13% mark. Will have to play around with the WDH. Air bags do help too but still don’t feel confident towing more than a couple hours away from home. Payload is another concern on both vehicles. Payload on our truck now is just over 1400 we’d only be upgrading to just over 1500 lbs with the PW....a full tank of gas, the tongue weight, and our 3 dogs eat up over 80% of that and we haven’t even stepped into the vehicle or loaded anything in the box lol..we know we’re over now....how much of a “guideline” is it...is there any Leeway? Should we just buck up and buy a diesel? Lol

 

[michael harpe]

Diesel vs gas isn’t where your towing rating comes in. It’s all suspension related. The power wagon is an off-road truck. If your doing occasional towing adding hellwig airbags will fix th squat problem and the 6.4 hemi will pull without issue.

If you look at the 2500/3500 with the factory airbag options, that’s where your towing rating jumps to the 30,000# rating. It’s the airbags. Also the 3500 is still a leaf spring design with airbags, whereas the 2500 is 5 point with airbags.

If your not doing extreme off-road, then get a 2500/3500 with the airbag option. The diesel will net better pulling power but if your not towing daily, a 6.4 will be just fine. Plus with the Cummins you have both diesel and def to purchase and maintenance costs go up significantly.


Sent from an undisclosed location in Iraq

 

[spalmer]

Thanks @michael harpe. For sure totally get the suspension thing, we would be purchasing the PW for its off road capabilities specifically (and the fact that it’s a badass truck lol) but want to ensure it can handle the tow if we decide to head to Moab or something with truck, trailer, Jeep etc. I would not tow that far with our current set up. I’d really like to avoid a diesel if possible although their capabilities are superior the maintenance is not something we’re super interested in if we can avoid it, been there...done that. Thanks for the advice, much appreciated!

 

[56PW17]

Diesel vs gas isn’t where your towing rating comes in. It’s all suspension related. The power wagon is an off-road truck. If your doing occasional towing adding hellwig airbags will fix th squat problem and the 6.4 hemi will pull without issue.

If you look at the 2500/3500 with the factory airbag options, that’s where your towing rating jumps to the 30,000# rating. It’s the airbags. Also the 3500 is still a leaf spring design with airbags, whereas the 2500 is 5 point with airbags.

If your not doing extreme off-road, then get a 2500/3500 with the airbag option. The diesel will net better pulling power but if your not towing daily, a 6.4 will be just fine. Plus with the Cummins you have both diesel and def to purchase and maintenance costs go up significantly.


Sent from an undisclosed location in Iraq

This is good advice. After the issues i’m having with my 17 I think im going to get a longhorn 2019 2500. I dont off road enough to justify a new PW. We will see what happens

 

[Trailmaker]

Come join the PW club. Definitely get the air bags. There is a great write up here that will guide you to the right setup for the PW.
I have no regrets so far and I too am planning a trip to Moab.