Towing with a 2012 1500 Express Crew Hemi 4Spd

[Dan Summers]

So I am looking to purchase a travel
Trailer to pull with my 2012 Crew Cab Express 4Spd.
My cargo limit is 1343, trailer hitch is 850, dry weight of trailer is 5992. Just wondering if anyone out there has towed similar configuration? 3.55 axle
Thoughts?

 

[Loudram]

Is that 850 tongue weight the brochure weight? If so add 100 lbs for the battery and full propane tanks. That's the STARTING tongue weight. It only goes up from there based on what you put in the trailer. Mainly in the front pass thru section unless it's a front kitchen then add all that weight. Food, dishes, pots, pans and the like. Subtract all that weight from your payload.

Then add all gear and any aftermarket accessories you installed, like step bars, bed liner, tonneau cover, and whatever else didn't come from the factory. Subtract that weight from your payload.

Finally add the passengers. And subtract that weight.

At this point I'm guessing that you'll probably be over your payload. Crunch the numbers and see.

As far as your dry weight goes add at least 1000 lbs to that for your gear. If your new at camping it'll be closer to 1500 lbs. You always pack too much when you first start out. We pack light and we had a 1000 lbs of stuff in our old trailer. I'm guessing that your tow limit is in the high 7000 to low 8000 range.

 

[kurek]

I have a 2015 1500 4wd with the 5.7 + 65RFE transmission and 3.55 gears, have towed ~7200lb (2 axle, surge brakes) interstate a couple times and ~3500lb (single axle, electric brakes) cross country with a few hundred pounds in the bed. Compared to your powertrain my 2015 has the electric power steering (no PS pump) and supposedly 5 more horsepower and a newer generation of engine/trans controller but should be more alike than different. My tire size is 285/70R17 (33" diameter) and I have calibrated the truck for that tire size using JSCAN. No engine modifications or tuners or performance parts. While towing I use the "Tow/Haul" setting, though I've forgotten to switch it on a few times as it turns itself off at each restart.

No trouble to report. The truck manages that amount of weight confidently, braking and acceleration and steering command feel well within the truck's capabilities. Transmission doesn't seem to have any difficulty on hills even in the southwest during summer. Highway fuel mileage while towing is pretty awful, even in California where any trailer means 55mph (I have no interest in collecting citations and paying more for insurance) best I've managed while towing a trailer is ~13mpg and more often it's 11.

While the MPG sucks it's nice that it never seems to struggle on highway grades to sustain the speed limit. Even heading up the rim from Phoenix toward Flagstaff loaded I can stay in the left lane without holding anyone up and without feeling like the engine's struggling or flying apart. Never seen any cause for worry on the temperature gauges, engine or trans. Oil temperature creeps into the 220's on severe grades when engine RPM's up, but it levels out and comes back down fast when the hard work is done.

In other words for the ~6k dry weight on your trailer, plus all your bags and consumables you should be in good shape. I trust you got all your bases covered on the normal maintenance and safety responsibilities, no need to go over that. Your biggest enemy is going to be tongue weight the 1500 doesn't have a lot of capacity for that.

For what it's worth I've got the factory trailer brake controller, it works smoothly and it's nice to have it integrated instead of an extra wart in the cab like my old work truck's aftermarket brake controller. If you don't have a brake controller yet that one's got my endorsement.

 

[mtofell]

2012 Crew Cab Express 4Spd.

Wow, a 4spd tranny in 2012?? I didn't realize there was anything less than 5 that recent.

 

[Loudram]

I should add that my last Ram was a '14 with a 5 speed and 3.55 rear. The payload on that truck was similar. My trailer at the time was 33' 6500 dry (7500 loaded) 650 tongue brochure weight 1100 tongue loaded, rear kitchen. No weight on the front except for the bedroom and front pass thru. It towed it ok but I wouldn't go heavier or longer than that.

The low payload is where you could run into problems. But that's life with a 1/2 ton Ram. We all deal with it.

My current trailer has a 650 tongue brochure weight. When I picked it up the tongue weighed about 800 lbs. At that point the extra stuff was full propane tanks, battery, and weight distribution brackets.

Tongue weight creeps up quickly and the brochure weight is almost always on the low side.

 

[Dan Summers]

Yep the 850# hitch weight is before tanks which add about 100#. Not planning on loading very much additional cargo weight. Just want to be safe here.

 

[csuder99]

A quick Google search brings up a tow rating of about 8500 lbs for that engine and gearing. I'd guess the trailer is probably ~7500 GVWR so by the numbers that checks out. However I always like to harp about the fact that the number is a *weight* rating and not a *size* rating. Pulling a 14ft dump trailer weighing 8000 lbs is very different from pulling a 28ft travel trailer that is 11 ft tall and 8 ft wide. For one the large box is harder to keep under control in high winds or even bad roads (most travel trailers don't have shock absorbers), plus the high wind resistance is loading up the drive train more.

My take is that it will work for short trips (1-2 hrs from base) but hitting the open road will be tiring for the driver and the truck.

 

[Dan Summers]

The 4Spd was a typo should have wrote 6spd, sorry about that.
Not planning on long trips yet, hoping that in 2 years to trade up to a 2500
Diesel.

 

[GTyankee]

If your buying a trailer, you should also look into
a good Weight Distribution Hitch

 

[novelmike]

Yep the 850# hitch weight is before tanks which add about 100#. Not planning on loading very much additional cargo weight. Just want to be safe here.

Really? My trailer says the tongue weight is WITH the battery and two full propane tanks.

 

[dhay13]

Really? My trailer says the tongue weight is WITH the battery and two full propane tanks.

I can't confirm that to be true but do know that both trailers I have weighed has had quite a bit more tongue weight than was advertised. The one was loaded up pretty good and close to the TT's GVWR so that was understandable. The other was brand new off the lot with nothing in it other than 52 gallons of fresh water that the dealer didn't tell us was in there...lol. The first that was loaded had an advertised TW of 650 and the actual was 1100lbs. The 2nd was brand new with an advertised TW of 850 but actual was 1100lbs. The 2 TT's were a 2018 Grand Design Imagine 2670MK and the other was a 2021 Grand Design Imagine 3250BH

 

[Loudram]

Really? My trailer says the tongue weight is WITH the battery and two full propane tanks.

It may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Read the fine print in the brochure. That may tell you what is included. On my Aspen Trail only empty tanks were included. I just read my Coachman Spirit brochure and it may include full propane tanks in the UVW weight. I have to do more research.

 

[Dan Summers]

A Coachman Spirit 2659BH is what we are looking to order. As I said the sticker on hitch had 850#.

 

[Loudram]

A Coachman Spirit 2659BH is what we are looking to order. As I said the sticker on hitch had 850#.

Good choice. Nice layout. We're happy with our Spirit. Build quality is on par with most trailers. Found a few small issue but nothing major. The worst being the bath room sink cold faucet handle leaks a little from inside the faucet when using it but not when it's off. I'll check it out before our next trip. The wide stance axles tow nice.

This is from the Spirit brochure. I interpret this as full tanks are included in the tongue. Look under the UVW description.

 

[Dan Summers]

Thanks for the info, just now working out my storage area for the camper, have to grade the area before parking it in yard.