Travel Trailer Towing

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392DevilDog

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Payload applies only to what is placed in the bed of the truck. All the pickup truck manufacturers adjust the "payload" rating down by 150 lbs for each passenger set in the cab, which is why the regular cab trucks have the highest payload rating.

Of equal concern with a light duty pickup truck is the Gross Combined Weight Rating for the weight of the truck and its contents along with the weigh of the trailer with its contents. If in doubt pay the small amount to get the rigged weighed at a CAT scale before heading out.

Most of the horsepower and gasoline combustion is used to overcome air drag and the drag is 4 times as great at 80 mph as it is at 40 mph so how fast you drive greatly affects the amount of fuel that is burned.

Travel and tractor trailers get blown over when there are high winds but this is from fools pushing on even when there are wind advisories. It is not a problem with the trailers but with the idiots pulling them.
Again this is completely wrong about payload.
 

392DevilDog

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Payload is anything...ANYTHING...added to the base weight of the truck. Payload is GVWR minus Base weight.

A regular cab truck has more payload because it has a lower base weight than a quad or a crew cab.

The 150lb deal is used in the towing rating...which lately...RAM is only doing GCWR minus base weight to show the tow rating...which is completely useless
 

392DevilDog

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Payload is anything...ANYTHING...added to the base weight of the truck. Payload is GVWR minus Base weight.

A regular cab truck has more payload because it has a lower base weight than a quad or a crew cab.

The 150lb deal is used in the towing rating...which lately...RAM is only doing GCWR minus base weight to show the tow rating...which is completely useless
 

dhay13

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Please ignore what Elkman says about payload. It is inaccurate info. As 392DevilDog says payload is your GVWR minus curb weight. End of story. No calculating for more or less passengers, etc. And ANYTHING that is added to the truck affects payload. Heavy front bumper, tonneau cover, cup of coffee, etc.
 

Farmer Fran

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The sticker in the door tells you exactly how much you can put in the truck - but "IN" is usually what confuses people. Because the tongue weight is not "in" but "on" the truck even though it comes off you GVWR. <--- strictly speaking of hitch trailers.

Your truck has a GVWR, I always tell people to weigh your truck as you drive it around. I.E. all the crap in there that you would otherwise ignore, like change, tools, stuff in the cubby, arm rest under the seats... some people would be surprised how fast that adds up, especially on a Ram 1500 that only has 1100lbs of payload.

So now you got a "real" weight of your truck, take your passengers weight and your tongue weight and add them up. The Payload goes FAST!

EDIT: remember GVWR is a vehicle off the assembly line (before you put your crap in it) with full, fluids - including full tank of gas.
 

dhay13

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Yep. My truck weighed 7240ish with me in it and 1/2 tank of fuel. I have since added a tonneau cover and tow mirrors so might be about 50-75lbs heavier now. My payload is 2973 so my truck weighed 7027 off the line. I weigh 270. My son's truck is 100% identical to mine and his weighed about 8100lbs with me and him in it (he weighs about 180). He also had a bunch of stuff in the back seat and bed and had a full tank of fuel. But he would have had about 600lbs of extra stuff in it. I wouldn't have thought there was that much in there.
 

Tim7139

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Beltsand

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EDIT: remember GVWR is a vehicle off the assembly line (before you put your crap in it) with full, fluids - including full tank of gas.


Do you know if the tonneau cover is included in the sticker weight if your truck came with it included from the factory (e.g. it's on the window sticker)? Obviously, having it weighed set up as you use it is the best option, but just curious if anyone knows off hand.
 

Farmer Fran

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My inderstanding from FCA was, If it is on the window sticker it is on the door jam sticker.
 

ramffml

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Payload applies only to what is placed in the bed of the truck. All the pickup truck manufacturers adjust the "payload" rating down by 150 lbs for each passenger set in the cab, which is why the regular cab trucks have the highest payload rating.

Can you please explain why you post the same false information over and over again, despite being corrected multiple times by multiple people? It's you that is wrong, not the rest of the world.
 

Toddz

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We have a 2016 1500 5.7 3.21 transmission 6.6ft. bed-towing 26 ft Transcend TT. Just returned from trip thru Smokies from Louisville to Myrtle Beach. I love my truck but with total weight at 14040 lbs oil temps got to 260 F. twice and coming down mountain passes my brakes got hot one time. For level ground towing no problem. We’re hoping to go out west next yr. so I’m thinking I need to move up to 2500. I have a good E4 hitch set up
and did install Timbren bump stops- they are great and very easy to install. Probably with oil cooler and heavier brakes this truck would pull fine out west but for piece of mind if I can trade into 2500 Will do that. Unloaded I ave. 17-21 mpg have gotten up to 22 mpg. Fully liaddd with TT we ave. 8 on hills and 9-10 on flat. Great track- purrs and climbs hills loaded but those temps and some wind affect, not sway but can feel winds think heavier truck is better. Hope this helps. We have 83 k miles on truck using synthetic oil.
The 2500 makes for a more relaxing tow, especially when it comes to payload and GCWR. When I towed with a 1/2 ton I was constantly moving the load around to stay within capacity.
That being said, the oil temps of 260 are not horrible and with the 2500 I have seen 250 while towing. The Hemi likes to run warmer. Where you will see a huge difference is in trans temps. With the 2500 I have never seen over 180 towing out west.
 

runamuck

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I have seen oil temps of 235*-240* and tranny temp 185*195* towing our 6000# trailer at 68-69mph in 100* days. the 1500 pulls fine but considering a 2500 for the extra cargo cap. I figure the 2500 is about 1000* heavier but the 6.4 only a little bit more power, so going to pull about the same. are there any other factors that make it a worthwhile upgrade for the 10k more they cost..I am starting to see plenty deals for '20 ram 2500 laramies at 52-53,000.
 

Randy Grant

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I have a 2019 Laramie 1500 with Hemi and 3.92 gearing. Looking at travel trailers in the 6,500 to 7,000 lb range (empty). Truck in theory can tow in excess of 11,500 lbs. All weights are ok (GVW etc) but interested in others opinions of towing this class of trailer in this weight range. We did rent a 6,000 lb travel trailer for a weekend and the truck handled that well but of course gas milage went from bad to really bad. Any thoughts you have will be welcome. (great truck!).
Youtube on Ram, Ford, Chevy towing the IKE
Might give you a little insight.
 

runamuck

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my son added airbags to his laramie and I am thinking that I will too just to stiffen up the back end. I also add some air to the tires when towing. mine has the off road shocks and I changed out the sway bar to the Helwig one. I know for me it is hard to do but you could tow at 65 or 60..my trailer is 6000# and I usually set cruise for 68-69 and get 8.5-10 but I could probably get in the 9's if I could make myself go 65.
 

Cactusmonkey

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We have a 1500 Hemi, 3.92 gears and pull a 8K travel trailer. It pulls like a dream but the mileage is not good. We are getting around 9 miles per gallon but did with the Ford ecoboost as well. Over all I would rather pull with this Ram than the Fords we have had.
 

Randy Grant

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Dash display.jpg

This is what I was getting when going through Sacramento a couple of weeks ago. The average is from central Washington at somewhere over a thousand miles. When hand calculated it is actually a bit over the 11.5, but I keep the speed at the CAL speed limit for towing of 55, and 60 the rest of the time.
 

Mainuh

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I've got a 20' 1500 Limited with 3.92 and 4 corner air. I pull a 30' TT with a dry weight of 5850#. Fully loaded we're typically under 7000. The hitch sensor is a little sensitive, but have not had any issues towing the trailer. I use an equalizer hitch. We towed it from Maine to AZ over 3K miles only a couple weeks after buying the truck. I did make sure we got the 33 gallon tank. On the trip to AZ, we averaged as low as 6.4 in the mountains with a head wind and as good as 9.8 with no wind/mountains. Similar to what I got with my F-150 I traded for the RAM, which had the 5.4 3V. No complaints here... It really hauls ass getting up to speed on highway onramps, and took many pretty good hills in 6th gear hauling the trailer. A 2500 would be nice, and so would a Cummins, but can't justify it for 5% of the time towing and it's a really comfortable, quiet ride.
 

runamuck

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that is really one of the things about this truck that I like a lot . It will get right up to speed easily when pulling our trailer. the '17 sierra I had would always struggle a little getting up to speed. it only had the 5.3 and 3.42 gears. I give a lot of the credit to the 8 speed tranny. It seems to always be in the right gear.
 
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