V6 towing Travel Trailer

[jeffhoward001]

I can say this as a fellow truck nerd, people are going to truck-nerd you to death on this topic. I've towed a trailer that size with a V6 across the country twice (literally). So here are practical answers:

- Is it safe? Yes, same chassis as the hemi 1500
- Is it functional? Yes. Its all about expectations. It will be a little slower on the hills, but downsift and go a little slower for the few miles on the incline
- Air Resistance: This is where the V6 is most noticeable, but its fine... I drove through most of Utah in a bad headwind in 4th gear @ 60mph with the revs @ 3,200. The Pentastar was fine, it's built to have a large usable rpm range.

 

[S_Bedard]

Also, is an engine transmission cooler upgrade necessary ? Example: https://www.etrailer.com/tran-2018_Ram_1500.htm?furl=&style=3.6L+V6+Engine&sort=-sb-PriceDescending

 

[MoparFin]

He stated that it's a 4x2 in the original post. I've already priced it from 4 Wheel Parts. The 3:73 gears were cheaper too.

Missed that and was too lazy to re-read through.

 

[CamperMike]

I think you'll be fine with a couple of things already mentioned. First, weight distributing hitch makes a big difference. Second, I didn't see mentioned, install a set of Timbrens or Timbren clones in the rear of your truck. Easy driveway job and IMHO essential for towing. A good trailer brake controller (factory is probably best) is a must have.

Brake controller is needed. However with the size trailer the op is looking at you don't need Timbrens or anything like that. Properly set up the wdh and it will be level. I should know since I own a trailer that is around 5500lbs loaded and have towed it close to 10k miles. I have the Fastway E2 hitch with 800lb bars and it tows nice and level. The e2 also has sway control which works well on shorter TTs. For larger/ longer ones the equalizer e4 would be a better choice.

 

[calinb]

It's not so much the weight of a TT, it's the brick-like aerodynamics of them. Even so, before I'd even consider a re-gear, you need to know what your loaded TT is going to weigh along with what you plan on having in the truck. A pentastar powered Ram 1500 w/ 3.21's will tow just like any other non-turbo V6. You'll feel it at high altitudes and on hills, if your towing includes that. Gear it down to 5th or 6th gear when the going gets rough and keep it out of 8th probably the whole time. Fuel economy will be bad when towing, just like with anything else.

I've done extensive travel (many 10s of thousands of miles) with a medium-size self-contained camper mounted on my 2004 V6 5 sp. manual Ram 1500. The camper's empty weight is almost 2000 lbs and sometimes I also tow a small utility trailer that weighs perhaps 1000 lbs gross when loaded with some extra camping gear and a quad ATV. Yes--the barn door effect pushing all that air is the greatest factor. I often downshift for head winds and hills but rarely need to spin the V6 over 3000 rpm for extended periods.

I have Hellwig LP-35 helper springs on it and, even without the helper springs, my little Ram 1500 carries the camper payload with more stability than my 2016 Ram 2500 Bighorn Cummins and its factory coil springs. (Air bags help the Ram 2500, but still don't match the stability of the 1500 with leaf springs). The Ram 1500 OEM springs can't keep the bed level, of course, and would probably take a set more in time, as even a pair of Hellwig LP-25 did in less than a year's time, so I returned the LP-25s and upgraded to the LP-35s. Having greater spring rate, the LP-35's have been solid, with no sag or set over more than a decade of travels. I'd recommend the 35s for all applications, because the ride is still almost OEM-like soft when they are backed off (quickly accomplished with an air wrench).

For towing heavy trailers however, there's no comparison between my Ram trucks. I've used the Ram 2500 to tow a mini-excavator that weighs about 13,000 gross on the trailer and a horse trailer that weighs a little less. These are towed with a 16,000+ lbs receiver hitch. I've carried the camper and flat-towed a Honda CRV behind the Bighorn too. It's like the CRV isn't even there!

Progressive coil springs are terrible for bed payloads (especially with high C.G., like my over-cab camper), but they work fine for towing while still enabling soccer moms to be comfortable while carrying kids to soccer practice, in my opinion.

 

[HeyTheresTony]

Oh dear. I think you may have put the cart before the horse, quite literally.

Here is some information about towing, including a towing calculator. Basically the biggest issue with that truck is going to be what others have written, payload. The cargo carrying capacity of that truck is pretty low and when you add two passengers and some camping stuff you may not have much left to carry the weight of a travel trailer.

Yes, weight. The weight of a travel trailer should be about 15% or so on the tongue which is directly carried by the tow vehicle. Add 80 pounds for a good weight distribution hitch and then propane, batteries and all of that and you can see that you can very quickly exceed what that truck is designed to haul.

Then you add the fact that you have economy-focused gears but will still be trying to overcome tremendous forces as you pull a trailer through the air (they're giant air dams) and you will be shopping for a new truck in very, very short order.

Honestly whether you have that V6 and your gear ratios or you have the Hemi with 3.73s you're going to get almost exactly the same lousy mileage when towing. It just takes a specific amount of energy to overcome the horrible aerodynamics of a travel trailer.

 

[dhay13]

I don't think he will have payload issues. I think he said he has1900lbs payload? Figure 700-800 or so tongue weight and he still have 1200lbs for everything else. Now if he pulled that 1900lbs from the 'generic' guide then that may be off but if his door sticker says 1900 he should be good. But I agree with the rest of your assessment. A V6 with 3.21's pulling a large brick through the air is alot

 

[2bikemike]

There should be a sticker on the inside door frame on the driver side that tells you what you are tow capabilities are and loading of the truck you have

 

[Aggie86]

Of course not why would they? Horsepower is torque over time, you spin the motor faster and it does more work. A modern DOHC, VVT engine has a broad torque curve and will keep making more and more power right up until the PCM starts shutting off injectors.

Gears trade torque for RPM which lets the engine run at a higher RPM (in any given transmission gear) where it's producing more horsepower while reducing the amount of torque the transmission experiences pulling the same load. As a general rule a transmissions are happier with lower torque demands regardless of RPM.

Napkin math

We'll ignore wind resistance for now

Pulling a 10,000lb combination up a 7% grade with an estimated 5% loss into the wheels requires ~1200lb of +hrust (ok that's just silly censorship... imagine the word tsurht backward)

With 32" diameter tires you achieve 1200lb of +hrust with 1600 ft-lbs of force. (16" radius... convenient math there)

With 3.21 gears in the axle you need to supply 498 ft-lbs to the pinion.
With 3.55 gears you need to supply 451 ft-lbs to the pinion
With 3.92 gears you need to supply 408 ft-lbs to the pinion.

The pentastar is rated at 269 ft-lb peak torque and supposedly has at least ~240 ft-lb across the entire rev range 1800 to 6350 rpm which I'll call the average available torque

If we look at the gear ratios for the 8HP45 that means our average available torque at the output shaft of the transmission for each gear is like this:

1. 1131 ft-lbs (240 from the engine times 4.71 1st gear ratio)
2. 754
3. 504
4. 400
5. 308
6. 240
7. 201
8. 160

Since the engine is clearly able to sustain at least 240 ft-lbs across a wide RPM range there's no doubt it can pull this example 10,000lb up a 7% grade and the gears themselves won't drastically change the maximum speed that the combination could travel up that grade either.

But what it does change dramatically is how much torque the transmission has to pass from the engine to the drive axle and that has a significant impact on how much wear and heat it experiences in doing so.

I don't know what the Pentastar's formal redline is but for the purpose of this conversation let's set ourselves a limit of 4500 rpm sustained, like any driver sympathetic to the machine might not feel comfortable holding the engine higher than that over the duration of a whole highway grade.

So here's the scenario with 3.21 gears, 32" tires, 10,000 combined weight, 7% grade..

The highest gear you'd be able to pull in is 3rd (504lbs available, 498lbs demanded) and at 4500 rpm that's 63 mph, though that's cutting it pretty close in terms of torque demands. Realistically you'd probably be pulling that particular load in 2nd gear which limits you to 42mph at 4500 rpm

With 3.55 gears you just bought ~47 ft-lbs of flexibility in terms of torque demands which means you can probably stay in 3rd gear. Your top speed at 4500 rpm is now about 58mph which is a whole lot nicer than 42 plus your transmission is experiencing less torque load and therefore generating less heat.

With 3.92 gears you have ~90 ft-lbs of flexibility in torque demand which means the truck will easily be able to hold 3rd gear under those conditions. That means your top speed in 3rd gear/4500 rpm is now 52mph but you should have no trouble sustaining it and as soon as the grade levels out you're going to easily be able to grab 4th and get back up to the speed limit because you only need 408 ft-lbs for the 7% grade and there's 400 in 4th gear.

Outstanding!!

 

[TomB 1269]

I have an 18, 4x4, 3.6, 3.55s.

trailer is a 2012 Coachman Catalina. 30’, 4300lbs dry, have not weighed loaded.

This one is pushing 6000 loaded. That's a lot on a N/A V6, Ford ECO different story...... Stay on the flats and out of the maountains.

 

[MoparFin]

Drove through mountains in PA to Finger Lakes area in NY and it did just fine.

 

[AlexC2350]

For what it’s worth I towed a Coleman 2155bh which is probably similarly sized as your camper, with a 2016 Tacoma for a summer. Power wise, it wasn’t too bad, stability was on the uncomfortable side. Traded to a 2018 ram 1500 with the hemi, so yes the power was much more but stability wise was what mattered to me and I would say that, that camper and truck were very well matched. You should have no issues with your truck as long as you have proper WD hitch setup.

 

[TucsonBamaEngr]

I have a 2018 Ram Crew Cab, 4x4, with the V6 and 3.21. I have a TT with a 3,000 lb dry weight and 3,850 GCW. Accounting for my family and gear, I’m between 0-300 lbs under the 4,265 lb rated towing capacity when all tanks are empty. I live in AZ, so I tow through hills and mountains everywhere I camp. I haven’t had any issues with this set up. I do a couple of things to ensure success. 1. I watch the tranny temp in the vehicle information menu. The tranny’s thermal shutoff is at 275F, but I back way off if I reach 220F. I find that it rolls along typically at 200-210F. The temp is often 200F empty with just me, so this should be ok. Owners manual is silent on tranny temps, but it cools rapidly on descents. 2. No aggressive driving and use Tow/Haul mode on the tranny. This almost goes without saying, even with a small TT. +1 on weight distribution hitch with sway control. IMO, not an option.

 

[TucsonBamaEngr]

Also, my towing MPG =~12. I like the, ~22-23 when I’m not towing.

 

[Jim welsh]

I have the same vehicle added a better set of rear springs the wdh for a 20 ft single axle and it tows fine turn on the tow/haul and it will do fine with hills I would just anticipate a hill and pick up a little speed