Whats biggest thing you've towed with your 1500?

[Esgordon123]

Just a 6’10” wide by 14’ long trailer with my Polaris General. Not a big load. Looking into a toy hauler. An overnighter to be exact.

 

[MrFigs]

Oh where to start.. Lumber.. Trailer and lifts were pushing 15K+ (30miles highway), largest thing physically a 8'wide by 16' long by 8ft high sheds (200miles highway).. heaviest was an oops, I went to a gravel pit to get 2 yards of rock, loader guy messed up and put like 6 yards or so, I was pushing 26K total weight when I got to the scale.. we went back and dumped out a few tons...

I can't seem to find pictures of the sheds, I know I sent my wife one when I was loading, the gravel I know I don't have a pic of, so that leaves the lumber...

 

[Gero]

Here's some of the bigger things I have towed with my truck. These all traveled over 1,000 miles.

Those are some big boy loads. What's the weight on those various triaxle boat/trailers?

 

[gwuhesos]

Those are some big boy loads. What's the weight on those various triaxle boat/trailers?

Mosts were just under 10K lbs, the older boat on tri-axle was a little over 10K.

 

[670hoth]

I'm looking at buying a camper with a dry weight of 6695 lbs and a dry hitch weight of 920 lb. I'm not too worried about the dry weight but i am concerned with the 920 lb hitch weight. I've got a 2017 1500 quad cab 5.7 hemi, 8-speed trans, 4wd, 3:92 gears, factory Class IV hitch also 2" rough country leveling struts/springs in the front. It also has 145K miles but is well maintained. I run the OEM Wrangler SR-A 20" tires and don't want to change. Ram says max towing is 10,150 lbs and max tongue weight of 1100 lb with Class IV hitch. I do have a load leveling hitch and could add air bags if needed. I'm still a bit concerned with the hitch weight which could possibly hit 1000 lb in reality. What does everyone think? No big deal or ? Similar Experiences? Thanks

 

[Ikreider]

I'm looking at buying a camper with a dry weight of 6695 lbs and a dry hitch weight of 920 lb. I'm not too worried about the dry weight but i am concerned with the 920 lb hitch weight. I've got a 2017 1500 quad cab 5.7 hemi, 8-speed trans, 4wd, 3:92 gears, factory Class IV hitch also 2" rough country leveling struts/springs in the front. It also has 145K miles but is well maintained. I run the OEM Wrangler SR-A 20" tires and don't want to change. Ram says max towing is 10,150 lbs and max tongue weight of 1100 lb with Class IV hitch. I do have a load leveling hitch and could add air bags if needed. I'm still a bit concerned with the hitch weight which could possibly hit 1000 lb in reality. What does everyone think? No big deal or ? Similar Experiences? Thanks

Most likely be well over payload once it’s all said and done. My TT is 720 hitch weight and I’m pushing it. That being said I towed it 90 miles over the weekend and the truck did awesome.

 

[670hoth]

Most likely be well over payload once it’s all said and done. My TT is 720 hitch weight and I’m pushing it. That being said I towed it 90 miles over the weekend and the truck did awesome. View attachment 563969

Yeah, I will tow it with the water tanks empty or very close and we really won't add a lot of weight. I think the published dry weight is with empty propane tanks though but I will only need one of those filled. I would feel much better if the hitch weight was 720 like yours. I think the last camper I towed was about 600 which was fine but IDK about 920. Thanks

 

[Ikreider]

Look for one that has aluminum exterior compared to fiberglass, wi come in a few hundred pounds lighter.

 

[wrench78]

Here is my 2017 Ram 1500 with my 2024 Grand Design 26ft camper. Weighs in just under 7k. The 5.7 Hemi pulls it with no issues.

 

[670hoth]

Look for one that has aluminum exterior compared to fiberglass, wi come in a few hundred pounds lighter.

Not to mention that every fg unit I find that is more than just a few years old have delamination issues. At least that's the case here in the Northeast.

 

[670hoth]

Here is my 2017 Ram 1500 with my 2024 Grand Design 26ft camper. Weighs in just under 7k. The 5.7 Hemi pulls it with no issues.
View attachment 563987

Do you have air bags or just WDH? I bet the tongue weight on that one may be less than the 920 lbs of the unit I am looking at but the overall weight is about the same.

 

[turkeybird56]

My 14' X 5" stock filled with hay, between 6000-7000 lbs total.

 

[Ikreider]

Not to mention that every fg unit I find that is more than just a few years old have delamination issues. At least that's the case here in the Northeast.

Salesman told me typical trade cycle is about 5 years on these. Wondering if after 5 years **** like that starts to happen.

 

[nlambert182]

Not to mention that every fg unit I find that is more than just a few years old have delamination issues. At least that's the case here in the Northeast.

A lot are switching over to Azdel siding versus fiberglass. No delamination with those setups.

I've owned 1 aluminum sided trailer, 3 FG, and 2 with Azdel. I now ONLY buy trailers with Azdel. The stick and tin leaked (Jayco Jayflight), one FG delaminated and leaked (Prowler), and the other 2 FG were fine because I stayed on top of the maintenance. Neither of my Azdel units have ever leaked.

If by aluminum someone means the stick and tin trailers, I'd suggest a HARD pass on those. They leak WAY more than a fiberglass or composite siding trailer and most times the frames are wood. They are built much cheaper and are of even lower quality than most others. This is the real reason they're lighter. Lighter isn't necessarily better on an RV. Get the right sized truck for the trailer, or the right trailer for the truck.

 

[nlambert182]

Salesman told me typical trade cycle is about 5 years on these. Wondering if after 5 years **** like that starts to happen.

It really depends.... for those who don't maintain their rigs, many will trade them in to avoid having issues (most times from negligence). Primarily though, a lot of campers will use one for a while and decide that they want to upgrade (or downgrade) trying to find the perfect layout. What looks and seems perfect on the lot often times isn't once you spend some time using it. Others just like the new shiny thing every few years.

We flopped around a lot trying to find the right layout. Started with a Jayco with no slideouts.. then figured out it was too tight inside. Jumped straight up to a 43' toyhauler to haul our RZR. It was too big for the truck (and the RZR was 2" too long for the garage).

Dropped back to a rear living Prowler only to get tired of waking the kids up in the living room when we wanted the morning coffee (and then the rear wall delaminated), so then we switched to a Keystone Hideout rear bunkhouse. Perfect layout and a great fit for my 2500 until the kids got too tall for the bunks, so we then switched to a Chaparral 392MBL mid bunk.

That worked perfect for sleeping space until the kids stopped going with us and we had a massive trailer that was usually empty with just us, wouldn't fit in some campgrounds, and was just a lot to haul.. so we downsized to the current E2W travel trailer. Has one rear bunk if someone does come, but it's easier to maneuver and has the perfect balance of living space and creature comforts we want.

 

[wrench78]

Do you have air bags or just WDH? I bet the tongue weight on that one may be less than the 920 lbs of the unit I am looking at but the overall weight is about the same.

My Ram has the 4 corner Air Ride system. So it auto levels out. I also use a Recurve R3 WDH.

 

[670hoth]

A lot are switching over to Azdel siding versus fiberglass. No delamination with those setups.

I've owned 1 aluminum sided trailer, 3 FG, and 2 with Azdel. I now ONLY buy trailers with Azdel. The stick and tin leaked (Jayco Jayflight), one FG delaminated and leaked (Prowler), and the other 2 FG were fine because I stayed on top of the maintenance. Neither of my Azdel units have ever leaked.

If by aluminum someone means the stick and tin trailers, I'd suggest a HARD pass on those. They leak WAY more than a fiberglass or composite siding trailer and most times the frames are wood. They are built much cheaper and are of even lower quality than most others. This is the real reason they're lighter. Lighter isn't necessarily better on an RV. Get the right sized truck for the trailer, or the right trailer for the truck.

Good to know! Thanks

 

[Ritchie_Rich]

Oh where to start.. Lumber.. Trailer and lifts were pushing 15K+ (30miles highway), largest thing physically a 8'wide by 16' long by 8ft high sheds (200miles highway).. heaviest was an oops, I went to a gravel pit to get 2 yards of rock, loader guy messed up and put like 6 yards or so, I was pushing 26K total weight when I got to the scale.. we went back and dumped out a few tons...

I can't seem to find pictures of the sheds, I know I sent my wife one when I was loading, the gravel I know I don't have a pic of, so that leaves the lumber...

15k, 26k? Hahaha!

 

[MrFigs]

15k, 26k? Hahaha!

you laugh, but that lumber pic, each lift of lumber is 5500lbs so 2 of them is 11K, the tilt deck trailer I was hauling them on was 4400lbs (per local scales).... sooooo math says 15.4K behind the ram.

 

[nlambert182]

That might be true but it's a flatbed, so assuming the weight was distributed properly you maybe had 1,500 lbs of tongue weight on the truck. It's a lot in total weight to pull, but not really a lot to carry. The trailer axles are carrying most of that weight. Find you a travel trailer with the same weight and stick that behind your truck. Let us know how it goes.