Would This Camper Be Pushing The Limit?

[Bramic71]

We are possibly looking at getting this model camper. I want something that is not going to work the truck hard all of the time. I am horrible at trying to figure this out, because as you all know they will try and sell you anything.

My truck 2016 Ram 1500 4x4 Quad Cab. 8 speed, 3.21 gears, 20" OEM wheels w/ 275/60/20 Widpeak AT3W's. Thank you for your thoughts and opinions.

Possible camper Grey Wolf 22RR.

 

[GsRAM]

Yes you will be maxed out with a 3.21 geared truck. That rig is over 7500 gvwr and probably 30' ball to bumper. You will really need a good set up if you go for that one. A dialed in wdh (scaled to confirm loaded and loaded axle weights and with and without wdh engaged) to ensure your returning most of the unloaded steer axle weight back to that steer axle. You'll, most likely need air bags as well on top of the wdh. Also a good brake control such as the factory itbc.

You can do it if you watch your GRAWR and stay under that to keep that rear axle
Happy and healthy.

Again, I think it's doable, But you will be maxed out, know that going in. Good luck

 

[Bramic71]

Yes you will be maxed out with a 3.21 geared truck. That rig is over 7500 gvwr and probably 30' ball to bumper. You will really need a good set up if you go for that one. A dialed in wdh (scaled to confirm loaded and loaded axle weights and with and without wdh engaged) to ensure your returning most of the unloaded steer axle weight back to that steer axle. You'll, most likely need air bags as well on top of the wdh. Also a good brake control such as the factory itbc.

You can do it if you watch your GRAWR and stay under that to keep that rear axle
Happy and healthy.

Again, I think it's doable, But you will be maxed out, know that going in. Good luck

Thank you for the info. The living space is only 22ft, but 28ft from ball to bumper.

 

[dhay13]

Agreed it should be fine but you will be at the upper limits. Your tongue weight will be closer to 800-900 probably. You will definitely need a good WDH but you might be ok without airbags.Definitely go to the cat scale and get it set up so your weights are good. Your max tow with that gear ratio is probably about 8000-8200lbs. Your payload is probably about 1400 or so. So with 800lbs of tongue weight you will have about 600lbs of payload left.

 

[Bramic71]

Agreed it should be fine but you will be at the upper limits. Your tongue weight will be closer to 800-900 probably. You will definitely need a good WDH but you might be ok without airbags.Definitely go to the cat scale and get it set up so your weights are good. Your max tow with that gear ratio is probably about 8000-8200lbs. Your payload is probably about 1400 or so. So with 800lbs of tongue weight you will have about 600lbs of payload left.

Thanks for your input. I definitely don't want to be at the upper limits.

 

[GsRAM]

No problem. As I said, I think it's doable if you spend the time dialing it in, so long as you stay under grawr, but I wouldn't go any bigger. The engine will work harder with the 3.21 gears, but I've heard the 8 speed transmission helps negate that somewhat. I'm not sure how your losing 6' between the trailer tongue and bumper, that doesn't sound right. 3-4" yes. Do you have any trailer/camping experience?

Good luck

 

[Firetruck41]

Bramic71- you should find out your specific towing capacity and payload capacity. It can be found on the Ram website, where you enter your VIN and it will give you your exact capacities. One thing to know, is it will be almost impossible to tow a trailer near the max tow capacity rating, because your payload will be "eaten up" by the tongue/hitch weight, much sooner. Everything in the truck contributes to payload, so your weight,the weight of spouse/family, any cargo/luggage/coolers/etc in the truck or truck bed are part of payload, so as you can see, your payload can be used up very quickly before you even add the tongue weight. I see you have a topper in your avatar, that is part of payload too.

Example:
Canopy 175 lb
Driver 150 lb
Spouse 150lb
Kiddos 150lb
Tools/misc stuff kept in truck 50lbs
Hitch setup 40 lb
715 lbs total payload (no luggage, firewood, bikes, generator, cooler, etc in bed of truck...)

You may only have 865 lb of payload left, if you're like me and you have some of the stuff mentioned above, in the bed of the truck, it is probably another 300lbs and that would leave you with only 565 lbs of payload left for tongue weight of your trailer.


Per capacity chart:
2016 Ram 1500 4x4 Hemi V8, 8 spd auto, 3.21, Quad Cab
1580 lb Payload capacity
8050 lb Towing capacity
GAWR front 3900 lb
GAWR rear 3900 lb

Remember RV manufacturer unloaded weights/hitch weight can be off by quite a bit, and may not account for battery, propane tanks and other "options". You do want to have at least 10% of the trailer weight on the tongue or otherwise you will get trailer sway, 12%-15% is best.

EDIT: I noticed the trailer you posted is a toy hauler, so if you have something loaded in the "garage", it should take some of the weight off the tongue, which will help keep tongue weight down.

 

[crash68]

My truck 2016 Ram 1500 4x4 Quad Cab. 8 speed, 3.21 gears, 20" OEM wheels w/ 275/60/20 Widpeak AT3W's. Thank you for your thoughts and opinions.

Don't let the payload police on the forums scare you into thinking a 1500 should only tow a wave runner.
As for that trailer you'll yes you'll be at the top end of the SAE J2807 tow ratings but your not at maxed out. There is still a safety factor on top of the J2807 ratings.
The only difference between your truck and one geared 3.92 is the axle gearing, all the engine and transmission cooling is the same. Having 3.92 would be nicer to have if your headed to the mountains.
As mentioned before, use CAT semi truck scales to set up the WDH properly your truck will tow that trailer.
The SAE J2807 ratings for your truck:

 

[duckman631]

We are possibly looking at getting this model camper. I want something that is not going to work the truck hard all of the time. I am horrible at trying to figure this out, because as you all know they will try and sell you anything.

My truck 2016 Ram 1500 4x4 Quad Cab. 8 speed, 3.21 gears, 20" OEM wheels w/ 275/60/20 Widpeak AT3W's. Thank you for your thoughts and opinions.

Possible camper Grey Wolf 22RR.
View attachment 221608

Here is my tt weight specs and it’s “26’ but probably a little over 30ft hitch to bumper”. We do have it currently parked as a seasonal but I’ve towed this a few times for considerably long trips and didn’t even feel like I was pulling anything. 2016 hemi 3.21 gears. 275/60/20 falken wildpeaks and no air suspension.

keep in mind that 8659lbs is a major stretch. Dry weight is only 5293lbs. I don’t drive with any water black or grey tanks filled and only added weight is really the 2 full 30lb propane tanks, a few things inside (pots pans towels sheets etc) and the basics in the outside storage (some chairs, tables, hoses etc) maybe a few hundred pounds extra overall. Shoot even if I added an extra 1000lbs in gear and such still wouldn’t get me to that 8600lb max so you shouldn’t even feel that trailer on your truck. Just make sure you have a really good properly setup wdh.

Dry Weight
5,293 lbs.

Payload Capacity
1,900 lbs.

GVWR
8,659 lbs.

Hitch Weight
659 lbs.

Your unloaded weight is under 5000lbs and our trucks can tow over 8000lbs and I doubt you are going to in any way add almost 3000 lbs of extra weight with what you carry in the trailer

 

[MRFREEZE57]

it seems that the towing max weight figure is quite deceiving as one is likely to exceed the max gvw before the trailer haul max weight.

 

[392DevilDog]

it seems that the towing max weight figure is quite deceiving as one is likely to exceed the max gvw before the trailer haul max weight.

The trailer max towing weight is purely marketing.

Unless you only weigh 150 lbs and are taking no cargo you will never be able to hit that number.

You have to take your GCWR minus your loaded truck weight to get what you can tow.

Each and every person will have a different max tow rating.

You will run out of truck capacity before you hit max tow.

Let's say you habe a 2019 5th Gen 4x4 truck with a Hemi and 3.92 gears.

Your GCWR is 17000 lbs. The avg capacity of a 5th Gen crew cab is 1400lbs. So at 7100 GVWR that makes the avg truck weigh 5700lbs.

So 17000 minus 5700 is 11300 lbs available for passengers, cargo, tongue weight, hitch and camper.

So a family is figured to weigh about 600lbs. Cargo about 200lbs. An 8500 lbs trailer will have a tongue weight of about 950lbs. So 600 and 200 and 950 is 1750lbs...so gotta go less than 8500...a 6500 lb trailer will have a TW of about 720lbs...again looking at 1520.

So you can see that a 1500 is gonna be between 5000 and 8500 for a trailer.

You will see plenty of guys towing near 9k...but even though they say it pulls great...it really can not be much fun...or they are towing in perfect conditions all the time.

Again...each truck and family will be different. Topography and weather play more if a role than anything else. Also, distance and number of outings. Slow down and enjoy the scenery if you get near max ratings.

 

[HDGoose]

Gotta laugh. 1500s for many years have been less and less truck, and more biased towards daily use carrying large sized gear, but not heavy gear. That soft plush suspension people wanted to replace the larger sedans that disappeared. 2500s are the start of heavier towing capabilities. 1500s with the fancy trims are rated from 900-1400 pounds payload. 2500s are rated from 2200-2600 payload depending on configuration.

I'd go by real weight of the truck. Consider the real total weight with passengers, regular stuff and traveling gear. And not exceed axle and tire weights. And on 1500s I would also question the weight capacities of the wheels. Normal driving is one thing. When someone cuts you off with the trailer attached you will find out how suited your rig is setup.

RV and truck sales folks are trying to sell you something. Most do not know as much about towing and capacities as folks think they do. Vehicle sales folks reference the same manufacturer brochures their customers do. Same with RV sale staff.

In the end, it is your family and stuff. Learn about capacities now or later.

 

[Firebird]

Your truck has the power to pull it, but that doesn't mean you should pull it. I don't know what your towing experience is, but "for me" pulling at the upper limits of a half ton just isn't a pleasant experience, there just seems to be no margin for error so to speak.

Payload is too little, and once the tongue weight is placed on the rear of your truck, there isn't much left. I sold my 2019 Ram 1500 with 3.92 gears, for my current 2500 with 4.10 gears, because I knew it would be hairy pulling my travel trailer. My 1500 just had no payload. My 2500 has a 3034 pound payload and a 17,031 pound tow capacity, so I feel like I have margin.

Just my .02 cents for what it's worth.

 

[dhay13]

Your truck has the power to pull it, but that doesn't mean you should pull it. I don't know what your towing experience is, but "for me" pulling at the upper limits of a half ton just isn't a pleasant experience, there just seems to be no margin for error so to speak.

Payload is too little, and once the tongue weight is placed on the rear of your truck, there isn't much left. I sold my 2019 Ram 1500 with 3.92 gears, for my current 2500 with 4.10 gears, because I knew it would be hairy pulling my travel trailer. My 1500 just had no payload. My 2500 has a 3034 pound payload and a 17,031 pound tow capacity, so I feel like I have margin.

Just my .02 cents for what it's worth.

Same here. My 2013 1500 3.55's towed our 9000-9500lb boat just fine but my tow capacity was only 8600lbs. Tongue weight was fine. Only have about 750lbs tongue weight with the boat. I think my payload on that truck was about 1350lbs and it was just me and my wife in it and maybe an extra 50lbs. But I didn't want to be at my limits with it so bought the 2500

 

[tron67j]

The important factor is that to minimize sway, you must have no less than 12%, but should aim for 15% of your weight at tongue. So that puts you at about 1,150 pounds, add in about 125 pounds for hitch, sway and WD bars, add another 240 pounds for gas, subtract it all from your 1,580 payload and you are left with 65 pounds for people (all that stuff goes to payload). It is not the weight of the trailer that gets people over their limits, it is a combination of everything else they don't think of. And also important, you need to have 60% of weight in front of axle of trailer so loading more behind axle(s) to reduce tongue weight is a sure fire way to get that rig a-swingin'. Also be sure to load evenly on each side, accounting for permanent weight in each side already, like stove, etc.

Unfortunately, you really need a 2500 for that trailer. And as mentioned, gears make a difference to tow better, but note they don't do a thing for payload.

Good luck.

 

[Papamugger]

You can pull it with the semi, no problem. But I fought that battle for 5 years and finally upgraded to a 2500 cummins, its a much better truck for towing TT the size of yours, More stable and better braking and better MPG

 

[Bldrinker]

Piece of cake. Good weight distribution hitch and some helper bags. Avoid towing in severe wind.

 

[stdyrln]

Your biggest issue will be the hit to your mpg- it will do it, depending on how much you spend to make it safe it’s still a big trailer for a 1500. I can do 70 up any hill with ours and keep up with traffic- just 4-6 mpg sucks if you have hills to climb or go anywhere near mountains.

that’s been my biggest what the hell are we doing- ours is only a 4500lb tt. I bought an expensive, good wdh and added airbags so it behaves fine- just the load on the drivetrain makes me worry.

 

[Jim Bowker]

it seems that the towing max weight figure is quite deceiving as one is likely to exceed the max gvw before the trailer haul max weight.

Are you confusing the GVWR and the GCWR?

GVWR is the most the truck can weigh without a trailer. This is the weight of the truck itself plus the weight of people, stuff in the bed, etc.
GCWR is the most you can have for truck plus trailer.

 

[Rodney Belair]

Yes you will be maxed out with a 3.21 geared truck. That rig is over 7500 gvwr and probably 30' ball to bumper. You will really need a good set up if you go for that one. A dialed in wdh (scaled to confirm loaded and loaded axle weights and with and without wdh engaged) to ensure your returning most of the unloaded steer axle weight back to that steer axle. You'll, most likely need air bags as well on top of the wdh. Also a good brake control such as the factory itbc.

You can do it if you watch your GRAWR and stay under that to keep that rear axle
Happy and healthy.

Again, I think it's doable, But you will be maxed out, know that going in. Good luck

I have a 17 with 3.21 gears and pull a 33 footer. Pulls ok but the fuel mileage SUCKS...