Need advice on new tt and towing

[huntindog]

Unforeseen circumstances can happen at any time to any of us. No argument there. To say someone is going over "posted" capacity standards without knowing anything but internet opinions or hearsay is what I have a problem with. Like I stated before, my tow rig and travel trail are under the so called standards by way of scale. When I was in the trucking business in the 70's and 80's, never did I ever hear someone ask what my tongue weight was. All that mattered legally was what the axle weights and gross were. That is one of the purposes of a weight distributing hitch, to move load, or weight to be legal and balanced. Unhooked tongue weight means absolutely nothing because you aren't hooked up to anything. What is important is that you don't go over axle weight, towing capacity or load capacity. The only way to do that, if it's all that important to you, is weigh the 2 vehicles and get each axle weight as well as gross weight. What bothers me is all the keyboard experts that go by some general misconceptions about certain vehicles and consider that the gospel. BTW, I will take my experience over most anyone's that doesn't have the miles under their cheeks that I do.

Where did I say you were over?
For all I know, you could be OK... But the fact is you do not know!. You have not bothered to check, as you proclaim it doesn't matter. Usually when that happens, the person deep down inside doesn't want to know, as they are afraid of the truth..... If they end up over, and KNOW they are over,,,,that would bother them.

[jleonard]

I always get the last words in even if the words are "yes dear".

[goducks14]

I always get the last words in even if the words are "yes dear".

LOL,

[palm22]

Just my thoughts and preference….I have a 2020 221RB, maximum gross weight is 6995 and it usually weighs 6600-6750 and a tongue weight just over 900. My hitch is an Equalizer 4 point 10000/1000. I have basically the same truck but a 2019 and without the etorque.
Early this year I pulled from S. IL to FL. I averaged 7 MPG while towing. I am within specifications for the truck and it spent a lot of time in 5th gear and 3500-4000 RPM’s. I rarely exceeded 60 MPH.
I found out quickly in the hills of TN and AL that “I” would not be satisfied pulling with this truck In the mountains. (My daughter and SIL are moving to Montana and I will be spending a lot of time in the mountains)
I have a 2021 Ram 2500 with the Cummins diesel on order and scheduled to reach my dealer any day. I will also be upgrading my hitch to a 14000/1400 model. (I understand the bars are the same for the 12000 and 14000, the difference is the side plates on the head)
If I was only towing short distances I would probably keep my current truck….

[Txfivver]

Nice upgrade on the truck palm22. You will love how the diesel will chug up a hill on cruise control at the speed limit and not even downshift. You'll be looking for bigger hills just for the fun of it. Torque is addicting!

[Beringc]

I have a 2019 ram 1500 and tow a GD 2790mk. I have factory 4 corner air and 4.10 gearing with the 5.7. It tows fine. Plenty of power and also stopping ability. I’ve put about 10k on the setup. I did switch to a propride from an E2, the trailer was a little twitchy when I got passed by a semi.

I went through a big windstorm on I-10 with several flipped semis and I just slowed down to about 45mph and went right on through.

I’ve had a few other setups and I think it would certainly tow “better” with a bigger truck. But, we are not full timers and I use the truck to do things other than pull a trailer. It works fine for weekend or even month long trips. If I was a full timer or could afford a dedicated tow vehicle MAYBE I would consider a one ton, but the 1/2 tons are pretty plush!

[Miles GD2970RL]

We have a 2019 Ram 1500 Classic 4x4 and tow a 2021 GD 2970RL. Truck does fine and trailer is within towing capabilities but .....

Back end sag has us looking to beef up the rear suspension. The rear sag causes less weight on the front tires as truck is lighter up front which is not a good thing. We have towed up to 5 hours away but are planning to add better suspension.

[bhbery]

NEED ADVICE
New travel trailer after looking at following specs do I need to upgrade to a Ram 2500? If so would you get Turbo Diesel or 6.4 gas? Any advice would help me out.

Thanks
Karen Baker

2021 Ram 1500 5.7 hemi Etorque Axle Ratio 3.92
GVWR – 6900
Payload – 1760
Base weight -total – 5136
Front – 2983
Rear – 2153
GAWR –
Front – 3700
Rear - 4100
CTCWR – 17000
MAX TRAILER WEIGHT – 11,370

2021 Grand Design 2970RL
Length = 34 feet
Dry Weight – 7397
Payload – 1598
GVWR – 8995
Hitch Weight - 751

Equalizer sway/distribution hitch

I'm a little late to this party, so I'll try to stay on topic and not repeat what others have already said.
The published Hitch Weight is for the dry trailer. You should expect about 1150 lb when the trailer is loaded. When you place the tongue on the ball, all of that weight will be added to the truck's drive axle. Additionally, some weight will be taken off the steering axle and added to the drive axle. When you connect the WD bars, some of that weight will be returned to the steering axle and some will be transferred to the trailer. Your goal is to return all of the lost weight to the drive axle so that steering and braking doesn't suffer. You need to confirm all of these weights at a CAT scale. In my case, about 40% of the TW is returned to the steer axle and about 17% is transferred to the trailer. My point is that most of the TW is carried by the truck. This TW, plus the weight of the hitch and bars, becomes part of the truck's payload. Assuming your hitch weighs around 100 lb and 200 lb of your TW to transferred back to the trailer, you're left with a net tongue load on the truck of about 1050 lb. That will leave just over 700 lb of payload to cover passengers, fuel, cargo, etc. In my opinion, that's not enough.

My advise would be to get a 3/4 ton gas or 1 ton diesel for the reasons mentioned above.

Happy camping in your new trailer!

[goducks14]

Just my thoughts and preference….I have a 2020 221RB, maximum gross weight is 6995 and it usually weighs 6600-6750 and a tongue weight just over 900. My hitch is an Equalizer 4 point 10000/1000. I have basically the same truck but a 2019 and without the etorque.
Early this year I pulled from S. IL to FL. I averaged 7 MPG while towing. I am within specifications for the truck and it spent a lot of time in 5th gear and 3500-4000 RPM’s. I rarely exceeded 60 MPH.
I found out quickly in the hills of TN and AL that “I” would not be satisfied pulling with this truck In the mountains. (My daughter and SIL are moving to Montana and I will be spending a lot of time in the mountains)
I have a 2021 Ram 2500 with the Cummins diesel on order and scheduled to reach my dealer any day. I will also be upgrading my hitch to a 14000/1400 model. (I understand the bars are the same for the 12000 and 14000, the difference is the side plates on the head)
If I was only towing short distances I would probably keep my current truck….

BTDT I would try the 1000# bars 1st. Main reason for WDH is to return the front of the truck truck to the proper height. With almost 900 lbs of CTD sitting over the front axle you won't hardly see any front end rise. Maybe 3/8"-1/2".
I towed a very similar weight TT with a 2012 2500 CTD and a 950 TW and only used 1000# bars.

[NB Canada]

I'm a little late to this party, so I'll try to stay on topic and not repeat what others have already said.
The published Hitch Weight is for the dry trailer. You should expect about 1150 lb when the trailer is loaded. When you place the tongue on the ball, all of that weight will be added to the truck's drive axle. Additionally, some weight will be taken off the steering axle and added to the drive axle. When you connect the WD bars, some of that weight will be returned to the steering axle and some will be transferred to the trailer. Your goal is to return all of the lost weight to the drive axle so that steering and braking doesn't suffer. You need to confirm all of these weights at a CAT scale. In my case, about 40% of the TW is returned to the steer axle and about 17% is transferred to the trailer. My point is that most of the TW is carried by the truck. This TW, plus the weight of the hitch and bars, becomes part of the truck's payload. Assuming your hitch weighs around 100 lb and 200 lb of your TW to transferred back to the trailer, you're left with a net tongue load on the truck of about 1050 lb. That will leave just over 700 lb of payload to cover passengers, fuel, cargo, etc. In my opinion, that's not enough.

My advise would be to get a 3/4 ton gas or 1 ton diesel for the reasons mentioned above.

Happy camping in your new trailer!

Lol


2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 crew