First Post - 2012 Ram 1500 Laramie - What can I pull??

th3_fix3r wrote:
"Combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed 1180lbs"

This is known as payload. It includes trailer tongue weight, people in the truck, and anything else you put in the truck cab and bed.

On the upside, the salesman wasn’t trying to overload your truck.
Based on your numbers, you have a tow package, likely 3.92 gears (a plus if you do anyway).
4000lb max is ridiculously low for your truck, but comfortably, I’d want to stick to about 7klb max ready to camp, so 5500-6000lb max dry weight trailers.

Your intended use is a factor though.
High mile road trips, mountains or altitude, frequent towing, I’d want to be on the low end of that for ease of towing and comfort. Say 6klbs max.
Short trips, infrequent use, low altitude in the flat lands, I wouldn’t object to towing a camper up to the rated capacity of the truck.

Here’s where it gets more subjective. Some folks think you need a factor of safety of 100% and aren’t comfortable towing anything they can, figuratively speaking, “feel” behind them.
Others are fine with loadin er down and mashing the skinny pedal as far as it needs to go as long as they can keep it rubber side down.
And most are somewhere in between. Experience and what you “feel” plays into it a lot
And how hard you are willing to or will be working the truck.

Update. I just called the Dodge dealership. Told them what I had and he looked it up by my VIN. He says my towing capacity is 9850. It has a "392 rear end?" and he said the GCWR?? is 15,500. Tongue weight should be 10-15% towing capacity so as long as i stay around 1400 or preferably below on tongue weight I'm solid. I'm confused about what you said anyway @Valhalla360 because the manual says towing from 5000 to 9850. I don't know where you got 5000 being max. Maybe you thought (and it says) 5000lbs could be the limit but thankfully apparently mine has the highest possible limit of the different versions of my truck. Sound right? Idk. SO new to this. I know it pulls my pontoon boat quite well. HAHA

It's nice to hear of an honest salesman.

th3_fix3r wrote:
I only have one sticker on the door jam. it says combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed 1180lbs. Then it has tire pressure stuff. Says see owners manual for additional info. The owners manual just says exactly what i posted in original post. I'll check out that site.

Ewww...that's even worse. You basically have pretty much the worst options in a 1/2 ton for towing. I take it back that the salesman was being slightly conservative. He's dead on correct that 4000lb (fully loaded trailer) is probably about the most you could do and stay within spec on the truck.

Salesman is being quite honest with you. Maybe a touch conservative but not much.

The manual states straight up 5000lb limit, so 7600lb dry is already way over before putting anything in the trailer.

Even 5000lb is going to be marginal due to payload of only 1600lb. At 5000lb fully loaded, you are looking at around 700lb hitch weight, plus the 3 of you (wild guess...400lb). That leaves only 500lb for everything else in the truck including anything bolt on like running boards, bed cover, etc....

If you get the 7600lb trailer, you are probably looking at 9000-10000 when loaded with a hitch weight on the order of 1200-1400lb.

Payload is going to be a major limitation and 1600lb is towards the low end of 1/2 ton pickup payloads. Figure 12-15% of the GVWR (ignore the empty weight as you won't travel empty) when looking and don't forget all the stuff already in the truck plus passengers.

I only have one sticker on the door jam. it says combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed 1180lbs. Then it has tire pressure stuff. Says see owners manual for additional info. The owners manual just says exactly what i posted in original post. I'll check out that site.

Remember you need to also carry weight. Not just pull it. You also need to carry the passengers and the stuff in the truck in addition to the trailer tongue and hitch weight.

There are two stickers on the door jam of your truck that hold the key to what you can tow. Look at those then check out this site for some good unbiased information Clicky
Also, if you post the information from those two stickers here, we'd be able to help you better. Otherwise, it's hard for any one of us to know your requirements and limitations.