How long a camper can I (should I) tow?
I have a new 2014 Ram 1500 5.7 Hemi (8 speed) with approximately 9000lbs tow capacity. Looking to buy a travel trailer and trying to understand what is a safe camper length for this vehicle. I would...
Forum Discussion
THe reason the OEM's use a low drag trailer, is the SAE specs DO HAVE a max frontal area for the trailers, depending upon the GVWR of the truck and combo. 80SQ ft IIRC for the full size rigs.
At one time Ford had a poster that some RV dealers had up. I recall seeing one when I bought a TT in 92. Max trailer at the time for fords BB and diesel motors was 10K lbs up to 80sq ft. 81-100 it was reduced to 7500 lbs, and 101-120 down to 5000 lbs max lbs of trailer. Over 121sqft it was not recommended you tow with your F series truck! For the Ranger Aerostar, max was ~5K up to 60sqft. 61-70 reduced to 4000 lbs, 71-80 reduced to 3000lbs, OVer 81sqft it was not recommended you tow with a 4.0 V6 motor.
Semis when speced, get a max trailer wt for a given chassis gvw. Then you spec the drive train to the type of useage. An OTR rig with get a higher HP rig than a equal total lb rig doing city work. Gears will be overall lower for the city driver, taller for better MPG on the road for the OTR. FRONTAL AREA is a VERY IMPORTANT number, along with the how aerodynamic a rig is as to how much HP a rig with have. A typical 18 wheeler will have a rating of 1. A FUll aero pkg rig will be .7, and a car hauler will be a 1.3! If you need say 100 hp for the typical 18wheeler, the aero setup will need 70hp to move the same wt, the carhauler 130hp.
For someone to say, frontal area and wind drag is not important, they have the head somewhere where the sun does not shine! It is more important in most cases IMHO than actual weight!
Marty
At one time Ford had a poster that some RV dealers had up. I recall seeing one when I bought a TT in 92. Max trailer at the time for fords BB and diesel motors was 10K lbs up to 80sq ft. 81-100 it was reduced to 7500 lbs, and 101-120 down to 5000 lbs max lbs of trailer. Over 121sqft it was not recommended you tow with your F series truck! For the Ranger Aerostar, max was ~5K up to 60sqft. 61-70 reduced to 4000 lbs, 71-80 reduced to 3000lbs, OVer 81sqft it was not recommended you tow with a 4.0 V6 motor.
Semis when speced, get a max trailer wt for a given chassis gvw. Then you spec the drive train to the type of useage. An OTR rig with get a higher HP rig than a equal total lb rig doing city work. Gears will be overall lower for the city driver, taller for better MPG on the road for the OTR. FRONTAL AREA is a VERY IMPORTANT number, along with the how aerodynamic a rig is as to how much HP a rig with have. A typical 18 wheeler will have a rating of 1. A FUll aero pkg rig will be .7, and a car hauler will be a 1.3! If you need say 100 hp for the typical 18wheeler, the aero setup will need 70hp to move the same wt, the carhauler 130hp.
For someone to say, frontal area and wind drag is not important, they have the head somewhere where the sun does not shine! It is more important in most cases IMHO than actual weight!
Marty
