MFL wrote:
TheGreatWaz00 wrote:
Thx Handye9
I am curious how/why I see scores of Ram 1500 towing 30'+ trailers which most have hitch weight of 750 - 850 lbs. You see Mom, Dad and 2 youngins jump out.
With a Payload limit on a Ram 1500 of 1200 lbs minus 800 for the hitch, leaves 400 lbs for a tank of gas ~ 110 lbs and family of four.
I dont refute what you say, just curious why I see so many in the campgrounds and on the road.
You are right about the many folks doing this. I think there is several reasons, the first being they are unaware of the limits. I am sure they don't realize, that it should handle better, and just think that's the way it is.
The second reason is the RV sales person said that truck will handle it just fine.
Rarely is the truck going to break, as most weekenders, just go a short distance.
Jerry
Jerry's second reason is a biggie. Just this morning, I saw a youtube video of an RV salesman, explaining how to match up a trailer with a tow vehicle. The word "payload", never came out of his mouth.
He never mentioned tongue weight percentages, or the average weight of a WD hitch itself.
He explained the sticker showing the trailer's GVWR and UVW. He said the UVW is directly from the factory. He didn't say, that number does not include propane, batteries, or dealer installed options. Thus, the trailer is heavier than the sticker weight, before somebody buys it.
He said the key weight to match to your tow vehicle is unloaded weight, because, you're not going load enough stuff to reach GVWR.
He demonstrated a trailer that was 3800 UVW and 5930 GVWR. Estimated a camping load of 800 lbs, and said this unit is probably not going to exceed 4600 lbs.
He suggested, a family of four, in a tow vehicle with 5000 lb tow capacity, would be a great match for that trailer. What he didn't say was, as that family of four got into that tow vehicle, with their coolers and snacks, every pound of that weight was coming off from their available payload AND tow capacity. Nothing was said about weight, going into (or on) the tow vehicle, having any impact on tow capacity. If that family of four, with their cargo and WD hitch, weigh 600 lbs, their actual tow capacity number is 200 lbs below that 4600 lbs of trailer.
Nothing was said about the possibility of another 7 - 800 lbs sitting in the trailer's holding tanks. Very quickly, that trailer could weight over 5000 lbs.
On several points, that salseman left out valuable pieces of information and spouted misinformation on the others.
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Another possible reason:
Not all 1500 / 150 series trucks are created equal. Depending on various trim levels, gear ratios, power plants, wheel bases, drivetrain, cab configuations, etc, they have various payloads and tow capacities.
You say your Ram only has 1200 lbs payload. I saw one on a showroom floor, with 1900 lbs payload. That extra 700 lbs of payload, could be the difference.
F150's have packages where payload can vary from 750 lbs, up to 3200 lbs.
It can be very frustrating and confusing, trying to match your tow vehicle with your trailer needs.
