Ram 1500 5.7 towing recommendation

Forget the fifth wheel and go with the trailer. You'll be fine
I towed heavier that with my tundra

Yeah, "tow ratings" do not necessarily equate to travel trailers... Boats can weigh a lot, but have pretty low tongue weights. So, there you go right there..

Travel trailers/5th wheels have a lot more tongue weight than boats, so that's where the "rub" is here...

At the end of the day, you'll get down the road no matter how much weight you put on your truck... You just gotta decide what ratings and what other factors you choose to abide by..

I tow what I tow with a truck that far exceeds any of the weight limits of my RV.. Why? Because that's what I prefer to do after towing all sorts of things over the last 35+ years I've been driving and towing stuff for work and for pleasure..

The max GVWR TT I'd go for with my current truck would be #7500... Is that leaving a lot on the table? Sure... But I don't need that much in terms of TT and I want to enjoy the driving time as much as I want to enjoy the camping time... :)

No one but YOU is going to be behind the wheel of your rig, so in the end, it all boils down to what you are comfortable with.. Not what us "interweb goofs" are comfortable with.. :)

Good luck!

Mitch

Also have to wonder why Cougar calls these "1/2 ton Trailers".....since the hitch weight of 1400 lbs is right about the same as the max payload weight! (If my math is correct!)

So, the max "towing" weight of 10500lbs, per Dodge really doesn't mean anything....

My max payload for the truck is 1400lbs. Estimate that weight of driver, passenger, gas, dog, etc would be 500 lbs.
Therefore I have to keep the "dry tongue weight", ( is this also referred to as "hitch weight'?) below 900lbs...right?

Look at smaller trailers or 3/4 and 1-ton pickups.

You will probably be over on your payload capacity. Check your door sticker for the number. It will say max weight of people and cargo should not exceed X. If not, subtract your GVW from the weight of the vehicle and that's your number. Most people figure 20% pin weight for a 5th wheel and your trailer should have a dry tongue weight number. When you hitch these two trailers (tongue weight or 5th wheel pin weight) to your truck all that weight goes on the truck and is included in the truck payload capacity. Hope this helps