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jumprope's avatar
jumprope
Explorer
Apr 08, 2018

Tow vehicle

I am planning on purchasing a tt with a dry weight of 5500 lbs. I am also looking for a used half ton truck between years 2004 and 2008. I am considering a 2006 dodge ram 1500 Laramie with a 5.7litre v8 engine. Will that pull potentially 7000lb comfortably or will it be a strain? I'm trying to avoid a 3/4 ton but I'm not sure what I should be looking at in the way of a half-ton. I could use some advice. Thank you

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  • That sticker in the door jam will help a lot. Back in '06 I think the Ram 1500s had gone to the 5 speed transmission, which was stout enough, but had a wide spread between 1st and 2nd, or 2nd and 3rd. Don't remember which. Hopefully it has at least 3.55 gears and preferably 3.92. That's the stuff I'd be looking at first.
  • When you look at a prospective tow vehicle, open the drivers door, and find the tire / loading sticker (usually on the door post). It will show a number for max occupant / cargo weight (AKA payload). That is the max weight the vehicle is rated to carry. Depending on installed options, engines, gear ratio, suspension, cab size, etc, every vehicle has it's own payload rating. F150's for example, have versions with as little as 750 lbs of payload, and as much as 3200 lbs.

    When you see posts like" My brand XXXX tows my 10,000 lb trailer just fine", what your not seeing is what their loading sticker says, or, how much other stuff they are carrying. Take two trucks, both with 1500 lbs of payload, and two families, one with two people and no cargo, and the other with six people and 200 lbs of stuff. The truck with fewer people could tow a bigger trailer.

    When towing a trailer, the weight of any hitch equipment and the trailer's tongue weight, count as cargo weight on the tow vehicle.

    Figuring average camping load of 900 lbs and average tongue weight of 12.5 percent, your trailer will eat 850 - 950 lbs of payload.

    There are numerous 1/2 ton's capable of towing that trailer. Without knowing how much other weight you will be carrying, it's difficult to say which one.
  • Ram 1500's have the lowest average payload capacities, in the 1/2 ton market.
    Dodge supposedly has addressed this in their 2019 Ram 1500s.

    focus on payload capacity, THEN towing capacity. tow vehicles will almost always run out of payload capacity before reaching towing capacity.
  • You’ll have plenty of power to pull it. You may run out of payload though, depending on the tongue weight and how much people and gear weight you plan on carrying in the truck. That goes for just about any 1/2 ton.

    What body style are you looking at? A quad cab can have as little as 1200lbs of payload. A 7k loaded tt will eat up close to 1k of that in tongue weight alone. You’d fare better with a mega cab which is built like an HD truck and can have 2500lbs of payload.
  • “Pulling” capacity isn’t anywhere as important as TV payload capacity. What is the ram’s payload limit and what will you be putting in the Ram plus tongue weight and WDH hitch and accessories?