towing a heavy camper

The tow rating is based on acceleration, so the gears are what is hurting your rating.

That being said I know people towing 18K with 3.42's and doing just fine.

Hitch and go, ratings on 2500's and 3500's are not as hard as 1500's.

Don't tough the brakes, they are adequate and the trailers are supposed to stop themselves.

Too bad it's not an 11.5 with 800 ft/lbs.

rockyford708 wrote:
thank you I appreciate that, I really don't want to go buy a newer truck. 2014 ram . my wife like the fifthwheel with front living rm. how about if I would beef up brake system. but I quess really its about the weight. thanks

The brakes are not your issue, it is the gear ratio on the truck.
LINK
RAM CREW CAB 4WD LONG BED - SLT D2 8H92 (DRW)
6.7L 24V Turbo Diesel (ETJ) A6 68RFE 6 sp AUTO (DG7) 3.73 GVRW 12,300 Payload 4,680 GAWR FT 5,500 GAWR RR 9,350 GCWR 21,000 MAX TRAILER 13,250

6.7L 24V Turbo Diesel (ETJ) A6 68RFE 6 sp AUTO (DG7) 4.10 GVRW 12,300 Payload 4,680 GAWR FT 5,500 GAWR RR 9,350 GCWR 29,000 MAX TRAILER 20,800

Looks like you should do a gear change to me.

Don

I think you can do it. Fuel mileage may be less than impressive though, but I think the truck can tow it.

I'd hitch and go.

The dually will handle just about any trailer.

Is your neighbor driving a class 8 truck?

Check the GVWR and the pin weight. If the pin weight is less than your cargo rating, you should be fine. Say your curb weight is 7,800 pounds and the GVWR is 11,800, then you would have 4,000 pound cargo rating.

Fred.

Even my 2006 handles that weight pretty much monthly, I'm sure yours will do the same. WTH does your buddy need? a class 8 or what?

Forget the manufactures tow ratings, that's all advertising horse hockey. Your problem is payload and axle capacity. Assume that trailer is 18000# loaded meaning a hitch weight of around 4000#. You'll have to check your door jam but I'll bet you have the payload and axle capacity for that load

You should have 4000+lbs or so of payload, but a tow rating of 13,500. 15,000lbs empty plus another 1500lbs for stuff and you're at 16,500. I'm sure the truck could handle it suspension wise but not drive train wise. I don't think I would. Maybe your friends on to something.

Swapping the 3.73 for 4.10 would be way cheaper than a new truck.

fla-gypsy wrote:

azdryheat wrote:
You should be ok so long as you don't put anything in your trailer. Seriously, The tow rating for your truck is less than 14,000 if I read the tow ratings properly. Would your truck still handle the trailer, in your opinion, if it weighed, say, 17,000 pounds, which is a very real figure once you put your stuff inside. I'd be consulting my owners manual. Nobody's going to give you a ticket for being overweight but 17-18,000 pounds on a SRW is pushing it - that's just my opinion.

But he has a dual rear wheel truck! I'm no authority on Ram trucks. Someone that is will have to help but that may be pushing the limits

Yeah, I had to rewrite my original post when I saw the DRW in his sig.

I mean that to everyone thank you