Towing with lifted truck; need assistance

[emilyjane918]

Hi everyone!
I’m super new to gvwr, pin weight, axles, etc. and have no clue how to calculate a safe towing weight that I can haul. I have a 2015 4x4 6.7l turbo diesel ram 2500 truck that’s lifted (I think 6 inches) and not sure how big the tires are. Attached the side door jam stickers info below. I’m okay with doing a travel trailer (preferably a toy hauler style) using a drop hitch to balance out the lift, would also like a fifth wheel toy hauler if possible (I doubt though due to the lift). All this math is difficult for me to do and I just want to make sure my truck won’t get damaged or my family is at risk by being overloaded or towing improperly. Could I get a gvwr rv range (not dry weight) that would be best for my truck? Looking to live out of it and not financially able to purchase a dually unfortunately. The weight of my family & belongings (car seats, bags, etc) is around 600 on the high side

Combined weight of cargo and occupants never exceed 2155 lbs. Front & Rear tires 295. GAWR front 6000, GAWR rear 6500. GVWR 10,000.

[Michelle_S]

As you age, it's hard enough just getting up into a normal truck, with out jacking it up another foot like I've seen some. I don't what to carry around a step ladder to get into my truck.

[Veebyes]

The big question is why lift the truck? What is gained by lifting the truck?

Engineers a whole lot smarter than the average owner figure out what the best & safest combination of height & towing capacity is going to be. Along comes Bubba who thinks that he knows better.

Raise that COG. What could possibly go wrong?

[Dtank]

midnightsadie wrote:
you wanna tow? put the truck back on the ground. your headed for trouble jacked up.

:S


X-2

.

[Gooma]

Another thing Bigger tires will change rhe effective axel ratio. Thereby lowering towing capacity.
I have driven a lifted truck, not mine, once. Did not feel the truck was stable.

[JIMNLIN]

HTElectrical wrote:

JIMNLIN wrote:

HTElectrical wrote:
I can not believe all of the nonsense on this post. I have a 2007 2500hd Duramax with a 7" to 9" Cognito lift, and Deaver springs. I tow a 28'6" Vortex trailer that weighs in at 12780 lbs, and a tongue weight of 1340lbs, resting on an Equalizer hitch with 1,400 lb bars. Been towing for 11 years and it is rock solid even in the wind.

Does your 2500 GM product have rear coil springs ??

Those rear coil springs open up a whole different game played with suspension lifts or body lifts on rear coil suspensions.

Best advice for a rookie with a lifted truck that nothing is known about the lift (body or suspension/play or work lifts) who say weights and specs are new needs to find out what type of lift and the lift mfg specs say.....especially a truck with rear coils.

No, that is why I stated I have Deaver Springs on the Rear. Real leaf springs, no lifting blocks. Bilsteen 5100 shocks, HD heim Joint Tie-Rods.

Your still Irrelevant to the OP coil spring truck lift that we/he/you don't know if its a body lift/suspension lift/brand of lift/home mod lift/show or go lift/suspension blocks/etc.

Having been in the towing business with LDT's and non rv trailers new entrant operators starting with lifted trucks don't stay lifted long.

[RetiredRealtorR]

HTElectrical wrote:

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:

NamMedevac 70 wrote:
lower the truck and all is good.

Best suggestion yet.

It still baffles me why anyone would purposely drastically raise the center of gravity of a vehicle, making the likelihood of it flipping during an evasive maneuver so much greater than a stock vehicle, endangering not only the occupants of the vehicle, but others around you. But if ya gotta look cool, ya gotta look cool (I guess).

I'll tell you why. The Stock suspension and tires on the 07 were a joke for any minor off road travel. I don't know about you, but if I want to do hi G Evasive maneuvers, I will do them with my Sand Rail or my ZX12, or a sports car, not an 8,600 LB Truck.

I was obviously speaking of an emergency evasive maneuver, not a sporting event. I thought that part was pretty clear.

[JRscooby]

HTElectrical wrote:


I'll tell you why. The Stock suspension and tires on the 07 were a joke for any minor off road travel.

I can understand what you say here. But just like most pickups never put anything in the bed that would not fit in the trunk of a car, I would bet most of the lifted trucks never go anyplace where the stock truck would have issues.

I don't know about you, but if I want to do hi G Evasive maneuvers, I will do them with my Sand Rail or my ZX12, or a sports car, not an 8,600 LB Truck.

Over the decades of driving I understand something you appear to overlook; You wanting to do evasive maneuvers may not mean snot when for example, somebody steals your following distance, then they don't have any. Somebody cuts me off, I don't yank the horn or wave my pistol out the window. I may stress the handling limits in effort not to impact.

[HTElectrical]

JIMNLIN wrote:

HTElectrical wrote:
I can not believe all of the nonsense on this post. I have a 2007 2500hd Duramax with a 7" to 9" Cognito lift, and Deaver springs. I tow a 28'6" Vortex trailer that weighs in at 12780 lbs, and a tongue weight of 1340lbs, resting on an Equalizer hitch with 1,400 lb bars. Been towing for 11 years and it is rock solid even in the wind.

Does your 2500 GM product have rear coil springs ??

Those rear coil springs open up a whole different game played with suspension lifts or body lifts on rear coil suspensions.

Best advice for a rookie with a lifted truck that nothing is known about the lift (body or suspension/play or work lifts) who say weights and specs are new needs to find out what type of lift and the lift mfg specs say.....especially a truck with rear coils.

No, that is why I stated I have Deaver Springs on the Rear. Real leaf springs, no lifting blocks. Bilsteen 5100 shocks, HD heim Joint Tie-Rods.

[HTElectrical]

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:

NamMedevac 70 wrote:
lower the truck and all is good.

Best suggestion yet.

It still baffles me why anyone would purposely drastically raise the center of gravity of a vehicle, making the likelihood of it flipping during an evasive maneuver so much greater than a stock vehicle, endangering not only the occupants of the vehicle, but others around you. But if ya gotta look cool, ya gotta look cool (I guess).

I'll tell you why. The Stock suspension and tires on the 07 were a joke for any minor off road travel. I don't know about you, but if I want to do hi G Evasive maneuvers, I will do them with my Sand Rail or my ZX12, or a sports car, not an 8,600 LB Truck.

[GaryUT]

How much larger than the stock size are the tires?

If the axles were not re-geared to make up for the taller tires the towing capacity will be reduced. Wider tires also have more rolling resistance.

Honestly I wouldn't tow anything over 20' or over 8K with it.

[JRscooby]

Thermoguy wrote:


I was at a tire dealer the other day getting my snow tires put on my daily driver. There was a guy there with a lifted truck getting new tires. The guy brought out a good meaty off road tire for him, load range F.... they were much bigger than the tires on my 2500, LT-E tires... if I recall, 22" but didn't get the rest of the measurements. Just remember the load range F. I don't think those tires would have been the weak spot.

Taller tires by themselves may not be the weak spot, but they will locate the weak spot in the drivetrain. Add the strain of a trailer, the idea this is the family car, and I can see trouble.

Years back friend asked me to take a shift pushing snow with his modified 4X4. I laughed when I saw his sign center dash. REMEMBER DUMBASH, YOU NEED TO DRIVE IT HOME. He said his wife put it there for when he wants to play.

[Thermoguy]

FireGuard wrote:
A lot of good info by other members so I won’t repeat it.
If you don’t want to remove the lift I would focus on the tires.
If you have a large soft sidewall tire like a C or D rated you can improve your setup.
I would go back to stock size (275 or 285 /70/17) on the factory wheel or equivalent.
You can also get some better tires with a stiff sidewall and way more capacity than many big tires used on lifted trucks.
The right tire will make a HUGE difference in stability.
Good luck.

I was at a tire dealer the other day getting my snow tires put on my daily driver. There was a guy there with a lifted truck getting new tires. The guy brought out a good meaty off road tire for him, load range F.... they were much bigger than the tires on my 2500, LT-E tires... if I recall, 22" but didn't get the rest of the measurements. Just remember the load range F. I don't think those tires would have been the weak spot.

[Curly2001]

Today's trucks from the factory are too tall as it is, to really do a good job of towing a fiver without a nose high trailer. A lifted truck would be worse and there is really no way that I know of to compensate for bed rail clearance with a tall truck. I have the nose high issue with my stock truck and my fiver. I would put the truck down to stock height if at all possible, even if it is an equalizer hitch and not a fiver.
Curly

[valhalla360]

MFL wrote:
Four pages after asking, only one response, from a member actually towing with a lifted truck, but not same truck.

Maybe because it's not a great idea to begin with and with a wide variety of lift kit quality and installation, simply saying someone else did it, doesn't mean it's a good idea for the OP to do the same.

Can it be done? Sure
Can it be done safely without mechanical breakdown? We don't have enough info.

Removing the lift or finding a good shop that does lifts (but not the one that did this installation) to inspect and provide guidance are the two best options.