2012 ram 1500 short bed?

What powertrain? Look at the door jamb. On my 2013, they took the guess work out of the payload and it is clearly stamped on there. Mine says 1923lbs I think. that includes everything not factory, people, gear, and trailer. That is a very light fifth wheel and you should be fine weight wise. Do you have a 6.4 ft bed? I would think that would be minimum to keep you safe from hitting the cab.

Eng208 wrote:
What powertrain? Look at the door jamb. On my 2013, they took the guess work out of the payload and it is clearly stamped on there. Mine says 1923lbs I think. that includes everything not factory, people, gear, and trailer. That is a very light fifth wheel and you should be fine weight wise. Do you have a 6.4 ft bed? I would think that would be minimum to keep you safe from hitting the cab.

i have a 5ft 6in bed
maybe i will have to stick with looking for just a travel trailer.
Thank YOU

JMO but you should pay attention to the Pin Weight as well as the Gross Trailer Weight and if you really want to have a fifth wheel with your shortbed then check out the sliding fifth wheel hitches as they will allow more clearance in tight turns.
Also You did not say how your Ram is set up so you may want to investigate suspension upgrades if this is possable.
Good Luck

I saw such combo on the road last week, it looked very comfortable. You should investigate hitches first, you will need a sliding hitch and I have no idea if one is made for the mini-bed truck.

Brian

Your only real concerns will be your trucks payload and the trailers pin weight. Some Rams have pretty low payloads, under 1100lbs. Check your door jamb sticker for yours. From that number you need to subtract the weight of passengers and anything you plan to carry in the truck, plus the weight of the 5th wheel hitch. What is left is what you can afford for the trailers pin weight. Most fivers have 20-25% of their loaded weight carried on the pin.

If you have the payload available to carry all that then you should be good to go.

Agreed with camp-n-family. If you have the payload, go for it! But 2009+ crew cab rams tend to be pretty low. 2WD might help. Keep in mind you'll need the pin weight (loaded, not dry), the weight of a receiver (200-250 pounds), people and cargo in the cab and bed.

Eng208 wrote:
What powertrain? Look at the door jamb. On my 2013, they took the guess work out of the payload and it is clearly stamped on there. Mine says 1923lbs I think. that includes everything not factory, people, gear, and trailer. That is a very light fifth wheel and you should be fine weight wise. Do you have a 6.4 ft bed? I would think that would be minimum to keep you safe from hitting the cab.

I checked the door jamb sticker and ALL MINE SAYs is
GAWR FRONT 3700 LBS
GAWR REAR 3900LBS
GVWR 6800LBS

DOES THAT MEAN ANYTHING as far as payload?
thanks

Locate this sticker. Note what yours has where mine says 2051:

Keep in mind a sliding 5th wheel hitch is expensive!

Go scale your truck and get both axle's weight and a total unladen weight. Subtract total unladen weight from your GVWR and you have payload.
Or get your unladen rear weight and subtract that from your rear GAWR.
CAT scales have at least two platforms to make it eaiser, about ten bucks.
Good Luck