Towing 7300 pounds with a 1/2 ton Hemi....a-ok??

[zogg]

I am thinking about trading my 3/4 ton "rough rider" for a new 1500 Ram with a 3.93 rear end and towing package. Our trailer weight is 7300 pounds dry, and we pack light, so we are looking around 8000-8500 pounds. The tow rating on the new Ram is 10,100 pounds.

We generally only tow a couple of times a year and we never go more than 400 miles or so...

The 2500 is my daily driver, and I am getting more and more dissatisfied with it due to the crummy ride.

On the other hand, I don't want to become a danger on the hiway. So, I would like any feedback from those folks pulling a lot of weight with a 1/2 ton....thanks in advance.

[zogg]

CKNSLS wrote:
The OP's 3/4 ton truck couldn't have possibly "rode rough" as there are many on this board who say they don't. And of course they can't tow in a reliable fashion day in and day out.

Not sure what this means....
__________________________________________

(Poster) owner of a 1/2 ton Silverado who towed a 5,500 pound 29 foot travel trailer around the U.S. with ZERO ISSUES-over 8,000 miles in 8 months last year.

[CKNSLS]

The OP's 3/4 ton truck couldn't have possibly "rode rough" as there are many on this board who say they don't. And of course they can't tow in a reliable fashion day in and day out.

__________________________________________

(Poster) owner of a 1/2 ton Silverado who towed a 5,500 pound 29 foot travel trailer around the U.S. with ZERO ISSUES-over 8,000 miles in 8 months last year.

[zogg]

I did the air bags yesterday.....took me over three hours.....kind of a bi$&h.....

Not hard, but a pain.....close working conditions trying to get the bags thru the springs and attain mg the air lines to the top of the bags...

I inflated them to 35 pounds per instructions and let them set over nite....they held fine. Driving with 35 # made it ride a tad rough, but with 5# it rides exactly as if they weren't there.

We will see how they work next month on our first tow...

[79time]

I haven't done the airbags yet (Thinking about the ones that go inside the coils) since it could be done for less than $100.00. No concern towing the camper of needing airbags, although want them when towing the car hauler.

[john_bet]

If you can't pull that size trailer with a Hemi, then I should not have been able to pull my same size with my '99 1500 5.2L and 3.55 gears. I was happy with it.

[fx2tom]

goducks10 wrote:

PAThwacker wrote:
I never see half ton tow vehicles in the state parks i frequent. All flavors of 8 lug gas/diesel are well represented.

I've seen everything from a Harley pulling an MC tent trailer to F450's pulling 40'5'ers. I'm guessing PA doesn't get out of the trailer too often.

I have to agree. Our last trip there was a Mitsubishi sedan towing an A liner. Canadians that left Jan 1 and this was beginning of March in San Diego, CA at Silver Strand State Beach.

[goducks10]

PAThwacker wrote:
I never see half ton tow vehicles in the state parks i frequent. All flavors of 8 lug gas/diesel are well represented.

I've seen everything from a Harley pulling an MC tent trailer to F450's pulling 40'5'ers. I'm guessing PA doesn't get out of the trailer too often.

[BenK]

Break in your new TV according to the glove box manual BEFORE towing anything

[ib516]

zogg wrote:
Thank you for all of the replies....

I did buy the 2014 Ram 1/2 ton a couple of weeks ago. It has the tow package, 3.92 rear end gears, integrated brake controller, and I already have a weight distribution hitch with a sway control bar.

We are going on a short trip next month to check it all out. I'm anticipating that I will probably buy an Equalizer hitch to replace the one I currently have.....it was the basis wdh that came with the rv when I bought it. It works ok, but I anticipate the equalizer would work better.

So far, I love the new truck.....great ride and just nice.

Also, I purchased the air lift air bags to go inside the rear coil springs.....I understand that they will not increase payload capacity, but from what I've read it will provide some stability when towing the trailer....

Buddy of mine did the same thing. 2014 RAM 1500 with the 8 speed/Hemi/3.92s, and airlift 1000 bags to go inside the coil springs.

[Ron3rd]

PAThwacker wrote:
I never see half ton tow vehicles in the state parks i frequent. All flavors of 8 lug gas/diesel are well represented.

What parks do you frequent with no 1/2 tons? Many Rams, F150s, Tundras, a few Titans, in all the parks I've been to and that's a lot of parks.

[PAThwacker]

I never see half ton tow vehicles in the state parks i frequent. All flavors of 8 lug gas/diesel are well represented.

[zogg]

Thank you for all of the replies....

I did buy the 2014 Ram 1/2 ton a couple of weeks ago. It has the tow package, 3.92 rear end gears, integrated brake controller, and I already have a weight distribution hitch with a sway control bar.

We are going on a short trip next month to check it all out. I'm anticipating that I will probably buy an Equalizer hitch to replace the one I currently have.....it was the basis wdh that came with the rv when I bought it. It works ok, but I anticipate the equalizer would work better.

So far, I love the new truck.....great ride and just nice.

Also, I purchased the air lift air bags to go inside the rear coil springs.....I understand that they will not increase payload capacity, but from what I've read it will provide some stability when towing the trailer....

[wintersun]

The manufacturer's GCWR figure is the important one as it covers the entire truck including the frame, suspension, engine, brakes, and drivetrain in terms of the maximum load it can handle. Weight in the truck counts as does the trailer's total load. The numbers tend to be conservative ones and whenever the truck companies increase the rating they have made modifications to the parts of the truck to take the added stress.

Your 1/2 ton will be lighter than the 2500 so the power to weight will be better. You may need to use a WD hitch with the 1500 but that should be the only change from what you have been doing with your 2500 truck.

I would go with the lowest gearing that Ram provides. With 6-speed transmissions you get two overdrive gears to cover freeway fuel economy when not towing and when towing the lower gears will shorten the time it takes to get to freeway speeds and safely merge with traffic.

[ib516]

Check his sig - looks like he decided on a 2014 RAM 1500 🙂