Towing heavy with 1500 Ram

[MO_Traveler]

We have a 2015 Ram 1500 with 5.7 Hemi, 3.92 rear end and tow package. Looking at at 2 33' TT with 7900# unloaded weight with tongue weight of about 600#'s on one and 1000# on the other. I know I need to watch the GVW on the truck having only 1600 capacity. It will usually be just 2 of us traveling so do not expect a huge amount of extra weight in the truck.

Ram says 10k tow rating....so how will the truck handle this load??? Who else is towing similar weight with similar rig??

[camp-n-family]

MO Traveler wrote:
So how much of the tongue weight is taken off the truck with a weight distributing hitch? If I have a 700# hitch weight what actually ends up on the truck when properly dialed in? Also what are opinions on the best WDH with sway control?

It varies by setup but approximately 40 percent can get transferred, 20 to the trucks front axle and 20 back to the trailer. If you need that little bit to stay within ratings though, it means you have too much trailer or too little truck.

[goducks10]

Too much trailer for that truck. Spin it all you want but you'll be over weight somewhere. Handling will be marginal at best.

[mkirsch]

The amount of weight "taken off" by a WD hitch is variable. There are no fixed amounts or percentages you can count on. You can't use one to overload your truck by XXXlbs, thinking "Oh, the WD hitch will transfer that to the front axle and the trailer."

By the way, receivers are rated by the "dead weight" of the trailer tongue in both weight-carrying and weight-distributing mode, not the weight after the WD hitch is applied. You can't hang a 1300lb tongue on a 1000lb-rated receiver and say, "Oh, the WD hitch will transfer that to the front axle and the trailer."

[handye9]

MO Traveler wrote:
So how much of the tongue weight is taken off the truck with a weight distributing hitch? If I have a 700# hitch weight what actually ends up on the truck when properly dialed in? Also what are opinions on the best WDH with sway control?

Exact amount, I don't know, but, it is not a significant amount. The primary purpose of WDH is to restore lost weight from your front axle.

When you hang the tongue weight on back of your truck, it pushes the back end down and raises the front end (removing weight). WDH distributes a small amount of weight back to the trailer axles, restores lost weight on the truck's front axle, and leaves the remaining weight on the truck's rear axle. When you consider the weight of the WDH itself, there is little, if any, reduction on the payload impact.

Other things to consider:

Don't bank on advertised weights and capacities.

You're going to run out of payload, before you get close to max tow weight.

If you're getting that 1600 lb payload from the owners manual, it may not be correct. Could be a generic number for 1500 Ram in general. Check your drivers door post for a tire / loading sticker. It will show a number for your specific truck. In the last week, there was a poster who read one number in his owners manual (Ram 1500), and another number on his door sticker.

Advertised trailer weights will go up, before you drive it off the dealer lot. They will go up when you load dishes, bedding, and camping gear, and go up more when you load water and groceries.

Holding tanks, depending on their location (in relation to the trailer axles), will raise and lower your tongue weight. Note: My fresh tank is behind the axles and my galley tank is in front of the axles. My tongue weight can fluctuate as much as 200 lbs during every trip.

Payload is used up by the weight of aftermarket accessories (bed covers, bed liners, undercoating, floor mats, luggage racks, etc), people, pets, cargo (in the truck), WDH, and trailer tongue weight.

There are several WDH's that will do the job, if the truck and trailer are well matched. Do a search on this form, you'll find several threads, discussing various brands.

[MO_Traveler]

So how much of the tongue weight is taken off the truck with a weight distributing hitch? If I have a 700# hitch weight what actually ends up on the truck when properly dialed in? Also what are opinions on the best WDH with sway control?

[mkirsch]

I would give you a definite "maybe" if the trailer's final weight were 7900lbs, and it was only you and your wife traveling.

However, if the trailers are STARTING at 7900lbs, they will be pushing 9000lbs by the time they are loaded and ready to camp. Tongue weights will be anywhere from 1150lbs to 1350lbs, which is more than the factory receiver is rated for.

Even if you ignore all that like some will tell you, you may not like the towing experience, especially on long trips. You may feel that it's okay at first, mostly because you have nothing else to compare to and you're trying to justify your purchase subconsciously. Over the long term you may start to notice things aren't so great.

There's no guarantee that you will end up feeling one way or the other about the towing experience, but you stand a better chance of liking it in the long run if you don't try to push or exceed the factory limits.

[MO_Traveler]

With regard to the hitch weight... won't the WDH help spread that weight to some extent over both truck and trailer? It seems so many of the larger "ultra light" trailers even many in 6000# area have hitch weights pushing 1000#.

[VernDiesel]

Largely I agree with the other posters. And nobody even said anything yet about how hard that thing will drink gas with that in tow. Not a doomsdayer here it will do it but would not be the optimum TV for lots of cross country towing with a boxy 33, plus well over 8,000 pounds wet. So you can buy the trailer and move it but will likely later upgrade your TV.

FWIW I tow TTs mostly Airstreams commercially with a Ram 1500 ED. With tune it has the benefit of 70 foot pound of torque over the stock Hemi plus a valuable turbo brake for when that load is pushing you down a mountain not to mention use half the fuel. All that said its still a lot for the 1500 platform. Factory hitch receiver with WDH is rated to 1,290 pounds on the tongue.

You would need a good WDH set up at the scales. If you don't have factory air suspension you would benefit from airbags such as TLC, Timber Grove, or Airlift. Also upgrading from a passenger to a load rated tire will firm up some wiggle.

Daryll was yours an 8 speed with the 3.92?

EDIT MO yea a good WDH set up at the scales should keep you below your 3,900 axle weight ratings or 7,800 combined. I have seen CVWR also important as high as 15,950 on a Ram 1500 but even with the trailer brake controller I wouldn't want to have that pushing me down a mountain without the help of a turbo brake. But if your truck is 6k and trailer 8.5k your at a CVWR of 14,500 which is ok.

[FLY_4_FUN]

I had a very similar truck a few years back and it felt "maxed" out pulling my 7500 lb 31 ft TT. It did the job, I never felt unsafe but on trips with full water or extra firewood etc I was not happy with the power or handling on hills. This is very subjective but I would not contemplate the combo you are considering.

Daryll

[valhalla360]

Assuming you don't want to exceed the ratings, you are basically going to have to strip everything out of the truck and go to the bathroom before pulling out to stay under the limits on the 1000lb hitch weight trailer. Are you really going to be able to resist putting anything in the bed of the truck when heading out?

Realistically by the time you get up above the mid 20' range, moving up to a 3/4ton for the bigger brakes and heavier suspension starts making a lot of sense...not that I would predict death and destruction if you manage to stay in the ratings.

[camp-n-family]

I won't get into detail on all the reasons why that is not a good combo but the easiest to consider is that once loaded up both those trailers' tongue weights will exceed the trucks hitch receiver rating. then there's the payload, tire, and axle ratings that will likely be exceeded as well. Trailers of that size and weight are well into 3/4 ton territory.

Check other manufacturers with similar layouts as the weights can vary significantly. Those trailers are heavy for their size. My 34' tt is only 6400lbs empty. Same layout with another manufacturer was 1k more.

[Old-Biscuit]

10K tow rating is NOW based on SAE J2807 Tow Rating Standards adopted in 2013.

The 1600# cargo carrying capacity (payload) is going to get eaten up fast
But with good WDH weight can be distributed across the truck F/R axles and trailer axles

Use 15% of trailers GVWR for guesstimated tongue weights and then see how that matches up in the number crunch

[Brisk]

Hang on tight! That is a lot of trailer for any 1/2ton. It will pull it but it will not be fun. the 10k rating is "best case scenario". Such as a flat bed trailer loaded with blocks or something. Something you can load to have perfect weight distribution and no wind resistance. Travel trailers are the far opposite of "best case scenario". They rarely have perfect weight distribution and catch a ton of wind.