Half Ton Fifth Wheel with 3/4 Ton Truck

traynoral · 10-01-2018, 04:48 AM

Hi Everyone,

I am looking to make my first time jump from a travel trailer to a fifth wheel. The model I am looking at is the Keystone Cougar Half Ton 32BHS. My tow vehicle is a 2017 Ram 2500 Tradesmen Crew Cab with Rambox. The truck has no aftermarket lifts. The ground to the top of my trucks tailgate is just under 58 inches.

I am already aware that I will need to get some kind of rotating hitch to work with the Ramboxes (i.e. Reese Sidewinder).

My question is has anyone had any issues with getting the Cougar Half Ton Fifth wheels to ride level or had any bed rail clearance issues with a 3/4 (2500, 250,) truck? The Cougar Half Ton Fifth Wheels appear to only be available with 15 inch wheels and I did not see any height adjustment on the suspension.

Any advice or pictures of your setup would be very helpful.

Canonman · 10-01-2018, 05:15 AM

A couple of things. You don't mention if your Ram has 4wd. Ours is and we ride a little nose high. We've lowered the hitch and raised the pin box to where we have the minimal clearance to the bed rails. (Sorry can't dig up any photos of the Cougar connected to the Ram) The only leveling adjustment readily available on a 5th wheel is the pin box and the hitch height. I'd suggest having the dealer's service department (I'm guessing they'd do the hitch install) verify the ability to level the trailer to your truck prior to purchase. They can do that with measurements and shouldn't need to actually install everything.
Finally, that's a lot of 5th wheel for a 2500. Be sure to verify your payload and towing capacities from the federal sticker on the driver's door post. You're looking at around 2300 pounds of loaded hitch weight. Could put you over your payload limit.

KHBama · 10-01-2018, 05:36 AM

My Laredo rides a little nose high on my Ram 2500. I have 2250 lbs of payload and am probably 300-400lbs over payload on my truck to give you an idea about the pin weight of these “lite” 5th wheels(that what I was over last time to the CAT scales). I think pin weight was right around 1800lbs. With all that said, my Ram handles the Laredo with 0 issues

traynoral · 10-01-2018, 05:55 AM

Sorry, I forgot to give you the rest of the specs. It is a 4X4 and it is the 6.4 Hemi with 3.73 rear end. My payload rating is over 3,000 lbs so I think I should be fine there.

KHBama · 10-01-2018, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by traynoral

Sorry, I forgot to give you the rest of the specs. It is a 4X4 and it is the 6.4 Hemi with 3.73 rear end. My payload rating is over 3,000 lbs so I think I should be fine there.

Lucky dog... somehow that 6.4L gets you an extra 1,000lbs of payload even though we have the same exact suspension. Nice marketing Ram. I think you will be towing a little noise high but not a big deal.

traynoral · 10-01-2018, 07:13 AM

Thanks guys. I am also going to post the question about anyone's experience with using the Rambox with a fifth wheel

Vinnie1972 · 10-01-2018, 01:01 PM

Here is our 32BHS hitched to our Dodge 3500 4x4. It sits very slightly nose high, but is actually better than I thought it would sit. I have 1 more notch that I could lower my Andersen hitch and probably get it almost perfectly level but I like the clearance that I currently have between bed and camper. On a side note, I would hate to see the Half-Ton someone tried to use to tow this camper.

Vinnie1972 · 10-01-2018, 01:05 PM

Well, not sure why my pic did not come through???

traynoral · 10-01-2018, 01:16 PM

No, it did not come through. Can you send a link?

Vinnie1972 · 10-01-2018, 01:16 PM

Let me try one more time.

[IMG]

[/IMG]

traynoral · 10-01-2018, 01:44 PM

You're right. That looks great. So you did not have to make any modifications to the trailer to make this work, correct? Do you happen to know the height of the top of your tailgate to the ground with the truck unloaded? Mine is about 58 inches. Just want to make sure I have the right comparison.

Vinnie1972 · 10-01-2018, 02:24 PM

No modifications to the trailer. I will have to remeasure to the top of the tailgate, as I cannot remember what the measurement came out to. We were originally using a flatbed truck to tow the camper with, and when I first looked at the Dodge I was really concerned about the bed height. I was pleasantly surprised when we got everything hooked up.

mtofell · 10-01-2018, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by traynoral

Thanks guys. I am also going to post the question about anyone's experience with using the Rambox with a fifth wheel

It doesn't work

I know a guy personally who tried and have seen countless threads of people also trying and traditional hitches won't work with the Rambox option. I believe there is a specialty hitch (I think it's called a "Sidewinder") that might work.

Vinnie1972 · 10-01-2018, 06:09 PM

Measured at the tailgate, and I'm showing between 59 and 59.5 at the top of the tailgate protector. With the Andersen hitch set in the middle hole I have almost 7.5 inches of bed clearance to the camper underside.

Pmedic4 · 10-01-2018, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KHBama

Lucky dog... somehow that 6.4L gets you an extra 1,000lbs of payload even though we have the same exact suspension. Nice marketing Ram. I think you will be towing a little noise high but not a big deal.

The 6.4L gas engine weighs about 1000 less than the Cummins diesel, which is where that difference comes from in the 2500. Now, if it would just have the same torque as the diesel, I'd be happy!

**sourdough** · 10-01-2018, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pmedic4

The 6.4L gas engine weighs about 1000 less than the Cummins diesel, which is where that difference comes from in the 2500. Now, if it would just have the same torque as the diesel, I'd be happy!

The 6.4 is a great engine for towing with the proper axle ratio and pulling a weight that it is rated for. With the 3.73 it is rated for 12.5k. That's too much IMO. When above 10k you just need to move to the diesel IMO and get the one ton because a diesel in a 3/4 ton drops the payload far below the 6.4 gas.

KHBama · 10-02-2018, 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pmedic4

The 6.4L gas engine weighs about 1000 less than the Cummins diesel, which is where that difference comes from in the 2500. Now, if it would just have the same torque as the diesel, I'd be happy!

I was talking about the 1,000lb payload difference between a 5.7 and 6.4, which makes no sense.The question has been asked 100 times on the Ram forums I read and the general consensus is its a marketing tool for Ram to push the 6.4L as a more heavy duty truck. There are going to be people with passionate opinions. I loaded my 5er up and went to the CAT Scales and I was well below my tire and axle ratings, so I consider myself good to go

traynoral · 10-02-2018, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinnie1972

Measured at the tailgate, and I'm showing between 59 and 59.5 at the top of the tailgate protector. With the Andersen hitch set in the middle hole I have almost 7.5 inches of bed clearance to the camper underside.

Perfect. That is exactly the info I was looking for. Thanks!

rhagfo · 10-03-2018, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinnie1972

Here is our 32BHS hitched to our Dodge 3500 4x4. It sits very slightly nose high, but is actually better than I thought it would sit. I have 1 more notch that I could lower my Andersen hitch and probably get it almost perfectly level but I like the clearance that I currently have between bed and camper. On a side note, I would hate to see the Half-Ton someone tried to use to tow this camper.

To the highlighted statement, I am surprised that you chose a 1/2 Ton 5er, with a 3500 DRW TV. I find it interesting also that the shower is located near the BH rather the Master Bedroom.

sugarhillctd · 10-04-2018, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pmedic4

The 6.4L gas engine weighs about 1000 less than the Cummins diesel, which is where that difference comes from in the 2500. Now, if it would just have the same torque as the diesel, I'd be happy!

The 6.7L Cummins weighs in around 1100# plus fluids.

The 6.4L gas engine must be a flyweight.

Actually it is just at 500# dry.

This misconception has been around for years.

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