34bhpr and dodge ram 1500

[Ryandc]

I am looking at purchasing a premier 34bhpr. Shipping weight is 7076lbs, carrying capacity, 1724 lbs, hitch 845 lbs. I have a dodge ram 1500 slt 5.7 hemi. It has 3.92 ratio and 17 inch wheels. The dealer I'm talking to is supposed to do the trailer brakes and sway bar tow package. Is this ok to tow with? How much weight can be expected on top of dry weight? It says I can tow 8750 lbs. gvwr 6700, payload 1605, curb weight 5095, curb weight front and rear 2886/2886, gawr front/ rear 3700/3900, gcwr 14000 lbs. is this pushing the limits of my truck. If I do pull with this is it smart to install super springs, larger transmission cooler, and transmission temp gauge.

[Ryandc]

I am looking at purchasing a premier 34bhpr. Shipping weight is 7076lbs, carrying capacity, 1724 lbs, hitch 845 lbs. I have a dodge ram 1500 slt 5.7 hemi. It has 3.92 ratio and 17 inch wheels. The dealer I'm talking to is supposed to do the trailer brakes and sway bar tow package. Is this ok to tow with? How much weight can be expected on top of dry weight? It says I can tow 8750 lbs. gvwr 6700, payload 1605, curb weight 5095, curb weight front and rear 2886/2886, gawr front/ rear 3700/3900, gcwr 14000 lbs. is this pushing the limits of my truck. If I do pull with this is it smart to install super springs, larger transmission cooler, and transmission temp gauge.

[Jim W]

You do not specify what year of truck or I missed it. But I have attached the Ram Body Builder Guide. This web site provides towing data for each year of truck. Click on the year and then the model of truck; then under technical information you have: Base weight/ GCW/ Payload/ Trailer tow. This will provide you the correct information and not an opinion.

http://www.rambodybuilder.com/year.pdf

Jim W.

[Ryandc]

2006, from what I can see I fit the bill as long as I don't overload the trailer. Is it pushing the limits?

2006 dodge ram 1500 with hemi

[zuley]

I personally think you are pushing the limits of the truck. A 34 foot camper is 3/4 ton territory. Don't take what the dealer is telling you at face value. Once you leave his lot he won't give a rat's *** about you. It ended up costing me 40g after I listened to our dealer.
I've got a 13 Ram with the hemi, posi, and 3:92 gearing. It's rated to tow 10,300. We tow a Elite 23RB. I was playing online yesterday and was looking at the new 30 foot Passport Elite. I did the math trying to determine if my goat would tow it. It weighs in lighter than the 34 you described. I determined I would be really stretching the limits of the truck if I upgraded. We purchased our 23 a year ago at this time. At the time we were towing with a Grand Cherokee diesel. All the numbers worked albeit on the limit. Second trip out with the Jeep and I knew I was buying a truck.

[akacliph]

It's too likely that you'll be over weight at some point and not worth the risk. Those limits are set for a reason and you shouldn't max any of them out, you'll destroy your truck eventually in my opinion and you'll have no room for all your gear, the trucks GVWR is including passengers, gas, tongue weight of the trailer and anything else you pack. If you did have an incident/accident and the insurance company found you to be even close to overweight it would be a huge problem.
I towed a 26BHSWE with an '09 Ram 1500 5.7 with airbags and a Husky Centerline WD hitch for the first 3 or 4 outings before upgrading, truck actually did OK with similar #'s to yours although you can tell it's under tremendous stress.

[JRTJH]

Randy,

Welcome to the forum. I will address a few concerns, but first want to let you know I'm moving (merging) this thread with the one you also started in the towing section. We try to keep everything related to one members posts about a specific topic in one thread to make it easier in the future for others to search for answers. Also, it helps those who are responding to your question as they can see all the answers and know whether another member may have said exactly what they are about to say. So, I'll merge this and answer some of your questions in the towing section of the forum.

[JRTJH]

Now, to give you some answers that I think are important for you to consider:

Your truck is rated to tow 14,000 lbs and empty, it weighs 5095. Payload is rated at 1605 with a GVW of 6700 lbs. If you do the math, you state your actual axle weights are 2886/2886. That adds up to a truck weight of 5772 lbs, not the "advertised 5095. Take your actual weight, 5772 and subtract that from your GVW and you are left with an actual payload capacity of 928 lbs.

Now, take the EMPTY advertised tongue weight of the trailer you're looking at, 845 and add 60 lbs of propane and a 45 lb battery/box to the tongue, and add the roughly 100 lbs for an equalizer hitch/sway bars and you get an actual trailer tongue load of 1050 lbs. The allowance for the driver is calculated at 150 lbs, so if you weigh more than that, you have to add the extra. Add all passengers weights, lets assume that you only have your wife and she weighs 140 lbs. So, assuming you weigh 200 lbs, add 50 for you, 140 for her and you get a payload of 1240 lbs.

That's BEFORE you add anything to the bed of your truck, before you add a tonneau cover, truck bed cap, any luggage, cooler or even your wife's purse to the mix.

With an actual payload of 928 lbs and by adding at least 1240 lbs (that's with NO cargo, water, food, blankets, recreational equipment..... JUST AN EMPTY TRAILER, you're going to be overloaded by 328 lbs.

I don't think it's advisable to try to tow the biggest Premier travel trailer manufactured with one of the "smallest" RAM half ton trucks. Sure, you have a "big engine" in the truck and it will "pull" the trailer, but your frame, axles, brakes, tires, wheels, transmission, rear end are simply not heavy enough to support that much weight while the engine tows it.....

I'd strongly urge a smaller RV or a bigger truck. You're not going to be able to safely tow with your proposal.

[Hansel]

Now, to give you some answers that I think are important for you to consider:

Your truck is rated to tow 14,000 lbs and empty, it weighs 5095. Payload is rated at 1605 with a GVW of 6700 lbs. If you do the math, you state your actual axle weights are 2886/2886. That adds up to a truck weight of 5772 lbs, not the "advertised 5095. Take your actual weight, 5772 and subtract that from your GVW and you are left with an actual payload capacity of 928 lbs.

Now, take the EMPTY advertised tongue weight of the trailer you're looking at, 845 and add 60 lbs of propane and a 45 lb battery/box to the tongue, and add the roughly 100 lbs for an equalizer hitch/sway bars and you get an actual trailer tongue load of 1050 lbs. The allowance for the driver is calculated at 150 lbs, so if you weigh more than that, you have to add the extra. Add all passengers weights, lets assume that you only have your wife and she weighs 140 lbs. So, assuming you weigh 200 lbs, add 50 for you, 140 for her and you get a payload of 1240 lbs.

That's BEFORE you add anything to the bed of your truck, before you add a tonneau cover, truck bed cap, any luggage, cooler or even your wife's purse to the mix.

With an actual payload of 928 lbs and by adding at least 1240 lbs (that's with NO cargo, water, food, blankets, recreational equipment..... JUST AN EMPTY TRAILER, you're going to be overloaded by 328 lbs.

I don't think it's advisable to try to tow the biggest Premier travel trailer manufactured with one of the "smallest" RAM half ton trucks. Sure, you have a "big engine" in the truck and it will "pull" the trailer, but your frame, axles, brakes, tires, wheels, transmission, rear end are simply not heavy enough to support that much weight while the engine tows it.....

I'd strongly urge a smaller RV or a bigger truck. You're not going to be able to safely tow with your proposal.


:wlcm:

I can tell you that the shipping weight is going to be off, it will weigh more than that.

JRTJH pretty much sum's it up, you need more truck or downsize the camper, Sorry if we burst your bubble:(

[Ryandc]

Would moving down to the 32bhpr @ 6180 be ok? Or what weight would be realistically in my class?

[JRTJH]

Ryabdc,

How much do you and the other passengers in the truck weigh?
How much cargo do you usually have in the truck when you tow an RV?


Keep in mind that you only have a little less than 1000 lbs total cargo capacity for your truck.

[Ryandc]

205 and 145, I normally bring chairs, tables, and a couple coolers with food and drinks.

[f6bits]

Weight is a concern, but I'd be more concerned about length. That's a massively long trailer to be pulling with a 1500. What's the wheelbase on your truck? Even if you have the 160" wheelbase, the trailer is about 5' longer than recommended. A good sway control hitch helps alleviate that. A Hensley or Propride would be the best, but I wouldn't want to be in a ½ Ton pickup during a heavy cross wind.

There are shorter trailers with the same amount of bunk space.

[JRTJH]

OK, let's run the limited numbers we have and see what comes up.

You say your RAM has a GVW of 6700 lbs and the actual weight on the axles is 2886 front and rear. That's an actual vehicle weight of 5772. The payload is 6700 minus the vehicle weight is: 928 actual payload. You and your wife weigh a total of 350 lbs (minus the 150 lb driver allowance) is 200 lbs passenger load... and you carry two coolers (50 lb each), 4 chairs (10 each), two tables (20 each) for a total of 200+100+40+40=380 lbs of cargo. subtract the cargo from the payload: 928-380=548 lbs of "remaining payload.

The above figures are derived from the actual figures you say your truck weighs (2886+2886=5772).

Now, lets take the RAM "advertised" weight of 5095 that you also had in your original post and run those numbers using the same data: Remember that everything you've added to the truck must be added to the advertised 5095 weight and included in the payload for the truck. That includes, after market mud flaps, floor mats, maps in the glove box, GPS on the dash, tools under the back seat, EVERYTHING that wasn't on the truck when it rolled off the assembly line that anyone has added since it was manufactured.

GVW 6700-5095=1605 payload. Now subtract the cargo weight of 380 lbs and you're left with 1225 lbs of payload.

There is a SIGNIFICANT difference in what you cited as "axle weights" and "advertised weights".... Do you see where you can really get into trouble with a little over 1200 lbs of "misreported" weight ????

Using the "actual weight" data, by the time you added a 100 lb hitch to your trailer, you'd be down to about a 450 lb MAXIMUM trailer tongue weight.

That would put you at towing pretty much only an RV shorter than about 20 or 22 ft and some of them have tongue weights heavier than 428 lbs.

I would urge you to fill your RAM with gas, drive it to a CAT scale (or another certified scale) and get a "real world" weight on it with you sitting in the cab. Then, we can use that weight to calculate a "real world" payload and start adding your anticipated cargo (wife, coolers, chairs, tables) to get what your loaded truck really weighs. Then we can figure a maximum tongue weight, and also calculate into those figures a 10% "safety margin".

Once we have that, we can then start looking at trailer tongue weights and see what will "probably work" as far as weights are concerned.

Now, another "brick in the wringer" that you need to consider is wheelbase vs total RV length. I didn't discuss any of that in my earlier post because it was irrelevant because your couldn't tow your desired trailer based on weight, so there was no need to consider or calculate maximum length. The accepted rule of thumb for calculating maximum length conventional hitch trailers is 20ft for the first 110" of wheelbase and 1 ft for each 4" of additional wheelbase.
This means that a 144" wheelbase truck can usually tow a properly equipped RV that is 28.5 ft long. That's 20' for the 110" plus 8.5' for the additional 34'. (34" / 4" is 8.5 extra feet).

So as you can see, "real world" weight for your truck is needed to get past this point. Also, when you report that weight, also include the wheelbase for your RAM as it will be needed to help determine maximum length.

I know this is confusing, but if you simply take the salesman's word for it, you really REALLY put yourself into a position of not knowing if he is accurate or if he is just trying to make the sale by telling you whatever it takes to get your signature on the bottom line.

[Javi]

Take a look at my signature and you can see how fast STUFF adds up and subtracts from payload.. even on a stripped down XL version F250.

Me and a whole bunch of folks; some of which will and some of which won't admit that they've been where you are now. It ain't fun but it is reality.

[jljfstar]

I was just where you are last April. Salesman said that truck (1/2 ton GMC with all the towing stuff on it) will pull anything on our lot. I took his word. GMC dealer said I would be fine. Our TT is a Premier 30RE with a length of 34-5. Guess what? After a trip to the CAT I could only put a few pounds of stuff in the bed of the pickup and could haul no water in the trailer. We still tried to do it and made 4 trips with the outfit. It towed it ok but when we hit wind of only 20mph or trucks went buy us it was all over the place. We have a blue-ox hitch but it did not matter. We got our new truck (Chevrolet 3500 with the Duramax diesel) last part of July. Went on a trip to S.C. and the truck did not even downshift. Take my word for it you will need a bigger truck, maybe not the diesel 3500 but at least a 3/4 ton will do the trick and with the length you might look into a long bed on the truck. It just did not feel safe with the 1/2 ton. Get bigger truck or smaller TT. Good Luck, the Premier is a nice trailer and we love it.

[Hansel]

Would moving down to the 32bhpr @ 6180 be ok? Or what weight would be realistically in my class?

I have a 284BH Laredo and the weight they advertise was in the 6000lb range, but when I took my truck/camper too the CAT scale the camper came in at just over 8,000lbs and that wasn't loaded with everything but close to it.

I'm towing mine with a F-250 CCSRW 7.3L Powerstroke, and I do love my truck but I wouldn't try anything longer than what I have, because with the truck and camper (33ft total from bumper too ball) it's been fun trying to back into some camp site's. That's why I always try to find RV camp sites that offer pull thru's.

[audio1der]

As f6bits and others have mentioned, length is as important as weight here. Our half tons don't have the HD frame or brakes, or length needed to really pull something over 30' with confidence in all reasonable conditions.

I can't afford to upgrade to a 3/4 or 1 ton right now,might have to get a shorter trailer. We weigh in right at 7K lbs loaded and stay under payload, but the length, with all it's side area, can make for white knuckle moments.
Food for thought from someone who thought they could do, and are still not sure.

[SAABDOCTOR]

Hi I know how you feel. Somewhere down the road the DW will tell you she would like a bigger trailer. trust me that's how i got the 3750. i was very happy to have the bigger truck that i thought i would never need. If you can swing the $$$ get the bigger truck you will not regret it.Johns advice is spot on. yes your truck will pull it but stopping it is a whole different story:eek: good luck with you quest and :wlcm: to the forum"bouncey: