EcoDiesel Ram

[tirnanah]

My dad reminds me often... Pretty much any engine/tranny combo can get something moving, but stopping/controlling it is another problem!

I have a co-worker that keeps talking about buying a trailer and keeps talking about how big the engines are in some of the trucks. I have to keep reminding him that there is lot more to safe towing then what the "engine" will handle... I had to draw a diagram showing him the other "forces" involved (rear axel weight, passenger weight, tongue weight, etc)... His eyes kinda glazed over as he got it that it's a lot more then just how much power is in the engine...

This is one my "screw-ups" that when I look back I'm appalled that I ever did it... I needed to borrow my father-in-laws bobcat... I had a friend with a nice tandem axel tilt back trailer (it was at least rated the way it should have been) and being an idiot at the time I hooked it up to my current truck below (before I added the brake controller mind you) and took off down the road. Granted, only moving it a few miles, and the truck actually handled it fairly well even without the trailer brake controller. I made the mistake of asking about a year later what the bobcat actually weighs, and was completely appalled with myself that I EVER put that behind my truck and took down the road... I probably wasn't over tongue wieght, or even curb weight for my truck, but I was so far over combined weight that it would have been a heck of a ticket if I had been pulled over or caused an accident because I couldn't stop the load... Too many people only look at the one factor that obvious to them, the engine, before going on down the road and don't think about the other side of the equation...

[mikebrls]

Like I said before you can do it but you will be overloaded ,

I would estimate that 90 % of 1500 series truck people pulling trailers are overloaded and don't even no it , even if its a few hundred pounds .

I see people posting with there 1500 truck some big trailer's and they all say they are in limit's of the payload sticker on the door , there hitch weight probably is but they don't add in the passenger's , gas and any other stuff on the truck " camper top bike's nerf bar's ect, "
shoot I even see some older 3500 trucks pulling big 5th wheel's that I would bet are over loaded , even thow they pull fine the # on the door will say there overloaded .

I guess this all come's down to common sense , some have and some don't

just look at the ford f150 rated to tow 11,000 + lbs it's still a light weight 150 with heavy duty springs but people will push it to the limit's .
I would say 9000 lbs max for a 150/1500 series truck and no more .

I was looking at a trailer with a max weight of 9200 lbs loaded and I decided
that is pushing the limit's on a 1500 so I decided to go to a trailer with a max weight of 7500 lbs to be in the safety zone " that's just me " other's can do what they want .

some play it safe and some don't , it come's down to commonsense

mike

[Desert185]

We looked at Raptors and Fusions, but couldn't justify pulling the weight. If we only did 200 mile round trips for weekend recreation we might have considered it. So we bought the toyhauler we have now. Its just the wife, the pup and me with a quad or bike in the back for longer than weekend trips, so the much lighter 326SRX fits the bill nicely.