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Old 11-22-2020, 08:36 AM   #21
208boondocker
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we pull a 33' with a 2021 ram 1500, same gearing. i just traded in a 2013 1500 that pulled it no problem at all. we have a 2017 passport 2890rl which is closer to 29', but when you factor in hitch, bumper etc... i have coil airbags which helps greatly in ride quality, and squat. our tt weighs in around 8k loaded with all our gear, water, generator, etc. no troubles whatsoever pulling, or maneuvering around the road. we are in idaho and all we do is in the mountains. the question is, will you be happy with your final decision?? we decided life is to short worrying about stuff and just went out and found a great deal on a tt. as far as concerns about what you can "safely" pull, that is a vast rabbit hole of opinion that many people will give their best advice on. all i can do is tell you we have no problems at all with ours.
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Old 11-22-2020, 08:40 AM   #22
sparky895
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonnie View Post
My wife and I were looking at travel trailers and got side-tracked on 5th wheels only to learn we can't pull a fifth wheel with my truck, and we are no in the market for trading at this point. So... we either find something like to pull with my truck, or we wait a few years. We are not interested in pop-ups.

My truck is a 2020 Ram 1500 crew cab 4x4 with the 5.7 eTorque and 3.92 gear. Rated to pull a little over 11K, although I realize that is not the ultimate factor in what we can safely pull. The payload is 1612lbs per the door sticker. RAWR is 4100lbs.

We do travel fairly light... no water, just her and I, and we are not hoarders where we carry the house with us when we go places.

I am curious as to what should be we looking at? I know we can't get more than about a 28ft trailer to turn in our driveway. So we certainly can't look at anything longer or the wheels of the trailer will be in the ditch.

Regards,
Sonnie
I tow a 290bhswe with my 2001 f150 supercrew no problem. Towed a 2002 Sprinter 30 foot bunkhouse for 15 years. The Sprinter was not an ultralight. Tailwag comes more from how you load it and load leveler sway control set up. The bhswe is 5700 dry weight, over the scale loaded no water we were 6200 last trip. Pulls extremely nice down the road.

Good luck and enjoy the trailer.

Greg
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Old 11-22-2020, 08:50 AM   #23
vancouverbrian
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I want you to understand that learning about towing is important and should always be encouraged.

I will say a few things and some have already been talked about in previous posts but want to put it all in one post.

As someone said, you can start with a truck and find a trailer that suits it or purchase a trailer and then purchase the correct truck to tow it. The experts say purchase the trailer first and then acquire the correct truck.

There are differences when towing a fifth wheel or travel trailer especially in regards to payload. You take the payload off the door jam sticker, subtract the weight of people in the truck, equipment, hitch, tools, etc. The net amount becomes your legal payload. To be safe, you should not be at max payload and have a safety margin but that is my opinion. The TT GVW as stated on the trailer sticker should give you a good number to estimate the tongue weight. The experts say the tongue weight is between 9 - 14 %. That weight goes on your bumper and will push up the front end of your truck. So giving a margin of safety, a 5000lb travel trailer will show 700 lbs tongue weight using 14%. In a fifth wheel, you take the GVW of the fifth wheel and calculate 15 - 25 % and you come up with the pin weight. A 10,000 lb GVW fifth wheel (using 20%) will have 2000 lb pin weight. This weight goes on your truck right over the rear wheels and should drive easier. With a fifth wheel, some thought should given regarding to bed length. Different hitches are required on short beds vs long beds. Also, the stability of towing is better with a long bed.

Payload is usually the key number when towing any trailer. But each truck has other numbers. The towing capacity must be checked and kept under that number. Axle capacities must also be kept within their numbers, but these are not usually a problem.

When dealing with length, that is more of a personal choice than a legal issue. Getting into state/national parks, personal comfort, etc. While a longer trailer will likely weigh more and you must check the numbers in any trailer that you chose.

After you purchase the truck and trailer that seems to be within the specs, you should go over the CAT scales when loaded to check the real numbers as that is what is real not an estimate.

Remember empty weight of truck and trailer is useless. Use either the GVW or loaded weight as a guess, or a real world CAT scale as actual.

Good luck on your travels and once you do your prep work, it will be worth it.
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Old 11-22-2020, 09:09 AM   #24
bbells
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First, don't skimp on your weight distribution anti sway hitch. I used to have an ease lift with added sway bars. With both my 26 and 28 ft trailers it was very uncomfortable towing. Upgraded to the equalizer 4 pt anti sway and got a smaller trailer (my wife died, didn't need the room), now pulling is a breeze. The 4600 26ft pound base weight trailer was ok to tow, not great. The 6800 pound 28ft trailer was horrible. My new 18ft with the equalizer is a breeze. All pulled with a half ton.
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Old 11-22-2020, 09:50 AM   #25
wiredgeorge
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Folks, if you are addressing comments to the OP, he hasn't logged on since 11/16. Hope we see him again and get an update.
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Old 11-22-2020, 10:13 AM   #26
JRTJH
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bbells View Post
First, don't skimp on your weight distribution anti sway hitch. I used to have an ease lift with added sway bars. With both my 26 and 28 ft trailers it was very uncomfortable towing. Upgraded to the equalizer 4 pt anti sway and got a smaller trailer (my wife died, didn't need the room), now pulling is a breeze. The 4600 26ft pound base weight trailer was ok to tow, not great. The 6800 pound 28ft trailer was horrible. My new 18ft with the equalizer is a breeze. All pulled with a half ton.
To "follow on" with bbells' comment about perception of towing....

Wheelbase plays a part in how well a trailer will tow. It's directly related to how much tail is behind the dog... You can put a 20" tail on a great dane but don't try it on a toy poodle. Every time that poodle is happy, you'll have problems petting him on the head.

In other words, generally accepted "wisdom" is 110" wheelbase is good for up to a 20' trailer. Add 1 foot of trailer length for each 4" of wheelbase beyond that. So, a 124" wheelbase (+12" = +3') "should" accommodate a 23' trailer and a 144" wheelbase (+34" = 8.5') "should" accommodate a 28.5' trailer....

As bbell stated, his "same truck" was terrible with a 28' trailer, OK with a 26' trailer and a breeze with an 18' trailer.... There were other factors in his perception of towability, different weights, different hitch, etc, however as the trailer length increased, towability became more difficult.

ADDED: There are some "current technology features" that have amended this "generalized rule". Things like anti-skid, traction control, electronic sway control features on modern trucks have extended the "maximum trailer length" somewhat, but even with the "modern technical advances" there's still a certain level of "just plain physics" that will always affect trailer towing....
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Old 11-22-2020, 11:11 AM   #27
Tresslerd
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Might want to consider moving as much as possible from the truck into the trailer (like the toolkit). Put it toward the front in the trailer it will increase the tongue weight some but will remove 100 lbs from your GVWR by reducing actual truck cargo which seems to be your limiting point in your system. I have F150 pulling 29ft Passport with 7200lbs GVWR. This means I need to be able to carry around 900lbs tongue weight. My actual tongue weight is usually about 800lbs with what I carry in trailer. (Get a tongue weight scale to be sure for each trip if your anywhere near close to limits. When I weighed the trailer loaded it was 6300 lbs.
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Old 11-22-2020, 11:40 AM   #28
cma1975
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How much can I get in it?

Flybuoy is so right! We had a Keystone Passport 238 (24 foot Ultralight) that we pulled with a Ram 1500 eco-diesel and we hardly knew it was back there. Then we decided to upgrade the truck to a 2500 Cummins diesel with plans to trade the trailer for something bigger, and the 2500 did even better. When we did buy the knew trailer I could not believe how much stuff we had in every nook and cranny, inside and out. The 238 (now it is a 239 I think) is a very nice smaller bunkhouse-type trailer with lots of storage. But watch out for those “RV Queen” beds, especially if you are tall. Anyway, it was a great little trailer for 2 people and a dog.
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Old 11-22-2020, 12:25 PM   #29
blubuckaroo
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Sonnie...
If you look at the yellow payload sticker, on a number of differently equipped tow vehicles of the same type, (1/2 ton vs 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton vs 3/4 ton) you'll see different payload ratings. It's really hard to believe how quickly a few options can add up. My 1500 Silverado is pretty much a "plane Jane" and has a payload of 1827 pounds. You're Ram must be a "loaded up" model at a 1612 pound payload limit.
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Old 11-22-2020, 03:25 PM   #30
PappyD
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Pulling with Confidence - Safely

I consider myself a "new guy" to pulling a TT. But, I have almost 8K miles of towing in almost 2 years. A couple of trips to the east coast and 2 trips out west.



Wife and I previously had a Class B van (Roadtrek 23') and wanted to switch over and try the TT route. Sold the big van and bought a used Ram. About all I knew was "get one with the tow package". So I found a 2015 with low miles, the big V8, and the factory tow package. Later, I learned that the 3.92 gearing may have been better than the 3.21 rear end that my new truck has. The payload would have been a little better with an added 250 lbs or so.


Good thing I started reading on this forum to help me determine what I could safely pull. I would have waaay overestimated what I could tow. One salesguy had me looking at 5th wheels "1/2 ton towable" and that whole story.


Anyway, the Ram is rated at 1302 payload and 8202 trailer. The Passport Elite 23RB has a weight rating of 6800lbs.



With the magic number of 1302 lbs, I was easily at that number with just the bare essentials. Adding up the wife and I, tongue weight of 750, a couple of kayaks and a generator, we were around 1300. That payload number was really surprising...


I do have a good WD hitch (Curt TruTrack), XL rated tires, and also put air bags in the coil springs of the Ram to help with the squat.



As set up, the rig pulls very nicely. Run 65mph all day long in tow/haul and let the computer do all the shifts. I also replaced the original TT tires with Goodyear Endurance and run those with the suggested 80# of air.


The trailer works well for the 2 of us (plus a dog). Sometimes we think we want something bigger, but for now we're good.


PappyD
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Old 11-22-2020, 05:51 PM   #31
Firegod
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Our Trailer

We went with this trailer and we have a Ram 2500 with 6.4 gas.
Looks like it might fit your needs. There is also one a little smaller. Both are nice trailers.
Cougar 24SABWE
GVW 7800 pounds
Length -28’ 4”
Height - 11’ 1”
Width - 8’ or 96”
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Old 11-23-2020, 10:16 AM   #32
Stombaughbl
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There is an android app called GVWR

Quote:
Originally Posted by sourdough View Post
Forget my suggestion in a prior post - it is too big for a 700# payload. Think more along the lines of a 6000lb. gvw trailer (dry weight plus carrying capacity).
Put your truck and trailer weight numbers in the app and it will do the calculations. Also keep under 30'
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Old 11-23-2020, 12:59 PM   #33
mgreene
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It sounds like you are in a great place in your decision process. We were some of the unfortunate that just jumped out and bought based on sticker numbers for our trucks ability. I soon found out that wasn’t real life! Even though our 1/2 ton covered the numbers on paper, I would have never attempted to go through any mountains due to the way the heavy wind sail affected it. Even though the 1/2 ton had plenty of power, the difference in the stability of the 3/4 is night and day! Stay well below your max numbers and listen to these seasoned veterans and you will find yourself and your wife out enjoying the great outdoors before you know it! Good Luck!
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Old 11-23-2020, 07:15 PM   #34
blubuckaroo
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mgreene View Post
It sounds like you are in a great place in your decision process. We were some of the unfortunate that just jumped out and bought based on sticker numbers for our trucks ability. I soon found out that wasn’t real life! Even though our 1/2 ton covered the numbers on paper, I would have never attempted to go through any mountains due to the way the heavy wind sail affected it. Even though the 1/2 ton had plenty of power, the difference in the stability of the 3/4 is night and day! Stay well below your max numbers and listen to these seasoned veterans and you will find yourself and your wife out enjoying the great outdoors before you know it! Good Luck!
On the other hand, some of us will change trailers to keep our half ton trucks. My company has provided me with a new 3/4 ton truck every two years for the last 25 years. They ride too rough for my wife and I. We will downsize first.
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