Tow Capacity Scenario

[devosays]

I am sure this has been asked before in some way shape or form. I am hoping to get real life comments and opinions of people who tow at capacity or 80-90% wet, and that is exactly what I seek to do

Here is my truck - 5.7L V8 Hemi 8speed 3.92 rear. Ratings 1417 payload and 10000 tow capacity

Here is the trailer I want - Keystone Outback 316RL, 980lb hitch, 7500 lb trailer

I plan to purchase a WD kit with sway control.

I have towed a 4000lb boat for a few years with a Ridgeline, it never skipped a beat at near 100% towing capacity with full payload. I assume this Hemi can handle a 80-90% tow capacity with a wet trailer and extra gear, say 9000lbs.

Ok, let the comments and opinions commence. Thanks very much!

[x96mnn]

Comments,

Someone will tell you they do it all day everyday and it is the best tow combination in the world. Most likly toss is a dig at weight police.

My experiance with a 2011 Dodge Ram 1500 with 1490pds payload and rated to tow 9100 pds if I recall. Towed a sprinter 266, 8200 pds loaded up and full fresh water tank, for two full seasons, about 6000 miles. Average 8.9 mpg towing.

Truck to me never felt great, windy days was an easy reduction of 10 to 15 mph. Could not drive more then 5hrs, found I was tired from the constant correction of the sway.

Additions to the truck, airlift 1000s, michellin mx2 E rated tires, upgraded breaks, reese dual cam antisway tow hitch and factory integrated tow module. Best money spent was the $150 air bags.

Towed a freinds camper, about 6500 pds loaded with husky straight line hitch and did not know the trailer was behind me. He towed mine with my truck and said it towed fine, to me it seemed too much.

Just my opinions.

[Festus2]

devosays:
First, I'd check out the numbers found on your Dodge's door pillar and start there. Next, load up your 1500 with all the stuff you would normally take camping (lawn chairs, bikes, or whatever "stuff" you would throw in the bed or back), passengers (including pets) and a full tank of gas. Take it to a weigh scale and get it weighed. After you have the truck's numbers and those of the weigh scale then you can start to figure out what you can safely tow and what you can't. Don't forget to add in the weight of the hitch - let's use 150 lb as that figure.

The dry weight of the TT isn't all that important a figure (and I think your figure of 75000 lbs is a typo).

[devosays]

LOL, thanks for catching that typo. Yes 7500lbs, I would have bought a different truck to pull 75000....

Thanks for the advice, good ideas!

Originally Posted by Festus2

devosays:
First, I'd check out the numbers found on your Dodge's door pillar and start there. Next, load up your 1500 with all the stuff you would normally take camping (lawn chairs, bikes, or whatever "stuff" you would throw in the bed or back), passengers (including pets) and a full tank of gas. Take it to a weigh scale and get it weighed. After you have the truck's numbers and those of the weigh scale then you can start to figure out what you can safely tow and what you can't. Don't forget to add in the weight of the hitch - let's use 150 lb as that figure.

The dry weight of the TT isn't all that important a figure (and I think your figure of 75000 lbs is a typo).

[sourdough]

You don't say if the 7500lbs is dry weight or gvw but I assume dry. Your hitch weight (which will be over 1000lbs when said and done) and two people will put you at, and probably over, your payload. You can't (or shouldn't) carry anything extra in the truck, which means you give up taking a lot.

From my experience pulling my trailer weighing about 9000lbs loaded with a 2014 Ram 1500 hemi, 6 speed auto, 3.55 AND 3.92 (I had two), Equalizer WD hitch I have to agree with x96. It never felt great and I was usually very tired at the end of the driving day from constantly compensating for sway and watching my rearview mirror trying to anticipate passing cars and trucks. The 3.92 obviously pulled better in hills but neither got great mileage (about 8mpg). The 5.7 is a great engine but it knows when it has 9000lbs behind it. I also got very tired of not being able to take what I wanted, fretting about what was placed where, weight distribution etc. It was an every day deal when traveling. No fun.

I suspect different people are more comfortable with various aspects of towing as x96 also alludes to. I upgraded to a 3/4 ton and the towing experience improved exponentially for me. I'm sure another person sitting behind the wheel of the rig I was driving would say it was just fine (in fact I did at one point). The fact will be that you are at or over your legal weights. In real life that actually means nothing unless you are caught.

I agree again with x96 about the air bags. If you do this be sure and install them. I also used AirLift 1000s and they do make a big difference in the stability of it all.

[GaryWT]

You can tow that and more without too many issues. You should be able to stop as well. That said and as others said, your payload will be gone so how tough that will be on the truck is the question. Might not be happy and probably not the best thing but the set up will work for awhile.

[archer75]

From what I understand you also have to look at the gross combined vehicle weight rating. Your trailer, plus vehicle, both fully loaded including passengers must be under that number.

I would have though the weight of the vehicle plus it's listed amount it can tow would equal it's gross combined rating but often times that rating is lower meaning you can't actually tow the listed amount.

Perhaps this will come in handy:
http://changingears.com/rv-sec-calc-...eight-tt.shtml

[devosays]

Thanks Gary and Archer, appreciate the candid input and experience.

Another question the dealer brought up. Will the WD hitch actually distribute the weight of the hitch like he said, he though the 980lb hitch would weigh more like 200lbs on the truck payload... That fair or bull???

Never used one before, and that is huge for me obviously. I am comfortable towing near capacity as I stated, did it before and it didn't bother me...

[x96mnn]

What the dealer states is not true. Your WD hitch will transfer some weight to the front axel, some back to the trailer. There was a post with some math behind it but I could not find it, long and short to reduce by more then 30% was not possible f I recall.

[Festus2]

devosays -
A WD hitch will, as pointed out above, take some of the weight off the tongue and distribute it to the front axle of the tow vehicle as well as the trailer axles.

If you go to www.etrailer.com and click on the towing tab -----> weight distribution link, an explanation can be found of this process as well as a description of what to do when you take your hooked up unit to a weigh scale to determine tongue weight.

If you haven't visited the etrailer site, it contains a lot of useful trailering information.

[jkohler70]

According to the Keystone website, that RV has a shipping weight of 7560 and a carrying capacity of 1440, for a combined total of 9000#. Shipping hitch weight is 980#. After batteries, full LP tanks, and a loaded RV, I'll bet your hitch weight is north of 1100#.

[Goingfor9]

I have cougar xlite 31sqb its similiar to what your talking about. I towed it with an f150. Added air bags new tires and a propride hitch to cover the sway. The truck towed and stopped ok. With the hutch I had it never swayed so that was never a concern for me. It was hard on the truck though and the brakes would need to be replaced quickly. Had i done it for a long time the truck probably would have a given out before its time. Just upgraded to an f250 to tow it with. I've towed it one time and there is no comparison in the differance. I thought my old truck towed ok and it did not. In my opionion it's probably to much for your truck but it's your decision.