New member

[RMC-318BR]

Hi everyone,

I’m Ryan. From New Jersey, my wife, 4 year old daughter and I are new to the camping world. We just purchased a 2022 Hideout 318BR, my TV is a 2022 Dodge Ram 1500 bighorn. Towing capacity for my truck is 11,740 lb. We have our first trip planned next month when everything starts to open up.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by RMC-318BR

Hi everyone,

I’m Ryan. From New Jersey, my wife, 4 year old daughter and I are new to the camping world. We just purchased a 2022 Hideout 318BR, my TV is a 2022 Dodge Ram 1500 bighorn. Towing capacity for my truck is 11,740 lb. We have our first trip planned next month when everything starts to open up.

Not to rain on your parade, but a couple safety concerns for you & your family!
That rv has a GVWR of 9700 lbs which puts 1300+ lbs of tongue weight (typically 13% of the GVWR) on your 1/2 ton Ram + 100+/- lbs for the mandatory WDH (weight distributing hitch) + all the people, pets, kiddos, tools & other stuff in the truck.
That 11740lb tow rating means nothing in the real rv world. That number was arrived at by the truck manufacturers using utility type trailers with the old directly over the axles thereby lessening the tongue weight considerably, not able to shift weights around on a rv.
The number you should be checking is the yellow/white tag on the driver's door jamb that states "occupants & cargo must not exceed XXXXlbs", thats your payload. From that payload subtract those weights posted above.
Unfortunately I feel your beyond that payload with this rv. As 1st time rv buyers you aren't the 1st, won't be the last, to be given bad advice for using the tow rating of you truck & the dry weight of a rv, both are absolutely meaningless, by salespeople to calculate weights for towing capabilities.
Be safe & enjoy the rv experience.

[RMC-318BR]

Thank you for the Info and your concern. I do plan to soon buy a Ford diesel. But I do have to say it towed fine for me when I picked it up. An hour ride on both back roads and highway and I cursed at 60 and felt nothing other than the weigh. Thanks again for the info.

[sourdough]

Welcome to the forum Ryan!! Lots of good, helpful folks with tons of useful information to help you get started in the RV world.

I see that the subject of weights has already arisen. Since you are new to all of this let me throw some things out for thought;

I had a trailer similar size as yours; yours is 9700lbs. gvw mine was 10k. Yours is 36' long mine was 37'. I had a Ram 1500 Big Horns as well 5.7L - one w/3.55 axle, one with 3.92. I can definitively say that the trailer will be too much for a 1500. I used an Equalizer 4 point weight distribution hitch/sway control. It helped a lot but that's a BIG trailer for a 1/2 ton truck. You said it's a 22 model so I'm sure it has P rated tires on it which need to come off and replace with LT tires. I will say that on mine I had to replace the shocks with Bilsteins, replace the tires with LT, add air bags plus a HD sway bar. In my part of the country (W.TX) a hard whipping wind would still pull that truck everywhere even when I slowed to 45mph - no good. Once the sway gets hold it will get away from you quick if you aren't used to it and know what to do.

I carried about 12-1300lbs. of stuff in the trailer and truck. Trailer usually scaled about 9200lbs. My unloaded weight per Keystone was 250lbs. more than yours. And yes, you will carry much more than you think, especially if you have a little one. Plus to have fun you actually have to carry things to make using the RV fun.

Do yourself a BIG favor and look at the inside of the driver door. You will find some stickers in there. A yellow/white/black one(?) should give you your payload/carrying capacity (weight of passengers and cargo should not exceed xxx lbs.). See if that isn't in the 1600lb.? range (maybe). Post back with that and there are some calculations we (you) can make to see where you stand with that truck - it's not big enough. I know you said it towed fine to you but it doesn't, you just don't know AND the real deal will be when that heavy gust, semi etc. hits you and the truck HAS to take control - it can't. On top of that the braking of a 1/2 ton is just not a match for that big of a trailer because the trailer brakes do a minimal job of stopping the trailer and just push the truck in an emergency situation.

You said you plan on buying a Ford diesel soon. I would recommend real soon before you take any long trips. Mine would want to get away from me from time to time and I've towed a lot of things a lot of miles so it wasn't a big deal - you're new and it can be very unsafe/dangerous for you, your family and others on the road. When you get that diesel just skip right to the one ton and forget the 3/4. The diesel takes away so much payload in a 3/4 it's not much better than having a "heavy 1/2 ton". Good luck and safe travels.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by RMC-318BR

Thank you for the Info and your concern. I do plan to soon buy a Ford diesel. But I do have to say it towed fine for me when I picked it up. An hour ride on both back roads and highway and I cursed at 60 and felt nothing other than the weigh. Thanks again for the info.

Welcome to the forum. I'm glad your maiden voyage was uneventful but let's take a few things into consideration. Your new trailer will never weight this amount again, it's empty. If you want a real world edjucation take it to a scale and weight it before you do anything else. Then weight it again after you get it all "set up" and are your way to your first camping trip.

The items you put in that camper all weight something. At the time your provisioning the trailer it doesn't seem like much because you're not carring the cumulative weight. Then after a season or two weight it again, likely it will gain considerable weigh over time.

With camping trailers the load capacity typically is exceeded long before the towing capacity. To "hands on" feel the difference go to a home or building supply and grab a flat cart. Load it up with about 200 lbs of whatever and pull it. That's towing, the more you can pull the higher the towing capacity. Then take that same load and transfer it to a wheelbarrow. Now manuver that same weight while you support a substantial amount of that weight. What you can support with your arms is the load. The maximum you lift while still safely manuvering the wheelbarrow is your maximum load capacity.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by RMC-318BR

Thank you for the Info and your concern. I do plan to soon buy a Ford diesel. But I do have to say it towed fine for me when I picked it up. An hour ride on both back roads and highway and I cursed at 60 and felt nothing other than the weigh. Thanks again for the info.

The difference between tow rating & payload.
I have no doubt your truck can "tow/pull" that rv with ease, the difference is can it safely within the limits of that truck "carry" the weight its rated for? In the majority of the cases the answer is NO, the payload will be exceeded long before that.

[dutchmensport]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your new camper. I hope you have great success and many, many happy adventures with it.

Here is my word of caution to for you. As a new RV owner, towing a trailer, you absolutely must keep within the speed limit! And no! I do not mean the posted speed limit of the sign along the side of the road. I'm referring to the speed limit your trailer tires are rated at.

The very first thing you should do is check the side walls of your trailer tires and see what the maximum miles-per-hour speed rating is for them. Many RV tires are rated at 65. You do not want to travel faster than the trailer tire rating, even if the posted speed limit on the road is 80. If you do, your tires will be a candidate for a blow out. You NEVER want to experience that.

When towing the trailer, ALWAYS take your time and NEVER let other drivers on the road push you to drive faster than what you feel comfortable with. NEVER! Your life, the lives of your family, and the $100,000 investment you are sitting on and pulling behind you is just too much for some inconsiderate moron trying to push you to run faster because he doesn't know how to manage his time and is now 30 seconds late getting to the grocery store. When towing, its ALWAYS about YOU and your safety. It's never, never, never about speed. It's always about safety.

[RMC-318BR]

Thanks you. Mac payload is 1,840 lbs

[RMC-318BR]

Thank you so much!

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by RMC-318BR

Thanks you. Mac payload is 1,840 lbs

Thanks. Looks like the payload on yours is a bit better than mine were.

Following up on my previous post; your trailer with a 9700gvw would have a tongue weight of 1260 lbs. at 13% of gvw (normal weight range for tongue 10-15%). You may or may not run at gvw (I wouldn't) but with a little one and being young (I assume) you will have activities that you will want to take "stuff" for. I've seen pickups with 4 kayaks on a roof rack with a bed topper and the bed full of "toys"....all of it comes off that 1840 lb. payload. Also remember that you need a good 4 point weight distribution hitch with sway control - I've never found that the little add on friction bars on cheaper sway controls do much of anything....and you will need all you can get with that large a trailer on a 1500.

Weights; lets figure 1260 for tongue weight (you do NOT want to max out your payload, gvw [gross vehicle weight] or gawrs [gross axle weight rating] so estimating high is a good thing. To that 1260 add 120 for your hitch, weight of occupants with clothes, boots, firewood, bbq pit, ice chest and anything else in the bed of the truck. Those numbers will come very close to the payload you listed; mine was over 200lbs. That's not a good place to be experienced or not but worse if you have no experience.

If you have the ability to upgrade the truck, I would - and did after my first long trip with the rig I listed above. The problems that could happen, the damage that I could do to myself and others, was on my mind every minute I was on the road. Remember I was in a 1500 that I had replaced the tires (LT), shocks (Bilstein), added air bags (Air Lift 1000) AND added a Hellwig HD anti sway bar. I thought it was towing fine...for what it was. Upgrading to a 3/4 ton was a HUGE improvement not only in the ability to tow but safety.

Keep the above things in mind as you pick out that 1 ton HD. Another thing; does your 1500 have tow mirrors? My first one did not and it was like towing in the dark.

[wiredgeorge]

Hmmmmm - I think he should buy a 2022 Silverado with 6.6 and Alison 10 speed; they said the SRW Silverado on the commercial I saw had a tow rating of 36,000 lbs. He could tow three of those campers! I suggest the OP take a look at the MANY towing threads on this forum to see where folks giving advice are coming from. Big ol' bumper pull and 1/2 ton are no bueno.

[MrT1953]

I just bought an 2022 keystone cougar 24RDS and cant find the 2nd grey water shut off valve

[spicercars]

Welcome from northern MN.

[dutchmensport]

Originally Posted by MrT1953

I just bought an 2022 keystone cougar 24RDS and cant find the 2nd grey water shut off valve

Look between the wheels?

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by MrT1953

I just bought an 2022 keystone cougar 24RDS and cant find the 2nd grey water shut off valve

I just helped a guy find his gray valve on his Cougar the other day. It wasn't your model but on the Cougar 5th wheels they like to put it back behind the slide almost in the middle of the trailer. His was right next to the black sewer pipe exit.