2022 Ram 1500 Ecodiesel Towing 30' Travel Trailer

[Chris B]

I've read a lot of great information on this site and wanted to start sharing my experiences. I recently purchased a 2022 Ram Laramie CrewCab Ecodiesel for the main purpose of pulling our 30' Travel Trailer. For those in the group that want to know, it does have the 3.92 gears, 1612lb payload, and just over 10k tow rating. I recently traveled across the Midwest from Omaha to Dayton Ohio to pick up the trailer so I can start by giving my MPG. Going out to Ohio with the CC set to 75mph, I was getting from 25-26mpg (hand calculated = ~ .5 less than computer). Around town on the highway ~65-70mph range I'll get 28-29 mpg. On the way back from Ohio to Omaha towing was great at first, but a bit of a white knuckle experience towards the end. My TT is a 2600 KRB East to West Alta (30' total length). The dealer stated "dry weight is just over 6k, but with some dealer add ons / propane, a few other items... I knew I was pushing closer to 6,500, so based on most forums I've read, anything under 8k is usually pretty good for the EcoDiesel. My first portion of the trip was fantastic ... ~ 13 mpg on the first fill-up, and with little to no wind, I often forgot I was pulling anything. The next leg starting the 20+ mph crosswinds, and I quickly realized why I always enjoyed towing a 5th wheel over a Travel Trailer. My MPGs dropped to around 10-11mpg, and the gusts starting shoving me a little sideways.. I haven't gripped a steering wheel that hard in quite awhile. I've read a lot of forums on this issue and knew I had to get to a CAT Scale to see what was going on. I have the Blu Ox Sway Pro on Chain #10 so the bars were bowing pretty good.. but I really had no idea at that point what my "tongue weight" was. The truck and trailer were relatively level. The last leg of the trip included 20+ MPH headwinds, so my MPG dropped again to about 9mpg... fast forward to today... I finally made it to the CAT scale to see what was going on (get the truck wt, then truck + trailer both with and w/o WDH engaged). My "Total" trailer weight was ~ 6600lbs, so not bad. With the WDH disengaged, the math worked out to a TW of 10.7% .. a little on the low side given most say 12-13% is ideal. Once I weighed my truck with the WDH engaged, all the Steer / Drive Axel weights shifted very well ... then I realized they may have shifted too well ... now my TW % dropped to 8.73% (That explains the sway factor). I'm going camping about an hour away this weekend so I estimated I need to add around 200+ lbs to the front of the TT / maybe drop my WDH chain to #9 (less pressure on chains) to get the TW % back to the 11-12% area. I've also been researching possibly adding airbags / bump stops, but will start with shifting some weight first. The truck overall is one of the best trucks I've ever driven. My trucks in the past include a 2008 Duramax 2500, 2005 Ram Cummins 2500 ... I appreciate all the great info from this site and will update everyone on how the weekend travel goes. I will also add pics later.

 

[CMil527]

Welcome!

 

[Lufty]

Welcome!

 

[HemiDude]

Welcome! Nice write up

 

[Burnzie]

Following.

 

[CamFarrBigHorn]

I've read a lot of great information on this site and wanted to start sharing my experiences. I recently purchased a 2022 Ram Laramie CrewCab Ecodiesel for the main purpose of pulling our 30' Travel Trailer. For those in the group that want to know, it does have the 3.92 gears, 1612lb payload, and just over 10k tow rating. I recently traveled across the Midwest from Omaha to Dayton Ohio to pick up the trailer so I can start by giving my MPG. Going out to Ohio with the CC set to 75mph, I was getting from 25-26mpg (hand calculated = ~ .5 less than computer). Around town on the highway ~65-70mph range I'll get 28-29 mpg. On the way back from Ohio to Omaha towing was great at first, but a bit of a white knuckle experience towards the end. My TT is a 2600 KRB East to West Alta (30' total length). The dealer stated "dry weight is just over 6k, but with some dealer add ons / propane, a few other items... I knew I was pushing closer to 6,500, so based on most forums I've read, anything under 8k is usually pretty good for the EcoDiesel. My first portion of the trip was fantastic ... ~ 13 mpg on the first fill-up, and with little to no wind, I often forgot I was pulling anything. The next leg starting the 20+ mph crosswinds, and I quickly realized why I always enjoyed towing a 5th wheel over a Travel Trailer. My MPGs dropped to around 10-11mpg, and the gusts starting shoving me a little sideways.. I haven't gripped a steering wheel that hard in quite awhile. I've read a lot of forums on this issue and knew I had to get to a CAT Scale to see what was going on. I have the Blu Ox Sway Pro on Chain #10 so the bars were bowing pretty good.. but I really had no idea at that point what my "tongue weight" was. The truck and trailer were relatively level. The last leg of the trip included 20+ MPH headwinds, so my MPG dropped again to about 9mpg... fast forward to today... I finally made it to the CAT scale to see what was going on (get the truck wt, then truck + trailer both with and w/o WDH engaged). My "Total" trailer weight was ~ 6600lbs, so not bad. With the WDH disengaged, the math worked out to a TW of 10.7% .. a little on the low side given most say 12-13% is ideal. Once I weighed my truck with the WDH engaged, all the Steer / Drive Axel weights shifted very well ... then I realized they may have shifted too well ... now my TW % dropped to 8.73% (That explains the sway factor). I'm going camping about an hour away this weekend so I estimated I need to add around 200+ lbs to the front of the TT / maybe drop my WDH chain to #9 (less pressure on chains) to get the TW % back to the 11-12% area. I've also been researching possibly adding airbags / bump stops, but will start with shifting some weight first. The truck overall is one of the best trucks I've ever driven. My trucks in the past include a 2008 Duramax 2500, 2005 Ram Cummins 2500 ... I appreciate all the great info from this site and will update everyone on how the weekend travel goes. I will also add pics later.

Just installed Air Ride HD 1000 bags on my Qaud cab Hemi with a 11,700 towing capacity. I frequently tow a Kioti CK 30 tractor. With loaded rear tires, loader bucket and pallet forks. And always some sort of implement, with the largest being a 5 ft brush hog. Tractor weighs about 3,000# without the loader and loaded tires. I'd estimate my total weight with loaded tires, loader and implement the machine weights about 5,500#. I pull it on a 16' dual axle landscape trailer that weighs roughly 1,500# empty. So all in all i'm pulling about 7,000# total without a WDH. Without the air bags you were in for a pretty unenjoyable ride, and plenty of trailer sway. After the airbags with 40PSI of air, a world of difference. Truck sits with little sag and no uncontrolled bouncing when hitting pumps and still has the same amount of tongue weight. Id recommend these, and lessening up on your WDH, I think you'll feel much more comfortable at cruising speed.