A Comprehensive Guide to Towing with the 2019 RAM 1500 - Everything You Need to Know!

[upwindstorm]

Air suspension will work up to and and a little over the rated payload of the truck. If you are overweight though, it will lock out after you hit the road. I use it to hook up after I center under the hitch by lowering, backing under the coupler, and then raising the truck to take the weight off the jack and then setting up the bars. then get in the truck and hit the normal ride height button. Wonderful technology we have here. here is one of many youtubes--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bkH9RZV2A0

What do you mean by "lock out"? like you cant change settings? or the trucks immobilizes itself?

 

[W9MCP]

What do you mean by "lock out"? like you cant change settings? or the trucks immobilizes itself?

The truck will pop an icon on the dash in the instrument cluster and tell you The ride height has been locked at the current value. It’ll ignore commends to raise or lower. FYI, if you have a max load in the bed/tongue and have dropped the suspension during loading this means you can’t raise up. Also, I’ve seen this (*once*) activate on me when I was hitching up a trailer and was nowhere near the payload or tongue weight (it’s a popup tent camper - the entire camper weighs less than my door sticker payload rating). I had dropped down to the lowest setting to sneak under the hitch and went to raise it - no go. Had to raise the trailer using the tongue jack, drive out from it, get up to 10 mph, then park the truck and turn it off and back on before it’d reset. Just turning it off and back on without driving it a couple hundred feet had no effect. After it reset, I dropped it again, backed under the trailer tongue, let the air suspension pick it off the ground, and it was good to go. So maybe it was a gremlin that day, but it did mean I got to see the payload protection light I’d read about in the manual Snippet from manual below.

“Air Suspension Payload Protection Indicator Light — If Equipped
This indicator light will illuminate to indicate that the maximum payload may have been exceeded or load leveling cannot be achieved at its current ride height. Protection Mode will automatically be selected in order to “protect” the air suspension system, air suspension adjustment is limited due to payload.“

 

[JJRamTX]

From what I have noticed the Air Suspension lock-out occurs at around 2,000 Lbs. Just as stated above it will keep you at the setting that you are at except I noticed that it has tried to get back to normal if you are in Aero or Entry/Exit and overloaded and trying to drive above 5 mph. My truck tried to get back to normal with each half yard of rock that was dumped in the bed. after the full 2 yards of rock were loaded it tried it's best to be at normal height and it was almost level to drive but it felt steering light due to the weight imbalance. On the scale the truck was 10,020 Lbs with four passengers. Don't try this at home type of statement. Also won't do it again but now I know what the truck is capable of and it's limits.

 

[frybel]

Hi all! New to Rams and new to towing. First off, big thanks to the OP and everyone else who has offered valuable insight on the towing capacities of our trucks. There's a wealth of info on here, so I just want to make sure I'm digesting it correctly. I bought a 20 Rebel with the sole intent of purchasing a travel trailer in the near future. I want to make sure my family and others on the road are safe when towing. My assumption is that the charts at the beginning of the post for 2019 models also apply to 2020?

From the door sticker - GVWR = 7,100 Payload = 1,514
From the body builder chart - 5.7L Hemi w MDS and 3.92 axle - 17,000 GCWR 11,340 max trailer weight

We're looking at a Rockwood 23FL which has a dry weight of 5,693 Cargo capacity of 1,203 and tongue weight of 736. So fully loaded, the trailer's weight of 6,896 is 61% of stated max trailer weight.

I want to base everything on a max capacity of both the truck and the trailer, knowing that we won't fully load either, but using that as a baseline to make sure I'm well within the parameters. So assuming that, does the following look correct?

Payload (1,514) - Tongue weight (736) = 778 remaining for passengers, gear, etc... in the truck. Will say it's loaded to 7,100

GVWR (7,100) + Trailer dry weight (5693) + water (481) + cargo (722) = 13,996

GCWR ( listed 17,000) / (actual 13,996) = 82% of truck towing capacity when fully loaded.


Once again thanks to everyone who has contributed here. The more people that could read posts like these, the safer the roads would be,

 

[devildodge]

@frybel if your math is right...looks like you have a very good grasp of what can be expected. Looks like you are right where you need to be and I would say if you have some experience towing you will be just fine.

 

[frybel]

Thanks devildodge! No experience towing yet, that's why I wanted to make sure I understood weight capacities, distribution, etc.. beforehand.

 

[Willwork4truck]

Thanks devildodge! No experience towing yet, that's why I wanted to make sure I understood weight capacities, distribution, etc.. beforehand.

You should be fine with the trailer and truck information you posted. IMHO the main thing is watch your tongue weight to prevent swaying (being too light on the tongue weight), keep your trailer brakes set up right and don’t speed.

Despite the ‘weight police” on various forums, our trucks are actually competent tow vehicles, it’s often operator error on loading and driving which are bigger factors (as long as you aren’t trying to tow the space shuttle without a Tundra that is...)

 

[JJRamTX]

Hi all! New to Rams and new to towing. First off, big thanks to the OP and everyone else who has offered valuable insight on the towing capacities of our trucks. There's a wealth of info on here, so I just want to make sure I'm digesting it correctly. I bought a 20 Rebel with the sole intent of purchasing a travel trailer in the near future. I want to make sure my family and others on the road are safe when towing. My assumption is that the charts at the beginning of the post for 2019 models also apply to 2020?

From the door sticker - GVWR = 7,100 Payload = 1,514
From the body builder chart - 5.7L Hemi w MDS and 3.92 axle - 17,000 GCWR 11,340 max trailer weight

We're looking at a Rockwood 23FL which has a dry weight of 5,693 Cargo capacity of 1,203 and tongue weight of 736. So fully loaded, the trailer's weight of 6,896 is 61% of stated max trailer weight.

I want to base everything on a max capacity of both the truck and the trailer, knowing that we won't fully load either, but using that as a baseline to make sure I'm well within the parameters. So assuming that, does the following look correct?

Payload (1,514) - Tongue weight (736) = 778 remaining for passengers, gear, etc... in the truck. Will say it's loaded to 7,100

GVWR (7,100) + Trailer dry weight (5693) + water (481) + cargo (722) = 13,996

GCWR ( listed 17,000) / (actual 13,996) = 82% of truck towing capacity when fully loaded.


Once again thanks to everyone who has contributed here. The more people that could read posts like these, the safer the roads would be,

You should be good with that setup. As stated above the thing to watch is trailer sway, keep your tongue weight above 10% but don't overload. Fill your fresh water tank at your destination, and make sure to drain fresh, black and grey tanks before you head home. Less weight to cause issues and better fuel economy. Happy Trailering!

 

[frybel]

You should be good with that setup. As stated above the thing to watch is trailer sway, keep your tongue weight above 10% but don't overload. Fill your fresh water tank at your destination, and make sure to drain fresh, black and grey tanks before you head home. Less weight to cause issues and better fuel economy. Happy Trailering!

Thanks WillWork and JJRam, I appreciate the responses! SIAP, but how do you determine your tongue weight? And I guess how do you manage it, loading/unloading the front half of the trailer? I was starting to read up on the weight distribution hitches, but (if I understand correctly) they seem to only lower tongue weight by shifting load over the trailer axles.

 

[devildodge]

The WDH transfers the weight back to the steer axle for help steering and braking.

You can measure tongue weight by going to a CAT scale and getting 2 weighs. One with just the truck and one with the truck and trailer (without WDH hooked up)

Then adjust your WDH to see how much you can get back to the steer axle.

Then if the tongue weight is too high or low...move the cargo inbthe trailer. Too high...some to the back. Too low...some to the front.

Also try to keep the weight proportionate to both sides.

 

[JJRamTX]

Thanks WillWork and JJRam, I appreciate the responses! SIAP, but how do you determine your tongue weight? And I guess how do you manage it, loading/unloading the front half of the trailer? I was starting to read up on the weight distribution hitches, but (if I understand correctly) they seem to only lower tongue weight by shifting load over the trailer axles.

There is a tow hitch ball assembly that shows your weight with a built in scale. Or there are other ones out there that are hitch ball scales you can put under your tongue foot which is the one I have.

 

[frybel]

What is the target 10% tongue weight a proportion of? GVWR? i.e. if GVWR = 7,100 target tongue weight should equal 710?

 

[frybel]

What is the target 10% tongue weight a proportion of? GVWR? i.e. if GVWR = 7,100 target tongue weight should equal 710?

NM, realized it's 10% of the gross trailer weight.

 

[Cueva del Osos]

Well, I'm alway up for over-explaining things, so here's my contribution. The tongue weight listed by the TT is a decent estimate, but the worksheet below is what happened when we put ours on the CAT scale a couple weeks ago. We hit the scale with just the truck, then picked up the trailer and hit the scale again (burned some gas in between the weighings, so factored that back in).
We have a WDH so that actually reduced the front axle wt by 120# (putting it on the rear axle, giving us better traction and control). The truck/TT weighed in at 10,735# less the truck only of 6,350# gave an actual TT wt of 4,385#.
The trailer axle on scale was only 3,820#, so our actual tongue weight was 565#. Dividing actual tongue wt by actual trailer wt gave a 13% tongue weight.
I like to come at any calc like this from the 'logical' side as well as the pure math side (lets me know my assumptions/calculations are right). Out TT sticker is 3,900# dry wt, then add 100# for WDH, add 57# for fixed upgrades we've made, add the LP tanks (it's a point of mass disagreement if LP is included in Mfr's dry weight...I believe LP is NOT included) and the water sitting in the lines & water heater (7 gal @ 8#/gal) plus the 225# of permanent contents we've placed in the trailer (and yes, I weighed all of that before putting it in the TT ) - low and behold, the actual TT wt and the expected TT wt are in agreement! (bean counter mike drop!)
I'll note that at this weighing, we weren't packed for a long trip - so there were no clothes in back bathroom closet, no food/bev in center kitchen over axles. I would expect those additions to a) add wt to the total TT wt, and b) reduce the tongue wt % since we'll be adding to center/back of trailer and not much to front - thereby causing a slight 'lift' on the tongue and reducing the tongue wt % to our previously experienced 11-12%. The far right column, btw, are the GAWR (axle max) for the truck - I like to know I'm in line with those ratings as well as the GVWR (truck was 6,900# with trailer - out of our max 7,100# rating, leaving 200# of payload...reverse calc at 13% and we could put 1,500# more in the TT without overloading the truck...which, coincidentally, would put TT axle wt at 5,320# which is still 280# under the TT GVWR...life is GOOD, math is BETTER...)

Yours in the anal-retentive vernacular...

 

[Willwork4truck]

Don’t hold fast to the 10%, some trailers need more, I’ve read that 13% is closer to accurate but it varies. Make sure your trailer is a bit “nose down” as you look at it from the side, not a lot but a little. Vary your fresh water (all depends on where the tanks are), same with full propane and battery boxes on the very front of the trailer (lots of weight), if you have a rear bathroom or a rear kitchen you’ll want to counterbalance, if the kitchen or bath and tanks are on one side, shift some weight to the opposite. It’s all a “dance” of sorts.

Watch your wheel bearings, if you don‘t know when they’ve been packed, get them done. Get one of those IR temp guns so you can check the hubs periodically. Inspect the tires for cuts, bulges etc. The cheap Chinese made trailer tires are called “bombs” on rv forums for a good reason.

Watch a few YT videos on the various weight distributing hitches, there’s so many out now that it is hard to give you “blanket” advice that’s worthwhile.

When you adjust your trailer brakes at the brake controller you want them to fully engage but not lock up. There’s YT videos on that as well. Make sure the trailer brakes don’t drag when they are not applied, but aren’t too “loose” when they are. It sounds complicated however a good dealer can really be of help, or a friend who has had a trailer for awhile.

You can also read up on the travel trailer forums instead of just ours. They will give you lots of detailed towing information. Be prepared for the “weight police” to tsk-tsk at you for not having a dually 1 ton tow rig...

Anyway some thoughts. Oh, and don’t depend on your 7 pin wiring from the truck to fully charge the trailer battery, its pitifully small gauge wire and does a poor job, something else for you to read up on. Then there’s the batteries themselves, typically rv dealers sell a small group size 24 or 27 marine type battery which is not a deep cell battery... It goes on and on with trailers/rv’s...

 

[timtlu]

Anyone care to check/confirm my understanding here?

Included trailer stats are what we are looking at buying. Looks like I would be comfortably below in all areas with the possibility of carrying a trailer up to 1000 more pounds?

 

[devildodge]

@timtlu Well, right off the bat you gained 100 pounds. Your truck has 1657 lbs of payload and in your chart you have 1557. So that helps.

I am assuming you have the 3.21 rear gear since you listed 13900 as GCWR.

But with 525lbs of passenger/ cargo....you will be real close to your weights when you figure a 12% tongue weight on a 7000 GVWR trailer.

Other than that...on paper...it sure looks good.

If you have towing experience I think your experience towing will be favorable. Plenty of people towing heavier with good results.

Seems, you are picking a good trailer match for your truck.

 

[Willwork4truck]

Here’s an example of trying to tow “too big” from a tfltruck.com article dated June of 2017:
Will It Tow That? Ram 1500 V8 HEMI vs. 30-foot Double Decker Race Car Trailer?

In the article it gives sound advice When referring to a trailer:
“...It has a high center of gravity, lots of aerodynamic resistance, and it’s wider than a half-ton pickup with standard side mirrors can handle.
A good rule of thumb for heavy towing suggests that a safe tow vehicle should be heavy by itself (the heavier – the better), have a long wheel-base, and have the capacity to accommodate the fully loaded trailer.“

Owners who are looking at towing 35’ triple slide 5th wheels might want to take notice. The trailer frontal area, overall length and weights of those big fivers is very stressful on a 1500 and its driver, not to mention the pin weight vs the truck’s payload.

 

[timtlu]

@timtlu Well, right off the bat you gained 100 pounds. Your truck has 1657 lbs of payload and in your chart you have 1557. So that helps.

I am assuming you have the 3.21 rear gear since you listed 13900 as GCWR.

But with 525lbs of passenger/ cargo....you will be real close to your weights when you figure a 12% tongue weight on a 7000 GVWR trailer.

Other than that...on paper...it sure looks good.

If you have towing experience I think your experience towing will be favorable. Plenty of people towing heavier with good results.

Seems, you are picking a good trailer match for your truck.

I've installed the hard mopar trifold tonneau and power running boards, accounting for the extra 100 lbs. Yes, the 3.21 crew cab is the right assumption. Thanks for the confirmation; I've spent a good amount of time trying to figure this out.

 

[devildodge]

Then you have a very good grasp of what can be expected. Sorry, I didn't think about you making the payload adjustment.

My opinion, a 6500 lb trailer is just about the right size for a 1500. I say this as your trucks Base weight is 5443. So that puts that trailer at a close weight ratio to your loaded for travel truck.

I think looking at a 7000 lb GVWR trailer is a great place to be. You can always tow it with empty water and waste tanks. Power wise you won't be a a detriment at all. The 5.7 Hemi was used in the HeavyDuty trucks since 2003. So it can work. The 3.21 will be just fine as the 8 speed makes great use of gear ratios.

Take your time. Travel slow but steady and check your mirrors. Enjoy the trip as much as you will the destination.