Forest River Salem 32BHDS

[Rhombus]

Just looking at the length, my personal opinion is that more than 30” is too long for our wheel base. My opinion.

 

[Trooper4]

Pretty scary when someone says they’ve been towing for 40 years but completely ignore the payload capability of their truck.

Not ignoring capacity at all. Not ONE of you jockers has asked, or know, whether the weight I stated was wet or dry, It was in fact wet and configured as road ready. And as I further stated that it is in fact within tow specs for my particular truck. I also stated that I definitely would NOT recommend it for the weekend warrior that tows a couple of times a year. I see enough of them with a 3500 and 44 footer doing 75+ on the freeway to make me want to stay on the secondaries. Making a blanket statement that a 1/2 ton should NEVER pull anything over 5000 and 28' is your opinion. If that is where you are comfortable, then go with it. But don't tell me your way is the only right way. I stand behind what I told OP as far as advise for him. If you have something constructive to add for him, do so, but keep it at that. This old dog about what another RVr can tow has been rehashed a hundred times and is as stale as moldy bread. Like I said before, everyone has an opinion, and it is worth what you pay for it.

 

[silver billet]

Not ignoring capacity at all. Not ONE of you jockers has asked, or know, whether the weight I stated was wet or dry, It was in fact wet and configured as road ready. And as I further stated that it is in fact within tow specs for my particular truck. I also stated that I definitely would NOT recommend it for the weekend warrior that tows a couple of times a year. I see enough of them with a 3500 and 44 footer doing 75+ on the freeway to make me want to stay on the secondaries. Making a blanket statement that a 1/2 ton should NEVER pull anything over 5000 and 28' is your opinion. If that is where you are comfortable, then go with it. But don't tell me your way is the only right way. I stand behind what I told OP as far as advise for him. If you have something constructive to add for him, do so, but keep it at that. This old dog about what another RVr can tow has been rehashed a hundred times and is as stale as moldy bread. Like I said before, everyone has an opinion, and it is worth what you pay for it.

You're so certain you're right in your own mind, so why not post the door jamb sticker and model number/year of your trailer so we can all learn how wrong we are?

 

[devildodge]

CAT scale ticket.

@Trooper4 I am very glad your experience makes you feel safe doing your tow.

My interest is in the fact of whether the 1500 really is this capable or if people are running with the devil.

I took the numbers you did give and above showed why we think you are overloaded.

I will do it again.

The numbers say your truck has a base weight of 5535. GVWR is 6900 and GCWR is 17000.

So your payload sticker probably says 1365.

So do you see why we think you are overloaded. Starting to see it could be unsafe.

Ok so your GAWR is 3700 front and 4100 rear. To keep the numbers simple our trucks have about a 60/40 split.

So your base axle weight is 3321 front and 2214 rear. So to run your rear axle to gross...you have 1886lbs. Now do you see it. Is it crystal clear yet.

Your signature says 9000 your thread says 10000.

Lets say you are lucky and your 5th wheel only has 18% pin weight. 9000lb 5th wheel 1620 pin weight 10k 5th wheel 1800. Do you see the concern.

Most 5th wheels have about 22% so 1980 and 2200.

I think the people questioning you have a valid reason to know why you feel this is safe.

Me...i am just flat out impressed that RAM is taking that beating.

Maybe what we are missing is you move it from a permanent site to an on site storage.

 

[devildodge]

Towing: Will the 1500 meet my needs or am I waiting for the 2500.

Well, as noted in many of my posts I am completly smitten by the new Ram 1500 and especially the Rebel. Unfortunately for the 1500 I do alot of heavy hauling and towing. But after seeing @Ksilva211 tow with his, I became more impressed. Well, here in the wonderful state of Pennsylvania we...

5thgenrams.com

My thread about wanting a 1500...but needing a 2500.

I just did this comparison in that thread...but here goes again.



My CAT scale slip. You can see I am towing a trailer about half what @Trooper4 is.

And you can see...i am not going to be towing too much of a bigger one.

With passengers, firewood, my toolbox, bikes and tongue weight I have alot in the truck.

My trucks base weight is 7003 lbs. So you can see I have 2418 lbs added to the truck. Most 1500s avg 1400lb payload. So I am 1018 pounds over avg.

With the cargo I take...my 2500 would be overloaded with that 5th wheel.

 

[Finn5033]

Not ignoring capacity at all. Not ONE of you jockers has asked, or know, whether the weight I stated was wet or dry, It was in fact wet and configured as road ready. And as I further stated that it is in fact within tow specs for my particular truck. I also stated that I definitely would NOT recommend it for the weekend warrior that tows a couple of times a year. I see enough of them with a 3500 and 44 footer doing 75+ on the freeway to make me want to stay on the secondaries. Making a blanket statement that a 1/2 ton should NEVER pull anything over 5000 and 28' is your opinion. If that is where you are comfortable, then go with it. But don't tell me your way is the only right way. I stand behind what I told OP as far as advise for him. If you have something constructive to add for him, do so, but keep it at that. This old dog about what another RVr can tow has been rehashed a hundred times and is as stale as moldy bread. Like I said before, everyone has an opinion, and it is worth what you pay for it.

First off, if you actually read all the posts in this thread you would know I’m not the one throwing numbers and towing advice at you. My only comment is that if you have been towing for that many years it’s scary that you aren’t acknowledging your payload is probably not what it should be to tow your camper. I do know that the payload capacity on the Limited model trucks is very low. The fact that you refuse to post a picture of your payload listed on the door jamb sticker and the pin weight of your 5th wheel tells everyone here that you either know you are way over your payload and don’t care, or you don’t know the difference between towing capacity and payload. Since you say you having been towing for 40 years I would assume you do know the difference.

If you are way over payload that’s your choice, but don’t come on here calling names and telling people that they are wrong if you refuse to share the actual specs of your truck and camper.

And if you do actually have a 5th wheel that size that is legally half ton towable it would be great to share that information so people know they have that option.

 

[cj7]

Enough back and forth BS - get back to helping the OP or keep it to yourself.

Venom, I’m curious what you wind up getting - what r your must-haves ?

 

[WhattheTruck!]

Venom, I’m curious what you wind up getting - what r your must-haves ?

Same here! With the supply/demand issues going on, it's taking us some time to get a final quote for order.

 

[silver billet]

Enough back and forth BS - get back to helping the OP or keep it to yourself.

Venom, I’m curious what you wind up getting - what r your must-haves ?

Oh, so you're a mod now too?

 

[silver billet]

LoL - good one.

Reminds me of this “Every flock should have a Shepard and a Sheepdog. The shepard to care for the flock,a dog to ward off wolves and gather the wanderers. And so the flock gives the Shepard and the Sheepdog purpose.“

no inferences intended, just reminded of that...

This reminds me of the time I saw a bear fart in the woods. It's a completely pointless anecote but you just reminded me of it.

 

[FL-Ram]

Looking into purchasing my first Travel Trailer, a Forest River Salem 32BHDS. This model seems to have everything we need to fit the kids, dog and occasional guests. Just concerned about going so big for a first time hauler, total length is listed at 36' 4". Anyone have any experience towing this model, size or something similar? Could also use some help with weight distribution hitch, I don't really have a clue, should I just go with what the dealer recommends?

what size truck to you have? I had a 2019 1500 limited Hemi pulling a 273RL and it did well. It’s 34’ so your would be a bit longer. Air suspension a must as it is heavy and lowered truck a lot. Defiantly get a WDH. I have the BluOx and it does great. It offers anti sway. Just be sure to turn off trucks as they will fight each other. At 8k empty the TT tasks the truck but just don’t push it or be unrealistic about going through mountains. Ensure you have the OEM brake controller as it’s fully integrated and will allow you to use ACC safely. I upgraded to 3500 as we want to buy a 5th. Contact me and I’d be happy to provide you more data. Someone helped me with similar question when I bought ours so I’d like to return the favor to the community.

 

[venomonmytongue]

OP here, we haven't pulled the trigger on anything yet but looking at either the Hemisphere 273RL(which is actually 34'4") or the Vibe 28RL(34'3"). I know i'm probably pushing it with these but does anyone have any real world experience with these or anything similar?

 

[blakei]

We have a Jayco 28BHS which is about 34’ total. Pulling with a 2020 1500. Poster above said it taxes the truck and to be careful; definitely agree. I’ve gotten comfortable with the truck and trailer but still think about an upgrade to a 2500.

I definitely would not go bigger than 30ish feet and 8K total... if doing this again I’d either get a shorter/lighter bunkhouse or a bigger truck. (That said the 5th gen 1500 has features that I like better than the 4.5 gen 2500)

I wrote up the entire experience and tuning steps I took over on the Jayco Owners forum if you want to read more.

28BHS actual tongue weight very high - how to reduce? - Jayco RV Owners Forum

Hi all- first post. Have been reading tons as we decided to jump into camping with a travel trailer after many years tent camping. Had been thinking about it for a few years but couldn't pull what we

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[blakei]

Maybe this link works...

28BHS actual tongue weight very high - how to reduce? - Jayco RV Owners Forum

Hi all- first post. Have been reading tons as we decided to jump into camping with a travel trailer after many years tent camping. Had been thinking about it for a few years but couldn't pull what we

www.jaycoowners.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[INVISBLE]

Only insane people tow a 5th wheel without a dual rear wheel setup to begin with. Blow 1 back tire at highway speed and it's all over. And using a 1/2 ton on top of that, you should be committed.

 

[Trooper4]

Only insane people tow a 5th wheel without a dual rear wheel setup to begin with. Blow 1 back tire at highway speed and it's all over. And using a 1/2 ton on top of that, you should be committed.

Call me craaaazzzzyyyy. I don't have a problem with mine. I do however have a problem with blanket statements.

 

[Willwork4truck]

This topic and gas vs diesel sure brings out the opinions...

Be glad you don’t live up north in our border country. Their RCMP likes to weigh rv’s and inspect towing equipment at the least desirable times.
I lived there 6 years and went through several mandatory checks while in the mountains of BC, often near the BC-Alberta border.

The RCMP weighed truck campers which were sometimes very overloaded as far as payload and rear gvw axle ratings goes. They seem to use the “weigh it If it doesn't look right” idea like seeing big multi-slide campers on 3/4 ton trucks etc. They will weigh them with 4 scales and have them offload if over anywhere. You will sometimes see the unloaded campers on the side of the road at the pull outs.
Fivers got pin weighed and on tow behind trailers they would look for things like no safety chains, no battery on the trailer, no safety pin in the hitch, improper or non-working lights, no brake control etc.
It wasn’t very often but happened usually around long weekends or typical summer holiday travel times.
Here in the states this never seems to happen, don’t know why as some jurisdictions are missing out on possible fines. Just be glad it’s not high up on their list.

So what does this have to do with the OP’s question? Well nothing much other than it might be a good idea to anticipate that sometime in the future, LEO/DMV’s might get the idea to start looking at rv’s. If so, it might be a good idea to not buy a trailer that is pushing the envelope of your truck, or just up-truck in case you fall victim to the “lets get that bigger one” process.

For now, some rv’ers are technically overloaded yet pulling their trailers just fine, be it dumb luck, experience or whatever. One of the things people don’t seem to consider is that all of the mods that they often have to purchase would have paid for a 2500 in the beginning, but that’s “closing the barn door” thinking.

 

[Willwork4truck]

We have a Jayco 28BHS which is about 34’ total. Pulling with a 2020 1500. Poster above said it taxes the truck and to be careful; definitely agree. I’ve gotten comfortable with the truck and trailer but still think about an upgrade to a 2500.

I definitely would not go bigger than 30ish feet and 8K total... if doing this again I’d either get a shorter/lighter bunkhouse or a bigger truck. (That said the 5th gen 1500 has features that I like better than the 4.5 gen 2500)

I wrote up the entire experience and tuning steps I took over on the Jayco Owners forum if you want to read more.

28BHS actual tongue weight very high - how to reduce? - Jayco RV Owners Forum

Hi all- first post. Have been reading tons as we decided to jump into camping with a travel trailer after many years tent camping. Had been thinking about it for a few years but couldn't pull what we

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Nice to see real experiences being posted instead of opinions. Course I’ve been out of towing for over a decade. Regardless, nice to see what is being done today with all the current tech/mods.

 

[INVISBLE]

Call me craaaazzzzyyyy. I don't have a problem with mine. I do however have a problem with blanket statements.

Well let's put it this way... it will only happen to you once and you will never do it again. And that's if you live through it.
It is painfully obvious that you haven't given thought to what would happen if you have a rear tire fail if your towing a 5th wheel with a regular single tire rear axle. I have seen it myself, it was a literal disaster that left a completely totalled truck and trailer all over the freeway after both rolled at least 5 times. But hey more power to you, just stay the hell away from me.

 

[Trooper4]

A door jamb sticker alone won't tell you anything. No one claimed that a limited could have a 1500lb+ payload... And assuming, well you know what people say about that...
Weight slips would be needed too, no two trailers are identical. Pin weight from a bigger 5th doesn't always correlate exactly to the pin weight of the lighter 5th wheels out there. There are ones that a 1/2 ton is more than capable of handling if extras in the truck are kept to a minimum. I.E. only 1 or 2 people in the truck, like he infers.

I haven't weighed my TT setup, but I'm mildly confident that I am exceeding my payload when we throw the bicycles in the back of the truck. I'm not worried as I'm certainly not exceeding axle weights and the truck doesn't handle any worse. Keeping your speed in check helps to keep chances of sh1t hitting the fan to a minimum.

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Also, not everyone is running stock "P" rated tires, so the door sticker can be off a little. There are a lot of variables, so a blanket "your over weight" might be a little off also.