How big have you towed? w/Pics no tricks!

[Ram92131]

View attachment 58206

Nice. Except for Ramboxes your truck is a twin of mine.

 

[Ram92131]

My new Lance 2445 bunkhouse travel trailer. Overall length a smidge under 30 feet. 5500 lbs. dry, 7600 lbs. GVWR. And looks like it was designed to be towed by a white Limited.

Nice, level towing setup too with the air suspension and Andersen WDH.

 

[2020ramwv]

My new Lance 2445 bunkhouse travel trailer. Overall length a smidge under 30 feet. 5500 lbs. dry, 7600 lbs. GVWR. And looks like it was designed to be towed by a white Limited.

Nice, level towing setup too with the air suspension and Andersen WDH.View attachment 58466View attachment 58467

How good does it tow with that setup

 

[Ram92131]

How good does it tow with that setup

If set up correctly it seems to tow well. The Andersen hitch is a little different than other WDHs. The chain tension seems to make a world of difference. Last time I pulled out of the campground I don’t think I had the tension right and the front of the truck felt a little light. After I stopped and tightened the chain on one side it improved a lot. I haven’t really towed before this setup so I don’t have a solid frame of reference. But I did drive a 24’ Class C motorhome a few months prior to this and found that to be more affected by cross winds than my 30’ trailer. So maybe the sway control of the Andersen is making a difference.

Also the air suspension really seems to level things out. When I got to the campsite and put my level app on the trailer it was exactly 0 degrees all around while still hooked up to the truck.

 

[Darthmayxj]

Miata race car!

 

[Jus Cruisin]

This is the Cobia 277 hooked up. It's all this truck would want to pull. Guessing 8500 lbs. It had 100 gallons of gas in it.

 

[sstumpf]

About 5500lbs with the mini excavator, towed it just fine.

truck was sagging just a little with 14’ dump trailer loaded with CA6, lol. About 8500lbs. Did fine, only drove about 20 miles like that.

 

[JJRamTX]

From what I understand, the class IV hitch rating is 1150lbs/14,000lbs. I'll never comment negative on anyone's gear, but I seen some TTs that scares me to see them being pulled by a ram 1500 class IV.

I would like to know the failing point of that hitch, i imagine that the rating is far below it but still, I would love to know.

I feel when at 1,000lbs TT tongue, plus the WD bars, the tow hitch itself and other accessories, your easily at or over 1150lbs.

I would think the tongue is 1400 Lbs max for the receiver since that is Class IV rated. My 10K Hitch is 1500 Lb Tongue weight max rated.

 

[dougf]

My new Lance 2445 bunkhouse travel trailer. Overall length a smidge under 30 feet. 5500 lbs. dry, 7600 lbs. GVWR. And looks like it was designed to be towed by a white Limited.

Nice, level towing setup too with the air suspension and Andersen WDH.

Interesting that your setup is nearly identical to mine (other than trailer brand). Even the Anderson WDH that I kept when I sold my 2009 Ram. I'm curious what the payload rating shows on the yellow sticker. By VIN, my is listed at 1090lbs, quite a bit lower than I expected. Since our builds are nearly identical, I'd be interested in what your payload rating is.

 

[VernDiesel]

1,150 is the last class 4 (1500) max receiver weight rating that I’ve seen in Ram literature. But keep in mind if you are using a WDH as Ram recommends for trailers over 5k this can & should be manipulated to a point.

Say you have a really big for the half ton platform 9k wet weight TT with a heavy static tongue weight of 15 percent or 1,350 pounds as would be seen on your CAT scale slips. But you set up your WDH and return some of this now dynamic tongue weight to your trailer axles as would be seen on your CAT scale slip to 1,080 pounds or 12.0 percent. Now it’s within spec and more importantly has also transferred weight off the drive axle to the steer axle for a much more stable & better braking setup.

In fact if it was a 10k flat bed trailer you could safely dial it back to 10 percent or 1,000 pounds of your 10k trailer.

 

[VernDiesel]

1,150 is the last class 4 (1500) max receiver weight rating that I’ve seen in Ram literature. But keep in mind if you are using a WDH as Ram recommends for trailers over 5k this can & should be manipulated to a point.

Say you have a really big for the half ton platform 9k wet weight TT with a heavy static tongue weight of 15 percent or 1,350 pounds as would be seen on your CAT scale slips. But you set up your WDH and return some of this now dynamic tongue weight to your trailer axles as would be seen on your CAT scale slip to 1,080 pounds or 12.0 percent. Now it’s within spec and more importantly has also transferred weight off the drive axle to the steer axle for a much more stable & better braking setup.

In fact if it was a 10k flat bed trailer you could safely dial it back to 10 percent or 1,000 pounds of your 10k trailer.

 

[Ram92131]

Interesting that your setup is nearly identical to mine (other than trailer brand). Even the Anderson WDH that I kept when I sold my 2009 Ram. I'm curious what the payload rating shows on the yellow sticker. By VIN, my is listed at 1090lbs, quite a bit lower than I expected. Since our builds are nearly identical, I'd be interested in what your payload rating is.

I’ll take a look when I go out to the truck next. What’s your experience with the Andersen? I’ve now towed around 1000 miles with it. But these were very long trips so I only hitched up a few times. I don’t think I have it dialed in. Truck feels like it gets pushed around too much in the wind. And if I don’t tighten it until the socket bottoms out I get the truck’s stability control kicking in sometimes. Granted, this is mostly towing in the desert with strong, gusty winds. But I also wasn’t going over 65mph. On the other hand, I don’t feel any change in handling when I go over bumps in the road, so the hitch must be doing something right. Thoughts?

 

[VernDiesel]

I know you asked for dougs thoughts but I’ll throw mine in as I use the Andersen and tow TTs for the Mfgrs to their dealerships nationwide with the 4th gen Ram ED. Plenty of which go through windy Wyoming & New Mexico.

65 mph gusts mean you should probably stop & take a brake no matter your truck & hitch. But max stability is found at the CAT scale as in my above post. Level truck especially with air suspension can be deceiving and does not mean in itself that your axle weighs & tongue weight are well set up. That’s proven on the CAT triple scale that weighs all three sets of axles at the same time to see what the eye & or even measurements cannot.

 

[Ram92131]

Interesting that your setup is nearly identical to mine (other than trailer brand). Even the Anderson WDH that I kept when I sold my 2009 Ram. I'm curious what the payload rating shows on the yellow sticker. By VIN, my is listed at 1090lbs, quite a bit lower than I expected. Since our builds are nearly identical, I'd be interested in what your payload rating is.

Mine is 1129lbs. My guess is that your multi-function tailgate is the primary difference... I have just a normal one.

 

[Ram92131]

I know you asked for dougs thoughts but I’ll throw mine in as I use the Andersen and tow TTs for the Mfgrs to their dealerships nationwide with the 4th gen Ram ED. Plenty of which go through windy Wyoming & New Mexico.

65 mph gusts mean you should probably stop & take a brake no matter your truck & hitch. But max stability is found at the CAT scale as in my above post. Level truck especially with air suspension can be deceiving and does not mean in itself that your axle weighs & tongue weight are well set up. That’s proven on the CAT triple scale that weighs all three sets of axles at the same time to see what the eye & or even measurements cannot.

Thanks. That's helpful. I meant that I was driving 65 or less, not 65 mph wind speed. Just estimating from flags, I think the wind speed was probably 15-20-ish, gusting from there.

I do need to get this rig onto a scale. I was running with a bike rack on the back. Dry the trailer has only 10% tongue weight per spec, so 550 lbs. Total weight of rack and 2 bikes was a good 100lbs, and cantilevered out past the rear bumper. I wasn't carrying much water or other gear over the front of the trailer. So that could have lightened the tongue weight a bit.

Andersen customer support tells me I can tighten it up to a 1/4 inch compression of the red bushings. I haven't done that, mine looks like below. But I do have it pretty well wrenched down. When I left the dealer a little over a month ago they only had 3-4 threads showing.

 

[dougf]

I’ll take a look when I go out to the truck next. What’s your experience with the Andersen? I’ve now towed around 1000 miles with it. But these were very long trips so I only hitched up a few times. I don’t think I have it dialed in. Truck feels like it gets pushed around too much in the wind. And if I don’t tighten it until the socket bottoms out I get the truck’s stability control kicking in sometimes. Granted, this is mostly towing in the desert with strong, gusty winds. But I also wasn’t going over 65mph. On the other hand, I don’t feel any change in handling when I go over bumps in the road, so the hitch must be doing something right. Thoughts?

I'm still fairly new to the Anderson as well. I only used it twice for ~100 miles trips last fall. My trips were on winding roads through the mountains and not much wind so I can't provide any feedback. I thought it did great for my scenario, but with the new truck I will be traveling across I80 in Wyoming and I90 in Montana. Both experience high winds at times in some areas, so I guess I'll find out. I plan to take a long trip in August and will try to remember to come back and provide some feedback on how it went.

However, I may not take delivery of the truck (due 6/29) if the payload on the yellow sticker matches the 1009lb VIN lookup payload. I need at least 200lb more to feel comfortable. The dealership thinks the VIN lookup on the online Ram towing-guide is wrong. I guess we'll see. The only difference I can see between your rig and the one I ordered is that I ordered mine with the multifunction tailgate .. but that may be the problem if Ram beefs up the bed to support the 'barn door' setup.

 

[devildodge]

I'm still fairly new to the Anderson as well. I only used it twice for ~100 miles trips last fall. My trips were on winding roads through the mountains and not much wind so I can't provide any feedback. I thought it did great for my scenario, but with the new truck I will be traveling across I80 in Wyoming and I90 in Montana. Both experience high winds at times in some areas, so I guess I'll find out. I plan to take a long trip in August and will try to remember to come back and provide some feedback on how it went.

However, I may not take delivery of the truck (due 6/29) if the payload on the yellow sticker matches the 1009lb VIN lookup payload. I need at least 200lb more to feel comfortable. The dealership thinks the VIN lookup on the online Ram towing-guide is wrong. I guess we'll see. The only difference I can see between your rig and the one I ordered is that I ordered mine with the multifunction tailgate .. but that may be the problem if Ram beefs up the bed to support the 'barn door' setup.

If you have the VIN, and you looked it up by the VIN, then it is accurate. The MFT is a bit heavier than the traditional tailgate.

 

[Trooper4]

My RAM capacities by VIN are:
2019 RAM 1500 LIMITED CREW CAB 4X2 5'7" BOX
8-Speed Automatic 8HP75 Transmission

Vehicle images shown may not reflect the selected model year. See dealer for details.
MAX PAYLOAD
1367.74LBS
MAX TOWING
11467.74LBS
So will have to run the scales to double check actual, but I was right up there last year.

 

[dougf]

Thanks. That's helpful. I meant that I was driving 65 or less, not 65 mph wind speed. Just estimating from flags, I think the wind speed was probably 15-20-ish, gusting from there.

I do need to get this rig onto a scale. I was running with a bike rack on the back. Dry the trailer has only 10% tongue weight per spec, so 550 lbs. Total weight of rack and 2 bikes was a good 100lbs, and cantilevered out past the rear bumper. I wasn't carrying much water or other gear over the front of the trailer. So that could have lightened the tongue weight a bit.

Andersen customer support tells me I can tighten it up to a 1/4 inch compression of the red bushings. I haven't done that, mine looks like below. But I do have it pretty well wrenched down. When I left the dealer a little over a month ago they only had 3-4 threads showing.

Did you set up the hitch yourself? I'm curious if you followed the instructions RAM owners manual of how to set up a WDH hitch with trucks that have air suspension (standard on the Limited?) It requires a specific process that instructs you to put the air suspension in tire jack mode when doing the setup. If done correctly, you will not tighten the WDH all the way until the hitch is level. There is a formula that is used, allowing the air suspension to self level to the final leveled height.

 

[Turin]

What’s your experience with the Andersen? I’ve now towed around 1000 miles with it. But these were very long trips so I only hitched up a few times. I don’t think I have it dialed in. Truck feels like it gets pushed around too much in the wind. And if I don’t tighten it until the socket bottoms out I get the truck’s stability control kicking in sometimes. Granted, this is mostly towing in the desert with strong, gusty winds. But I also wasn’t going over 65mph. On the other hand, I don’t feel any change in handling when I go over bumps in the road, so the hitch must be doing something right. Thoughts?

You question wasn't addressed to me, but I've been using the Andersen WDH so I'll chime in. I pull a 32' travel trailer that weighs about 7500 lbs loaded.

I like the hitch a lot as far as weight, noise, mess, and ease of hookup are concerned. I'm not impressed with its sway control performance. Like you, I feel like I get pushed around by crosswinds and passing semis, though it's never been bad enough to trip my stability control. I don't know that it's any worse than a typical spring-bar style WDH as far as sway is concerned. If you pull a giant, heavy sail with a 1/2 ton truck you will feel it pushing you around.

My experience has been that everything is great up to 55 mph. Above that speed it depends on conditions. On a calm day 60-65 mph is fine. On a day with 15 mph winds, 60 can start to feel a little loose and 65 is unpleasant. It's not white-knuckle driving but the truck requires constant correction and it's tiring to drive. Adding weight to the front of the trailer and more tension on the chains (= more weight returned to the front axle) helps.

I think the Andersen is fine for shorter distances and lower speeds (i.e. you stay off the Interstate). At higher speeds it would probably be fine with a smaller trailer or a flatbed (i.e. something with a smaller profile), or if I were pulling with a 2500. As it is, though, I'll be replacing it with a ProPride 3P ($$$) in order to get a more relaxed towing experience. The wife and I want to travel while towing the trailer, and right now I don't really want to go further than an hour or two away.