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

Sin_loki

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Haven't towed anything yet with the 3.0 ED yet (i don't have it yet, is being shipped still) with my new truck truck should be able to pick up a lot better where my older 4.7 did. I would have to take off the rear wing element on longer trips since it would change the tongue depending on how fast you would go. Goal is to get an enclosed trailer this year so there is less prep work once at the track and prevent the trailer from going kinda wild if you go over 70 with the wing attached (adds about 150-170 lbs to back end of the trailer, thus lifting the tongue up a little bit.) going into a head wind was always "Fun"


20161211_155642.jpg


If i do a private event, it also gets used to bring in disabled cars via a tow strap. i'll probably send it for a couple of laps as well if i get a chance, my old 04 did pretty well for a tank lol

and in the summer it gets to drag a small 18 ft boat
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CJ7nvrstk

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Boats tow so much better due to the lesser frontal area for sure. An equal weight boat and travel trailer pull very differently in frontal and side winds.
When I towed a 4 horse trailer decades ago the curved front clearly was easier than the old “brick” Traveleze bumper pull trailer.

Both were the same length and the 4 horse trailer much heavier when loaded.
Great! Guessing my Jeep will be terrible then since it has the aerodynamics of a barn. Will fins out tomorrow when I get all loaded up for the first time.
 

antwon412

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Great! Guessing my Jeep will be terrible then since it has the aerodynamics of a barn. Will fins out tomorrow when I get all loaded up for the first time.
I flat tow my TJ.
No affect with handling it all, but man does it kill the mileage.
My rebel only gets around 12 miles to the gallon normally, I get less than nine towing the jeep and when I’m accelerating or going up a slight hill it gets down to 3-4 MPG‘s 9D97EAE1-B476-4210-A212-95B19045B80A.jpeg
 

VernDiesel

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Lol don’t buy used U haul. Over max tow I’m sure with transmission rebuild in her future. In many states you can legally tow a bumper pull behind a 5th wheel but only a few states have no specific regulation against towing anything behind a bumper pull trailer. Lol can’t think of the proper name for bumper pull.
 

Dragonmaster13

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5ad19272bc39af09859559b158ccacee.jpg

Here’s my Dutchmen behind my 4th gen Hemi. 33’ball to bumper. Loaded it scales out at 7600lbs packed for 2+ week trips and just under 7500 for shorter jaunts. I use a Blue Ox sway pro hitch with 1000lb bars. Tongue weight and hitch total just under 850lbs (11.1%) With the family loaded the truck is right at GVWR.

I can’t believe people tow heavier as this truck is an ST, basically the same as a Tradesmen, with a 1360lb payload and I’ve seen limiteds, in the 900-1100lb payload range, with quad slide 34’ trailers behind them that are 9000lbs dry....just the tongue weight would put them over GVWR and then they have a full bed load of fire wood and 3-4 passengers to boot. I make sure I leave campgrounds before they hit the road so I’m nowhere near when the sh!7 hits the fan.


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Adam85

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Travel trailer at 8900lbs with 900lb tongue weight. Factory air ride for the win. Towed it no problem with the 3.21 gears.
What kind of WDH you using, I'm searching for a new one. My campers gvwr is 9690
 

Chanyote66

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I can’t believe people tow heavier as this truck is an ST, basically the same as a Tradesmen, with a 1360lb payload and I’ve seen limiteds, in the 900-1100lb payload range, with quad slide 34’ trailers behind them that are 9000lbs dry....just the tongue weight would put them over GVWR and then they have a full bed load of fire wood and 3-4 passengers to boot. I make sure I leave campgrounds before they hit the road so I’m nowhere near when the sh!7 hits the fan.

I was going to mention this as well. or by completely skewing TW... 6% TW on a boat? you can tell that towable companies have been playing the same "pick a number" as the truck industry. Most of the trims above the tradesman and bighorn are not a truck "by the sticker" Id probably be fine with 6% tw driving in town to the water, but not at all interstate where bumps, groves, and debris can really use that trailer leverage against you. Iv grown up towing hay trailers in the mountains of Colorado... you do not ever want below 10% on the bumper, or 15% on the goose/plate

Here is my truck by the numbers:
Current setup: 2020 Ram 1500 Bighorn, 1746lb cargo, 11,400lb tow with 3.92 axle.

Current TT: 22ft 2890-3955lbs TW is always setup at 13% measured per trip! that is 375-515lbs (usually right around 500#)
Family of 5+dog: 556lbs
In the bed: Spare 5 gal fuel: (37lbs), Spare LPG 20lb tank (37lbs), bikes (158lbs), Firewood 40-50lbs, 36 gallons of water (305lbs) ( total ~582lbs)
overall total: 1638lbs

That 1638 is over most payloads of the 1500's
Id love to throw the bikes and spare lp in the TT but then it would be over weight (single axle 19ft box bunkhouse)
 

franko

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2019 Ram 2500 Cummins 4WD
3.73 Rear Axle
Outdoors 250RDS 32ft LOA
Blue Ox 1500 hitch

Weights - trailer empty
Truck Steer Axle - 4700 lbs
Truck Drive Axle - 4880 lbs
Trailer Axle - 8020 lbs
Total Axle - 17600 lbs
Tongue Weight - 1200 lbs (approximate)
Drives like a dream.

IMG_20210130_130529972_HDR.jpg
 

RRlover55

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here is my biggest tow. 8429lbs in this pic scaled ready to camp. View attachment 43383
Pretty sure we were maxed out. The trailer was probably pushing 8000 all loaded up. It's a 29.5 foot plus hitch. This was a pretty good tug with a 20 mph head/side wind on a 98 degree day. It was a handful with a 4 point distribution hitch even. I'm wondering if timbren stops would help this/stop the squat a bit.
e8f7bcb64650ca5663b7509a917233ca.jpg


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if your truck can tow 11k-12k, shouldn’t it be able to tow 8k fairly easily? I ask because I am looking at an 8500 pound trailer and I have to tow up 7% mountain roads. Would appreciate your thoughts.
 

Dragonmaster13

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if your truck can tow 11k-12k, shouldn’t it be able to tow 8k fairly easily? I ask because I am looking at an 8500 pound trailer and I have to tow up 7% mountain roads. Would appreciate your thoughts.

11-12k is a mythical unicorn number with a perfectly balanced trailer at 10% tongue weight, no passengers and nothing else in the truck but the driver and best suited for a 2500. Take your payload (yellow sticker on the C pillar of the drivers door), subtract: the weight of any people and their stuff you plan to put in the truck, 100lbs of random stuff usually in the cab under the seat, in the console and glove boxes (wife’s purse is a big one), any weight in the bed, accessories, and the weight of your hitch (75-100lbs) and that gives you allowable tongue weight. Divide allowable tongue weight by 12-15%, which is what most RVs have for tongue weight, and you have your max trailer weight. This is usually around 8000-8500lbs for a truck with a 1450lb payload. Can you do more? Yes, but not legally. Can the truck handle more? Probably, but not recommended.


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VernDiesel

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RRlover55, With half tons it's rarely about power. Its most often about weight distribution magnified by soft suspension. People are simply not taught the how and the why. A flat bed load is one thing a tall high center of gravity wind sail known as a travel trailer or toy hauler is another. Unfortunately they are bunched together with the best marketing number. With the 4th gen 1500s 8k is a realistic comfortable two fingers driveable max tow for a TT. That is IF its set up optimally using a CAT type scale. I am sure with the 5th gens a little more due to improvements and the max drive axle weight being raised. Not that you can't tow more TT just that at that point even with proper weight distribution a HD would be a better tool for the job. Roofing nails with a sledge hammer, spikes with a roofing hammer, each can be done neither is ideal.

I transport new TTs & THs for the manufacturers for a living. Not to pick on Moparluver but if you look at the pic the front of his truck is lifted a few inches which is bad and compounded by the fact that the rear is squated a few inches. Center of gravity is raised braking traction is diminished. Its like you trying to balance on your heels instead of standing in a boxing stance. He is using a WDH but its not set to transfer near enough weight from his drive axle back to his steer axle and back to the trailer axles. This is why as he said it was a handful to drive. He needs to weigh his truck unloaded at a CAT scale to get his steer and drive axle weights. Pull off the scales pick up his camp ready ish TT roll back over the scales get another weight slip and pull off. The first slip normally costs about $12 each additional about $2.

Now he compares the two slips. He is going to have two main goals. First to find his tongue weight percentage. I adjust this towards 12.0 percent as its proven to be enough so that there is no sway at say 65 mph on the highway and its not putting more load on the truck than is necessary. Tongue weight here is found by adding the drive and steer axle weight together then subtract the combined drive and steer weight from the unloaded truck. This tells actual tongue weight. The reason it's done this way is because with the WDH tongue weight is dynamic not static. If you add that tongue weight number to the trailer axles weight number you have the gross as loaded TT weight.

Lets say his tongue weight showed 1,200 pounds and that his trailer axles weight showed 6,800. 1,200 plus 6,800 equals 8,000 pounds gross trailer weight. 1,200 divided by the 8,000 shows his tongue weight at 15.0%. IE tongue weight is heavier than it needs to be. That said if he redistributes too much weight and gets his tongue weight say below 10 percent eventually he will get a trailer that wants to sway at highway speed.

The second goal is to replace the unload steer axle weight. Once this or these two things have been accomplished you will notice the front of the truck has dropped to a stockish height and the rear has risen closer to a stockish height. This accomplished by redistributing weight three ways. The first thing I do is move some of the heavy stuff from the front of the TT back to over the trailer axles and lock it in best as you reasonably can. The second thing I do is move any weight that I can from behind the drive axle to in front of it or into the cab or best in the TT above the axles. Third and perhaps most important to adjust the hitch. Often you have to be more aggressive than the hitch manufacturers directions suggest. Now re-weigh and repeat until you get the best tongue weight front axle weight you can.

If you were two fisted driving that trailer to the scales you should now be able to drive two fingers home going 5 mph faster than you traveled on the way over. When a fast moving semi passes too fast instead of the bow wave sucking then pushing away your trailer then truck so that it moves you like an accordion, it only pushes you away feeling almost like your truck & trailer is one unit. This is confirmation of a job well done with the satisfaction of safe travel for your family and much easier more stress free driving. If someone pulls out in front of you and you swerve out and back in to get around them happy day because you are not upside down backwards in a ditch and staring on youtube. If the stop light turns and you have to stop hard you no longer slide through the intersections because the axle weight distribution allows the suspension and brakes to work as designed with maximum traction.

Lets say his truck weighed 6k. It would have looked something like this
steer 3,300
drive 2,700 = GVW 6k

With trailer
steer 2,900
drive 4,300 = GVW 7,200 (1,200 tongue weight 50 over max receiver, 400 pounds over 4th gen max drive axle, 250 pounds over 6,950 gvwr)
trailer 6,800
CVW 14,000

After redistribution
steer 3,300
drive 3,660 = GVW 6,960 (960 tongue weight 12% and meets all specs.
trailer 7,040
CVW 14,000
 
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JF19Longhorn

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Just finished installing the WDH on our new-to-us enclosed trailer.

Haven't driven it yet or scaled it, as we had a family emergency right as I was pulling out of the shop to go for a test spin. Had to drop everything and go. I'll drag it around at some point this week(end).

Truck unloaded: Fr 38.50" / Rr 39.50"

Truck & trailer no WDH: Fr 38.75" / Rr 37.25"

Truck & trailer WDH hooked up: Fr 38.25" / Rr 38.75"

Hooked up, with WDH connected, the trailer is sitting at Fr 11.5" / Rr 12.5"



I'm hoping to get it scaled before we leave for or South Jersey to Tennessee trip. 20210328_172357.jpg
20210328_172543.jpg 20210328_172528.jpg
 
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Trooper4

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I have towed fivers and pull-behind both, and setup is critical on both, but especially on a TT with load equalizing hitch. If the setup doesn't get the weight back on the steer and trailer axles it can be a, shall we say, eventful experience, and leave you exhausted. There is a fairly fine line when setting up a WDH and TT.
 

bpwj76

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I tow a 2021 Grand Design Imagine 2600RB. It's a 29' 8" trailer with a 5785lb dry weight. Loaded, per CAT Scale, is 6300lbs with a 835lb tongue weight. I've been averaging 8.5mpg while towing in mostly hilly areas. I sure do wish I had gotten a truck with the 33 gallon tank. IMG_0846.jpg IMG_0935.jpg
 

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