I have towed with my 2019 Ram 1500 limited a bunch of times now but last week I did my first real long distance tow with it and I thought I would share my impressions of it as well as compare it to the truck it replaced, a 2014 1500 Silverado Crew cab 4wd with a 6.2l motor and the “max tow” pack and 3.73 gears.
To lay the groundwork my truck is a 2019 Ram Limted 4wd with a non etorque Hemi 3.92 gears and 22” wheels, it also has the anti spin rear end. My towed load is a 19’ Nitro bass boat and a bunch of camping gear both in the boat and truck, total weight for the boat is ~3700# unloaded and I would guess close to 5k with a full tank and all the junk I had in it. The trailer has hydraulic surge brakes and is a single axle. In the bed I had our giant Yeti cooler full of food and ice, some camping gear, my towing road kit, a jack and tools. Probably about 8-900# all told plus me, my wife and the two dogs.
My impressions of how this truck handled a 400 mile plus tow with the boat and all that stuff, in a nutshell I was totally impressed with it. The thing that stands out to me the most is how controlled it felt at all times. My truck has the air suspension and when it leveled itself out the front end felt nice and planted. Brakes worked extremely well. My trailer does have brakes but in the past I would really tell it was back there when stopping, not so much with this truck. Driveline wise it felt great too, transmission shifted smooth even with the load and it always seemed to be in the right gear. I really like the 8 speed that is in this truck, towing or not. I think it’s the best automatic tranny I have ever driven. The Hemi has plenty of power, mileage wise I got ~13.5 on the trip which I don’t think is too bad considering a lot of the trip was on secondary roads in the mountains in Maine.
How does it compare to my old 2014 Silverado? In a nutshell its so much better its not even funny, the Ram just feels so much better going down the road. The one place this Silverado outdid the Ram was in the power department. The 6.2L GM motor has more power period, its noticeably different. I didn’t want for more power with my Ram I could feel that it has less bottom end. In my opinion power isn’t everything and that is where my Ram in my opinion really outdoes that Chevy. Even with the max tow pack that truck always squatted real bad even with a modest tongue weight and nothing in the bed. The front end always felt light and the truck wandered on the freeway. I was never happy with this truck in that regard.
To lay the groundwork my truck is a 2019 Ram Limted 4wd with a non etorque Hemi 3.92 gears and 22” wheels, it also has the anti spin rear end. My towed load is a 19’ Nitro bass boat and a bunch of camping gear both in the boat and truck, total weight for the boat is ~3700# unloaded and I would guess close to 5k with a full tank and all the junk I had in it. The trailer has hydraulic surge brakes and is a single axle. In the bed I had our giant Yeti cooler full of food and ice, some camping gear, my towing road kit, a jack and tools. Probably about 8-900# all told plus me, my wife and the two dogs.
My impressions of how this truck handled a 400 mile plus tow with the boat and all that stuff, in a nutshell I was totally impressed with it. The thing that stands out to me the most is how controlled it felt at all times. My truck has the air suspension and when it leveled itself out the front end felt nice and planted. Brakes worked extremely well. My trailer does have brakes but in the past I would really tell it was back there when stopping, not so much with this truck. Driveline wise it felt great too, transmission shifted smooth even with the load and it always seemed to be in the right gear. I really like the 8 speed that is in this truck, towing or not. I think it’s the best automatic tranny I have ever driven. The Hemi has plenty of power, mileage wise I got ~13.5 on the trip which I don’t think is too bad considering a lot of the trip was on secondary roads in the mountains in Maine.
How does it compare to my old 2014 Silverado? In a nutshell its so much better its not even funny, the Ram just feels so much better going down the road. The one place this Silverado outdid the Ram was in the power department. The 6.2L GM motor has more power period, its noticeably different. I didn’t want for more power with my Ram I could feel that it has less bottom end. In my opinion power isn’t everything and that is where my Ram in my opinion really outdoes that Chevy. Even with the max tow pack that truck always squatted real bad even with a modest tongue weight and nothing in the bed. The front end always felt light and the truck wandered on the freeway. I was never happy with this truck in that regard.
