Towing for the first time

[fernandob104]

I am towing a trailer with my 2021 Ram Laramie 5.7L hemi for the first time. Going up to shaver lake in CA. I am pulling a 24ft travel trailer weighing around 5000lbs. That is including load.

I plan on using tow haul mode up and down. Should I use my gears also when going up and down or does tow haul mode do all that for me? Thank you.

 

[asgadf/lkjnadsfg]

If you donwload the owners manual for your truck, you can use the search feature to scan it for "Towing". Then you can simply tap the "next" button to skip to every place they mention it. There's some good info in there, and if you're new to towing it would be a great place to start. I say "start" because there's a lot more to learn about towing than they can the you in the owners manual, but reading it should give you some basics, and provide you with more questions that you can then research to learn further.

Are you proficient at backing your trailer? When I first bought my boat I was on the way to the lake when a huge storm broke. The weather was way too bad to fish, so the lake was empty, and there wasn't a soul in the area. I took about an hour in the empty parking lot to practice backing my boat into all kinds of places. That kept me from ever being "that guy" who is blocking stuff up bc he doesn't know how to back up a trailer.

Learn, practice, and go have fun. I'm sure plenty of people will be along shortly with good advice, lots of guys on tow regularly.

 

[SD Rebel]

The Tow/Haul mode is pretty awesome actually. It of course will hold a gear longer before up-shifting and downshift sooner. You can also have some control to how it downshifts, the harder and longer you brake, the more quickly it downshifts. It also won't upshift until you press on the throttle again, even when coasting off the brakes, it will hold that gear until you touch the throttle again.

I would definitely recommend you watch some videos and practice backing up, maybe rent a trailer for a day and try it out in a parking lot before you tow something actually heavy. Here is a pretty good video, he not only covers the basic counter (hand on the bottom of the steering wheel) method, but also radius turn with a trailer in a simple easy way ....

 

[dajogejr]

I’m going to assume you mean first time towing with this truck, not your first time towing, is. That accurate?

Tow/Haul mode is outstanding. As mentioned, holding shift points and downshifting to utilize engine braking.