Newbie with towing questions

[Lyfs2shrt4BS]

Originally Posted by 4everlooking

fisher99 thanks for the input. I can't personally see why I would NEED an 8' bed. If that was what it has ok, but not high on my list.

ttavasc thanks also. We have discussed a 5th wheel, but I'm not sold on wanting to go that big. Part of selling the MH was to downsize and simplify. I lean toward the 3500 for the fact that if I should change my mind, I won't have to change trucks again. When I bought the 1500, we didn't think we would be towing anything at all. Probably overkill, but it should be less stress on the vehicle, IMO.

I would love to test drive one, but there isn't many 3500's around at the moment. I've checked a couple of online vehicle sights for trade in value, I think I will be pleased if it holds up till I trade.

Larry

Take a trip to Dave Smith’s in Kellog, ID .... they have LOTS of HD trucks. Great no BS prices too

[4everlooking]

Originally Posted by Lyfs2shrt4BS

@4everlooking,
You have lots of great input in the previous replies, so I won’t rehash too many of their points. Instead, I’ll share my experiences that I’ve had with a trailer that’s too heavy for my truck, but only in hitch weight.
I have been on the road full time for 12 weeks, 7800 miles on this epic trip through 9 states and 15+ national and state parks.
My Tow truck is a ‘04.5 Ram 2500 5.9l diesel
GVWR=9,000lbs
Max tow=13,500lbs
My 5th wheel is a ‘18 Arctic Wolf 265BH8
GVWR=9,900lbs
Dry hitch=1,354lbs
By the numbers everything SEEMS good to go. We loaded up the trailer and hit the road.... boy did I have a white knuckle drive that day. Every semi that passed me made that thing fishtail... 5th wheels aren’t supposed to do that... so I hit some scales... my truck came in at 9,600lbs and the trailer axels came in at 9400lbs..... that was with EMPTY holding tanks. Granted we had loaded up on caned food, but other than that it was just clothes for 3 humans and supplies for 1 dog and 3 cats... yeah... 12 weeks with cats and a teenager.... that’s a different tale. I managed to unload some stuff at my Dad’s and redistribute weight... best I could get it to was 9,300 and 9,300.... that’s how we rolled for 7k more miles... overloaded, and quite a bit of anxiety every time a semi passes....We finally got the keys to our new house, and I am selling my 5th wheel ASAP. I’ll be buying an ORV 22FQS as our replacement RV. Based on what I have learned be overloaded for so long.... I would not tow a Timber Ridge class with a 1500... you’re just asking for trouble

Thanks for the story and the advice. That is exactly what I'm wanting to avoid. I talked to one of my local Ram dealers yesterday about ordering a 3500. He said it could take 2-3 months, but he ordered one 5 weeks ago and it is coming in next week. The time frame isn't that critical for me. I don't see getting a trailer before next spring anyway. A trip to Idaho sounds like fun, might go online to check it out. On second thought, I'll be in Estes Park at the end of the month, that is nearly halfway there..........

Larry

[fisher99]

Originally Posted by Lyfs2shrt4BS

Take a trip to Dave Smith’s in Kellog, ID .... they have LOTS of HD trucks. Great no BS prices too

Dave Smith's is known for awesome inventory and, as you say, no BS sales. However, a friend of mine was up there a month ago looking for a truck and couldn't find anything near what he wanted. Dave's is hit by the same problems getting new inventory as others. He did have some trucks, but just depends upon what a guy is looking for.

[4everlooking]

I looked at his online site, he had a number of 1 ton trucks, but most were work trucks. Not exactly what we would like to tour the country in for a few weeks at a time. I will likely just order one the way I want it.

Has anyone else ordered a truck before. I never had. I talked to a Ram dealership about ordering one. He said 2-3 month wait. I asked him how much of a discount from MSRP would he go. He stated he could do a great deal. Maybe knock off 1K. That isn't a great deal for me on a 75K truck. Maybe I'm wrong, but it would seem like his overhead cost for an ordered truck would be minimum. I know he has to make a profit, but I feel this is just another dealer out to gouge as much cash out as they can. Am I misguided somewhere? What would you expect off of MSRP?

[fisher99]

Given the difficulty that dealers are having getting new stock from the factories I don't think they're needing to make "super" deals in order to sell what they can get. This definitely appears to be a seller's market, whether selling new or used.

[4everlooking]

This is one time when patience may be not only a virtue but also a cost savings.

[Cvfish]

To your question about ordering a truck, my experience was pretty positive. Placed the order with a local dealer on March 10 of this year. Truck (Ram 3500) was delivered May 31. The added time to get it to Alaska and to the dealer was probably a week to 10 days from those of you in the "real world". I paid the "invoice price" which amounted to a little more than 6% less than the MSRP. The chip shortage resulted in not being able to get blind spot and cross traffic option.

[Lyfs2shrt4BS]

Originally Posted by 4everlooking

This is one time when patience may be not only a virtue but also a cost savings.

I agree. I would like to get a new Ram 3500 because I need more capability than my older ‘04.5 2500 can deliver. But I’m just going to wait a year or two. In the meantime I’ll make a $500+ a month “truck payment” into my money market to help build up that payoff

[4everlooking]

Well, after much looking online and debating, the wife and I think (always subject to change) that the 250 RKS might be to our liking. We keep coming back to it and it punches a lot of the boxes. Since I'm looking at 3500 Ram or Silverado, I think that I won't have any problems towing.

As such, with our upcoming rental trailer to Estes Park in a couple of weeks, I've arranged to see in person some trailers at Holiday RV in Poncha Springs. It will mean a 200 mile drive each way from where we will be camped, but as of right now, I'm 700 miles away. Makes more sense.

Any comments on this combination? Any 250RKS owners willing to chime in on their opinion, good or bad on their rig? How about with the RV dealerships, any recommendations? With the current RV and truck supply situation, I am thinking on custom order both. Probably won't happen till next spring.

Looking forward to more great advice.

Larry

[troutmandj]

towing 21rbs with my GMC 1500 4x4. just trashed my transmission, had it rebuilt last week, now i need a rear differential rebuild, but truck died a couple days ago while towing on a long hill here in Alaska. it may be fixable, but signs point to seized engine.
whether fixable or not, we are upgrading immediately to a 250/2500 series truck.
also: because of all the remote boondocking we do, i upgraded the propane tanks to 40lb tanks, and the batteries to 2 6v (they are heavy). my tongue weight is right at 1000lbs. when i load my 120lb generator in the back of the truck (winter extreme boondocking) along with 5 full 5 gal gas cans, i am over my axle weight. i've done well, but now i must stop pushing it.
"fine" is a watch word, in my opinion. when someone says "i think it will be fine..." i say don't do it. i need, here, more than a small 5% buffer; of course i don't even have that many times.

[JoeOSB]

We recently ordered a new ORV backcountry 24krs ... I own a 2020 Ram 3500 SRW diesel 4X4 long bed so I m well within the trucks capability... My question is will the long bed be even more stable than short bed, especially when it comes to trailer wag ?

With the over kill that I have with the 3500 should I dare try to get by with out a WDH ... I think l will probably go ahead and purchase a Weigh Safe WDH just to be extra cautious...

Has any one been towing with similar set up ( truck and trailer wise ) if so hows it working out...

Seems like you see a lot of the Hot Shot trailer delivery guys running down the road with out the WDH s !!

Weigh Safe WDH owners/users how how do you like it ?

Thanks in advance,

Joe

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by JoeOSB

We recently ordered a new ORV backcountry 24krs ... I own a 2020 Ram 3500 SRW diesel 4X4 long bed so I m well within the trucks capability... My question is will the long bed be even more stable than short bed, especially when it comes to trailer wag ?

With the over kill that I have with the 3500 should I dare try to get by with out a WDH ... I think l will probably go ahead and purchase a Weigh Safe WDH just to be extra cautious...

Has any one been towing with similar set up ( truck and trailer wise ) if so hows it working out...

Seems like you see a lot of the Hot Shot trailer delivery guys running down the road with out the WDH s !!

Weigh Safe WDH owners/users how how do you like it ?

Thanks in advance,

Joe

Hi Joe,

the longer the wheelbase, the more stable the setup will be......but I don't think you NEED a longbox to be safe/comfortable.

On the WD hitch thing; most people will telll you that everyone should have one regardless of setup but I would suggest that while MOST people need or would benefit someone, not everyone does. I don't use a WD hitch BUT my truck is heavier than yours and far more stable being a DRW and my trailer is much smaller and lighter. In your case, I suspect you would benefit from a WD hitch.

Here's a link to the thread I posted when researching and trying to determine if I should use a WD hitch; https://www.irv2.com/forums/f50/to-e...ot-513960.html

Dave

[karirick]

Originally Posted by 4everlooking

After going over the report from LearningMore, it tells of a tongue weight of 1060#. The brochure shows tongue weight for Titanium of 695#, therefore 395# extra. Since that is the real world case, My question is Would that same approximate difference be anticipated with the other two trailers which have tongue weights of 635 & 650?

I've never checked on trailer tongue weight before in previous trailers, so how much difference would appear to the truck with 60# less tongue weight?

I've had a payload of over 1200# in the truck last year. It handled it okay, but I could tell it was there. If tongue weight is my determining factor, 1000# +/- is doable. I realize that the total weight is a major concern also, so lighter is better. Sorry for the dumb questions, just trying to get it clear in this foggy brain.

The payload of a truck includes the weight of all passengers, items in the bed, trailer tongue weight, w/d hitch etc. Any Ram 1500 say 1500-1700 payload would be way overloaded; by 500 lbs or more if you have a family of 4 that total weight is 600, firewood, generator, chairs, etc in bed easy 300, plus 1200 tongue. My family is more like 750 plus the dog.

I'd love to daily drive a half ton; but 600-700lbs over seems risky and not safe.

People do it all the time, so there's that.

Rick

[varmonter]

Id be curious to see what the OP ended up doing.
1500 wasnt enough truck..