2022 RAM 1500 sways when towing

[GIjoe]

Originally Posted by tom92

I believe the Ram Big Horn Off Road edition is the equivalent of what my 2013 Ram Outdoorsman was. They are the same truck except the Outdoorsman/Off Road gets 18" LT tires vs 20" P tires, minimally aggressive AT tires vs road, a bit stiffer shocks in the back and some skid plates. It actually increased payload/towing capacity, at least back in 2013. It is not a lifted, oversized tire rock crawling machine. It is for hunters that might drive through some fields to their blinds.



My trailer is a few feet shorter and lighter than the OPs. I never had sway problems with the Ram, but I also have a Husky Centerline hitch that has the friction based sway control, not a sway bar. It is also a toy hauler which is tongue heavy (without a toy in the back) and I do have issues with porpoising if I am not careful on my weight management.


For my last trip with the Ram I had loaded the truck bed with firewood. It bounced horribly. Coming home it was fine, since all of the wood had been burned.



I switched to a new Silverado over the winter with slightly lower capacities. I could tell immediately when I pulled the camper from storage that my hitch needed to be adjusted. I raised the brackets on the trailer frame a notch and that took care of the rear end squat I was getting. I also bought a Sherline tongue weight scale since the dry tongue weight and rated tongue capacity on the truck were both 950 pounds.


My first test with the tongue weight gauge showed it was right at 950. Moving all my gear to the back dropped it to 850 and it rode better. I also tested it with a full fresh tank which didn't change the tongue weight - which makes sense since the tank is directly over the axles. I also moved another 30-40 pounds of gear from the basement storage at the nose to a tool box in the trailer. The only stuff I keep up front now are chocks, levelers and Lego blocks.



Pulling it home after the first trip did have a bit more porpoising. I'm guessing it was because my waste tanks (forward of the axle) were partially full, as was the water heater. I also pulled through a CAT scale and was within my specs on everything with about 1500 pounds of capacity on the trailer and much more on the truck.



I now know that to avoid porpoising.

• Empty the truck bed.
• Heavy gear to the back of the camper.
• Dump the waste at the campground.
• Drain the water heater.

My 21 Ram is the big Horn Off road with LT tires and I use the Husky Centerline TS hitch as well. Loaded my trailer comes in at 6700 lbs. Two critical items with the hitch are the trunnion bolts torque which should be 150 lbs ft, and insuring that the bars where they contact the L brackets are perfectly flat, no gap between the flat part of bar and the bracket. I did have to make adjustments to the hitch when I went from my 2019 RAM to the 21 model since it does sit a tad higher. As stated previously I have not had any sway or other issues regardless of conditions.

[corn18]

I didn't read all 10 pages, so this may be redundant.

That trialer's empty weight is 6,509 lbs, not the GVW. The GVWR is 9,200 lbs. And it is 32' 6" long. Since you don't want to hear any talk about a 2500, how about getting a smaller trailer? That is too much trailer for your truck.

[LETMGROW]

We have his trailer loaded plus the truck pickup box ready to head out tomorrow morning for our annual outing 160 miles from home. We redistributed some weight in the trailer to help compensate somewhat for the weight in the truck's box. No choice as there is nowhere else to put it. Generator, Camp Chef Grille, 1/2 cord of firewood and a few odds and ends. It added some tension to the anti sway bars but the truck and trailer still sit level. If the truck and trailer don't handle satisfactorily we can exit the interstate and take secondary roads. We know both routes well and we won't be under a time frame anyway. He'll have my daughter in law and three of my Grandchildren with him so he will know what is best and use his judgement which I fully trust.

[tuffr2]

Good luck and good you have a plan 'B' taking the secondary roads. I used a small truck for 3 years towing a travel trailer to the local state parks that I got to using back roads. No sway at 35 to 45mph. A half cord of firewood is a lot - have fun burning it and making smores.

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by LETMGROW

We have his trailer loaded plus the truck pickup box ready to head out tomorrow morning for our annual outing 160 miles from home. We redistributed some weight in the trailer to help compensate somewhat for the weight in the truck's box. No choice as there is nowhere else to put it. Generator, Camp Chef Grille, 1/2 cord of firewood and a few odds and ends. It added some tension to the anti sway bars but the truck and trailer still sit level. If the truck and trailer don't handle satisfactorily we can exit the interstate and take secondary roads. We know both routes well and we won't be under a time frame anyway. He'll have my daughter in law and three of my Grandchildren with him so he will know what is best and use his judgement which I fully trust.

Be very careful and go slow! If there's an option to avoid the interstate, I'd start with that.....low tongue weight is the #1 cause of trailer instability and his truck is over it's head as it is. Good luck.

Dave

[LETMGROW]

Originally Posted by Dave Pelletier

Be very careful and go slow! If there's an option to avoid the interstate, I'd start with that.....low tongue weight is the #1 cause of trailer instability and his truck is over it's head as it is. Good luck.

Dave

Thanks to all for the concern. I've no doubt we'll be fine regardless of which route we take. We will have to travel a short distance on the Interstate to pick up the secondary roads and we have already discussed this. Enough time to make a decision.
As far as the wood goes. This is hard maple cut from downed trees off my own farm's wood lot. It has dried two years but we took it to a friend of ours who processes firewood for a living and had him throw the wood into his kiln dryer overnight. Then he certified the wood as insect free and gave us a certificate. In NY state you can't legally transport firewood more than 50 miles of it's origin without the wood being certified. Being dry the wood doesn't weigh as much as you might think. It's also piled in the very front of the pick up box. I may have exaggerated the amount too. Probably closer to 1/4 cord. I didn't scale it. LOL

[TXiceman]

You have been given lots of advice from experienced RVs that have towed more than they should before getting the right truck and trailer match. I know you do not think you need a 3/4-tom truck, but that will be your safest option for your trailer.

Good luck in your travels.

Ken

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by LETMGROW

Thanks to all for the concern.

No problem; I have six grandchildren of my own so safety of kids is my primary concern. Hope it goes well and everyone has a fun holiday


Dave

[runamuck]

Originally Posted by Mt. Jim

I'm following this closely as I just bought a 1500 Ram limited and will be looking for small toy hauler. We lived full time in a 44 ft toy hauler pulled by a 3500 Ram single rear wheel. We have since bought a s and b house and now just want something small. I had 16 ply 245 19/5 tires on the pickup and still had little sidewall flex in sidewind until I changed trailer tires to 18 ply from cheap 16 ply that came on it. Solid as a rock after that. So sidewall flex can contribute.

man I dont know what toy hauler you could pull with a limited. all the ones we have looked are way over the available cargo cap. of our laramie and the limiteds I have seen have even less than the 1324# on my 1500.

[thearcher01]

I have a Grey Wolf 22RR, which by its measure I think should be called a 25RR. I just completed my second 4000 mile round trip from WV to the Colorado Rockies towing with a 1500 Bighorn, Hemi and 3.92 gears. I drive with my hands on my lap and thumbs and index fingers on the steering wheel if that tells you anything about how it handles. I do have an EZ Lift WDH and friction sway bar.

[runamuck]

nice.

[LETMGROW]

I'm finally getting back here to report on our trip. We started out down Interstate 81 with the intention if everything didn't go well we could exit and take secondary roads to Watkins Glen. I'm happy to report we continued down 81 and got onto Interstate 90. Running at 65 MPH the trailer was staying steady behind Marc's truck and he was comfortable driving it. A couple times we hit some cross winds and a little sway was detected but it wasn't bad enough to back the speed down.
I think the additional weight in the pick up box helped by lowering the truck's chassis enough to contact the Timbren spring helpers and add some control. We traveled with the tanks empty in the trailer as they are positioned toward the rear of the trailer. Other than hitting a severe downpour on our way home the trip was enjoyable.
Last weekend we also made a trip down the Interstate to another campground with the same result. Again the box was loaded pretty heavily.
I know folks have advised trading trucks and moving to a 3/4 T. truck but that isn't in the cards at this time. This Ram is a lease truck and there are two years left on the lease. They don't lease 3/4 T. trucks and he has equity built up which keeps his lease payments quite low. His plan is to move away from the Ram and go back to Chevrolet if at all possible. After hauling this trailer with two different Chevrolet trucks we are both convinced they are a better choice if he needs to stay with a 1/2 T. truck which looks like he will.
Knowing the limitations of the Ram and driving within them I'm sure he will be fine until another solution can be worked out.

[NevadaNick]

Enterprise will lease whatever you want.

[LETMGROW]

Originally Posted by NevadaNick

Enterprise will lease whatever you want.

That's simply not an option at this time.