So Confused

[Avenger61]

I’m looking at a 2019 Dutchmen Kodiak 290 RLSL which the the dealership tells me is 32 ft long and has a dry weight of 6300 lbs. My tow vehicle is a 2019 Ram 1500 4x4 crew cab with the 6’4” bed and the 3.21 axle. They (dealership) looked up my truck and they say I should be able to easily tow this trailer. I did a vin lookup for my truck and came up with a max payload of 1647 and max towing 8447. I may be confused but I still say this trailer is too heavy and too long to tow with my truck. Am I wrong? These are all the numbers I have to work with and I appreciate any advice I can get. Thanks

[Ljwt330]

Originally Posted by Avenger61

I’m looking at a 2019 Dutchmen Kodiak 290 RLSL which the the dealership tells me is 32 ft long and has a dry weight of 6300 lbs. My tow vehicle is a 2019 Ram 1500 4x4 crew cab with the 6’4” bed and the 3.21 axle. They (dealership) looked up my truck and they say I should be able to easily tow this trailer. I did a vin lookup for my truck and came up with a max payload of 1647 and max towing 8447. I may be confused but I still say this trailer is too heavy and too long to tow with my truck. Am I wrong? These are all the numbers I have to work with and I appreciate any advice I can get. Thanks

Your trailer weight of 6300 lbs., plus all weight added to it by gear and fluids, will determine its towing weight. Given your truck specs, you have a theoretical 2147 lbs. to add to the trailer, putting you at max towing capacity.


You also need to know the tongue weight of the fully loaded trailer. That weight is included in your payload capacity for the truck. Again, you need to know the payload of your fully loaded truck, plus the tongue weight, and see how close you come to the 1647 of the truck's max. Typically, tongue weight runs 10-15% of the trailer weight. So your trailer, loaded to the max, might add 844.70-1267 lbs. to your payload. With a max payload capacity of 1647 for the truck, that could leave you with as little as 380 lbs. for your truck for passengers and gear.


These are theoretical numbers as they leave no margins for safety.

[tuffr2]

Never listen to the salesperson. They would say you could tow that trailer if you had a Honda Ridgeline.

The question comes down to how much do you want this trailer and how is it going to be used?

If towing on back roads to local state parks where you do not tow faster than 55 mph I say you would be ok.

Towing hundreds of miles on the highway with fast moving traffic and fast moving semi trucks I say 'No'.

If towing at 72mph on the highway with other fast moving traffic I would stay with a shorter trailer with a GVRW of 6,000 to 6,500 lbs. depending how comfortable you want to tow.

What happens if the trailer is too big for the truck you will need to keep two hands on the steering wheel and continually make steering correction. You can see this on TFL Truck on YouTube as they tow 30,000lbs with the 2020 dually trucks. The driver is continually making steering corrections. I towed with a truck where I was continually making steering corrections trying to go 280 highway miles. Yes, I got a bigger truck and towing was comfortable.

[Avenger61]

I appreciate the quick responses. LJWT330: I’m not sure how I would be able to get the tongue weight of a fully loaded trailer I haven’t bought yet or even the weight of a fully loaded truck without a lot of guessing. tuffr2: I definitely don’t trust the salesperson and we plan to travel out west. I agree that this may be just too much for my truck. I miscalculated the weights on a travel trailer I bought years ago and found myself “white knuckling” it on almost every trip we made with that thing. I was hoping I was wrong because it’s a very nice trailer but better safe than sorry. Thanks again.

[4x4ord]

Originally Posted by Ljwt330

Your trailer weight of 6300 lbs., plus all weight added to it by gear and fluids, will determine its towing weight. Given your truck specs, you have a theoretical 2147 lbs. to add to the trailer, putting you at max towing capacity.


You also need to know the tongue weight of the fully loaded trailer. That weight is included in your payload capacity for the truck. Again, you need to know the payload of your fully loaded truck, plus the tongue weight, and see how close you come to the 1647 of the truck's max. Typically, tongue weight runs 10-15% of the trailer weight. So your trailer, loaded to the max, might add 844.70-1267 lbs. to your payload. With a max payload capacity of 1647 for the truck, that could leave you with as little as 380 lbs. for your truck for passengers and gear.





These are theoretical numbers as they leave no margins for safety.

I agree with this post. When you actually know your weights you can feel confident that by staying within the maximum rated values of your trucks payload and towing limits you are towing within adequate safety margins. I think if I was towing a tag trailer with smaller truck I might want a weight distribution hitch or something like a Hensley Arrow for even more assurance.

[The John]

Dont be afraid to ask to take it for a tow to see how it handles, it wont be fully loaded weight but make sure they the batteries are there and theres propane in the tanks to give you an idea about tongue weight.

[mtofell]

You'll never know the exact tongue weight until you bring it home and load it up but you can usually estimate pretty close. The trailer weighs 6300# and it's pretty safe to say you will put at least 1500# of stuff in it. That puts you at 7800#. Then your tongue weight should be roughly 12% of that. Keep in mind you may put more than that much stuff in the trailer and the tongue weight could be 13 or 14%. If your numbers are so close that a couple % make or break you, you need more truck (which I think is the case btw).

When pairing truck and trailer remember there are two numbers - what can the truck carry? This is payload, tongue weight, etc. What can the truck pull? This is how much weight the engine, tranny, brakes, etc. are setup to move and stop. Manufacturers love to brag about one number and ignore the other. Also, these numbers are figured under ideal circumstances. For example if they say your truck can tow (pull) 8500#, it means a driver and NOTHING else in the truck and an 8500# trailer. If you put floor mats in the truck that weigh 50# you're new max towing ability if 8450#. Payload is the same thing. If you have 1650# of available payload the same 50# floor mats reduce than number to 1600#. People, things in the bed, etc, etc. all impact payload (carrying) and towing (pulling) numbers.

[tuffr2]

You can also buy a Ram 2500 or best yet 3500 to tow that trailer. A 3500 would give you the option to tow a mid sized 5th wheel in the future.

And if looking for a new truck thd 2020 trucks are really nice.

[jjackrash]

That truck will be on the edge of its limits if it is not over. I would not get the trailer unless you are in a position to get a bigger truck if you buy it and discover you hate hauling it around with a maxed out truck. If you are so prepared, you can buy it and weigh it and try it and maybe works out for you. But I have a hunch you will not be all that happy towing it on the freeway and up and down passes.

[Cumminsfan]

Smaller trailer or bigger truck.

[Kurtsara]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Never listen to the salesperson. They would say you could tow that trailer if you had a Honda Ridgeline.

The question comes down to how much do you want this trailer and how is it going to be used?

If towing on back roads to local state parks where you do not tow faster than 55 mph I say you would be ok.

Towing hundreds of miles on the highway with fast moving traffic and fast moving semi trucks I say 'No'.

If towing at 72mph on the highway with other fast moving traffic I would stay with a shorter trailer with a GVRW of 6,000 to 6,500 lbs. depending how comfortable you want to tow.

What happens if the trailer is too big for the truck you will need to keep two hands on the steering wheel and continually make steering correction. You can see this on TFL Truck on YouTube as they tow 30,000lbs with the 2020 dually trucks. The driver is continually making steering corrections. I towed with a truck where I was continually making steering corrections trying to go 280 highway miles. Yes, I got a bigger truck and towing was comfortable.

I have bought 4 travel trailers and every time the dealer made sure I had a capable vehicle to pull the trailer. Believe it or not all dealers do not lie and cheat everyone.

[Avenger61]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. That’s pretty much what I expected but sometimes ya just get stuck trying to justify buying something you shouldn’t and it takes a more objective person to tell ya you’re crazy. I’ll be looking for something smaller and shorter.

Just to be clear, I don’t think anyone here was indicating all dealers lie and cheat to sell a camper, but after three hours going back and forth over this trailer with at least three different sales people I didn’t hear anything l heard here. I understand that ultimately I’m responsible for safe towing and having the right equipment, but I believe they (dealership) should be the experts. After all, they do this on a daily basis. When they simply lookup my trucks tow rating and tell me I can tow a trailer this size, I have to assume their priority is not my safety or others on the road.

[Itchytoe]

Originally Posted by Avenger61

I may be confused but I still say this trailer is too heavy and too long to tow with my truck. Am I wrong? These are all the numbers I have to work with and I appreciate any advice I can get. Thanks

You are at the absolute limit of what I say that truck can handle. If you've got lots of towing experience (like in the 100,000+ miles of towing range) you could probably make that setup work, but it wouldn't be a good towing experience. Then again, if you had that experience, you wouldn't be asking us this question. You'd be much better served with a bigger truck, like a 2500 or 3500. You don't need a diesel with those weights, but I always recommend one if you'll be in mountains. They just tow better. Like the others, I vote for a bigger truck or smaller trailer.

[aether_one]

Originally Posted by Avenger61

I’m not sure how I would be able to get the tongue weight of a fully loaded trailer I haven’t bought yet

That's easy, stop looking at the trailer's dry weight and look at it's GVWR.
Multiply that by 15% and you have your tongue weight.
If you don't load the trailer to GVWR then you have some "safety margin" which is never a bad thing when towing.