JimK-NY
NY
Senior Member
Joined: 05/12/2010
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
 Offline
|
Sure you can overload a truck, RV or trailer and you might get away with it. On the other hand I have seen plenty of RVs over at the side of the road with blown tires or bearings or other issues. I have seen plenty of trailers not properly loaded and swaying on the roadway. Brakes can be another concern for overloaded RVs.
If you want to get close to specs or overload a truck or RV, I recommend at the very least understanding the specs and upgrading tires or other components to handle the excess load.
|
dodge guy
Bartlett IL
Senior Member
Joined: 03/23/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
pitch wrote:You have to take the "knowledge" dispensed here with a grain of salt. Some of these guys need a class eight to haul a utility trailer, and they can spend your money as fast as sailors on shore leave.
I have a '13 Ram1500 and I tow a5k tare trailer all over this nation. Over 23k towing with the same rig and never had a problem.
You see, some dude on the interweb made a statnent ,gotta be true.
A half ton is fine for 5 or 6 k.
I do tend to agree that the truck in question will be fine with a 5k lb trailer.
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey
12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer
13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!
|
toedtoes
California
Senior Member
Joined: 05/17/2014
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
I think it's the payload that's more in question. This particular 1/2ton only has 1180lbs. The tongue weight is going to be 600-750lbs. That leaves 450-580lbs for passengers and everything else in the truck.
Not all 1/2tons are created equal. The payload can vary greatly depending on the options.
1975 American Clipper RV with Dodge 360 (photo in profile)
1998 American Clipper Fold n Roll Folding Trailer
Both born in Morgan Hill, CA to Irv Perch (Daddy of the Aristocrat trailers)
|
JimK-NY
NY
Senior Member
Joined: 05/12/2010
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
This is not some internet idea or ideal speculation. The manufacturer has provided specs. Greatly exceeding those specs is a poor idea and can result in an unsafe rig with poor handling and overloaded tires, wheels and suspension.
Half ton pickups are great for hauling some sacks of fertilizer or plywood from the home center but most are not really set up for any heavy duty use. When the RV salesperson states a warning, I would take it really seriously and listen to the options they have as well as checking all the specs.
|
dodge guy
Bartlett IL
Senior Member
Joined: 03/23/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
JimK-NY wrote:This is not some internet idea or ideal speculation. The manufacturer has provided specs. Greatly exceeding those specs is a poor idea and can result in an unsafe rig with poor handling and overloaded tires, wheels and suspension.
Half ton pickups are great for hauling some sacks of fertilizer or plywood from the home center but most are not really set up for any heavy duty use. When the RV salesperson states a warning, I would take it really seriously and listen to the options they have as well as checking all the specs.
“Greatly exceeding” we’re not talking 1000lbs here. We’re talking a couple hundred pounds. I for one would not worry about that. There are MH’s out there with smaller CCC and the same amount of storage as my class A with a 4200lb CCC!
I’ve seen far more dangerous 3/4-1 ton setups in the road.
|
|
|
valhalla360
No paticular place.
Senior Member
Joined: 08/19/2009
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
dodge guy wrote:“Greatly exceeding” we’re not talking 1000lbs here. We’re talking a couple hundred pounds. I for one would not worry about that. There are MH’s out there with smaller CCC and the same amount of storage as my class A with a 4200lb CCC!
OP was asking about a 7600lb empty trailer...so likely north of 9000-9500lb ready for the road with a hitch weight roughly equal to the trucks payload. That's before putting people or other gear in the truck (that all counts against the payload).
If he was over by 100lb, I might agree that the OP can use his discretion...but he's likely going to exceed his payload limits by 50-75%.
Now if he drops back to 4000-5000lb fully loaded weight, that's probably viable if he is careful to limit what gets loaded in the truck.
Tammy & Mike
Ford F250 V10
2021 Gray Wolf
Gemini Catamaran 34'
Full Time spliting time between boat and RV
|
Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
Senior Member
Joined: 05/06/2013
View Profile
Offline
|
OP, your best bet would be to not believe everything you read, as the rvnet weight ninnies have jumped on this thread like a fat kid on a candy bar!
When someone who is rocking a 40+ year old RV is telling you that it’s unsafe to haul a decent size trailer with an essentially new top of the line 1/2 ton pickup, it is evident that these folks have gained most of their knowledge from the internet and not from behind the wheel.
It’s unfortunate that this happens on many threads here, but I think it’s the mix of geritol and Metamucil that is a bad combo!
You’re obviously new to towing and have good questions. Answers “should” consider that if one is intelligent enough to make enough money to buy a $50k pickup truck that they are also intelligent enough to learn and perform relatively benign tasks like towing a trailer.
IF you go strictly 100% by the “numbers” , yes you are extremely limited in your available trailer choices.
If you can understand that your truck will safely and easily haul 4000+ lbs on the rear axle, meaning your “super safe” payload is close to 2000lbs and that the cargo rating on your truck is because it’s pudgy with all the options and basically only that low due to class 1 vehicle gvw numbers (completely unrelated to payload), then you can make a more informed decision and move on with your trailer plans.
Good luck.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29
|
bguy
The Rock
Senior Member
Joined: 09/16/2013
View Profile
Offline
|
6000 dry is plenty.
Thd rest is all in the hitch setup.
---------------------------------------
2011 Ram 1500 Quad Cab, 4x4, 3.55, HEMI
2009 TL-32BHS Trail-Lite by R-Vision
|
Teamjd
NY
New Member
Joined: 08/11/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
Having sold my 2012 1500 Limited because I couldn't tow anything without the wife and kids running along side the truck, here's my 2 cents:
The 5000 lbs. tow number is based on a max 500 lb tongue weight.
Anything over that, they want you to use a weight distributing hitch.
It's in the manual. That's how you get to the 9850 lb. number.
And to get to that number, you better be at half a tank of gas and take a dump before you drive alone down the road.
As for the max you can legally tow (not talkin redneck if it moves, I can tow it Ye Haw!), there's only one way to know. Take it to the scales.
1.Load up your truck with everything you are going to take that's not going into the trailer, filler up with gas, and weight it at the scales with you in it. (no need to drag the family along)
2.Add the weight of your passengers to that number.
3.Subtract that from the 7000 GVWR of the Ram 1500
That number is the max tongue weight you have left before you max out your payload. It's 10% of the weight you can safely tow at max payload.
Don't be surprised when that scale comes back at 6700 lbs.
|
Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
Senior Member
Joined: 05/06/2013
View Profile
Offline
|
Like button for Teamjd post!
|
|
|
