Regrets? 2023 Ram 1500, 5.7 eTorque, 5'7" Short Bed, Mostly Loaded, 3.92, less than 1000 miles

I have a 26ft off-road travel trailer
- GVWR: 7716 lbs
- Tongue Weight: 507 lbs
- Dry Weight: 6446 lbs

My new truck
- Payload: 1487 lbs
- GVWR: 7100 lbs
- GAWR: 3900 lbs
- GAWR: 4100 lbs
- GCVW: Payload + GVWR = 8587 lbs

Passengers with gear in cab:
- 750 lbs

No Air Suspension is one of a few options not in my Bighorn trim. Running boards are AMPs (deployable).

I towed this combination starting from Georgia, through South Carolina, through North Carolina, through Virginia, through West Virginia, and to Kentucky.

I can tell you my experience in West Virginia on 7% grade, was not ideal, but the truck handled it, despite high winds. I didn't exceed 55 - 65 mph. I did pull over on a 7% grade in WV to see what it would do from a dead start uphill, and my guess is the eTorque did what it needed to do? I heard the Hemi power up, it has the power, but I averaged about 4-5 mpg with the travel trailer. I also have the Trailer Brake so going down a 7% grade helped my confidence, but I had a 2" - 2.5" drop on stock suspension.

I tow the trailer 4 times a year. I used a weight distribution hitch with anti sway.

I also have a mini excavator KX018-4
- Operating weight: 3748 lbs

And a Kubota B26 Tractor (Loader, Backhoe, Base Tractor)
- Base weight: 4,001 lbs

I tow these around maybe once a year for maintenance if that.

Less concerned about the farm equipment towing but more concerned about maxing out what this baby Lamb can handle travel trailer wise.

I might add aftermarket airbags in the back and a larger bump-stop. I might also do a 4" lift with 35s, and downsize from 20s to 18s.

Hope this helps give someone an idea of what to expect if you're like me and go with a half ton with fancy options over a 3/4 ton with little to no fancy options due to price.

I paid $68K for the half-ton. You can get a 2500 Tradesmen with a Cummins with a couple options for the same price.

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I'm sure your truck will handle it all fine. We have a travel trailer that is similar sized and our 2017 has a similar payload and it handles it fine (though we haven't gone through W.Virginia this year yet). We are bumped up near the gvwr of the truck when towing, though neither axle is close to maxed.

A couple of things noticed from your post.

Is the tongue weight you mentioned from the manufacturer's spec or did you actually weigh it? Seems kind of low compared to ours that weighs in at 850-950 lbs depending on how the trailer's loaded. Maybe being an off road TT makes a difference with yours?

Concerning weights. If you are just estimating and haven't actually weighed it, I would suggest visiting a cat scale and verify what your actual truck weighs without the trailer and loaded for a trip, with the trailer and no hitch bars on, and again everything with the hitch bars on and the weight distribution hitch doing its job. This will tell you all you need to know about your setup and how best to balance things.

I would take a look at your hitch setup and see if more weight should be transferred to the front. The front should drop down some loaded vs unloaded, as well. This might bring the back up a touch and make the truck handle better. I have a set of Timbrens on mine (came with it) and they work fine for me.

Adding a lift might decrease towing capacity from stock. Personally, I like the 20's. The lower profile tire leaves less sidewall to flex when towing.

I've been pretty happy so far with the 2017 I recently bought used for a tow vehicle. Got 10-11 mpg towing on a recent trip, but that was down here in the SC flats. Will be interested to see how it does on our trip north later this spring.

For as much and often you tow , I would step up to the 2500 for the wieght for a more stable ride. Let alone when you have to make that unexpected emergency stop , the 2500 would give me much more peace of mind .

Jas34 said:

I'm sure your truck will handle it all fine. We have a travel trailer that is similar sized and our 2017 has a similar payload and it handles it fine (though we haven't gone through W.Virginia this year yet). We are bumped up near the gvwr of the truck when towing, though neither axle is close to maxed.

A couple of things noticed from your post.

Is the tongue weight you mentioned from the manufacturer's spec or did you actually weigh it? Seems kind of low compared to ours that weighs in at 850-950 lbs depending on how the trailer's loaded. Maybe being an off road TT makes a difference with yours?

Concerning weights. If you are just estimating and haven't actually weighed it, I would suggest visiting a cat scale and verify what your actual truck weighs without the trailer and loaded for a trip, with the trailer and no hitch bars on, and again everything with the hitch bars on and the weight distribution hitch doing its job. This will tell you all you need to know about your setup and how best to balance things.

I would take a look at your hitch setup and see if more weight should be transferred to the front. The front should drop down some loaded vs unloaded, as well. This might bring the back up a touch and make the truck handle better. I have a set of Timbrens on mine (came with it) and they work fine for me.

Adding a lift might decrease towing capacity from stock. Personally, I like the 20's. The lower profile tire leaves less sidewall to flex when towing.

I've been pretty happy so far with the 2017 I recently bought used for a tow vehicle. Got 10-11 mpg towing on a recent trip, but that was down here in the SC flats. Will be interested to see how it does on our trip north later this spring.

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good point

I used the vehicle and trailer stickers. I haven't going through a cat scale with this truck loaded yet.

I suspect I've been overweight at some point and I've been lucky with the camper.

I believe I work the transmission more than I'd like. The truck currently has 789 miles on the truck. So it's virtually brand new still.

I did go looking for a 2500 (gas) this morning. Debating if I want to trade it in or find a used one with 50K-60K miles

Daw14 said:

For as much and often you tow , I would step up to the 2500 for the wieght for a more stable ride. Let alone when you have to make that unexpected emergency stop , the 2500 would give me much more peace of mind .

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We shall see if my dealer is able to find me a deal; for now, to keep miles off (I have 789 right now), I've been driving my old Mazda 3

Let your half ton work. You don’t tow that much. You’ll lose your $&% on a trade.

Ramfanski said:

Let your half ton work. You don’t tow that much. You’ll lose your $&% on a trade.

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This is so true.

I even put 30% down, but I won't get all that back if I were to trade up.

Also noticed that every 2500 on my dealer's lot had a max payload of 2063 lbs. So while they can tow more, I would still be using 72% of the 2500's payload leaving only a 27% buffer or ~563 lbs.

I would need to move up to a 3500 for a more wiggle room.

This also has me thinking about the highway miles I do each year. Last couple years, about 20K-30K miles/yr, I towed about 3-4 times.