RAM 1500 Ecodiesel

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vineire7

Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2021
Posts
7
Location
San Diego
New here and really enjoying the community and breadth of knowledge. My wife and I have had a series of unfortunate events and we've decided to hit the road. We are brand new to RV living but we're experienced campers with outdoors experience. Our plans:
  • Travel every 1-3 weeks depending on our location;
  • Not to exceed 250-300 miles between stops;
  • Work from the road;
  • Check out new places to live and call home.
Question:

How realistic would it be to tow a 25' travel trailer with Gross Vehicle Weight 4650 lbs? I know I need to calculate on more than that (personal effects, tongue weight, truck occupancy, propane, etc.) and the used truck I'm currently looking at has a tow rating of 7900 lbs. This might be cutting it too close but I'd like some feedback from experienced folks. Thanks in advance.

P.s. If this has been answered and my search skills are lousy, just let me know.
 
Often a 25' travel trailer exceeds many / most basic 1/2 tons. My old YukonXL had a tow rating of 8000#. It barely liked towing my 21' travel trailer, I believe 25' would have been too much to ask. A neighbor had a Suburban, towed a 26' travel trailer around the mountains, came home and bought a Dodge 2500. Good for you doing your homework up front. A lot goes into towing, safety margin, and not maxing your truck that can lead to costly repairs.
 
Ram ecodiesels were not known as towing trucks. At least not much. I really think your going at it assbackwords. Find a trailer, Floorplan, that you can feel comfortable living in. 25 foot is way more a weekender than a full timer. Closets is a biggie. Do you want a washer/dryer? How about a dedicated desk, decent kitchen, comfortable bed you don't have to crawl over your partner to get out of. We traveled with a 36 foot fifth wheel for 13 years and it was a good fit for two plus a large dog. It did have a nice kitchen, decent seating, but lacked a desk. Obviously you can't tow a fiver with a 1500. Bottom line, find a Floorplan you really like and then find a truck that is adequate for the load.
 
Ram ecodiesels were not known as towing trucks. At least not much. I really think your going at it assbackwords. Find a trailer, Floorplan, that you can feel comfortable living in. 25 foot is way more a weekender than a full timer. Closets is a biggie. Do you want a washer/dryer? How about a dedicated desk, decent kitchen, comfortable bed you don't have to crawl over your partner to get out of. We traveled with a 36 foot fifth wheel for 13 years and it was a good fit for two plus a large dog. It did have a nice kitchen, decent seating, but lacked a desk. Obviously you can't tow a fiver with a 1500. Bottom line, find a Floorplan you really like and then find a truck that is adequate for the load.

You've got me thinking twice about our needs. I'll need to research 2500+ prices and see if it's still do-able on our budget. If you don't mind me asking, what was your tow vehicle?

Thanks to all for the feedback. Exactly what I hoped for!
 
Also, how important is diesel? I am familiar with the advantages (torque, longevity, etc.) but would it be ridiculous to consider a gas heavy duty truck to save money on the initial outlay? Or is that deal breaker?
 
You've got me thinking twice about our needs. I'll need to research 2500+ prices and see if it's still do-able on our budget. If you don't mind me asking, what was your tow vehicle?

Thanks to all for the feedback. Exactly what I hoped for!
Dodge Ram 3500 dually quad cab. Being a 4x2 I sold it a couple years ago for 26K and it was a top of the line with 34K miles on it. Judicial searching you can find some nice low miles trucks within your price range what ever it is. But again forget trucks right now. Instead focus on floor plans you can comfortably live in. Then find a truck to tow it. Also remember to ignore dry weight numbers look at trailers GVWR and pick a tow vehicle to handle that.
 
Dodge Ram 3500 dually quad cab. Being a 4x2 I sold it a couple years ago for 26K and it was a top of the line with 34K miles on it. Judicial searching you can find some nice low miles trucks within your price range what ever it is. But again forget trucks right now. Instead focus on floor plans you can comfortably live in. Then find a truck to tow it. Also remember to ignore dry weight numbers look at trailers GVWR and pick a tow vehicle to handle that.
Thanks for the additional info. I will absolutely take your advice to find the trailer first. Your point about GVWR is also noted. Really appreciate it, donn.
 
We started out with 1500 RAM and a 22' TT. We discovered two things. The TT was much too small for extended RV trips for the two of us, our dog, and cat. Being stuck in the TT with a 3 or 4 days rainy period is not fun. The 1500 didn't like pulling the TT and really struggled on hills.

We started over and now have a 35' fifth wheel pulled by our 3500 RAM. Travelling for extended periods and even in the mountains is much easier.
 
We started out with 1500 RAM and a 22' TT. We discovered two things. The TT was much too small for extended RV trips for the two of us, our dog, and cat. Being stuck in the TT with a 3 or 4 days rainy period is not fun. The 1500 didn't like pulling the TT and really struggled on hills.

We started over and now have a 35' fifth wheel pulled by our 3500 RAM. Travelling for extended periods and even in the mountains is much easier.
MN Blue Skies, this is exactly the kind of real world experience I need to hear about. Thank you!
 
I started with a tent trailer no fridge stove bathroom - nothing 2 beds off the ground and a 1975 ford ltd country squire lol took that thing on a 5000 mile trip to sandiego and back 2 times. That was 1979. About 15 tow vehicles and 10 trailers later here we are 2017 f350 dually 2020 45ft voltage 4185 im still learning still having fun still selling hitches airbags suspensions brakes etc i was 17 at the time and i bought the tent trailer from my parents @14 i drove that same trip after my dad got a speeding ticket 10 minutes into Washington State
 

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I started with a tent trailer no fridge stove bathroom - nothing 2 beds off the ground and a 1975 ford ltd country squire lol took that thing on a 5000 mile trip to sandiego and back 2 times. That was 1979. About 15 tow vehicles and 10 trailers later here we are 2017 f350 dually 2020 45ft voltage 4185 im still learning still having fun still selling hitches airbags suspensions brakes etc
What an incredible adventure. Thanks for the encouragement!
 
There is a guy named VernDiesel on another major RV forum who has an early 1500 Eco Diesel and tows new trailers from the factory to dealers. Admittedly the trailers are empty but he tows some rather large ones, and he had done this with no weight distributing hitch. I seem to recall he was over a half million miles on the truck, with minimal issues. Found a post by him on another board, "FWIW I transport TTs & THs commercially for the Mfgrs including Forrest River. 600,000 miles on my 1/2 ton truck transporting mostly Ohio Indiana to all over the west coast and back so I know scale houses DOT semi bow wave windy planes and mountains grades. Set up is key."

How realistic would it be to tow a 25' travel trailer with Gross Vehicle Weight 4650 lbs? I know I need to calculate on more than that (personal effects, tongue weight, truck occupancy, propane, etc.) and the used truck I'm currently looking at has a tow rating of 7900 lbs. This might be cutting it too close but I'd like some feedback from experienced folks. Thanks in advance.

If the gross weight of the trailer is under 5000 lbs, (though I have having a hard time imagining a 25 ft trailer with a GVWR under 5000) then you are looking at a hitch weight of about 650 lbs plus a 100 for the hitch. That should be quite doable for a 1500 Eco Diesel.

The truck needs Light Truck tires, if not equipped with them, not the passenger car tires a lot of half tons come with, but genuine LT tires.

Charles
 
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There is a guy named VernDiesel who has an early 1500 Eco Diesel and tows new trailers from the factory to dealers. Admittedly the trailers are empty but he tows some rather large ones, and he had done this with no weight distributing hitch. I seem to recall he was over a half million miles on the truck, with minimal issues. Found a post by him on another board, "FWIW I transport TTs & THs commercially for the Mfgrs including Forrest River. 600,000 miles on my 1/2 ton truck transporting mostly Ohio Indiana to all over the west coast and back so I know scale houses DOT semi bow wave windy planes and mountains grades. Set up is key."

Charles
I appreciate this feedback as we are still investigating trailers and trucks.
 
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