Towing Guide

[Timd32]

My search function is not what it used to be on here.

I remember an TDR article that went over the basics of the GVW stuff and what it all meant.

I have a 2018 2500 4DR 4WD 6.4 Gasser, my BIL has a camper he might need to move, waiting on the specs. It's pretty nice maybe only 2 years old if that. Size wise L, W, H its not bigger then the hay wagons I pull with my 96, but we dont get above 30MPH with those. So will be something different to work with want to do my homework first.

I have the truck registered for 10k, which means nothing really, will do the math and the sort on my hitch set up and the sort but wanted to go back over the basic stuff first and relearn the lingo first.

I have a lift gate on the truck Tommy Gate G2, it maintained the factory hitch, will climb under there to see if they modified any set up from Factory, I can alwasy run it across a scale somewhere to get an empty baseline, have never been to a real scale besides the ones at the scrap yards and dump, any suggestions will a normal truck stop scale give the front and rear axle weight, guessing have a full tank of fuel.

I'm not going to offer if its not under what I should pull with the truck. But I think I should atleast learn my set up and what I could do if needed.

 

[DHayden]

https://www.ramtrucks.com/content/dam/fca-brands/na/ramtrucks/en_us/towing/2018 Ram 2500.pdf

 

[Timd32]

That doc is odd its missing a bunch of pages compared to the 2017 one, maybe its just the changes from 17 to 18, either way nothing matches up on the 2017 or 2018 to what I can find, not that its a major issue. Will use the payload from my VIN they show on ramtrucks.com.

That matches the basic info by model you can pull up.

Sticker on the door.

Truck comes with a Class V Hitch below from another site (drawtite)

The trailer is a 2018 Puma 31BHSS, little bit longer then I thought at first.

I pulled up the interactive owners manual they have for the trailer and it says use a weight distribution set up with sway control optional, will have to check with my BIL on what he has and what the ratings of that stuff is, example on just the hitch ball from the Drawtite site everything they build is V5 compliant, so would be hard to find a non-compliant ball would be my guess.

Overall it looks like I will be OK pending the weight distribution hitch set up we have or need to get. I think if I had major issues I could find out what dealer he bought this thing from and stop in there to go over this set up with them. Maybe they could even let us hook up to one they have on the lot if we need to to check it out.

I did read thru the trailer book and went over the basics, like make sure you dont have an extra 500lbs of water on board, doubt it bc he has it winterized already and would expect that to be done already.

 

[Timd32]

Also I pulled the Tommy Gate info from their site, they actually add a 5" spacer to allow for the Ram factory hitch location so no changes there on the hitch mount. No mention of subtracting the weight of the lift from the payload, but that would be a safe bet. The do not list the weight, they have a bunch of different set ups, like the 5"spacer, and I have the longer 38" gate, so will just send them a email with the exact model number, need to take a pic of that.

 

[NIsaacs]

I would tow that trailer with your truck and not look back.

 

[TFucili]

No sweat, hitch & go.

 

[jgillott]

I can alwasy run it across a scale somewhere to get an empty baseline, have never been to a real scale besides the ones at the scrap yards and dump, any suggestions will a normal truck stop scale give the front and rear axle weight, guessing have a full tank of fuel.

Yes, using a CAT scale will give you front and rear axle weights of your tow vehicle plus your trailer axles. They are super easy to use if you have one in your area.

For those that have never been to one, here is a quick video on how they work.

 

[GAmes]

Toyota Tundras pull that size TT every day. You are spending way too much time obsessing about it.

 

[Timd32]

Toyota Tundras pull that size TT every day. You are spending way too much time obsessing about it.

Agree 100% TMI on this from my end, but it's either this or continue the quest for Longfoot...total I have about an hour and half into this, our baby goes to bed around 9:45, I usually do random searches for a few hours and catch up on stuff from friends to relax a bit, too cold to be in the shop. I was out there most nights the week before Christmas after the baby went to bed working on my Nieces car, so try not to always be on the random searches.