Hi!

Last year we bought a Travel Trailer that weighs 6910 empty. The salesman was all over himself determined to convince us our truck could handle this load. My husband was taken in, but I was NOT, hence we now own it.

The last thing I wanted was a trailer I had to freak out about every time we went somewhere of it being too heavy for our truck to handle and as fate has it, that's exactly what has happened-as far as my freaking out, but not the performance of the truck. I should have held out for the smaller trailer but sometimes keeping the peace within a marriage takes precedent.

I'll get to my question in a second.

We own a Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi, crew cab, 5.7L, 3.92 gear ratio, 2wd, 20" tires.

Now, so far things have been frankly better than I expected as far as it going over 5000ft mountains. Sure we had to downshift and slow to 35-40 mpr climbing hills. But Louise, (that's the name of my truck) was up to the task and didn't labor much when we downshifted. In fact she seemed quite happy in that gear going that slow. And I reveled at her ambition as she showed up for the task.

Still, we are at full capacity with loading the camper and the payload on the truck. The only thing I take in the truck is my husband and two teenagers. The rest, bikes, firewood, food, etc. goes into the travel trailer over it's wheel base and not over the tongue weight. This last trip I took everything out of the camper we could go without and had nothing in the bed of the truck.

There were times it felt like the tail wagging the dog, but it wasn't terrifying.

I know there are people who think we are idiots for hauling such a heavy trailer, but we've got what we've got and are trying to make the best of it and do what we can to make it safer and more more manageable with what we have as we can't afford to buy a bigger truck right now and can't sell the trailer.

So my question is, given the stats on the truck what would it take to change the 20" tires to 17" tires. I have read on the dodge site if we have 17" rims it will increase our towing capacity another 1,000lbs!

I don't want to put another 1,000lbs in the trailer as I don't need to. But I would like to have some peace of mind knowing we are not sitting on the edge of the trailer weight and truck's towing capacity.

We've also heard about getting balloons for the tires to make a smoother ride and a computer chip I don't know much about. I've also heard of an air filter that will help with performance.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

.

 

1000+lbs I doubt it but I may be wrong

I have heard a lot of people switching to the 17s because they do add a little more towing capacity along with a little better MPGS, so that being said its possible to switch and see a difference but I am doubting the added 1000lbs maybe 500lbs max, I'm no expert so if someone knows more about this or if I am wrong please chime in and correct me

 

You have a great gear ratio. Esp. for towing, i could see going down to 17 helping the feel like there is less weight cause alls you are really doing is changing the gear ratio to close to a 4.10 but as for it adding another 1,000 pounds of towing capacity i wouldnt push it.

And that trailer shouldnt be to heavy alot of guys on here pull more. If it sags alot in the back you could put air bags on it that really smoothes the ride out.

 

you need a minimum of 10% buffer east of the rockies, and 20% on and west of the rockies..

I'd invest in a weight distribution hitch system.. they are golden.. a brake controller is too..

yup- the trucks are rated to tow more with smaller wheels.. true story.. mine is rated 1100# more if I had 17's.. but that is only because of a direct relation with overall gear ratio..

I DO NOT recommend it, but I have towed well over my rated weight.. I felt comfortable because of the terrain, the lack of traffic, and having that brake controller and the weight distribution hitch.. those two creatures are magic..

edited to add: brake controller ~$75, five minute installation.. weight distribution hitch, a good one, ~$200, slaps right on.. both together will give you ridiculous confidence once set up right.. word of caution: dial your controller in correctly.. it's best done by holding the freak switch with the load behind you- you want it to slow the truck while coasting, not lock up or grab the truck.. if it does that (slows the truck but doesn't jerk it), then the trailer brakes are managing the weight of the trailer as it is 'sposed to do... for the hitch- don't chock up too tight on the chains/cables.. you want the truck to distribute weight evenly on the front axle, not bear down on it.. I've seen front tires eaten alive under 200 miles when there is too much weight forward.. don't do that.. shoot for distributing the load with the slightest of rear end sag, and you'll be great..

 

Grace, you actually have it right. The 20" wheel package reduces the towing weight right at 1000 lbs. over the same vehicle with 17" wheels. I did not find this out myself until after I bought my truck, read about it online somewhere (probably rv.net) and had to call Dodge to confirm it as it was NOWHERE in my owner's manual. Fortunately, for me, I owned an ultra-light RV at the time and was still well within my weight limits, even with the 20" wheels. You don't have 4WD, so that helps you a couple hundred pounds of tow weight.

Ever since I found out about the 20" wheel thing, I have wanted to switch to 17's. But, at the time I needed new tires the first time, I still owned the light RV and really liked the way the truck looked and the ride with the original tires and wheels, so I bought a new identical set. I rarely go off-road and when I did, the truck performed well with those wheels and tires. However, I have since sold that RV and the one I have now is heavier. Like you, I got nervous about towing it along with all the crap we seem to need to carry with us when we go camping. But this year I only needed to tow it 3 hours and leave it at a lake campground for the summer. Before I went back to bring it home, it was time for new tires again and I bit the bullet and bought new wheels and put some load range E tires on it. I did that mainly for my son, who wanted a "younger" look on the truck since he will get owning it soon. But it was nice to have that peace of mind while towing the RV, knowing that I was well within my weight restrictions.

You suspected what I learned early on when shopping for my first RV. Many dealers are either ignorant or will just tell you what you need to hear to sell you an RV. When I bought my first one, my wife really wanted a trailer that weighed almost 9000 lbs dry. The salesman went in to check his book for the capacity of my truck, which at the time was a 2000 Ram 4x4 Off-Road with 5.9 magnum. He came back and told me "no problem" as my truck would tow well over that weight. Fortunately, I did my own digging before buying the trailer and found he wasn't even close. Since then, I looked into getting an ultra-light 5th wheel trailer and checked with dealers to see what they had and if my truck would handle them. Every one I called said "no problem". Did my own homework and found they were wrong.

All that said, at 6900 lbs, you shouldn't be critically overweight with what you have right now. But moving down to 17" wheels should certainly put you where you need to be, assuming you have the factory tow package and use a good weight distribution hitch when you tow. Changing to 17's is easy, it just costs money. But some of the money for the new wheels will be made up by what you save over a set of 20" tires (you generally pay more for the bigger hole in the middle). Keep in mind that 17" is as small as you can go as far as fitment on a Ram. What specs you need on the wheels will be determined by what size and type of tires you want to run on them.

 

Drew, it's not just gear ratio - it's the type and rating of the tires as well.

And, yes, by all means you should be running a brake controller and a weight distribution hitch, but neither of these things buys you any increased towing weight over the specifications.

In my 8+ years of RV'ing, I see people towing more than they should ALL THE TIME. But, as my mother would say: "If they jumped off of a cliff, would you do it to?". You can damage your truck, you put yourself and your family in danger, as well as other people on the road.

 

good advice Greg..

I'll add, and in effort to somewhat correct myself:

The overall gear ratio is in play when swapping wheels/tires.. what is also in play is the rotational weight of the wheel/tire combo.. rotational weight is x4... meaning, rotating one hundred pound wheel/tires feels like 400# to the truck, and saps torque accordingly.. smaller diameter wheels/tires are lighter than the big donuts, and play into rated capacities as much as overall ratio does..

 

of course it's the rating of the tires too.. that is so silly it didn't rate mention.. tire ratings for 20" are the same as for 17 or any other.. if the sidewall is rated E, it's a classification that holds true all the way up or down the diameter..

what I said: I said I DON'T RECOMMEND DOING IT, BUT I HAVE WENT OVER RATING BEFORE.. I implied special circumstances but maybe should have said it.. what i say clearly is: the weight distribution hitch and brake controller absolutely make a heavy load more manageable, which increases driver confidence and safety..

 

I haven't read all the posts yet but thought I might add we have a weight distribution hitch: 1000lbs MVHC, 10,000lbs MGTWR, Vr 1000 and a PRO Series Friction Sway bar. Although we are unsure of how to set the sway bar accurately.

 

My trailer also has breaks, thank God. Can't imagine Louise bearing all that weight going down a 7% grade without burning up the rear end of the truck.