I'd decided that the Labor Day Weekend was going to be my first adventure with a rented Toyhauler - needed to know how my Ram would handle it if I bought one. And not wanting to waste my vacation time on somewhere "trivial", the itinerary included one night at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and two nights on top of the Grand Mesa.
The rental was a 23ft Sandstorm (700lb+ dry tongue weight; 5600lb unloaded; 9500lb GVWR) and the "toys" a pair of Suzuki Eiger 400 ATVs (650lb each) - plus gear and fuel and water and "stuff" I figure I maxed out at about 7500lb "all-loaded".
The rental came with a utility equalizer hitch, but still the 800-900lb tongue made the rear fenders squat about 3 inches (std BigHorn 4x4 CC Tow Package setup - no airbags yet). The squat was quite noticeable, and gave me "permanent highbeams", but with the LT tires the suspension didn't "squish around". And the rented brake controller achieved a decent balance between truck and electric trailer brakes.
I started out in Phoenix, loaded but without the ATVs (lighter overall but more weight at the hitch), and took I-17 / US-89 thru Flagstaff past Lees Ferry and onto the Grand Canyon's North Rim. That means starting at 1250ft altitude and finishing the day at 8300ft with 3 "major grunts" of over 3500ft vertical each - the first 2 being 10mi 6% grades of "Interstate quality" which saw me in 3rd at 50MPH; but the last was more like 8-10% grade and twisty 15-30MPH hairpins which saw me stuck grunting in 2nd or "jumping into 1st" at 4500-5000rpm (frustrating - not fun). Through this, I saw little better than 6.5-7MPG and barely made it into Flagstaff with only fumes left per EVIC (how that equates to 26.5 gallons fill-up into the 32gal tank that the Dealership insists was part of my special-order truck - no one has yet explained). Camping at the Rim was real nice - 100yds walk from your campfire to look into a deep side-canyon. Only problem was a broken muffler on the rental generator made the Park Rangers come running to demand we shutdown - no coffee maker in the AM !!
After spending most of Day 2 unhitched so that we could visit the Park's Overlooks, and visits to parts stores in Page to fix the muffler and Wally-world for a old-fashioned Perk Coffee Pot because we couldn't find a fix, it was a long evening haul across Northern Arizona and thru Four Corners to Durango CO to collect my ATVs. The high Colorado Plateau route ranges from 4000ft at Page thru 7500ft at a few crests between drainages on secondary highways that are at best "almost smooth" but other times an "endless chain of rolling 6-12in swells and bumps" - especially on the East side of the Navajo Reservation. With all that weight on the hitch, at 50-65MPH many of these swells seemed to almost send the butt-end of the EQ hitch down to touch asphalt and the nose almost airborne. But only almost - the rear suspension never hit the bumpstops nor the front ever lost directional control nor the trailer ever start serious swaying. These 400mi saw between 7.5-8.5MPG - even though nowhere near the hill climbs. Darn.
Day 3 added the ATVs to the trailer. Since this weight goes mostly behind the trailer's dual-axle, it lightened the tongue weight even if raising the total weight being dragged from 6200 to 7500lb. The squat was reduced by 3/4th inch - this is less than I'd hoped / expected. With the weight very close to or slightly over the rated max, this would seem a "proper test" of my truck. This day's route had a major amount of "mountain climbing" - 3 Mountain Passes of 10-11000ft thru the San Juan Mtns and then the climb onto the Grand Mesa's 10500ft top. If you ever get a chance to drive US-550 through the San Juans, you've got to do it (maybe not quite as loaded as me) - the scenery is SPECTACULAR and there are dozens of back roads just perfect for a capable 4x4 truck like the 09 Ram (but this wasn't my destination this trip). Driving the Mtn Passes loaded wasn't too difficult - not as bad as I'd dreaded. Several of the longer / steeper slopes forced me into 2nd gear, but the passing lanes usually only saw one vehicle waiting to pass me while I sometimes passed other trailers and RVs. So I must have been doing pretty good. The "serious climb" up onto Grand Mesa wasn't so much fun, however. From Cedaredge at the bottom to Grand Mesa at the top is 4000ft in 10mi of wide-sweeping turns on smooth asphalt - but a 7.5-8% grade. With the maxed-out weight, this had me in the "bad spot" where I couldn't keep enough speed in 2nd gear to keep the tranny from jumping into 1st - sweeping from lugging at 2K RPM to racing at 4500 RPM - Not Good. Oil and Tranny temps were Up, but since that location and altitude meant ambient temps in the 60-70 range neither went near "critical". And eventually, I reached the top and found a campground where I could let the ATVs out to play !! Checking MPG for the day, I was really surprised (pleasantly) because I clocked 9.18MPG going over the San Juan Mtns (maybe it's that I filled up with "Mountain States Midgrade" - 88 Octane that rarely has Ethanol mixed) and 6.81MPG grunting up and coasting back down Grand Mesa and 8.91MPG returning back across the San Juans - all with the extra load of ATVs. Wow (comparatively) !! The Grand Valley in Western Colorado showed me a couple more "fuel oddities", with gas stations that pumped 3 grades of gasoline plus green diesel plus E85 ethanol - and often the gasoline had 0% ethanol !! I've found that my Hemi (and even my older Dakota 4.7L) really like Mtn States Midgrade !!
Day 5 starts the long haul back to "reality" - early start from Grand Mesa back to Durango to drop the ATVs back at the Cabin, then 9 hrs across NW New Mexico and NE Arizona back down to Phoenix. The last 9hr run trends downhill (but with a few big climbs), which combined with the monster downhills coming back off Grand Mesa and down from San Juan Mtn Passes to give me several experiences with Tow-Haul mode Engine Braking. I like it !! You have to futz with the brake every so often "to show it what you want", but I rarely had to take manual control of the Tranny. And only once started to be concerned about brake heating. Not bad for a max-loaded light truck!!
I've got to say, if you want a unique Trailer Towing Experience then try US-550 thru the San Juan Mtns. Beautiful scenery and multiple camping and 4x4 and ATV opportunities - but the road itself is the specialty. Coming South from Ouray CO, US-550 clings to the side of mile-high mountain-side cliffs that are well-paved but NO guardrails at all - just a white paint stripe and 100's ft of air !! It climbs from Ouray 7800ft to Red Mtn Pass 11075ft in 13mi of twists and hairpins with the posted speed limit at 25MPH (and even 15MPH - posted, not just advisory !!) There is a 4mi section that has 19 hairpin or other turns of greater than 90 degrees (I counted them coming and going). The truck stayed in Tow-Haul mode and 2nd gear for most all of this (except 1-2 hairpins that were almost from dead stop in 1st gear), and was a very pleasant tow - not quite "couldn't tell there was anything back there" but very very well-behaved !!
Overall - my 09 Ram BigHorn Hemi CrewCab 4x4 truck did a quite respectable job dragging a max-loaded trailer over some of the more difficult trailering territories the US has to offer. I'll definitely look to add Airbags to help the squat (ever so tired of everyone flashing my "high-beams"). And any purchased Toyhauler will be a Super-Light 20-23ft to win back several hundred pounds. But for occasional duty, the 09 Ram can definitely handle it.

(Wow - this turned into quite the "book" / "travelogue" - sorry... But I couldn't find much posted about actual towing experience "details", so I decided to start my own thread. Who else took one of the Summer Holiday Weekends to do a "Big Tow" ?? What were your experiences ?? Did you find any tricks or details that others should want to know ??)

 

Its good to hear you pretty much maxed the truck and it still did fine.

I am looking into airbags, before I drive with a full bed, for my trip from Iowa to New Jersey to Florida.

 

I was really surprised by the low MPG - makes a tank go dry distressingly fast !!
I'd even thought to check the trailer wheels for heat showing if the electric brakes were dragging. But no...
The HEMI really get's thirsty when it's working up a sweat !!

 

I towed my pop up camper last month and the back of the truck was pretty low. I just installed the airlift bags last week, very easy to install and what a difference! Get the bags, worth every penny and more.

 

Don't you? Really I bet any stock half ton truck would have been the same experience. I don't understand except the headlight part and being nice to other drivers the squat part..I guess if you are buying a trailer then ya go for it but if you are gonna do a once a year thing why spend the money? I pulled a car trailer, weighed 2000 alone, has a toolbox,spot for tires with a 72 pickup 4600 with my 03 durango,,was close to max, it sagged but it didn't feel like I was towing anything, I have driven older trucks where you are hanging on to the steering wheel wondering what correction is gonna be next.Left a trailer in a field after a wind gust and didnt realize til the tach lowered and the truck seemed kinda quite LOL Dodge does not encourage towing actually but they do provide for it in a good way especially this year all the connections nicely placed on the bumper and female plug for brake controller wired to the bumper just plug in your controler if you are lucky and kept the wiring that you got with other trucks you had before. They don't give it away anymore. Cheap enough at the dealer if you need it,, I bet there is aftermarket plugs already at like U haul.

 

Max tounge weight with an equalizing hitch is 700lbs. Wouldn't suprise me that it was squatting with 8-900lbs + whatever was in your bed.

As for the milage, no suprise there. I get around 12 towing 4500 aerodynamic lbs. Hauling a 7500lb rectangular box is going to suck up the gas.

 

My Hemi does like the mid grade here in Colorado and really likes the 91 octane. I have not hauled quite as much weight as you (5500ish) but have easily made it over the high passes here in Colorado. I was able to level out my truck perfectly with an adjustment to my sway bars but it sagged before that. I can tell you that my 09 gets *much* better mileage towing the same RV as my 04 Hemi Ram did. Thank you for your detailed account, it was interesting.

 

How did you adjust your sway bars?

 

I think he means the load distribution bars on his hitch

 

That makes more sense. I was wondering how to adjust a non adjustable sway bar for more height??