I will be picking up a new 5th wheel camper at the end of the month and will be using my 2010 to tow it. The trailer is a Cougar X-lite. It's dry weight is 6600 lbs and the hitch weight is 1100 which I felt would be no problem for the Ram. I have seen a few posts about the rear end sagging and the need to install air bags. I am hoping not to have to do this as the reason I bought the light weight trailer was so that my truck would be able to handle it with know problem.

 

The company that you are getting the trailer from will know all the facts.

 

I hooked up my 19 foot trailer, hitch weight is 750 pounds and even had the hitch too high so it was angled back. It had less weight on the back of the truck then it will level. The back end of the truck sagged 3.5 inches. Get the bags, you won't be sorry, mine will be here next week.

 

Isn't a half ton a little undersized for a 5th wheel?

 

My own opinion is that your loaded trailer will be close to the max capacity of the tow vehicle and won't have the margins usually considered prudent. It would be best to check with a website specialized in trailers.

Don't believe most of the trailer sales guys as they have a vested interest in getting you to buy the biggest trailer possible. One of the rare ones actually refused to sell me the trailer I wanted because my tow vehicle was too small, a 2007 RAV4, so I bought a trailer from a guy who said it was OK. The first guy was right and I traded the RAV4 for a Grand Cherokee. Just because the brochure says it works doesn't make it so. Go check the forums and websites.

 

Well I would disagree, if a salesman at a trailer place sells you something that will cause you to be unsafe on the road then he will be responsible I went over this with a salesman, they actually hate people who wanna push their trucks and buy trailers where the dry weight is the max. Cuz everyone knows you are gonna haul a bunch of crap, bicycles, clothes, sports/fishign equipment. Then I think the car companies underrate their vehicles so they done get people in asking for warranty due to something they said the truck could do. Good luck, I am interested in a fifth wheel gives you are hard shell bonus room rather than a tent that pulls out.

 

Some salesmen will give you the straight story. Just go and check out the RV websites and then judge for yourself.

The conventional wisdom is that you should tow at 75-80% of the rated capacity of the truck and there is an additional tow vehicle to trailer wheelbase ratio that the manufacturers specs don't address. Just having enough horsepower to pull the load doesn't guarantee safety.

 

Thanks for the replies. I did research this very carefully before purchasing both the truck and the trailer. The verdict is out if the RV salesman has your best interest in mind. RV dealer A was pushing a trailer that weighed 8800 lbs dry with a 1450 pin weight. That trailer was marketed as "half -ton towable" I was skeptical from the get go because I felt it would be pushing the envelope. Salesman A was telling me that I needed a "heavy" half ton meaning one with an enhanced suspension like an extra leaf spring or air bags. I personally didn't want to push it that much. That's why I purchased the trailer from dealer B because the trailer was 2000 lbs lighter and definitely falls under the category of half ton towable. I was curious to see if anybody towed a fifth wheel yet with the redesigned suspension on the 09-10 model year. I feel that with the 5.7 Hemi and the 3.92 gears the truck should handle the trailer just fine. The only question in my mind is how much the rear end will sag. I guess I won't know until I hitch it up. I very well may end up getting some kind of helper spring or air bag system if need be. I will report back on the forum once I figure it all out.

 

What about just a regular car trailer? I'm looking at towing my Camaro on a car trailer from TX to CA, just using the bumper hitch, but uHaul said I need to buy an extra "class 3" $160 hitch from them cause the bumper hitch won't be enough?

 

If you got the hitch as an option with your truck it is a class III frame hitch. If not then it would be advisable to have one installed before you towed your car to Cali. It would not be wise to tow that much weight just using a bumper hitch.