I have now tow'd my 30ft travel trailer 2x. there are a lot of questions on this site about the trucks towing ability so hopefully my experience will help someone who is looking for real world feedback.

The trailer weighs about 5k dry so loaded I will guess 5300. This past week I went from the Portland, OR area to Pacifc City which is on the coast. The drive consists of very narrow and windy roads over multiple grades, some rather steep. There were 5 people in the vehicles for a total passenger weight of around 600 pounds.

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First thing I will address is sag, as you can see my truck is above or about perfectly level. I hear a lot of complaints and assume that most people with trailers dont have them set up correctly and are not using a weight distributing hitch.

Next is power, I have the 3.55 and never experienced a time when I could not easily get the truck going faster than I would have felt safe and that usually meant 60-65. Even on windy and steep uphill grades never a problem, it was actually amazingly powerful at all times. I had to constantly watch my speed to not get going faster than I felt comfortable.

The truck with the trailer rides amazingly well. I think that is what most impresses me about the vehicle, it rides well with or without a load and that is what makes the truck's suspension an impressive design.

As we have all seen the 10 model was upped in tow rating over 2000 pounds with no changes and I can see where I could easily add 2000 pounds and have plenty of power to spare.

To sum it up the truck is very capable and even without the 3.92 gear it has no problems with a trailer and loaded vehicle on steep grades. I actually pulled away from a few diesels pulling 5th wheels going uphill, I could see they were struggling.

Buy the truck.

 

It is good to hear such encouraging reports about towing your travel trailer. I see that you have the Reese Dual Cam weight distributing system which by all accounts is an excellent system.

 

i have never towed before so I cant say if that hitch stops the sway but the trailer is 30 feet and i have not noticed any sway even when big rigs blow past in both directions. seems to be a great set up.

as for the positive report I agree, for the most part this and every product based site is mostly filled with complaints, I think this truck is great and as long as there is gas to put in the engine I plan on keeping it.

 

I tend to hit a lot of dirt roads, places you sometimes need to hit 4x4 to pull the trailer through otherwise a weight distributing hitch would certainly be the answer. They do work amazingly well.

Oh, and Pacific nw guy, you are seriously underestimating your load. My guess is you will put at least 2000 pounds into the trailer, not 300. Dry is just that, dry. First off, add in your batteries and propane tanks. Then fill the water tank and hot water tank. I think it is around 6 pounds per gallon. Then food, dishes, camp gear, clothes, bbq........and on and on. I was shocked to find I filled my 11ft box camper with almost 2000 pounds, it is all the same things I now have in the trailer. Start adding some things up, you will be amazed.

I haven't pulled my trailer seriously yet, but I did leave town up about a steep of a hill as I will ever hit and the thing sat in cruise like no trailer was there. Even with the *** end dragging, it didn't sway or pogo over bumps. The brake controller worked wonderful to help it stop, so I feel confident in its ability.

 

good points on the weight and I may be a bit under but the trailer without propane and batteries is 4800. I also drain the water from the lines and dont carry anything in the tanks, I am not truly a camper....we are going to RV parks only, that is as far away from hotels as I want to be I think you are a true off road into the woods camper I am merely carrying an inexpensive and poorly decorated hotel room!!

 

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Our boat and trailer is 4750 dry and loaded up with gear and gas I can see it being about 5350. I towed the boat all of last summer with no issues and several of the trips included steep hills and winding country roads. I was very impressed with the Ram's power (more than my '07 obviously) and from a suspension aspect it seemed to handle the load just the same. It would sit about level with the boat attached, which is why I don't plan on leveling the truck. From a power standpoint it feels like this truck could pull 10k lbs no problem.

 

Do you guys have the upgraded CL4 hitch, or are you just using the bumper hitch?

 

Reciever hitch here and I would guess the others as well. While the bumper hitch is deffinately beefed up, it will just about NEVER be the right height.

My trailer stats are....

Dry Hitch Weight560 lb. (254 kg )Unloaded Vehicle Weight4,270 lb. (1,937 kg )Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR)7,560 lb. (3,429 kg )

I don't think the bumper would handle it.

 

class 4 from the factory option