Edmonds did a comparrison test right after the 4th gen. came out.Best I can remember they pulled a 6500lb trailer up a 11 mile steep grade.The tundra and the ram tied for 1st without any WOT.The chevy with the 6.2 was right behind them and the ford was 23 seconds back while being at WOT several times.

 

How fast were you going? 68-75? Tow haul, I hate it. Good for a mountain road, but normal hauling down the interstate, or good highway, might as well put that thing in 4th gear (2.94 ratio.) ie. 5th ERS for those speeds. I've pulled 4,800 pounds with an ext cab 2006 Chevy 4x4 265/70/17s 3.42 gears 310 hp 5.3 4 speed auto at 65 mph it did fine, in 4th gear. That's a 2.56 ratio. Of course you are pushing way more air as well as more weight. I would think your added weight would work with the higher gears and almost 70 ft pounds more torque than the 5.3. How heavy is the toy hauler? I know the TRX4 tires are 47 pounds vs. the 40/41 pounds of a typical 265/70/17 a Ram 1500 gets when non TRX4. And more rolling resistance. That's no help. And what did your 4x2 quad have for tires? I'm only looking at hauling 5,000 to 6,000 tops hauling a racecar trailer.

 

I had a similar experiance with my 26ft 3800 (Dry) camper. I was lucky to get 8 MPG. Granted a camer has a HUGE wind surface but there were Hills I simply dould NOT gain speed on at WOT. I was stuck sometimes at 62MPH.. I have the 3.55 gears so some of that i give to gearing but with the torque/HP they claim it should do better! I also probably have a heavy truck, topper/bed spray/ 3 adults 2 kids.. My guess is my total combined weight was around 10,000 lbs.

 

No complaints here... Towed the 30' camper (about 8,000 lbs.) and got over 12 MPG and that was at the speed limit. My father who pulls the same camper with an 09 2500 hemi is mad that he got the 2500 and wishes he had gotten the 1500 as "it pulls it as good or better than the 2500". His exact quote. I jerked the boat to Lake Norris this weekend and got 14 MPG and that is about a 6,000 lb. load and passed many other boaters behing GM and Ford products up the hills on I75 at the speed limit. It does far better than the 03 I have. The only thing I have added is the air bags.

 

In response to itaintachev,it's hard for me to believe the 3.92 gears I have make that much difference,but when pulling my pontoon boat which is close to the weight of your camper and pushes alot of wind also,I have no problem pulling hills.It could be because most of my hills are on the interstate,so I always can maintain my momentum.I usually pull the hiils in 4th at 2700 rpm and can increase my speed anytime I want even without torque converter unlocking or wot.I can pull it in 5th on flat to moderate grades.

 

DITTO.......I cant speak for real gears, but my 3:21 puny gears pulled the 32 foot Sierra trailer @5000lbs all weekend, it was NO mpg champ, but i got the best of 13 and the worst of 10.8, on hills and flats, then it rained,it still had lots of power left.

 

I dont know what anyone is talking about. I have a 09 quad 4x4 with hemi. I pulled a t180 bobcat on my bix tex 12pi 20' trailer with no problems ans still got 12 mpg. It stoped great, accelerated as would be expected, and with the airbags at 30psi the *** was not scrapiong the ground. I used to have a 06 2500 ram with the cummins (rip) and the 1500 has no where near the pulling abilites of the 2500, but is able to handle a travel trailer. Have yall considered the other factor?? Driver error??? no offence to anyone.

 

I have no complaints about towing with my truck. I have towed horse trailers, boats, uhaul trailers, and etc both short distances and long distances. The 09 just feels much more stable and holds hwy speed much easier. Last pull was a 10 x 12 uhaul loaded weight was 4300 pounds from virginia to tx and I averaged 13mpg running a/c most of the way.

 

I totally agree when you talk about going over the limit pulling a max load trailer well then you are just stupid. I remember Labour Day Weekend up in Lewiston Mi. we learned to leave either Sunday night to come home or very early in the morning. Me in a Neon getting passed by half ton pickups doing well over the limit, no word of a lie 3 major accidents on the way home all dealing with pickups and trailers. Not windy, beautiful day, no rain 75 degrees. Just those idiots who passed on a two lane road with a limit of 50 mpg I am idiot doing 65 getting passed by trucks with trailers, boats, ATV's. Yes sir that is driver error

 

I to agree about driver error as I have been guilty of that and learned my lesson. I came close to losing control of a 98 grand cherokee 5.9l. I had it overloaded towing a trailer with a 89t-bird. Jeep was loaded with stuff as was the car on the trailer. Came over the top of hill to fast and trailer started swaying think god I had noone next to me on either side because I was using the trailer brakes and all three lanes to get it slowed down and under control. You can rest assured I now tow at a reasonable speed.