Hey guys new to the board, have an 09 Ram TRX 4 Hemi Crew cab w/ tow package. Currently towing ~6,500 lbs 2 axle boat trailer w/ ~450 lbs of tongue weight. Previoulsy had an 01 F-150 Super crew 5.4L, road manners while towing were fantastic, power was a bit lame.

The Ram has PLENTY of power, its hard to explain, but it feels like your sitting on a trampoline while towing, its out right annoying, constant bobbling on the highway. I adjusted the brakes and bled the lines on the trailer and added airlift 1000 bags, tried them at 20, 25, and 30 lbs, it's only slightly better. The wife and I feel like were getting sea-sick while towing. Any suggestions or comments on how to make this truck tow better would be appreciated.

Second question, I didn't like how the rear end squatted and was considering heavy duty progressive rate springs, long story short went with the bags and they did help, ended up raising the rear about 1", but am wondering how the bags will work with 1 ton in the back ? With the Ford I used to put 1 ton of stove pellets in it 2-3 times a year and it worked fine, wondering if I put a whole ton in the Ram how it will behave with the already squatty rear end and if I blow up the bags will they hold ?

Sorry for the long post just trying to sort out my towing / hauling issues. Thanks Chris

 

im assuming you have a 1500 with the rear coils...

I have heard of lots of guys putting bags in the back and the truck starts pulling like a truck again, nice even level loads. I probably will be considering that at some point too but not yet. I do know that most guys have to pump those bags up to almost maximum BEFORE you put the load on, usually 35-40 from what I hear. But someone else can probably verify that.

I don't know too much about them, but I know that if they are installed correctly and set to the correct pressure all should be good.

 

Weight distribution hitch should help

 

Yeah Nate your right you do have to air them up before adding the load. In the manual for Air Lift they recommend min of 5 psi at all times and 35 psi max. They do help make the truck stiffer. I have a 700 lbs can am xmr in the box and with the bags the truck is level and rides much better. Best 100 dollar spent for sure. What I don't understand is ur saying u got about 450 lbs on ur tongue? Either there is much more weight on your tongue or your trailer is just not balanced properly (load wise). Besides that I would say your 01 ford probably did handle much bettter and ur just uused to it and now its a hole new ball game with the coil springs, especially when the wind picks up. Check ur tire pressure also could play a factor. Other than that good luck and keep us updated if u figure it out.

 

Oh yeah and if you don't already have one that would mostlikely solve it all. You could pretty much have those on and take ur rear tires off and the rear axle would stay off the ground.

 

I'm with ya', I've owned two Ford 4x4 trucks, two Chevy's and two Rams (and one Jeep J10 if you're old enough to remember those, LOL).

Of them all, Ford handles the best towing, always has. My most recent Ford, a '97 I bought new, handled on the road better than my current 3rd Gen Hemi, despite having a solid 100+ HP disadvantage. I dunno if it's frame, suspension or what, but they are just rock solid towing vehicles.

I have a good friend, fishin'/huntin' buddy who owns a 4th Gen and we've towed the same 7000# tractor, rough cut mower, dual axle trailer over the same stretch (I borrow it to cut my small piece of farmland in Ga. a few times a year from him). My truck with the rear leafs handle 1000x better than his rear coils (he has the same bags you do, I run the Air Lift Ride Controls over my leafs). It's not that his truck can't handle the weight, but you have to be 10x more attentive driving while pulling with his truck. It white knuckles me especially in heavy wind or on those famous south Georgia wash-board clay dirt roads, where mine doesn't seem to bad at all.
IMO ALL the truck companies have trended away from trucks being trucks since the mid '90s. They are all making them much better daily drivers at a sacrifice of towing/hauling capabilities despite the fact that 1/2 tons have higher tow ratings today than they ever had 10-15 years ago.
2nd Gen Rams had leafs and solid front axles (although comparatively weak Dana 44s). The 3rd Gens went away from SFA and went with IFS for ride quality, but this gave you weak a$$ CV half axles in the front. If that wasn't bad enough, they went away from torsion bar fronts to coil-overs in '06, which gave a smoother ride, but again, sacrificed strength. Now with the 4th Gens, it's coil rears. Caddy like ride out of the coil-overs at all 4 corners, but IMO it makes it a very poor tow/haul truck.

The bags were a good start, but like others are saying, a WD hitch is gonna be needed to stabilize that ride while towing...

 

I'd suggest getting the trailer closer to 10% tongue weight. Right now you're under that by a fair amount. That will help settle the truck's manners.

Rob

 

Also, regarding your pallet question... your payload is only 1430# (assuming the TRX crew 4x4 is no different than the SLT/Sport/Laramie), so putting 2000# in the back is going to cause challenges. Over a short, flat distance and with smooth roads perhaps you'll be fine. I'd take it slow though... no 75 on the interstate with an overload like that.

Rob

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Yes, 09 1500. Truck does ride like a caddy empty, couldn't ask for a better riding truck. Things get a whole lot different as soon as you put something on the hitch. Cant believe how much better the Ford towed. It's tow capacity was 7K and I was very close to the max and it still out handled the Ram that is rated for 9,200. Power wise the Hemi kills the Ford.

As for the toungue weight, they say between 7-10% tongue with boats and 10+% with travel/campers. I'm between 7-8% now and thinking if I put more on there its only going to make the jostling / trampoline effect worse. Boat trailer has surge breaks and a weight distribution hitch can be tricky with them, plus i'm not looking to spend another 400 to make this truck handle right. The bags stiffened things up and I like the extra 1" of ride height when loaded.

Wish I would have known the coil spring Ram was such a horrible tow vehicle, with the jet skis, boat and hauling pellets, thats about all this truck is used for.

 

i had an 04 150 previously ... learned with that i needed a load equalizing hitch to haul my enclosed car trailer. to much tounge weight and also a lot of bobbing as you describe.

got 09 ram 1500, using load hitch rides decently in my opinion and extra power makes it a much nicer experience. i wasnt happy with sag even with load equalizing hitch so i put in the airbags (also for when i haul 1500-2k occasionally) and with bags at 35 its much better.

my biggest issue is with the crappy P rated tires on any half ton, and have been trying to talk myself into buying LT tires to help with general driving and load handling. I think they contribute to many of the issues with drivability under load.