Hi guys.

I have an 09 Ram 1500 CC 4x4 Hemi Big Horn with 20s and 3.55s. The towing capacity is truly sad for a half ton truck with 400hp. Upon doing research changing the gear ratio and going to 17" wheels is the only way to increase the tow rating. I want to go with 4.10s or 4.56s and will go with a 17" wheel. I travel 14 miles on the interstate one way to work so gas mileage is not an issue. It's a truck not a honda. I am thinking of adding air bags to help level the truck when towing. As for towing, I just recently bought a 2014 Jayco Eagle HT 26.5RLS which weighs 7500# dry and a 1370# pin weight. It is a fifth wheel, AKA 5er. The "HT" is suppose to be HALF TON TOWABLE which is not the case with my truck configuration. I love everything about my truck. The looks, the power, the sound, the comfort, and the fact it's almost paid off! The truck has 106,000 documented well maintained miles on it. I already have the flashpaq 3865 to tune and modify the ECU once I do the swap.

My question to everyone here is do I swap out gears front and rear? I was also thinking about upgrading the trans with I.E. shift kit, rebuild kit, etc. It's in operating order, I just want to "freshen it up" so it's good for another 100k. It's hard to justify spending quite a bit of $$$ for a minimal gain. The only thing that sucks is reality. If I went with a 3/4 ton truck it would be a diesel. A used low mileage cummins that was not used as a tow vehicle for under $30,000 is next to impossible to find here in the Chicagoland area. They all have the same mileage, 75-80K plus, $30K plus, holes in the bed from a hitch, otherwise its 40K and above for a CTD that some meoff traded in for whatever reason. I do not want a payment over $600/mo. I do not want a used CTD with almost 100k and no warranty for $30K plus. I am in between a rock and a hard place. I doubt we will upgrade our camper in at least 7 years. That's when the warranty ends. So if I invest money into my truck to haul this camper I have now everything will be okay. It's not like I'll be going cross country every weekend. Only a few hundred mile trips a few times a year when it's not at our seasonal site.

By the way, what type of axles are under my truck? Chrysler 9.25, Dana 44, 8.25 or 8.375??? I need to know both. Which is the front and what is the rear? Who even makes gear sets and where can I order them? I'm surprised more people aren't doing this seeing how some sites say the truck can tow somewhere between 5000# and 7400# because for whatever reason Dodge is so vague and inconsistent on what the "actual" tow rating is for this truck. The dealer gave me the same 5,000-8,600# window the other day when I asked the service and parts dept. They had no idea and could only show me what the NEW RAM payloads were on the website when comparing trucks. Which was 8,600# and I know is wrong for my truck configuration. RIDICULOUS!!! Makes me want to go back to a GMC.

 

Tow capacities are here for the 2009:
http://www.dodge.com/bodybuilder/200...r/mlup1500.pdf

6400lbs is the rated towing capacity for your 09 CC 4wd SLT with 20's and 3.55's

Changing to 3.92's and 17's gets you up to 8450 lbs


You say that your trailer is 7500 dry, what is the actual towing weight once you have all your junk in there?

 

According to Jayco's site when the camper is full in every aspect it weights just under 10,000. It has 3 holding tanks, room for a generator which it does not have and room for a lot of storage. It is just the wife and I with our two little dogs. I would guess we may add another 1,000 pounds. Making it weigh around 8500 give or take. That's why I thought if I jumped up to 4.10s it would put me in the 8450 plus range which is at the trucks upper limit. I have yet to put it on the scale. I had the camper delivered to our campground and am currently waiting on installing the hitch in my truck. The dealer is less than 2 miles away. They delivered it upon day of purchase. I have a Husky 16K hitch brand new in the box with an IOU an install from dealer. I wanted to research more before I put $1000-1500 worth of a hitch including install into my truck that won't pull my camper effectively only to remove it and put it in another one. I'd rather do the install once.
I either use the money I'd spend on a new truck and put it in my current one.
Or I save the money and drive my truck as is this year and not do anything to it and camp at my seasonal site all year and wait until either the end of this year or maybe next year to buy a new truck.
As I said before I am not ready for a $600/mo plus payment right now. But could swap out gears in a month or two, wait a couple months and do the trans, then I'd be good to go at end of camping season to pull out and rock and roll next year.
Or just bite the bullet and buy a 3/4 ton when the time is right. I'd hate to put money in my truck that I know I'll never see again. If I knew it would pull the camper and everything would be great this topic would be nonexistent. Unfortunately I have doubts and a limited budget to play with and want to do the most with what I have.

 

Just realize that the gear swap is likely going to be around $2500 - $3500 for gears, install kits and installation. Also make sure you do some searching around on the site, many folks had issues with noisy aftermarket gear sets.

 

As the trailer weight gets up there, you have to remember that it isn't just the ability to pull the trailer, but also the need to stabilize it and stop it that lead people to go for 3/4 tons and/or 1 ton duellys.

 

You both are making great points. I talked to a shop not long ago quoting me $2-3,000 for gears. Price depends on if a locking diff is installed. He also said the converter is the weakest link in these trucks. More $. Sounds like this project will become a money pit. It makes more sense to me to put the money I'd use in upgrades and apply it towards my next truck. Converting to diesel will allow room to grow because we all know it"ll be a matter of time before I buy another camper that weighs more and will be in the same boat. Now it's just a matter of finding that hidden gem out there. Moral of this story. I still want a DMax. Any arguments why I should stick with a RAM that has less hp and less tq I'd love to hear the arguments why.

 

Why choose Dodge?

I need a daily driver who can tow my 10,000lb fifth wheel camper comfortably. I drive 14 miles one way to work. I will buy a tuner and exhaust for this truck. What makes the Cummins a better choice than a Duramax.
Ford is out of this discussion. Not the slightest bit interested in the 6.0 head bolt stretching, overheating 6.4 fuel guzzling, etc. problems. Ford IMHO still has a lot to work out!

 

Only reason I can come up with is that the 2012 and older Rams don't use DEF, you need a 2010 or older duramax

Either the Chev or the Dodge would be a decent truck

 

Couple of things to think about:

First, the 2009 towing ratings were quite a bit lower than the ratings that they applied in 2010. And nothing about the truck changed. They just changed how they did the ratings. So I would go by 2010 towing ratings if I were you. The 2009 link above, in my mind, is outdated info. Also, the 2010 ratings don't take wheel size into effect. I'm not saying there is no effect from wheel size, but Dodge didn't think it was enough to note it on their official max trailer weight chart. So, meh.

Second, the only thing that decreases the towing ratings between the max rated 4x4 CC Hemi and yours is gears. Everything else is identical. Transmission, coolers, engine, frame, hitch, brakes, etc. I'm no automotive engineer, but I assume that what lowers the tow rating about the 3.55 equipped truck (7450# for 2010) versus a 3.92 one (9950# for a 2010) is that there is more stress on the driveline due to the gear ratio. More stress = more heat, faster wear, shorter component life. In short, it's about durability. Ultimately your 3.55 truck is almost the equivalent tow vehicle as the 3.92. It just might not be as capable accelerating as a 3.92 would, and its driveline components will take more abuse (possibly higher trans temps, etc). Otherwise, stopping, stability, handling, etc. are all identical. So it's really your choice whether to go above the rated capacity. You'll wear the driveline more quickly and just not have as much oomph as a 3.92 truck. It isn't a safety issue (assuming you stay under the rating for a 3.92 truck).

If you do most of your towing on level ground I'd just use your truck the way it is if you're OK with the potential for extra driveline wear. If you pull in the hills & mountains much I'd probably suggest a 3/4 ton anyway, because even a 3.92 gearset isn't going to make your 1500 a heavy duty truck.

Rob

P.S. Why does your choice of an upgrade have to be restricted to a CTD? I'm sure a Hemi-equipped 2500 would be cheaper and maybe easier to find.

 

even if you change the gears ratios, the truck cannot safely handle the load. If the pin weight is 1370 lbs dry, plus the weight of the hitch, you are probably at 1500 lbs on the bed. Now you add you (180 lbs), your wife (130 lbs), two little dogs (40 lbs) and whatever else you load on the truck, you are at around 1850 to 2000 lbs. Your truck has a payload of 1430 lbs.

Putting air bags, changing your gear ratio, nothing increases your payload rating.

Think about it, you are over 400 lbs over the limit without adding anything else (luggage, firewood, etc).

If the hitch itself weights more than 130 lbs and you and the wife weight more than the numbers I used, just keep adding up the numbers, also the pin weight used was for dry weight, add 15% more to the pin weigh of the stuff you load in the trailer (water, etc)