Hi I am new. I have a 2003 Hemi 3/4 long bed 48000 mi. gas. I pull a 21.6 ft. LQ 3 horse trailer weighs 6500 empty. My Hemi seems not enough power to pull hills, I can feel the weight of the trailer behind me.


Question I would like to buy a Ram diesel, what do I need to pull this trailer?


What yr would you recommend?


Thank you

 

Any Ram diesel would handle that trailer. 5.9s are solid and you don't have near the emission crap to worry about. Newer 6.7s are more refined and have better suspension systems. All depends on your wants and needs.

My 2014 2500 Big Horn is more plush inside than my '04 top of the line interior Laramie was. My tow rating is 17,900 lbs so it's obviously plenty for your trailer. 2013 and newer 3500 DRW models have a tow capacity of 30,000 lbs...

 

Thank you Hammer Z71, just needing to know if 2500 would pull this with 2 horses weighing 1,000+ with water and another person + gear. Do not know anything about diesel rigs. We like the Dodge. Where I live I have to drive over mountains. One pass is 40120 ft. another is higher. Do not want to make another mistake in power.

 

What's the tongue weigh when loaded?

I towed a 24' car hauler from WA to FL by way of SD then over to CO behind a *mostly* stock (egr/dpf deletes, programmer set to the lowest setting) 2008 2500. In SD I rolled across the scales and the trailer tires had 12,700 on them. The truck handled it no problem - although I had to unload a few hundred pounds and move some stuff around right when we left in order to fix a sway issue. I was running a weight distribution hitch with 1000 lb bars on it, but no sway control.

I'd say for your load, a 2500 would be just fine.

I towed that trailer back to WA behind a 12 valve, similar load, and it was a LOT more work. The 08 hardly noticed it, except the hill up to Rushmore - slow speeds and steep hills tend to cook the tranny.

 

Thank you horatio102,
I am not sure on the tongue wt. Like I say I just want to know if I needed to buy a 2500 or 3500. With my Hemi Quad long bed I drove 2,000 miles a yr. Always taken and serviced the Transmission, no problems. Now that I am retired I plan on going more. I am always by myself driving and when pulling hills always out of OD, air conditioner off and my speed starts dropping and I give it steady on the gas pedal my RPM's jump up from 2800 to 4.5 and 5 it scares me. Starting to climb I was at 50 mph then dropped to 45 mph and when I reached the summit at 4200 ft I was at 40 mph. My friend said it just might be a driver problem. Ha, maybe. I get 8-9 miles to the gal.

 

I have an 04 3500 Turbo Diesel. My towing capacity is 24,000 pounds. I often tow my boat which has a dry weight of 5,500 pounds but with trailer and gear is probably closer to 7,500. My truck barely knows it's there.

I suspect ANY RAM diesel will handle your load and then some.

-Bob

 

Thank you Mithril we have decided on buying a 3500.


Now I am throwing out another question: I see a lot of LQ. Horse trailers being pulled by DUALLYS. What is the advantage of a Dually? Verses a long bed Diesel Truck? Is the Dually more stable with a Gooseneck?

 

Dually is more stable with any load, but especially if you've got a slide-in camper. Plus there's less weight on each tire, and an extra safety margin should you blow a rear tire.

 

only advantage diesel has is its low end torque and flat torque curve over a larger rpm range. high end torque of hemi should be could but you may want to not run in overdrive to keep end rpm up. 2500 ram diesel handles 13000 pounds nicely.

 

What he said. Duelly's can handle a higher tongue weight, but you're paying for it with extra tire costs. The last time I bought tires for my Ram they were $800 each, I'm glad I only had 4.

Cheers
-Bob