Dodge 2500

[Donald Gobel]

I just bought a 2013 Redwood 36RL and a 2014 Ram 2500 short bed did I buy the wrong truck for pulling my camper?

[piper guy]

Well .......... I'll just say that when I bought my 36RL I had a 2012 F350 CC SB with all the extra GVW stuff to get it to 11,500. Pulled with that for 8 months, added sway bars, airbags (for the ride) and always made sure of tire pressures. Never really had that warm, fuzzy, secure feeling. Finally had a chance to get the rig weighed and found that I was almost 800 lbs over on truck rear axle weight and almost 1500 over GCVW.

Someone in Nebraska got a VERY nice F350 when I traded an eight month old truck for a Dually. Best decision I ever made. Don't have to worry about weight, love the truck (and yes it's my daily driver), and the towing difference is night and day. Just my .02 worth. I also don't see how you couldn't be really overweight with a 2500.

[Donald Gobel]

So the fact that it will tow up to 17,800 and camper gw is 16,000 doesn't really matter?

[CV67Cheng]

Don,
First, go look at the GVWR of your truck (sticker on post of drivers door) this is the max weight your truck is supposed to carry according to the design engineers at Dodge, from that weight subtract the weight of your truck with a full tank of fuel, subtract the weight of yourself, passengers, pets, gear and hitch and that will give you the max amount of payload (pin weight) you can carry by design.
Next step is take your trailers weight, if new, use the empty weight from the yellow sticker on the screen door, from that weight take approximately 20% and that will be your pin weight (once trailer is loaded with all your gear, you need to go to a scale and have it weighed and adjust your pin weight calculations accordingly). If the pin weight is more than the reserve amount of GVWR remaining after following paragraph above, then truck is not rated to tow that much trailer.
Another factor you have to watch is axle ratings, the sticker on the drivers door post will provide the ratings for each axle, you'll need to go to a scale with your truck fully loaded (minus the trailer) get your weight and it will provide total weight as well as weight on each axle, with this info you can do the math of adding the pin weight and see if you'll exceed max axle rating for the rear axle.
One last factor to look at is Gross Combination Weight Rating (GCWR) the weight of your fully loaded truck and fully loaded trailer added together to ensure you do no exceed the max GCWR established for your truck.
I know this is a lot of information, but everything factors in and there is a lot more to the equation than simply looking at what the max trailer weight the truck can allegedly tow.

If I jacked any of this up, I'm sure someone on here will straighten me out.

Happy trails.

[mhs4771]

With any of the new Diesel TVs, it's not how much you can tow, but how much you can carry.
We have a 2012 RL fully loaded for long term travel, and we're actually pushing the limits of a 3500 Dually.
Even the smallest RW will push the limits of most 250/2500 series TVs.

[johnboytoo]

Welcome to the forum Donald....

As stated by others... it's a tough call

And what I've found the rear GAWR is where we've run into a struggle...
not just with the ratings, but with the ride, the dips, and the JUMPS

I am in the srw world and have done everything I can to my relatively new truck to make it tow the RW well...

I've upgraded, weighed, adjusted, bumped my registered weight up, etc... and am RIGHT at the limits if I don't let my wife load ALL her shoe closet into the RW's shoe closet !

Am I legal ? yes, Am I safe, yes... is it comfortable 95% of the time, yes...
IF I pay attention to all the loading, holding tanks, etc... If I had W/D and generator, I would be less than happy ...

Do I pucker every now and then ?
YES - and we run around in the south were the roads don't USUALLY have all the heaving in other parts of the country !

So something to consider.... good luck and as you experience a bit more, you'll figure out where you want to be...

[TNTBaker]

My two cents as a passenger... We owned an AWESOME 7.3L Ford F350 SRW for 14 years. Pulled many a heavy rig with it and travelled thousands of miles with a VERY heavy Lance Camper. Had every upgrade: Rancho shocks (adjustable) airbags... Each improved immensely the handling of the truck. I have to say, though, that I (and my husband, if he was honest) never felt 100% safe. It's when you have to jump on your brakes, make an unexpected hard turn with a little more speed than you would have planned, or hit the dreaded "whoop-dee-doos" (as we call them on the highway) that turn your fiver into a wild bucking thing that causes you to wish you had diapers on. THAT is when we wished for more truck. And the heart palpitations were not imagined! There have been times when a travelling "incident" completely ruined the days driving because of the stress and after-effects.
We upgraded recently to a RAM 3500 DRW with a 29K rating... and I cannot begin to tell you the difference. It's NIGHT and DAY. We weren't expecting that much change, but we haven't even added airbags yet, and it is rock steady with the heavy camper. Literally can barely feel it there. The truck isn't even working.
Believe me, I would rather have something smaller to drive (it's our only vehicle) but I figure I get more exercise walking three blocks to the grocery store from where I have to park my big baby. The pleasure it has put back in our travel cannot be overstated (we travel a LOT). Especially for this passenger who gets a LITTLE nervous when things start swaying and bucking!

[TNTBaker]

By the way, as I have mentioned before, I would NEVER put my trust into a lot salesman. I have NEVER had one tell us: "Oh, you better get a bigger truck" because that would end the sale. They care until you sign on the line, in most cases (no offense intended to anyone, but it is what it is). If THEY had to pay for damages by hauling with the wrong size truck, I bet they would be a little more conscientious! Their incentive is to move the unit. Rely on your truck ratings and manufacturers recommendations. The numbers do not lie.

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by TNTBaker

or hit the dreaded "whoop-dee-doos" (as we call them on the highway) that turn your fiver into a wild bucking thing that causes you to wish you had diapers on.

I never could find a good name for those - you nailed it! The ones that crush your cowboy hat down over your eyes!

Donald, if you haven't closed yet on the truck - I would be scrambling a bit to get a heavier truck. We towed our new Redwood 36RL home from Texas with a 1-ton SRW F350. Loaded our stuff and we were over the payload on the truck (pin weight ~3,500). With reluctance I bought a used Dually F350.

With water I can even overload the dually with a pin weight of 4,300 lbs, but when towing it sure feels like I'm winning the fight now between the trailer and me.

[RoadWarriors]

We pull a '14 36RL with a Silverado Diesel 2500. We purchased the upgraded trail air hitch and added disc brakes. We deliberately did not purchase the paint trim package to help keep the weight down. Our rig pulls better than our 31" Seabreeze 5th Wheel did. We are under weight, (not by much), and all seems to be solid. Our truck has a Pullrite sliding hitch that we have used for years with a short bed Dodge 2500. We weighed the rig loaded and the truck. We are not full-timers, but we are out as often as we can. Best of luck.

[rcflame]

I have a 36RL and I wouldn't want to tow with anything less than a 3500 dually. There are some that tow with a 3500 srw and they are most likely withing the weight ratings, but I don't think you can tow a load 36RL with a 2500 and be within the ratings. I don't know if there is anything you can work out with the dealer, but I would try to move up to a heavier truck without taking to big a hit.

[Rick and Mindy]

Originally Posted by rcflame

I have a 36RL and I wouldn't want to tow with anything less than a 3500 dually. There are some that tow with a 3500 srw and they are most likely withing the weight ratings, but I don't think you can tow a load 36RL with a 2500 and be within the ratings. I don't know if there is anything you can work out with the dealer, but I would try to move up to a heavier truck without taking to big a hit.

I researched TV for a long time before purchasing one. I had a 2004 Dodge 2500 shortbed that I really loved but when I purchased a 31sl I was overweight in almost all areas but it did great pulling. I waited for the new 2013 Ram 2500 to make its appearance because it was redesigned and was rated incredibly high for towing. It took them forever to get the new truck to market so I went with a Ford F350, longbed SRW. I am fine with my weights but I do not pull with water or tanks full and my trailer weight is around 14,500 lbs.. There is a possibility that the new Ram 2500 could be ok but you really need to go to the Ram sites and research their weight ratings. You may find that you are ok on some of the ratings but over on another.

[mhs4771]

Pin weight being one of the biggest factors, but it varies greatly with the model. RL's seem to be the heaviest on the pin, especially if you have the washer and Onan. With a full basement they'll reach 4K without any water, add some water and it goes up.
I would guess that the BR and RE (which both have similar forward setups) because of the the Bonus Room on the BR and the Rear Entertainment Center of the RE, must off set some of the Pin Weight.
Just something to keep in mind.