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Towing with a Ram 1500 regular cab short bed

Kern Dog

Kern Dog

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Nov 14, 2014
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Location
Granite Bay CA
Some say that a longer wheelbase is better for stability when towing. I can understand that.
My truck is a 2007 Ram 1500.

Wheel Tire Automotive tail & brake light Vehicle Car


It is still in great shape for having almost 400,000 miles.
Original 5.7, original 545 but the axle gears were changed from 3.55 to 3.92 a couple years ago.
Last year I bought a 1900 lb trailer and since then, I've towed one 3600lb car three times, a 3400 lb car, a 5000 lb SUV and a 3200 lb late model car.
In every instance, it feels fine. Stable, sure and confident. The engine is good enough on flat ground and the trailer has brakes to assist for stopping the additional weight. In the past, I've rented trailers and towed combined loads of over 4500 lbs I've rented tow dollies and dragged cars home, again...on flat ground.
Today I went to help a friend buy a '78 Dodge truck that had no engine but on the way there, I found that the road in had a sort of steep decline which meant that the way out would be going uphill. It was paved but I'd guess that once it gets cold, that road would possibly ice over and be absolutely treacherous.
Yeah....towing 5300-5500 lbs uphill for over two miles on a curvy, mountain road in a good condition truck that (nevertheless) has 400,000 miles on it.
I backed out of loading and towing it and made plans to use the friends truck, a 2500 series with less than half the miles.
Be honest with me......do you think I was right in backing out? The friend was disappointed but didn't complain. He seemed to understand. He is in NO position to pay to have my transmission rebuilt, towing fees and all of that if the truck conked out.
 
You mentioned nothing about a tow package other than brakes. Also, it never smart to tow in less than favorable conditions. The 07 will likely not let you hurt it too bad. It's got that self-preservation mod built into it. Still, I think you made a wise choice.
 
Mine is newer 2019 Reg cab Classic 1500 SB, towing pkg, 3.92, 5.7, AT. If you weren't comfortable, then OK to back out. I will say that I have regularly towed my 2800lb Ironbull dump trailer with 7000lb of rock in it. I worry more about stopping but, in tow mode and electric brakes it stops well. I have tested panic stops with a load, because I want to know what to expect. I never even had the brakes at max. As they say better safe than sorry!
 
It's scary the amount of people pulling trailers with electric brakes that have no idea of how to set them.
 
7mopar said:
It's scary the amount of people pulling trailers with electric brakes that have no idea of how to set them.
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I agree.
The new trailers sold in California are required to have electric brakes on only one axle. Nevada requires it on both if you have duals.
Part of the deal to buy this included a brake controller unit that mounts at the bottom of the dash. I do set and test it when I tow.
 
The 1 ton in my avatar wasn't a bad truck to pull with but the early diesels were pretty lame but it acted pretty much the same empty or loaded lol. Same way with my 97 2500 diesel Club Cab lwb but it has much more power and my old 79 1 ton single wheel Club Cab lwb was a good one too except for the 360 was thirsty at 8mph loaded or not. It had 4.10 gear and 33" tires. I use to tow with a D150 reg cab swb and it did ok except for the not big enough brakes. The car I towed with that was 3300 and the trailer was right at 1000 lbs. Yes, towing with a lwb truck is always better than swb truck. The worse truck I've ever towed anything with was a 74 D100 /6 swb reg cab. Even my Dakota's tow better than that old pig did lol.....but never tried to tow any cars with those.
 
Cranky1 said:
The 1 ton in my avatar wasn't a bad truck to pull with but the early diesels were pretty lame but it acted pretty much the same empty or loaded lol. Same way with my 97 2500 diesel Club Cab lwb but it has much more power and my old 79 1 ton single wheel Club Cab lwb was a good one too except for the 360 was thirsty at 8mph loaded or not. It had 4.10 gear and 33" tires. I use to tow with a D150 reg cab swb and it did ok except for the not big enough brakes. The car I towed with that was 3300 and the trailer was right at 1000 lbs. Yes, towing with a lwb truck is always better than swb truck. The worse truck I've ever towed anything with was a 74 D100 /6 swb reg cab. Even my Dakota's tow better than that old pig did lol.....but never tried to tow any cars with those.
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Cranky1 my 82 D350 dually gets the same gas mileage 360 gas and 4:56 gears. Only time it gets better is at 45 mph.
 
7mopar said:
Cranky1 my 82 D350 dually gets the same gas mileage 360 gas and 4:56 gears. Only time it gets better is at 45 mph.
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Glad mine only had 4.10's....and tried to kill them a bit with the 33's. Tried to slow down like that too and it didn't make a hill of beans. Having a 650DP on it probably didn't help any either lol
 
Cranky1 said:
Glad mine only had 4.10's....and tried to kill them a bit with the 33's. Tried to slow down like that too and it didn't make a hill of beans. Having a 650DP on it probably didn't help any either lol
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I have tried both big and little Thermoquads. Didn't make a bit of difference. I need to boost the fuel pressure. Four psi at idle and next to non on the road isn't helping matters.
 
I towed my race car for many years/miles with my 86 Toyota PU. 2.2 RE engine, 5 speed stick,4.30 single tire rear. Would get 18+ MPG towing at a total weight of just under 5 tons. Retired the truck a couple of years ago with 414,000 on the clock. If the body hadn't gotten eaten up with rust, I would have done a refresh on the engine. Now I'm using a 84 D-100, slant six, 4sp OD, 3.91 SG 8 3/4 rear, 235-75x15 tires. Gets about 13 mpg towing.
PS: Most of the races I go to are over 500 miles each way. Some close to 900 miles.
 
Charrlie_S said:
I towed my race car for many years/miles with my 86 Toyota PU. 2.2 RE engine, 5 speed stick,4.30 single tire rear. Would get 18+ MPG towing at a total weight of just under 5 tons. Retired the truck a couple of years ago with 414,000 on the clock. If the body hadn't gotten eaten up with rust, I would have done a refresh on the engine. Now I'm using a 84 D-100, slant six, 4sp OD, 3.91 SG 8 3/4 rear, 235-75x15 tires. Gets about 13 mpg towing.
PS: Most of the races I go to are over 500 miles each way. Some close to 900 miles.
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That D-100 should be getting about 21 mph without the trailer.
I hated the lean burn on the 82. Never knew what kind of a truck I was going to be driving. Especially doing across north Texas in a head wind. Was I going to get 21 at 65 or 13 at 45. You just never knew.
I acquired at 78 360 from a Little Red and was getting 15 mph all the time.
Same gearing as your 84 except for the 275/60/15's.
 
I don't have lean burn on mine. It has a super six 2bbl setup. and a 2 1/2 inch exhaust. "Normal" electronic ign and distributer, also factory AC. I also have a 1988 D-150 with a 360 4bbl 727 trans, Fully loaded big boat. 9mpg towing and 9.5 not towing.
 
Charrlie_S said:
I don't have lean burn on mine. It has a super six 2bbl setup. and a 2 1/2 inch exhaust. "Normal" electronic ign and distributer, also factory AC. I also have a 1988 D-150 with a 360 4bbl 727 trans, Fully loaded big boat. 9mpg towing and 9.5 not towing.
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I don't know quite what to think of 360 has milage. Sean's to suck regardless what the set up is.
I am going to try of just to bring the rpms down. 3200 @ 55 isn't road gears
 
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