Yorkieabroad

We have a 29' ultralite caravan/travel trailer that I have been towing with a 2007 Dodge Durango with the Hemi 5.7l. Trailer weight is around 6500 fully loaded, and the towing cap on the Durango is around 8500. It does OK, but can be a bit waggly in a cross wind, and struggles a bit on hills - had it up in Arizona last year and the drag up to Sedona nearly ended in tears...

Our next big trip in it will be up North to Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone and Yosemite, so I've been thinking about trading out the Durango for a truck with a higher towing capacity, and a longer wheelbase to help with the wagging. I have a shot at a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 Quadcab with 32000 miles on it. Seller is an accountant in town who's selling it for his dad who has had a stroke and can't drive, so wants 14k to pay off the loan. KBB seems to be about 17/18.

Must admit, the Ram has never particularly excited me - my first choice would have been a Tundra, but the towing capacity isn't that great. So the question is, has anyone got/had a Ram 1500 and what did they think of it? Did you tow with it? How did it perform? Any drawbacks? What sort of mileage with/without a trailer? Any other suggestions for a replacement tow vehicle?

CelticRover

http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/2011/ram_1500/

I have two, one I have had for 10 years and one for 3 years, both bought new. I particularly like the 5.7 hemi, multidisplacement engine for economy under light load and performance under load. I have had Chevy Silverados also which liked but switched to Dodges because they were a few thousand dollars cheaper. The newer Dodge is much smoother than the older one and comes close to the Chevy in quality.

On sale new here in Phoenix, Az, I still see them advertised around $20,000+.

another bloody yank

I've towed an older 20ft camper and various vehicles on car trailers with a 1998 Ram 1500, extra cab 2wd 318 cu. inch auto trans with tow package. Now it might be because I've only owned the truck after it had well over 100k on it already, but I certainly wouldn't have wanted to pull anything bigger with it. The Hemi is a lot more motor than the little 318 and should the newer half ton Rams are a lot more truck than the older models, but I'd still be nervous about pulling anything close to 30ft long with a 1500 on a regular basis. As I'm sure you're aware, it's not just a matter of power, but suspension, brakes etc...

I've just purchased an '07 Ram 2500HD with the Hemi and 6sp manual and hopefully it will do much better. You can find better info on towing rigs/camper combinations at rv.net. Fair warning, the usually err on the bigger/more power side when making recommendations/giving advice, but there is a lot of good information as well.

Mummy in the foothills

Dh (the mechanic in the house) says keep the durango, go to a transmission shop and have them install an external transmission cooler, cheaper and will work great. The truck is essentially the same thing, just with a truck bed, engine and transmission are the same. If you want a step up go with a 3/4 ton truck. The truck and your Durango will get about the same when it comes to gas milage. He says dismal at best.
We tow a 29 foot cabin cruiser with a 3/4 ton suburban with a tranny cooler on it, with no problem at all

S Folinsky

Hmm, I'm thinking that it is a good thing that you did not continue up to Flagstaff. The highway gets WAY steeper after the Sedona turnoff. BTW, I was driving a rental Civic Hybrid -- which was simply a sedan with a small gas engine screaming its little heart out driving up to Flagstaff.

Bob

No idea about towing, or how good in general...but I had to drive a Ram 1500 up through the woods as FIL needed a ride back after moving some logging equipment and this was the works truck.

Compared to his Silverado, it was shit to drive. This was all off road, up steep logging roads, basically scraped mud/rocks.

The brakes just didn't feel as good, nor as smooth as a ride. I'd driven the same stretch in his Silverado before and it was a lot nicer.

It's probably a really unfair comparison because this Ram was a couple of years old, loads of miles and been well abused in daily life, though serviced very regularly as the logging company have their own garage. His Silverado is 3 years old and compared to his previous pick ups, has nothing on the clock, only about 30K because work got him the Ram, he'd previously average about 100K every 3 years before trading in Silverado's.

candy wy.

Buy a Ford.....

Yorkieabroad

Thats what initially got my attention - I could probably buy it, take it down to carmax and make a couple o' bob....!

Yorkieabroad

Must admit, I assumed the brakes wouldn't be any less than the Durango (which are pretty reasonable and work well with the trailer) and I hadn't thought much about the suspension aspect of it at all!....I was interested in the higher towing capacity (c. 2000lbs higher than the Durango), and the longer wheelbase/wider track...maybe have a chat with the local dealer on the suspension.

Yorkieabroad

I've already got a transmission cooler on it Trying to avoid going to a 3/4 ton if possible. In fact, not really wanting to change at the moment at all (although I don't like the Durango), but the cash aspect of this particular one is attractive...

Yorkieabroad

Yeah, the drag up to Sedona wasn't that steep - just long. I don't fancy trying my next trip with the same rig, so somethings got to change - the rig or the dates!

Yorkieabroad

To be honest, I've never been in a RAM - planning to test drive this one next week....Silverado was the first truck I went in the week we got here.....I found the ride somewhat akin to being on the bridge of a cross channel ferry in a Force 10 gale! Been here a few years now, so maybe more "acclimatised" to the local suspension....

But trucks more than anything else seem to provoke strong reactions - either loyalties or hatreds - people seem to be one brand for life....Round here people seem to drive F150's (Texas edition or King Ranch of course) if they don't really need to use them as trucks, or RAMS if they tow a trailer with lots of lawn equipment and an orange water cooler.....

Yorkieabroad

See above

Bob

His old one was like that But the last two were lovely, this last one especially.

Personally, not a fan of Ford, but the F-150 is awesome, I loved that when I had it as a loaner a few times, and when driving an uncles one around a bit.

Tundra was lovely too, but never went off road in that.

Cousin has a Honda Ridgeline I think it is...was lovely driving up front, but in the back, it almost shattered my spine

Yorkieabroad

Yeah, the one I was in had quite a few miles on it....maybe it just needed new shocks!

The F150 keeps getting advertised as the best selling truck for the last 20-odd years. Don't know if thats nationally(which case I guess it would be worldwide) or just within Texas, but it must say something about it. I kinda like them, but they're a bit wimpy on the towing capacity. Mate round the corner has a Texas edition and loves it. Nearest its been to off-road is when his missus misses the drive backing out of the garage
If I was just buying a truck without worrying about towing, (or money!) the Tundra is the one I would go for. Had a test drive in one when I bought the Durango, and it blew me away. Awesome machine.