towing issue...

[96svtcobra1]

I want to buy an open deck car trailer but I think my truck may not be able to tow the total weight.
I have an 04 Dodge 1500 Quad Cab w/ the small V8 - it's rated to tow a max of 5,000 lbs. The trailer weighs 17-1800 lbs and my car is about 3600. Obviously these added together is 53-5400 lbs total. Has anyone on here towed just above their tow weight? Is it possible without hurting the truck. I plan to tow it probably 10-12 times a year.
Thanks.

 

[me32]

You may be able to if you gear it lower.

 

[SID297]

04 Dodge. 4.7? You'll probably kill the tranny eventually. I would suggest adding a trans cooler.

 

[dynasty_v6]

5000 seems really low. My 94 cherokee with the 4.0 is rated that much.

 

[96svtcobra1]

I checked the manual and it says 5K. Seems pretty low to me. It is the 4.7 Magnum V8. The tranny is what I would worry about - truck has 94k miles on it. Thanks for the comments.

 

[DHG1078]

In the case of an accident, you can actually be held liable for towing beyond your truck's capacity IIRC.

 

[LIGHTNING LARRY]

Stopping will def be a problem unless you have trailer brakes

 

[mnewxcv]

http://dodgeram.info/2004/load-tow/1500.html do you have an auto trans? looks like 6k minimum tow rating. Not sure if you are reading something generic in the manual? Like stated above, an XJ cherokee can tow 5k, i would hope a ram pickup can do more.

 

[OhIIICobra]

You may be able to if you gear it lower.

3.92 is plenty low.

 

[OhIIICobra]

I checked the manual and it says 5K. Seems pretty low to me. It is the 4.7 Magnum V8. The tranny is what I would worry about - truck has 94k miles on it. Thanks for the comments.

You should be fine. The tranny is the weak link though. I towed at or slightly above max with my 2001 F-150 all the time, but I had a 5.4L. I have an 18' steel dovetail that weights 1800# and towed all different types of cars on it. I had trailer brakes too. My 2002 Dodge 1/2 ton torque converter crapped out at 100K and I never towed with it though.

 

[96svtcobra1]

Thanks everyone. It must have been something generic in the manual - I just looked 2 days ago. LOL - looks like I'll be buying a trailer soon.

 

[jcthorne]

Look at lighter trailers to keep you under 5000lbs.

My KwikLoad car trailer weighs 1300 and is the easiest to load trailer I have ever used. Highly recommended.

 

[Torch10th]

The rated towing capacity is more about safety and trailer sway control at highway speeds. It's not necessarily what the pickup itself is strictly able to tow.

There's a lot of physics involved in the calculations made, but the capacity listed would be the maximum weight at which the truck would prevent sever trailer oscillations at 75 mph.

Your pickup can likely pull quite a bit more than 5000 lbs below highway speeds, however that would still be illegal.

What I would recommend is instead of a trailer, look at a car dolly.