Buying 1st Travel Trailer Go Large or Not?

[MarkRBD2019]

Hi, I am new to this forum and I would appreciate the views of all you Travel Trailer experienced hands on this question.
I am looking to buy a custom built 36' Travel Trailer made by Recreation by Design that will weigh approx. 8000 LBS. I intend to use a Reese or similar hitch and sway/weight distribution set up on a Ram 1500 with a 3.92 differential, 5.7 Hemi 8 cylinder and a factory rated towing capacity of 10440 LBS. I intend to keep my total vehicle weight below 10440 LBS including passengers and cargo. I will be installing a back up camera with wide angle on the trailer.
I have been told by an experienced RV guy that the trailer is too much for my truck and that the length will cause me all kinds of problems, regardless of what Ram says the tow rating is and what kind of sway/distribution hitch system I put on it.

Any Thoughts from your RV Trailer Trailer pros on this or anything else I am thinking about and trying to do here?
Mark

[MarkRBD2019]

Thanks, Mark Twain, As my wife and I are a few years from retirement, it will be just us two living in the TT. As we felt we might (and I stress Might) decide to go the RV lifestyle at some point, we wanted a TT that would be as spacious as possible. The TT we are considering has only 1 bed, no couch or dinette as we intend to put two high end recliners in it and will probably sleep in them a lot of the time due to bad backs.

[Blazing_Zippers]

The Ram 1500 won't have tires, springs, brakes, and capacity to "safely" tow a trailer that long and heavy. Remember, a Toyota "towed" the shuttle (one of my favorite advertising gimmicks).

[FLY_4_FUN]

I'm not an expert, but I did own a 2004 ram 1500 hemi 4x2 with 3:53 rear end. Set up a Equalizer brand hitch according to specs and towed my Jayco 30' 6" TT all over the place and it weighed right around 7500LBS going down the road. The rear end ratio made it a bit weak until up to speed. On calm days and without any water or fire wood our family of 4 got around pretty well. I did get sway from the odd semi/bus passing me especially in cross wind situations so there was some white knuckle moments at times. Truck was not powerful on hills at all, but it got us where we were going.

To add 4-5 more feet in length, and 1000-2000 more lbs weight I would say not a great plan at all. Everybody has different thresholds for safety...but I would vote a big thumbs down to your proposed setup.

A 3/4 ton or a 1 ton gas or diesel will mean a heavier tow vehicle to control that long/heavy of a travel trailer. My .02 as somebody who lived with a "marginal" setup for 4 seasons.

Daryll

[deltabravo]

Gulfcoast wrote:
I'd want a one-ton dually to tow that trailer.

Me too... primarily due to the length, and what will probably be a high tongue weight due to the length

[Gulfcoast]

I'd want a one-ton dually to tow that trailer.

[Ralph_Cramden]

Glad to see they're still on patrol.

[Lwiddis]

I wouldn’t pull 36 feet with a half ton. Too much tail for the dog. As a newbie are you sure you want one that long? Mickey and Tacy found it hard to handle.

[MarkTwain]

MarkRBD2019 wrote:
Thanks I appreciate all the comments, keep them coming. I need to check the payload of my Ram but it sounds like this idea is going down like the Titanic. Sounds like I need a lot less TT or a lot more truck.

questions?
1. how many people will be in the trailer when you are traveling
2. how many beds do you need 90 % of the time when RVing. the more people traveling with you most of the time, the bigger trailer you. 2 people can be real comfortable in a 24 to 30 ft. trailer. 36 ft. is a really long to be towing and backing up into RV parks.
3. 5th. wheels are more stable when towing, easy to hook up and generally about 5 to 6 of the trailer are inside the truck bed.
4. Look at the Reese Dual Cam hitch makes towing a trailer much more stable.

[MarkRBD2019]

Thanks I appreciate all the comments, keep them coming. I need to check the payload of my Ram but it sounds like this idea is going down like the Titanic. Sounds like I need a lot less TT or a lot more truck.

[glkids2]

You will be surprised by the time you add the bare essentials you will add 1000-2000lbs. Everything from from your cloths,groceries,sleepingbags/blankets, cooking and eating utensils,bbq, any thing you put in the storage compartments it adds up faster then you realize

[Dick_B]

A 36 ft travel trailer? Who needs all that room?
And, my 27 foot TT weighs 7500 lbs loaded. The walls of the 36 footer must be stuffed with helium to weigh only 8000 lbs or there is no strength left in the components.

[downtheroad]

Welcome to the Forum...from experience I can tell you that it's going to be hard to keep an 8K, 36 footer under your payload rating..

Start with a couple of batteries and 2 full propane tanks, then there is the weight of the hitch equipment, then this and than and before you know it you are crushing the bump stops on your truck's suspension..

Give it a shot, we did and soon were truck shopping. Good luck with it.

[Lantley]

Do not base anything on dry weight. What is the ready to camp weight?
What is the payload capacity of your Dodge.
An 8K trailer is a lot for your typical 1/2 ton truck.
On the surface I agree with your friend it appears to be too much trailer for your truck.

[MarkRBD2019]

Not planning any hill country travel until I get more experienced.

[MarkRBD2019]

I don't intent to travel with tanks full. Not planning to boondock. May have a couple of 5 Gallon containers of water in case a bathroom trip is needed. Intending to stay around 9000 loaded.