Ram 1500, Reflection 230rl, tow vehicle safety questions

[shutterbug]

The payload for that F150 XLT I posted in a link is per the phone call to the dealer @2390 lbs. He actually looked at the sticker and called me back. Just an FYI for reference.
Since posting that link I have traded in my 2012 2500 Cummins for a 2018 Ram 2500 6.4 CC LB 4x4 with the 4.10 gears. All I can say is WOW. What a difference in ride quality. The 12 2500 was the old school frame and suspension that Ram/Dodge used for years. My 2018 has the new frame and suspension with rear coils. The truck feels very smooth in town and is so much quieter than the 12 CTD. I understand from reading other road test reviews that the Ram Off Road Package with the Bilstein shocks rides even nicer.
Have not towed with it yet and I know going in that it's not going to tow like the Cummins did. But since I daily drive and short hop a lot being retired as I am, the 6.4 will be a lot easier to deal with.
Point is if you haven't driven any of the newer 3/4 ton gassers you need to give them a try.

I test drove several RAM 2500 gassers in the last few days. Great truck, a bit rougher ride than the 1500 but otherwise an identical cabin. The 6.4 litre hemi doesn't have quite the acceleration the 5.7 does in the smaller truck, but that's understandable. I posted another thread on this, but if I go with a RAM 2500 I open up another can of worms in that my camper will now ride front high by about 5".

[smharstedt]

I think that you will be fine with a RAM 2500 and a 230RL. I posted a picture of my set up in your other thread.

[Ctdecuir]

Before I purchased our '18 F150 3.5L EB Lariat SuperCrew HDPP/Max Tow, I did a lot of research to make sure I was getting all the possible tow packages Ford offered in my order. The attached document lists the different F150 tow package descriptions and prices (this was for 2017, but is basically the same for 2018 trucks). And as Rob indicated, the F150 w/HDPP does rides a little rough (reminds me of the BMW 335i Sport that my wife drove - that was replaced by the truck ). As a point of reference, the sticker payload rating is 2,368 lbs.

Ford F150 2017 Trailer Tow Packages.docx

[shutterbug]

Before I purchased our '18 F150 3.5L EB Lariat SuperCrew HDPP/Max Tow, I did a lot of research to make sure I was getting all the possible tow packages Ford offered in my order. The attached document lists the different F150 tow package descriptions and prices (this was for 2017, but is basically the same for 2018 trucks). And as Rob indicated, the F150 w/HDPP does rides a little rough (reminds me of the BMW 335i Sport that my wife drove - that was replaced by the truck ). As a point of reference, the sticker payload rating is 2,368 lbs.

Ford F150 2017 Trailer Tow Packages.docx

Thanks for the info ctdecuir! As much as I like the ford ecoboost engine, especially as a daily driver, sub 2400lbs still limits me to some degree. i.e. here's how I figured weights most recently, with no restrictions (i.e. doing whatever I want as far as cargo). This is different than the cargo list I posted earlier in the thread as I was trying to 'pack light' in that post. Granted I will probably never run fully loaded in the camper, but...

Passengers - 300lbs
Pin Weight fully loaded (full tank of water, max cargo) - ~1800lbs (I'm basing that on 20% pin weight, but from my experience the 203rl runs a little heavier than this)
Generator - 110lbs
Hitch - 150lbs
7 Gallon jug of fresh water - ~60lbs
5 Gallon jug of gas - ~25 lbs
Cooler full of beer/soda/etc.. - ~25lbs
Extra tools - ~25lbs
Misc cabin cargo (coats, water bottles, camera gear, misc) - ~50lbs
Bed cover - 30lbs
Swing out bed storage container with gear (jumper cables, knives, rope, first aid, etc..) -~30lbs
Total: 2605

Additionally those HDPP packages are impossible to find in stock, I checked with a local dealer and they did a search. They told me there were exactly 4 crew cab, 4x4, HDPP equipped F150s in the entire country. I'd really want to test drive one before buying.

[Ctdecuir]

Shutterbug - you are correct for sure about the availability of the F150 HDPP. We really didn't want to purchase a new truck, but couldn't find a new or used one on a lot in a 6 state area! So, because we wanted a half ton truck (we are towing less than 10% of the time), I opted to special order the HDPP. We are also fairly new at this, packing light (and not looking to boondock). I plan to weigh our rig over next couple of weeks before we camp again, but the truck is level with the weight of the trailer as we fully load it. Btw, the HDPP comes with 4800 lb rear axle GAWR.

[minnow101]

It's actually surprising Ford even offers these combined packages with just 4 on the lots across the USA. I would think that with such a low demand optioned vehicle that it would be a real PIA for Ford to program the computers at the plant to build such a rare bird. However if Ford actually built these in greater numbers and advertised these, I'm sure they'd sell a lot of them. Maybe they are trying in a back handed way to get people that need the capacity these special F150's offer to step up to a F250. I don't know, but it just seems strange that they offer the options that no one knows about (including 99% of their dealerships).

[shutterbug]

I wanted to update everyone who was kind enough to respond. I ended up upgrading my 1500 to a 2018 2500 6.4 Hemi. When I first hooked it up, I was running near 7" nose high, it was way too much. I adjusted the hitch down as far as I could, and now I am running just over 3" nose high. I think I'm ok with this. It did lower my bed rail clearance to just over 5", hopefully that will be sufficient.
I've attached a picture.

[SouthTX]

Why do the truck manufacturers think that we need taller trucks. I went through the same drill with my current F350 and had to lower the back of the truck to get adequate bed rail clearance. I had about 6" of clearance and found - the hard way - that it wasn't enough. There's a thread on F350 hitch height you might find interesting and you may be able to do something similar with your RAM. At the least, you might want to get individual axle weights to insure that neither trailer axle is overloaded.