Towing Question?

[mrmopar02]

Hello Everyone,

I'm a first time crossroads RV owner. Just purchased a 271BH. I'm picking it up thursday.Just wanna see if anyone has any towing advice. I will be towing it with a 2010 dodge ram 1500 with the 5.7 (Hemi) with the 3.55 gears. I have the sway control set up and the WD bars on my hitch. Does anyone think I should have a problem towing this. Dodge said with my gearing I can pull up to 8,500 IBS.
THanks everyone.

[Lloyd]

Jamie, I'm not real up on your setup, but from what I looked at I would think you should be within limits. I would advise you to make sure you never run with your tires under inflated on the TV. There will be more here later to add comments that are better informed with TT then I am.

[Lloyd]

Jamie, I'm not real up on your setup, but from what I looked at I would think you should be within limits. I would advise you to make sure you never run with your tires under inflated on the TV. There will be more here later to add comments that are better informed with TT then I am.
Welcome to the forum, and congrats on your new camper!!!

[cwit]

Welcome to the forum. you should be good. Don't over load it . lol

[anaro]

Keep it loaded as light as you can. WHile your towing capacity may be there, your payload is gonna be light for the tongue weight. I have the same trailer in the zinger. My weights are the same. Loaded we are at about 7000 lbs. We have found if this trailer is not loaded very heavy on the tongue, there is a lot of sway. Our calculations have our tongue weight at close to 1000 lbs (15% of loaded weight). Your tongue weight should be somewhere between 13-15% of your loaded weight. Have you weighed your truck loaded and ready to camp w/ a full tank of fuel? If so subtract that number from your vehicles GVWR to get your available payload. Also subtract your trucks weight from the GCWR to get your adjusted towing capacity. You may find yourself over your limits. At this point you have the TT so you can try driving it and seeing you you do. If you are comfortable driving it you have your answer (just steer clear of being weighed for legal reasons). If you aren't comfortable driving then you have a different answer. Ultimately it is up to you how comfortable you are towing your set up. I ended up trading in my 1/2 ton SUV w/ a 9100 lb towing capacity to get a 3/4 ton truck because of the white knuckle ride but I also had a shorter wheel base than you do and that can make a huge difference in handling. Whatever you do, go weigh your truck by itself, and your whole rigged hooked up ready to camp so you know your actual weights and where you stand. The scales can also be a very useful tool in dialing in your WDH properly. Best of luck to you and may your new TT bring you many happy camping trips.

[camper271]

I havethe same trailerpurchased in March and have a similar tow vehicle. I tow it with a 2001 F150 V8 5.4L and have a WD hitch. When on the road it tows very nice and have no issues, even better than our old trailer which was lighter. I usually try to keep the weight low by not filling the water tank, but we still always have firewood, boards for leveling, bikes, 4 passengers and a dog.

[Schabtod]

Hello Mrmopar02,

Congrats on the new unit. You will be happy !

I have the z-1 301 BH and originally towed with a 2008 Silverado. You should be fine. My trailer was 500 lbs. heavier and the truck did just fine. However, pack light if you can.

I personally like to use my water from home, haul firewood, bicycles, friends for the kids, etc. With all that in mind, we upgraded to a 3/4 ton, but probably didn't have to. I just really like to have way more truck than trailer weight. ( probably a little bit to cautious, but that is a good flaw - I think? )

Just go run up and down the highway once and you will make your own assessment. Lean toward safety and you will be fine.

Safe travels.

[mrmopar02]

Thanks everyone for all the great responses. It helped alot going out this weekend.It'smy firsttt over 20' ft. for me and with a slide so excited to have all the room. Again thanks everyone happy to be a member of the crossroads family already.

[D Haire]

I have the 2013 zinger 32QB, we pull it with a 2010 Dodge ram 1500 it pulls the trailer with no problem, i did add air bags to keep the truck from sitting down so low in the rear. makes a big diff when pulling the trailer.

[Badwin]

I also added air bags to my 2012 ram 1500 quad cab. Does make a huge difference. I tow a 25 rb sunset trail.
Brian

[ewbldavis]

Truck should be fine. We were low and bouncy on first tow, so we upped tension on WD bars and as you can see, she sits nice and level.

Our upgrade in a couple years may be a 3/4 ton as we have discussed a Sunset Trail 5th wheel. Otherwise, a 1/2 ton Suburban will be our replacement. 'Blazer does well, but you know it is there.

[mrmopar02]

Morning Everyone,

Well the truck had no problem towing itwhat so ever was really pleased gas mileage sucked but it still pulled really well. Just had a couple issue with the new unit. 1 the bedroom window leaked. 2 the one awning bar tighter was missing. 3 the 1 stabilazer jack was stripped 4 When my wife and I would take showers the water would run down the wall and in between the crack between the tub and the wall the water would run in that crack and out the tub and cause the water to flood the bathroom and diningfloorarea. It goes into the dealer for repairs on weds. lets hope no more repairs needed.

[BourbonRam]

Sorry to hear of all the problems. Sure it will get fixed. I used to tow my trailer with a 2003 Dodge 1500 with the 5.9 gas engine. Was about the limit for the truck. One thing I did was when I replaced the tires I put on E rated LT tires. Much better for the load. Truck came with P tires. It towed good and got about 8 mpg towing. I have since traded for a 2500 series diesel. Huge difference for the better. Good luck.

[Z1 owner]

I hope you have a better experience with yours than I have so far.

I pull my 2013 CR ZT 271BH with the wifes Nissan Armada and a Hensley Arrow and I have had no issues othan than the trans dropping into lower gears more often than I would like which eats gas fast. Took the TT from central Jersey down to Disney Fort Wilderness and had no issues other than the back door popping open when ever we hit a big pothole from the frame flexxing. looking forward to the spring coming and yet another trip down to FLA. Its been in the dealers lot for over 3 months now. If your gonna take long trips I would suggest getting Honda 3000i or eqv. genny and making sure you have a good starting cap on the 13.5k AC and you'll be fine for long drive and any stops to take a nap you may make...

[kcandsting]

Where did you get the air bags and who did you have install them. Were they from the dealer with have a 2012 Ram 1500 hemi and feel the back end sags a bit

[Bert]

I put airbags in my truck. Pep Boys was the best price that I found. I purchased Firestone Ride Rite. Easy installation, I did it myself. They made a huge difference on how mt TT tows.

[Lloyd]

You could go with something like this
http://www.etrailer.com/Vehicle-Susp...id=20121113034


Or something like this
http://www.etrailer.com/Vehicle-Susp...id=20121009550