I have an old, beat-up RAM truck with a little 6 cylinder engine and a stick shift. It has a trailer hitch, but I never used it. My brother wants me to help him move a 21’ camper. It’s a 90 minute drive. Is this possible or will my truck flip upside down and catch on fire?
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What state? Flatland? Snow? It is Feb ya know. Going from Turlock to Merced?
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90 minute drive at what speed?
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At best this truck can tow 4300 lbs. Even if this 21 foot trailer is under 4300 lbs, you will need a brake controller and electrical connection to tow this trailer. Is your truck equipped like that?
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It’s law in most states that anything you’re towing weighs more than 3,000lbs needs to have trailer brakes.
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Ohio was only 1900 lbs!
But considering even 3000 lbs is adding 50% to the weight of this old truck, trailer brakes are a must.
I bet this 6 cylinder pickup isn’t equipped to legally tow, unless that 6 is a diesel.
Why? I’ve owned 4-cylinder pickups that couple legally tow up to 3,500lbs My V6 4runner and Highlander can legally tow up to 5,000lbs.
As far as brake controller and lights hookups. And that’s ignoring whether it has the weight capacity. For all we know someone stuck a tow ball on a bumper. More info needed.
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It’s a pretty professional-looking 2 inch square hitch thingy. And there is an electrical connector with 4 wires in a straight line. The previous owner did tile work and hauled around a trailer all the time. I think it’s pretty legit. I just have no sense of what is easy to tow and when I should start to worry. If you guys are even thinking about electric brake controllers and stuff… I’m pretty sure this something I don’t need to mess around with. @Mustangman really put it into perspective with his 50% of the weight of the truck.
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The hitch is enough for 5000 lbs (more than the truck). The 4 pin connector is lights ONLY, no electric brakes. And you’d need to install a brake controller to apply the trailer’s brakes. If the trailer doesn’t HAVE brakes, tell your brother, “Sorry, no dice”
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If you end up doing this, make sure everything is taken out of the trailer’s cabinets and that the water/waste tanks are empty. Easy to add lots of pounds to a trailer. The 21’ trailers I checked are around 4,000 lbs empty, so you wouldn’t have much room to spare.
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When I worked at a Ford dealer back in the 90’s, they sold a lot of F-350 4 door Dually’s with the 4.9L - 300ci straight 6 gas with manual trans… They had more down low torque than the 5.0L V8… Heck I could get them to bark the rear tires hitting 2nd gear… lol
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Yep, that Ford 300 6 was quite the engine.
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6cyl 2008 Ram 1500 was rated ar 3,500lbs, our 88 Grand Voyager was rated for 4,000lbs. Only towed about half that and it was good enough.
I had one of those in an Econoline van. It worked like a Clydesdale! Towed 3500 lbs easily. It pulled hard all the time. You couldn’t overheat it and it took a tree falling on the van to kill it.
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Years ago I was in the market for a 24’ class C motor home. I test drove a Ford chassis Class C with a the 300 c.I. I bought a 460 c.I. Instead.
It’s pretty obvious you don’t want to do this. I’m inclined to agree. It’s your truck, your decision. My advice, tell your brother you’ll share the cost of a rental truck for this job.
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Why should the OP pay anything? It’s the brother’s trailer.
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So as to not appear “cheap”.