Ram 1500 Towing.

[MonctonR1]

Lads;
Fellow Ram folks what y’a using for a tongue to balance out a 23-24 ft Yamaha? I have a 2” drop and she’s pretty heavy on the back there.

 

[jthackman]

hi, i have a 2015 ram 1500....pic of my truck with 19' ar240 is in this thread

https://jetboaters.net/threads/show-us-your-tow-rigs.4656/page-53#post-443420

there are a bunch of variables, but this pic is with a 4" drop ball mount...and she's sitting pretty level.
truck has bilstein's up front to level (set at 2.1" lift), rear has air bags with prob 20lbs in them.
the soft ram coil rear suspension wants to squat, the air bags help level it out. (installed them for towing our travel trailer)

there are threads on here about how these boats are set up with pretty high tongue weight from the factory...though i don't remember the years that were involved.

 

[anmut]

I have a 1500 with the air suspension which is WONDERFUL for towing our 21' - I know you're dealing with a bit more weight.

Other options for dealing with tongue weight, from easy to hard:
1) Make sure you're not stowing too much weight in the front of the boat vs. over the axles when towing. My wife doesn't seem to get "weight distribution" when we pack for a trip, she just packs the entire house.
2) Flip your 2" drop upside down and rise it.
3) Move your winch to the rear X inches to shift the weight of the boat.
4) Add air bags to your rear suspension.
5) Shift your axles forward.

 

[dgfreeze]

I have a 1500 with the air suspension which is WONDERFUL for towing our 21' - I know you're dealing with a bit more weight.

Other options for dealing with tongue weight, from easy to hard:
1) Make sure you're not stowing too much weight in the front of the boat vs. over the axles when towing. My wife doesn't seem to get "weight distribution" when we pack for a trip, she just packs the entire house.
2) Flip your 2" drop upside down and rise it.
3) Move your winch to the rear X inches to shift the weight of the boat.
4) Add air bags to your rear suspension.
5) Shift your axles forward.

Great advice/options, but if you have a way to weigh the tongue of your trailer, I’d probably make an effort to get an idea where it’s at before scooting the boat too far back. 10-15% of total weight should be your tongue weight. Air bags would be my favorite option, but certainly not the cheapest. At any rate, solid advice...

 

[Troch1]

5-7% tongue weight is what Shoreland’r recommends. Move the post back. In my case, moving it back 6 inches gave me a tongue weight of 450 lbs.

 

[dgfreeze]

5-7% tongue weight is what Shoreland’r recommends. Move the post back. In my case, moving it back 6 inches gave me a tongue weight of 450 lbs.

Interesting, as that’s a bit less than the industry recommends. If you moved your post back 6”, and still have 450 lbs, You’re not much less than 10% now, which would make me believe it was a bit more than 10% from factory. Either way, it’s a fine option, so long as it doesn’t get so light in the front she gets squirrelly at speed.

 

[Troch1]

Interesting, as that’s a bit less than the industry recommends. If you moved your post back 6”, and still have 450 lbs, You’re not much less than 10% now, which would make me believe it was a bit more than 10% from factory. Either way, it’s a fine option, so long as it doesn’t get so light in the front she gets squirrelly at speed.

My boat/trailer/gear weight is 6200lbs. 450Lbs is 7% if my math is correct. My understanding is that tandem axle boat/trailer combos don’t require as much tongue weight, but I’d be lying if I said I knew why that was.

 

[TimW451]

I have a 4” drop and the truck has a 1” lift due to North Edition package which includes the Off Road Group suspension. If there is any squat there, it is less than 1/2”.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/show-us-your-tow-rigs.4656/post-445797

 

[Sbrown]

I tow a 240 with a '17 Ram 1500. I don't recommend moving your winch tower back without knowing exactly what your tongue weight currently is. I moved mine back based on the recommendations I read on this site and I can confirm two things after several trips to Florida and back and many miles locally. First thing I can say is sway on the highway was more noticable with the boat moved back and the second thing I noticed is the tires on the trailer's rear axle wore out twice as fast as the tires on the front axle. I attributed this to excessive weight bearing on the rear axle which I then confirmed at the local weigh station. I moved the boat back up to its original position. Yes, the truck squats a bit, but tows way better on the highway and the trailer tires are wearing evenly again. Regardless of what Shorelander recommends, industry standard is 10-15% on the tongue and I've found sticking to those specs invariably works for my needs. If your truck is squatting more than you like, then I would perform one of the many available upgrades to the rear suspension. I would not move the boat on the trailer unless you can confirm excessive tongue weight.

 

[Dixie Highway]

Question:Would it be pretty normal to notice more wear on the rear tires as they are the ones doing the braking on a Shoreland’r trailer? I don‘t have a Ram, so I can’t comment on tongue weight effects with the coil spring rear, but my 21’ towed MUCH better after I adjusted my tongue weight. There are plenty of threads on here about adjusting the weight, I started at about 500 lbs tongue weight (about 10%). The truck handled it fine, but it felt a bit “bouncy”. Seems like I had to use more brake pedal to stop the truck and trailer combo. I opted to slide my axles, as the bunks are already about 4-5” forward of my transom. I found a guide that suggested every 1” of axle movement should equate to roughly 15 lbs of tongue weight change. I slid the axles up 5”, which made only a 75 lb difference, I’m still a bit over the 5-7% Shoreland’r recommends but much closer. The towing difference was pretty noticeable as well, less bounce and it felt like the surge brakes were doing more of the braking duty than before. I think the starting height of your vehicle makes a difference as well, so take my experience as just that one guys opinion. Here’s how it ended up though:

 

[Chevyguy2021]

Question:Would it be pretty normal to notice more wear on the rear tires as they are the ones doing the braking on a Shoreland’r trailer? I don‘t have a Ram, so I can’t comment on tongue weight effects with the coil spring rear, but my 21’ towed MUCH better after I adjusted my tongue weight. There are plenty of threads on here about adjusting the weight, I started at about 500 lbs tongue weight (about 10%). The truck handled it fine, but it felt a bit “bouncy”. Seems like I had to use more brake pedal to stop the truck and trailer combo. I opted to slide my axles, as the bunks are already about 4-5” forward of my transom. I found a guide that suggested every 1” of axle movement should equate to roughly 15 lbs of tongue weight change. I slid the axles up 5”, which made only a 75 lb difference, I’m still a bit over the 5-7% Shoreland’r recommends but much closer. The towing difference was pretty noticeable as well, less bounce and it felt like the surge brakes were doing more of the braking duty than before. I think the starting height of your vehicle makes a difference as well, so take my experience as just that one guys opinion. Here’s how it ended up though:
View attachment 123733

This looks great!

 

[Dixie Highway]

This looks great!

Thanks man!

 

[Sbrown]

Question:Would it be pretty normal to notice more wear on the rear tires as they are the ones doing the braking on a Shoreland’r trailer?

Not in my experience. I have had the boat 3 years now and I do about the same amount of towing each year. As a background, I was a factory trained and ASE cerified master technician for 25 years, so I pay close attention to certain things including uneven and excessive tire wear on all my families vehicles. 1st year with the boat and trailer in the stock position, no noticeable uneven wear. Moved the boat back in 2018 for the tow to Fla for Bimini. Stayed that way until just before the 2019 July Bimini trip. At that point the rear tires would have just barely passed inspection and the front tires were still at 50%. So I put new tires on and moved the boat back up to its original position on the trailer. It is now a year later and all the tires are wearing pretty evenly again.

I also take a laser aimed thermometer with me on long tows and I noticed the rear tires were running hotter than the front, but attributed that to the brakes on the rear axle. Now the boat is back up to its normal location, the tire temps are all running in the same ballpark. I can't speak for others experience, but in my case its very obvious the boat was in the right spot from the get go and didn't need to be moved. That's why I recommend not moving the boat without first checking tongue weight to verify its needed. It would seem the dealer I bought my boat from spent the time to set everything up correctly to begin with and that may not be the case everywhere.

 

[Dixie Highway]

I absolutely agree that nobody should be moving their boat on the trailer without knowing the weights first. I also check my temps with an infrared thermometer on long trips, I did not notice a change from before to after the move. I can't speak to tire wear, as I only ran it the original setup about 1000 miles. I now have over 5000 towing miles and the wear is pretty even. The important takeaway from our differing results is probably that at minimum everyone should check their tongue weight and trailer weight, and ensure the setup is proper.

 

[2kwik4u]

I absolutely agree that nobody should be moving their boat on the trailer without knowing the weights first. I also check my temps with an infrared thermometer on long trips, I did not notice a change from before to after the move. I can't speak to tire wear, as I only ran it the original setup about 1000 miles. I now have over 5000 towing miles and the wear is pretty even. The important takeaway from our differing results is probably that at minimum everyone should check their tongue weight and trailer weight, and ensure the setup is proper.

Is your trailer level? If not, how far off?

Are your tires all at the same pressure? How often do you check?

I've found on tandem axle trailers (more open and closed car trailers than boat trailers), that proper level, and proper air pressure are more critical than proper loading for tire wear and heat. Even a severely "front heavy" trailer will wear tires evenly if the trailer is level.

A secondary check you can do is to make sure that the load balancers (the levers that connect the rear of the front spring and the front of the rear spring together) are well lubricated and not binding. This can lead to uneven loading if one is seized and/or binding.

Another thought. Since you moved the axles on your trailer. I'm assuming you checked for square after moving them, and that your uneven wear is not "pointed" or "slanted" across the face of the tire? If the axles were slightly out of line I could see some scuffing from the rears, leading to uneven or accelerated wear.

 

[Dixie Highway]

Is your trailer level? If not, how far off?

Are your tires all at the same pressure? How often do you check?

I've found on tandem axle trailers (more open and closed car trailers than boat trailers), that proper level, and proper air pressure are more critical than proper loading for tire wear and heat. Even a severely "front heavy" trailer will wear tires evenly if the trailer is level.

A secondary check you can do is to make sure that the load balancers (the levers that connect the rear of the front spring and the front of the rear spring together) are well lubricated and not binding. This can lead to uneven loading if one is seized and/or binding.

Another thought. Since you moved the axles on your trailer. I'm assuming you checked for square after moving them, and that your uneven wear is not "pointed" or "slanted" across the face of the tire? If the axles were slightly out of line I could see some scuffing from the rears, leading to uneven or accelerated wear.

Clarification, I do not have uneven tire wear. My trailer tows great and all wear is even.

 

[2kwik4u]

Clarification, I do not have uneven tire wear. My trailer tows great and all wear is even.

Well this makes the second thread I've completely lost track of. I'm going to go re-read and get my bearings.......Or maybe start day drinking, I'm not sure which would be more effective at this point.

 

[NORCAL-GAS]

My 1500, rebel with eco diesel, air suspension.
I moved the bow roller mount back 4”. Waaaay better. I tried with my old suburban, Yukon xl, and now my ram. I moved it back last year and never looked back. Btw, the ram is a great towvehicle.

 

[NORCAL-GAS]

Forgot to mention, I use a weigh safe hitch. I make sure to keep the tongue weight between 450-500 if I remember correctly.

 

[NORCAL-GAS]

You can see I moved the mount back just far enough to mount the ark trailer jack. Works perfect now.