Well, Guys here's whats going on. Friday I will be pulling a 25ft Gooseneck dual tandom axle trailor with a 307 Cat Excavator weighing about 16000lbs. My ? is can I do it, I will be going about 100 miles round trip, will this hurt the ole dodge? My brother has a Ford 550 2007 should I get it, its an auto tranny and he says it doesnt do all that great. He sold me his old Dodge and says he's miss the ole cummins.

2001 Dodge Ram 3500 4x4 5sp

 

What gears do you have?

 

What gears, like truck girl said and what will your driving conditions be (Hills, mountains, flat highway, etc)? Also, think about your level of driving experience and comfort. If you already have a brake controller I would say probably so. Take your time and stay out of 5th. The final decision is up to you though. I pulled an 18' bumper-pull full of mud/dirt with a single cab 4cyl toyota tacoma in the rain. It would pull just would NOT stop. Fun though

 

I pulled more weight then that with a 2500 that I use to own and it had 3.54 gears, so I feel you have enough truck. The bigest thing is stoping. If your trailer brakes work you will be fine. When you stop squeeze the brake controler manualy to take some load off the truck brakes.

 

16,000lbs for the machine and that trailer has to be at least 6000lbs. 22,000lbs + around 7000lbs for the truck, somewhere around 29,000lbs GCW.
What kind of terrain are you in? Flat, hills, mountains? Like everyone else said, stopping will be the biggest challenge. What kind of traffic will you be traveling in? An emergency stop will be almost impossible if someone else does something stupid.
Ultimately its up to you whether you do it or not, but I would not do it in my area. Too many people that pull out in front of you to take a chance with that small of a tow vehicle.

 

You might be able to PULL it,....but can you safely STOP it?

 

If you decide to pull it, snap a picture of it all loaded down and post it, it would be a sight to behold. Good Luck if you go for it.

 

if you have 3.54's and an auto you will be in trouble, the tranny wont like you... mine didnt like 22,000 just driving arround Dallas (flat) converter slipping....

buddy's 01 2500 6 speed with 4.10's weighed 24,400 Dallas to Moab UT no problems

and yes make sure trailer brakes work

 

Agreed! But with a DTT tranny, it's all
His 5 speed...in 4th....with good trailer brakes... should get-er-done!

RJ

 

I agree, just don't forget to turn up the braking effort on the brake controller after you are loaded.

 

Sorry guys, I live in Central Kansas flat ground no worry got brakes taken care of and also I have a 5sp 3.54 gears. Towing it today will take picture

 

Good luck! The truck should pull it fine, but don't get over confident with the brakes... electric trailer brakes are crap, and that's a lot of weight.

There's a reason semis use air brakes...

 

Davey's safety rule of thumb. "If you think you might be able to do it, DON'T! If you know you can do it with a margin of safety, GO FOR IT." Just my 02.

 

Just make sure you have good trailer brakes and enjoy... Heck when I pull heavy on a tandom dual the truck will stop dang fast when those trailer brakes hit hard... Feels like it is gonig to rip the ball out of the bed...

Now that being said trailer brakes have been known to fail, so best think of how long it would take to slow down without trailer brakes and plan ahead...