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Show your rig towing...

480K views 1K replies 424 participants last post by  motori-stream 
#1 ·
Hey folks.... new member here and on 2500 miles so far on my month old 2014 longhorn/laraime ecodiesel. Have been waiting for this truck since it was first announced and finally pulled the trigger. It's definitely exceeded my expectations and coming from a Jeep Wranlger daily driver (14 mpg), it's hands down the creature comfort I needed. My tow rig was a 2008 Yukon Denali XL (6.2 gasser that was getting 11 mpg) which has been re-purposed to be the family/kids barn/grocery getter/mall crawler for the wife.

Anyway primary purpose of the Laraime/Longhorn 3D was daily driver (65 mile roundtrip to work) and tow mule for my boat. As far as the latter, it's the unicorn of half ton trucks. I fish year round from Texas to Florida and majority of lakes in Dallas. Starting this thread to see what else is out there being towed by our unicorns.....Here is a pic.... 23 mpg (3.55 axle) during the week and 19 mpg (towing my 4500# boat/trailer) average! Loaded to the rim with fuel/fishing gear, ice..etc...etc....

Post up your rigs towing!

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#2 · (Edited)
Wow ...... 19 mpg pulling 4500 lbs .... pretty darn good. I have to ask ... is you boat motor possibly the same color as your Ram ? :)

These trucks sure look beautiful at the business end of a coupler :)
 
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#8 ·
The white on white towing combo with aluminum trailer and alloy rims is definitely a match made in heaven! 19 mpg, yeah, unicorn truck....towing with diesel is a dream...I never towed with a diesel and this locks it in as diesel for life when towing.....

One other side benefit to having 420-ft.lbs of torque, pulling up a steep sea-weed infested ramp in 4x4 is about as sexy as it gets! These trucks are made for low end pulling......
 
#3 · (Edited)
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This is one of my antique pulling tractors that my Ram ED towed this past summer.It logged a total of over 2000 loaded miles all over the mountains of VT and NH and averaged 16mpg doing it.
Although I weighed this load and know it's weight to the pound,I'd rather not post it here.Lets just say it was (ahumm) right at the trucks rated towing capacity.You would never know it from how effortlessly it went up and down the mountains.
The truck does have the 3.92 rear and air ride which work phenomenal for towing.I actually looked forward to a reason to pull the trailer with my truck almost as much as the fun of tractor pulling itself.It is a real pleasure to actually use it as a truck and have it respond so well.

Since this is my first picture post,not sure what's going to happen.Here goes
Oh yeah,I had to ask my dog to stay home to to keep the weight down
 
#14 ·
Do you use a equalizer hitch when towing that tractor. ?
Nope! I had about 1500 miles on the truck before towing anything.Then for the First few trips I took it easy on the speed,especially when on the highway since the owners manual states this for the first 500 miles of towing anyway.After the towing break in,I carefully increased the speed and even at 70mph,it never gave any instance of concern up hill,down hill with brakes on or on corners.Typically I keep my speed between 62-65mph just because I know what I'm towing for weight deserves caution.Unlike a TT, I can put more or less weight on the truck depending on where I place the tractor.I've tried moving it front or back some by 18" but really can't feel a negative effect.As I mentioned,the air ride works great and I believe this is the reason for the trailer control.Once the load is sensed and I'm underway,the rear of the truck will actually raise about 1-2" higher then the front,even with this load.
On my first trip out,I followed a friend who was pulling 2 smaller tractors on a trailer.The total weight he was pulling was about the same as mine.His truck was a 2006 F-250 6.0 diesel 4x4 CC.Had it not been for my caution of speed while I was breaking in the truck,I could have passed him on any of the mountains we went over as he slowed to 50 on many anyways.I think the Rams 8sd trans plays a big role in it's power as the engine is always near peak torque.
Anyways,on the way back his Ford calved at the top of the steepest 1-1/2 mile mountains.Long story short,I came back after dropping off my tractor,loaded his truck on my trailer while another friend hitched up to his trailer with a F-350 and away we went.My friend couldn't believe how easy I pulled his truck home,AC on,cruise set with no effort.
The next day,his dad hitched on to the same trailer to take the dead Ford to a garage with his 2012 Hemi Express.It has coils of course and it really sagged his truck.I offered to re-hitch to the trailer for him but he wouldn't concede that my truck would handle the load better.I followed him up the highway and when he headed down the first hill @ 60,it got scarey real quick as the trailer started swaying.He had the since to slow to 50 from there on but still wouldn't let me take the trailer for him.That's how much difference the air ride and a few hundred more lbs of tow truck made.If my truck acted like his towing the load,I wouldn't go 20 miles,let alone 2000.
 
#11 ·
Although it's not actually hitched in this photo, this is what I tow in the summer, along with a 24 foot boat I've owned since 1984. In the fall it tows a 6X12 enclosed trailer with a Harley and all our snowbirding needs to Florida. I don't have pictures of either the boat or bike trailer - Land vehicle Vehicle Car Transport RV
 
#24 ·
I'm really enjoying this thread and love to see what people are pulling with their Ecos. I would really be interested if people could edit their posts to include what type of suspension they have (air ride or standard coil over) and also their gear ratio. These 2 items would relate to what I'm seeing in the photos. I have lots of photos of my previous Rams pulling a variety of travel trailers and boats but won't be hooking up our new Eco until next month heading to Florida.

For future posters ..... please include suspension and gear ratio info .... thanks :)
 
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#26 ·
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Air ride with 3.55. My Laramie Longhorn at the location that was "The Battle of the Little Bighorn".
 
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#300 ·
How did you get around the 1000lb at 5th wheel hitch weight? I had a 5th just like that, weighed 8000lb loaded, had a f250 v10 to tow it. Since I am getting a ed and the in bed weights were very high, I traded to a new friend flagstaff which on weighs in at 4500 total load. If you are towing that 5th and a boat & trailer you must be at or over max load for ed. Just saying.

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