Towing Excella 34' 1000 w/Dodge Ram

[pscottn]

I have a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500, Quad-Cab, Long Bed. Can this vehicle handle towing a 1995 Excella 34' 1000? Anyone have any experience with this?

[thenewkid64]

Looks like you are thinking of upgrading!


The differences between what you have now, 79 29 footer, and a 95 34 footer are HUGE.

The Truck you referenced above is likely at it's MAX with the 29 footer you have. The 34 would put you in dangerous territory regarding GCVWR.

In other threads you mention looking for a 22-25 footer in a late 90's vintage. That is a more realistic match to the truck than a 34.

79 Ambassador 29 factory weight =4690

95 Excella 34 factory weight =7100

That is a 2500 LB difference without ANY stuff. Unless you plan to upgrade to a 3/4 or 1 ton I would pass.

JMHO, but you asked

[Mariner]

Hi,

Although I don't have a 34' Airstream I do have a 34'Avion. I would guess and say the weights of the two are comparable.
The difference between towing the Avion with a 3/4 ton truck and 1 ton truck is quite pronounced. I must admit, the 1 ton truck is a Dodge 3500 dually - which really smoothes out the effects of the trailer.

In my honest opinion - and that is all it is, if you want to tow the 34ft trailer safely, you will need a 1 ton vehicle. Either a full size van or a full size pick up. Others will claim that they have safely towed with less and are probably right. Do you want to be the exception?

My advice is to go to the 1 ton vehicle.

HTH

Mariner

[Silvertwinky]

I was trying to use a 3/4 ton full size Chevy van (350ci) to pull my 31 footer with and I think it was too much trailer for the vehicle. As I have mentioned in another thread, I felt like the trailer pulled me instead of me pulling the trailer.

I purchased a used 1 ton Dodge Ram extended cab with a dually and a V-10 that has a rear end ratio of 4.1. I can say now that I pull the trailer; it goes where I want it to go. I wouldn’t even consider one of those very expensive hitches (that probably work very well), at this point in time. The thing that I was amazed at was that I really didn’t even notice large trucks coming up beside me until I would look over and see them ( although I always keep an eye open for them). It made that much difference to me. I don’t notice the surge of air as they pass hardly at all.

The combination I had before was a lot different in that I had a shorter wheel base, longer distance from the axle to the hitch, single tires, high top van; all of these things I feel make a big difference and add to the tendency to cause sway. Consideration should be given to many things like that when towing IMHO!

[pscottn]

Thanks for your opinion. I respect it.

[TBKP's Overlander]

You might look into a Tourag or even a Canadian Intrepid.