2019 Ram 2500 4X4 cummins hitch questions

[Hans627]

I have a 2019 RAM 2500 4X4 Cummins diesel with a short bed. I tow a 27' GT.

I was using a Blue Ox Sway Pro. Under normal conditions it performed well. But (isn't there always a but) I could feel "push" (not really sway) as big trucks and buses/RV's would pass me. While not a problem it was annoying.

So I finally decided to get a Pro-Pride hitch and, I'm happy to say, it has eliminated that push. So while a Blue Ox eliminated sway and did a good job, the Pro-Pride does a better job. You may be able to find a used one as they come up for sale from time to time.

Perhaps my experience will be helpful to you!

[out of sight]

Ram requires weight distribution on their 1500 half ton pickup for tongue weights over 500 lbs. For their 2500 and higher vehicles it only requires them if the rear axle would be overloaded, which is not the case for the trailer in question.

If anyone wants to read the definitive engineering study on how weight distribution hitches can destabilize a rig and lower the jackknife threshhold it can be found here:

https://eur05.safelinks.protection.o...%3D&reserved=0

[crispyboy]

I have a 2009 2500 CTD, 1994 Excella Classic 30. I use a Hensley Hitch with great results.
I have towed this trailer home with a standard weight distribution hitch only and I didn't like the way the trailer felt behind the truck. I noticed that there was a lot of movement from passing trucks or typical sidewinds. Also I have towed a 25' Airstream for a family member with similar crummy results. Yeah you can do it but there is nothing like being properly hitched.
I like my Hensley for a couple of reasons. It works as advertised. The trailer feels like it is running on rails with minimal disturbance from trucks or sidewinds. Some trips we only have light things in the truck bed and sometimes there is a load of firewood along with towing the Airstream. This matters because the weight distribution is infinitely adjustable depending on the load in the truck bed. I can adjust it till it drives properly. The anti-sway is always there as it is built into the geometry of the hitch design. The anti-sway effectiveness on other some other brand hitches can be directly correlated to weight distribution.

I am on a budget so I purchased this hitch used about 10 years ago for a couple hundred bucks. Keep your eye out as used ones do come up for sale. In what ever brand hitch you decide upon take some time in setting it up correctly and your towing experience should be good.
There is nothing special you have to do to your truck for any of these hitches. All of them use the standard 2" receiver.

[harryk]

So how fast are you driving ? When I bought my rig I had to tow home without brakes or anti sway or equalizer bars. Just a ball hitch & safety chains. Had no sway at 55 but that was a empty trailer. (same exact truck as you) Now I use Reese with bars and do not have sway with a fully loaded truck & trailer.

[lkuzel]

I use a 2016 Ram 2500, Cummins Diesel, 4 x 4, 6' bed to tow my 27 Airstream. I use the Equalizer hitch with 1000# bars and have never had any sway problems. Strong winds and big rig trucks have not had any noticeable effect. Over the last couple of years I've towed several thousand miles all over the western US so have a wide range of experience.

Good luck!

[Trowbridge]

We tow our 1964 30' Airstream Sovereign with our 2001 Dodge 2500 Quad Cab Short Bed without any anti-sway mechanism. Longer than your trailer but lighter (4500#). Absolutely no problems, aside from (maybe) 6" of tail swing when a semi passes close by. Don't waste your time on a load leveling or anti-sway hitch. Your truck can handle your trailer without a hiccup.

[30Globe2020]

Same truck
2020 Globetrotter 30ft 8800lb max

First time tower of anything-

I love my Equalizer... super easy to operate.

Little stiff at first but loosened up nicely.

Hardly know the Airstream is back there. I have been passed and have passed many rigs without a problem.

Hope it helps

[gordyfj49]

[QUOTE=out of sight;2344079]Ram requires weight distribution on their 1500 half ton pickup for tongue weights over 500 lbs. For their 2500 and higher vehicles it only requires them if the rear axle would be overloaded, which is not the case for the trailer in question.

If anyone wants to read the definitive engineering study on how weight distribution hitches can destabilize a rig and lower the jackknife threshhold it can be found here:

This is data on using a car as a TV. Dated 1977.

[Airstreamfan]

Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences. After reading all the input, there is a common theme......everybody is pretty darned happy with their choice of anti-sway and weight distribution hitch system, whether it says Blue Ox, Reese, Equalizer, ProPride, or Hensley.

That's good to read. That means these companies are doing their jobs well.

As stated earlier, I've got a TON of experience pulling heavy rigs, and I've been a 40K mile guy for my business every single year for past 30. I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about my wife in the seat on our long trips out west. I'd like a little help with the driving, and she's happy to give it, as long as she's not getting blown around. It unsettles her, so I'm doing this for her. Regardless of the minority opinion that it isn't needed (which I agree with if it was just me driving), I will purchase one of the systems that cost me under $1K.

No way I'm putting $3K into a hitch system. We have 3 kids, young adults, and they're all starting new families, and my wife and I feel the most joy in our lives when we are able to financially help them out buying their houses, and having kids. Right now, I'm helping 2 of my kids buy houses, and that is the proudest moment that can ever occur in my life. They live 600 miles apart in 2 different cities, and both houses are going to need plenty of rehab work, which is my specialty, so I'd rather spend my money on that. I can do without the Ferrari-hitch. I can always upgrade to it, if necessary (which sounds doubtful from these responses) down the road once we get to help our kids the way we want to. When I was a young man, just starting out, I lived to work, as I built my business. Now, I have learned to work to live, and I'm much happier that way.

Thank you all for your thoughtful replies. Hope to get the chance to meet you fine folks out on the road sometime. I'll be the guy having lots of fun, that doesn't know what he's doing, but is a work in progress.

[Airstreamfan]

Originally Posted by out of sight

Ram requires weight distribution on their 1500 half ton pickup for tongue weights over 500 lbs. For their 2500 and higher vehicles it only requires them if the rear axle would be overloaded, which is not the case for the trailer in question.

If anyone wants to read the definitive engineering study on how weight distribution hitches can destabilize a rig and lower the jackknife threshhold it can be found here:

Out of Sight- Thanks for sharing your opinion. I've noticed you share it in every single towing thread I've read over the past 3 weeks. It's your prerogative. I've quite nicely told you, pretty clearly, that I am purchasing a hitch system for my wife's benefit. Nothing further that you type on your keyboard is going to persuade me other wise. I'd appreciate it if you'd stop beating your drum in this thread. I'll be ignoring it, and I hope others here, who are trying to help me, can ignore it as well. Your opinion is well noted, so please move along. Hope you have a great day, and stay safe.

[out of sight]

Originally Posted by Airstreamfan

Out of Sight- Thanks for sharing your opinion. I've noticed you share it in every single towing thread I've read over the past 3 weeks. It's your prerogative. I've quite nicely told you, pretty clearly, that I am purchasing a hitch system for my wife's benefit. Nothing further that you type on your keyboard is going to persuade me other wise. I'd appreciate it if you'd stop beating your drum in this thread. I'll be ignoring it, and I hope others here, who are trying to help me, can ignore it as well. Your opinion is well noted, so please move along. Hope you have a great day, and stay safe.

Well I was trying to help you. Sorry you didn't appreciate the effort.

[Salvagediver]

Appreciate your priorities with the kids...we have the same with ours...AND the five grands! Having said that, I chose the same Ram version for the torque and exhaust brake...and comfort. I get the ProPride is expensive and I am fortunate to be in a position in retirement to buy one. All I'll say is, for me I think the ProPrides and Hensley Arrows just happen to take towing to a different level and further, the ProPride works so well that I am concerned that I may unknowingly become complacent it's that solid.

Lots of others love their choice for a WD hitch (or not)...which is why I enjoy the Forum: there are always multiple opinions; if there were only one thought on everything I could easily just look at owner's manuals and I'd have no need for the Forum at all. It's a good resource tool.

Otherwise, I hope to see you out there and can share a pot of Joe.

[JTMurph10]

Blue Ox on my 2019 Ram 2500 6.7 Cummins. Love it, like being on rails.

[trumpetguy]

I have a 2016 Ram 2500 diesel 2wd. Have owned a 28 foot International and present 2007 Classic 31. Towed with both the Anderson and my current choice of Blue Ox. I like the Blue Ox because it’s a ball Mount I can hitch up at any angle and drive to a straight and level location to connect the spring bars. Any rig will feel a little tug when a big rig or panel truck passes you because it’s just sideways lift.

If you choose the Blue Ox get the 11 hole shank due to the Air Suspension on the Ram. I toggle my truck into transport mode for hitch up then back to normal ride for towing.

Be sure to get an accurate tongue weight and buy the appropriate bars.

[BayouBiker]

I have a Ram 2500 4x4 crew cab but the long bed. I tow our 25' weighing in at 6750 loaded with a Blue Ox. I'm very happy with the set-up and have had no sway or stability issues even on two lane roads at 70 with oncoming semis getting way too close a few times. The longer wheel base does help just a very slight bit with sway tendency and over steer.

I bought the truck used and noticed a slight alignment issue, the rear axle was not perpendicular to the frame so the truck would "hound dog". Never towed with it like that, it was easy to fix just loosened the U clamps and shifted the axle on the plates and was good to go. If yours is out of alignment like mine was that will greatly increase trailer yaw and could account for your experience. You can measure the wheel base on each side to see if yours is aligned. Other alignment issues will give you the same experience.

Hope this helps.

[out of sight]

Trailer sway is an interesting phenomenom. Mechanically, it is normal and not problematic (as long as you don't approach critical speed), but once you put a human into the loop things can become dangerous. If a disturbance occurs to start the sway it will soon dissipate and disappear, but if the driver gets scared and overreacts then the sway could be amplified. It is then possible for the trailer to swing wildly and cause the tow vehicle to jackknife.

When the engineers at SAE got together to create their trailer towing standard they tried to quantify the fear factor. The sent a number of different drivers out in a rig and induced different levels sway to see how the felt. The result was that drivers felt comfortable with a sway damping ratio of around 0.07, and they rounded it up so that in order to pass the sway test the trailer had to have a damping ratio of at least 0.10. What this means is that a trailer is OK to sway as long as the sway diminishes to zero after several back and forth cycles. See the chart for what a 0.10 damping ratio (one tenth of critical damping) looks like.

The real question of how much sway is tolerable is dependent on how excitable the driver is. A professional driver won't get upset with sway. He will keep the steering wheel going straight because he knows the sway is harmless. A skittish novice, though, could panic, jerk the wheel and cause an accident. For this fellow, I would recommend a friction sway damper.

[SteveSueMac]

Why don’t you understand the OP has heard your pitch and politely asked you to butt out?

[Ultraclassic]

Originally Posted by Airstreamfan

Thanks for the input, folks.

For the record, I'm personally unphased by suggestions that an anti-sway hitch won't benefit my situation, so no need to defend or attack that position. It's been done 1000 times, at least, in almost every thread I've read. I've made the decision to upgrade my hitch to some sort of sway control hitch, so we're all good. Just let that one go, if you could, so I don't have to wade through a sea of miserable posts to get to the information we all are trying to learn from.

Another question: Do all of these hitches remove quickly and easily from the TV? Reason I ask, is that traveling with my Airstream may become (hopefully) something we do a lot of, but I have 3 other trailers, with different hitch requirements, that won't be hitched using this hitch. 2 of them, my fishing boat and log splitter, tow with a 2" ball, and my equipment trailer is a pintle hook. I need to know that I won't have to perform minor mechanical surgery every time to get a different hitch on my truck.

Thanks.

Easy removal from the truck just like a regular tow shank.

https://images.app.goo.gl/mDUSDEQ2JfXMJPDb6

The extra time is only when you put the camper on and then add the weight distribution bars.

You could use the hitch shank part (as long as the ball is the right size) to tow your other trailers, or pull the pin and switch Shanks.

[Bob Peahl]

We use an Equalizer for our Ram 2500 diesel with 2017 27FCFB. After 60k miles, this system has been secure and flawless. But keep the bolts and ball torqued. Ours was not properly torqued when installed. We discovered a wobbling ball while doing the Pacific Coast Highway. No incident other than a OMG moment. Glad we had all that steel attached!

[Profxd]

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

Why don’t you understand the OP has heard your pitch and politely asked you to butt out?

Yeah, no need to muddle the post with facts.