New Truck Question

[BLTravels]

Not knowing all the specs...but if the payload fits....

The only experience I have with a dually is knowing 3 different owners who like towing with them but "hate" driving them when not towing. One ended up selling his and the other two broke down and bought drivers keeping the dually just for towing.

Here is one opinion and if you are familiar with YouTube you will see many more down the side.

"Can I tow heavy loads without a dually"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG3W711UObc

[Rock]

Remember adding air bags is way different from factory closed nitrogen rear air suspension. Totally different leaf springs than without air. My dually truck rides like my car.

[artoo93]

Between my days driving over the road and the mileage I have racked up on trucks and trailers, I wouldn't tow a large fifth wheel like the Pinnacle you are looking at or my North Point with anything less then a dually. I have never had any issues with being overloaded even with headache rack, toolbox, aux fuel tank, hitch, second box in bed, fully loaded fiver. I definitely vote in favor of airbags!! My '04.5 was upgraded both before and after I purchased it. Exhaust brake, upgraded springs front and rear, airbags, complete on board air system, along with a front hitch to add an extra spare for the truck and an extra spare for the fiver in the bed. Came across the northern states, Canada and the AlCan into Alaska and wouldn't have wanted any less of a truck!! No issues with truck riding like a rock either when unloaded! I run 80 psi in all tires all the time. I do let out the pressure in the rear air bags to about 20 psi when empty which helps with absorbing some of the bounce but never had an issue. Good luck and enjoy the journey!!

[Mopar_Earl]

Originally Posted by Rock

Remember adding air bags is way different from factory closed nitrogen rear air suspension. Totally different leaf springs than without air. My dually truck rides like my car.

The 3500 is an open compressed air system, at least on my 2018. But it definitely rocks. I wouldn't buy another ram without the air suspension. Aftermarket addon air bags definitely aren't the same.


Earl

[Rock]

Earl,
5th Generation Ram 2019 is an all new closed nitrogen system. I can tell u it rides super smooth.

[Chuckles57]

We pull a Pinnacle 38 FLSA with a 2009 3500 SRW 2WD short bed with no trouble. I put air bags on the truck when we had our old trailer. It was a 2000 Kountry Star with 14 ply tires. without the bags the truck was down on the helper springs.

[Mopar_Earl]

Originally Posted by Rock

Earl,
5th Generation Ram 2019 is an all new closed nitrogen system. I can tell u it rides super smooth.

Ok, my 2018 3500 rides just the same with an open compressor system. I run Alt height while towing.

Earl

[Brian2430]

I have towed a 2017 40 foot seismic wave toy hauler with a RZR and a Harley in the back, across the country east to west and north to south multiple times with no issues and my tow vehicle is a 2012 Ram 3500 with single wheels. I know others in this thread will say I am overloaded but again no issues in wind rain or snow

[Rock]

Earl,
How many leaf springs do u have? Curious on how many are on non factory air suspension.

[Mopar_Earl]

Originally Posted by Rock

Earl,
How many leaf springs do u have? Curious on how many are on non factory air suspension.

I have the factory air suspension.

Earl

[Mad5581]

One thing to consider is the pinnacle is a wide body vs the eagle, and NP. That dose make a difference. So I pull my 377 rlbh with an srw GMC 3500 and have had zero issues. I put airbags and onboard compressor on it to just help the ride quality and it dose. That said all loaded up on my cross country trip last year I was about 400lbs over my gvwr (all on the back axle) my front axle weight was great. I also upgraded from the oem tires that were rated at 3750 lbs to the 4080lbs tires. Personally I wouldn't go any bigger on a srw then what I've got. Now I have had no problem yes and with the airbags my ride quality is fine. But I can't carry extra fuel (this is fine for me 34 gallons I make it through most of my drive days just fine without having to fuel) I also can't have my big toolbox in the truck. If I were to do it again I think I probably would go with the SRW again. That said if I were to go with a bigger trailer especially a wide body trailer I would probably go for the DRW. My personal recommendation is DO NOT buy the ram with factory air suspension. Why? Ram uses lighter leaf springs with factory air bags. Get the non factory air bagged truck then add an aftermarket system. Have an onboard air tank installed this is great for airing up tires on the truck and rv. It eliminates the need to carry a second pump for tires. I've seen the factory air systems fail on rams many times and when that happens you can NOT haul any weight with them until its fixed and I'm telling you its extremely expensive to have any work done on it. I don't think ram even knows how the system works. And parts are next to impossible to get for it. Just my opinions with a pinnacle go DRW. NP you may be a little heavy but an SRW with a few mods and your good. Good luck and happy camping enjoy retirement.

[Mikayles]

I live in congested So CA. I towed with our 06 2500 4x4 and I thought the old 5.9 did great with our Eagle 319 MLOK. Wife is allready wanting a larger unit so I cut my losses and bought the dually. It's a 2019 Ram 3500 Mega cab shortbed as I needed it to fit in our driveway. We just came back from the KOA in Palm Springs. Anyone that has driven this can tell you the winds over the pass can be quite serious. The dually is soooo much more stable than my old SRW truck. I drive the truck around town here and with the modern technology it's not bad. I back into parking spots and the truck just fits, the camera's making it easy to guide into the lane. That's in fuller lots but I generally park farther out. Only downside to the dually I've found plus I need the exercise LoL. I like the shorter Mega cab as I dont hang out into the lanes so far. The pullrite Superglide makes towing with the shorter truck less stressful as I don't worry about kissing the cab. My truck is probably overkill for our Eagle which is at 13,000 GVW. We load up pretty good as now the kids come along sometimes with their tent. I would not want to tow heavier without the Dually honestly and I towed an Alfa fiver with the old 2500 for 14 years. My truck has the rear air suspension and rides night and day better than the old truck ever did loaded or empty. Wife refused to ride in the old truck unloaded. She now wants to take the new truck everywhere. The stability and confidence you get with the dually is unmatched. I now have way fewer pucker factor moments unless someone shortpulls in front me which is common here in So CA. but the truck is big enough I notice fewer of these events.
Good luck in your search but don't rule out the dually for that trailer.

[Rock]

Earl,
I already know u have factory air suspension. My my question was how many leaf springs do u have. We have two different trucks 4th and 5th Gen. I am trying to find out what they changed since 2019 was a new suspension. I am still trying to find out what the difference is on my 2019 and a 2019 without rear air suspension.

[Rock]

/mikayles
Ur mega cab is the same length as a Ram 4 door long bed. That is how u got the mega cab. The bed length went into ur mega cab. There is no such thing as a mega cab long bed.

[Mad5581]

The rear suspension looks similar. The difference is in the capacity of the leaf springs. They are thinner and narrower on the air suspension ram, vs the non air suspension ram. I have a friend that got a used ram that had factory air suspension and some bone head had issues with it so they took the entire system out. When he bought the truck and hooked his 2100 lb hitch weight rv the truck hit the bump stops on a drw truck. Come to find out to put the factory air suspension back into the truck was gonna be like $5000 in parts alone and and $1800 in labor and some of the parts were on back order. The aftermarket system he went with was $1800 installed good for 7k lbs and has an aux air tank for tires. Truck is amazing now... my point is don't spend the extra $ on the OEM air system. Get it aftermarket. Its cheaper and way better then stock.

[Rock]

Mad5581,
Ur missing the point. Why go dually with leafs and than add airbags? My last 3500 I put in air bags to carry over weight stuff. When I towed my pinnacle I ran only 5 psi which is the min. I guarantee with my dually payload if I lost me factory air suspension my dually would do just fine since the pinnacle is 50% of my payload max. This is my daily driver and it rides like a car unloaded. Everyone who has a 2019 Ram dually without factory air complains about the empty ride.

[Mad5581]

Rock,
I get your point. My point is if you want a car like ride buy a car. And I know for a fact I've seen it there is no way a ram dually with factory air suspension can support the pin weight on a pinnacle with out the air system working. no way. The truck will be on the bump stops. On top of that the OEM system is extremely expensive and has zero extra features like an air tank and ability to put air in tires. My point is if you buy a ram without factory air you get a stronger stock suspension and you can save $ on an aftermarket air system that is far better then the OEM system. Oh and if your running you air system at 5 psi that's why the truck rode like trash. Put 20 or 30 psi in it $100 says it would have made a 100% difference. With 5 psi you are not getting any of the ride quality benefits of an air suspension. It blows my mind when guys complain about an air suspension they don't know how to use. Take a look at your OE system when your trailer is hooked up I bet its got 30psi or more in it. Why? It probably doesn't really need 30psi to level the load. The oem system dose this for ride quality. So if your gonna do a side by side comparison do it apples to apples. Don't under cut one or the other. Even with no load on the ram airbags I bet it's got 10ish psi in it. Why? Ride quality. Again if you put aftermarket bags on run 10 to 30 psi in them I bet it will operate with as good or better ride quality then your oem system.

[Mopar_Earl]

Originally Posted by Mad5581

Rock,
I get your point. My point is if you want a car like ride buy a car. And I know for a fact I've seen it there is no way a ram dually with factory air suspension can support the pin weight on a pinnacle with out the air system working. no way. The truck will be on the bump stops. On top of that the OEM system is extremely expensive and has zero extra features like an air tank and ability to put air in tires. My point is if you buy a ram without factory air you get a stronger stock suspension and you can save $ on an aftermarket air system that is far better then the OEM system. Oh and if your running you air system at 5 psi that's why the truck rode like trash. Put 20 or 30 psi in it $100 says it would have made a 100% difference. With 5 psi you are not getting any of the ride quality benefits of an air suspension. It blows my mind when guys complain about an air suspension they don't know how to use. Take a look at your OE system when your trailer is hooked up I bet its got 30psi or more in it. Why? It probably doesn't really need 30psi to level the load. The oem system dose this for ride quality. So if your gonna do a side by side comparison do it apples to apples. Don't under cut one or the other. Even with no load on the ram airbags I bet it's got 10ish psi in it. Why? Ride quality. Again if you put aftermarket bags on run 10 to 30 psi in them I bet it will operate with as good or better ride quality then your oem system.

100% wrong! You apparently have no experience with the ram 3500 factory air suspension. I have and have experience with non air and aftermarket air bags. My factory is beautiful. Rides great empty and loaded. Yes, the suspension is fail safe. If the system fails, the traditional leaf springs and bump stops take over. Will is sag, yep will it get home or to a shop, yep. You definitely have no experience or knowledge of the ram factory air suspension on a 3500. Also the factory air suspension system was a cheap option. Not sure where you're getting extremely expensive?? The auto trans option cost me way more than the factory air suspension. I'd never buy another ram without the factory air suspension.


Earl

[Mopar_Earl]

Originally Posted by Rock

Earl,
I already know u have factory air suspension. My my question was how many leaf springs do u have. We have two different trucks 4th and 5th Gen. I am trying to find out what they changed since 2019 was a new suspension. I am still trying to find out what the difference is on my 2019 and a 2019 without rear air suspension.

I see. Far as I know, nothing changed on the 3500 air suspension from 18 to 19. They've had the same system for years. You say the 19 and up are sealed nitrogen. If true, I wouldn't know what else they would of done. I will count the spring pack tomorrow. I so know the springs are different between air and non air. Air has less leaves as the air bags carry the weight and the springs are more used as control arm links and for backup. Air leaf springs are a different design as well.


Earl

[Rock]

Earl,
This is my third Ram 3500 but first dually. They advertise the entire truck is new, frame and suspension along with the sealed nitrogen system. U are absolutely right with ur reply about the air suspension on that Chevy post. I went right to the shock people when I added the Firestone bags to my last 3500. And doing what they told me to set the shocks at max rebound I only added the min amount of air. I tried every PSI from 50 to 5. I guess if u own a Chevy u need to do other stuff. As a past pro stock racer with my worked 1970 GTX and and A/P mechanic i am not a clueless person just like u know Mopar. We both know our Rams.