Towing a Vehicle behind my RV

[Newton36B]

That sounds great, and should be plenty stout, my concern would be the actual hitch mount on the motormome, your work may be good for 25,000 lbs, but if the motorhome hitch is only rated for 5,000 lbs where does that leave you ?

 

[knied1]

That sounds great, and should be plenty stout, my concern would be the actual hitch mount on the motormome, your work may be good for 25,000 lbs, but if the motorhome hitch is only rated for 5,000 lbs where does that leave you ?

Types of Trailer Hitches and Hitch Classes - Towing 101

There are many different types of hitches and hitch classes used for towing a trailer. In this guide, we will walk through the 5 hitch classes, comparing weight ratings, features and more. We'll also look at some other hitch types, such as 5th wheel, gooseneck and pintle.

www.curtmfg.com

This is taken from the Curt Manufacturing Webiste
" class 3 trailer hitch is the most common receiver hitch class installed on full-size pickup trucks and SUVs. If your truck is equipped with a towing prep package, it probably has a class 3 hitch.

CURT class 3 hitches are equipped with a 2" x 2" receiver tube opening and typically have a weight carrying capacity up to 8,000 lbs. gross trailer weight. Some class 3 hitches can also be used in combination with a weight distribution hitch."


From researching their website based on the dimension of the hitch frame and receiver tube it is difficult to tell if it's a class 3 or class 4 hitch....I am choosing to assume it's a class three and based on the information on the information on Curt Manufacturing website I should be fine.

I have already performed the research on the strength of my camper, frame strength GAVW....I have a brother who is a State Trooper and he says I will never get a ticket for being under GAVW....what I have not been able to square away it the best option for components. Hopefully I will be able to get that information this weekend.

 

[NWIP]

Here is a link to Roadmaster’s website using your 2021 Ram. It gives you everything you need to consider: baseplate, tow bar, lights. Battery disconnect, etc.

BlueOx and Roadmaster are the leaders in what your looking for and both will provide excellent support. You can build your own baseplate but they already have.

FitMaster Product Match | Roadmaster Inc.

 

[knied1]

Here is a link to Roadmaster’s website using your 2021 Ram. It gives you everything you need to consider: baseplate, tow bar, lights. Battery disconnect, etc.

BlueOx and Roadmaster are the leaders in what your looking for and both will provide excellent support. You can build your own baseplate but they already have.

FitMaster Product Match | Roadmaster Inc.

thanks

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

A good example is any Jeep Wrangler, Sahara, or Rubicon, two door or 4 door. First on newer models there is NO steering lock. On your 4 wheel shifter you shift your trans-axle in Neutral. This disengages your transmission from your drive axles. Once in neutral you can shift your regular auto shifter in drive or reverse and you vehicle will not move. Then shift into park and shut off your engine.

I'd like to offer some clarification here: Sahara and Rubicon are packages available on the Jeep Wrangler, and the Jeep Gladiator, not separate models, although many people think of them as separate models. And the 4WD gearbox is not a transaxle, but rather a transfer case.

 

[Bob K4TAX]

Doesn't it make a bit of sense to use a vehicle trailer? One with ramps as opposed to a flat trailer and one that has a tilt frame for easy loading and unloading. There was one parked next to us last year at the campground. The concern then would be the combined weight of the trailer and vehicle, trailer brakes, and controller on the tow vehicle which are present as used on the boat trailer. Seems like the minimum hassle and has no concern about towing flat or otherwise.

 

[Jireh Financial]

I am being told that both can be flat towed, but neither can be towed with the front wheels on a dolly ( that doesn't make sense to me)

Told by who? Dealerships and owners manuals would be a good source.
Ken

 

[knied1]

First told by one of theocal RV dealers, but when I contacted the dealer we got the jeep from they did say it was flat towable BUT since it's a lease I can not make attachments to the frame

 

[knied1]

Doesn't it make a bit of sense to use a vehicle trailer? One with ramps as opposed to a flat trailer and one that has a tilt frame for easy loading and unloading. There was one parked next to us last year at the campground. The concern then would be the combined weight of the trailer and vehicle, trailer brakes, and controller on the tow vehicle which are present as used on the boat trailer. Seems like the minimum hassle and has no concern about towing flat or otherwise.

It is a viable option
For me the draw back is having another trailer to store, register, inspect, maintain etc....also i would need a place for the trailer when I am at my camping place......I am sure for others a trailer fits their needs perfectly

 

[jimdeballen]

I have been flat towing my 2013 Jeep Wrangler behind my gas powered motor home. I recently upgraded to a diesel pusher. Do I need to change the braking system in my Wrangler or does the brake system for gas motor homes work for diesel motor home’s too?

 

[Jerryfr]

My opinion...nothing more.
Having been there I learned a tow dolly, no matter how good of a tow dolly you get, will take away a lot of the fun of your trip. Again, my opinion. After one year with a TD, we went with a toad. Yes, the purchase and then having it prepped to tow and stop cost a lot.
But the difference is day and night. No more watching it, no more keeping the straps tight, no more the hassle of loading and unloading. No more pulling a roped calf down the highway.
Just my opinion, nothing more.

 

[Newton36B]

I agree, I used a dolly for about a year, had a blowout on the dolly, ripped off the fender, had to have the wife drive the car home. Also some rv parks make you store the dolly in another area of the park, this happened to us when staying at a river front park in Oregon, I had to disconnect the dolly and push it by hand into there storage area, not fun !

 

["EZ"]

I used to tow a Ram 1500 4wd with my Blue Ox tow bar until I sold it. If your Ram 1500 is 4wd you can flat tow it with ease. I now tow my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4wd. It also has the electronic transfer case since it is 4wd. I can't even tell either one is back there without looking at the back up camera. Not sure about you Jeep Compass. But if you have the electronic transfer case that can be put into neutral by pressing a button then you should be good to go. But if it was me I'd flat tow the Ram 1500 so you could be more comfortable when you had to drive it. LOL.

I also bought an Air Force One auxillary braking system so if my truck or Jeep ever come loose they won't kill another family when they crash into them at 65 MPH. Lots of people don't use them but I couldn't sleep at night after killing someone's kids because I wanted to save a few bucks.

 

[FloridaSon]

I used to tow a Ram 1500 4wd with my Blue Ox tow bar until I sold it. If your Ram 1500 is 4wd you can flat tow it with ease. I now tow my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4wd. It also has the electronic transfer case since it is 4wd. I can't even tell either one is back there without looking at the back up camera. Not sure about you Jeep Compass. But if you have the electronic transfer case that can be put into neutral by pressing a button then you should be good to go. But if it was me I'd flat tow the Ram 1500 so you could be more comfortable when you had to drive it. LOL.

I also bought an Air Force One auxillary braking system so if my truck or Jeep ever come loose they won't kill another family when they crash into them at 65 MPH. Lots of people don't use them but I couldn't sleep at night after killing someone's kids because I wanted to save a few bucks.

EZ did you install the Air Force One yourself? Thanks

 

[Rich W.]

Sounds like you are on the right track. I would rely on the folks at etrailer and/or BlueOx above what Gandler or any RV shop tells you. It’s all good info but compare all three before you buy anything or agree to let anyone install anything. Sounds like you do your own work so thats probably not an issue, but people spend around $5k to get a tow vehicle all set up.

As mentioned before the braking system is a complete chapeter by iteself. I would (and did) do the reaearch and compare them all to my preferecnes and then decide, not letting cost be a factor, but rather base the decision on reliability and ease of use. Every state has some level of requirement for a braking system and a typical exemption is 1500lbs and under. So to be safe, and legal (and covered if something happens), you want one. Here’s a list to start looking at: 2021 Ram 1500 Vehicle Tow Bar Brake System | etrailer.com

The BlueOx tow bar is a good choice and making your own mounts is fine (I did that too) but one thing a base plate does is get the attachment point lower than the frame of the toad. So if you go this route you might need to raise the towing height on the coach to level things out. You dont want any more than about 2” + or - between the attachment points and the receiver on the coach. I needed to raise the hitch 4” so for that I bought one of these: https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Adapters/Roadmaster/RM-058-4.html

 

["EZ"]

EZ did you install the Air Force One yourself? Thanks

No. I paid a local company to do it for me. They did a very good job. I travel a lot for my job and just didn't have the time to do it myself although I normally do all my own work on my vehicles.

 

[Oldbear]

So lets say that the Compass is out and i tow my ram ( its on the list of 20 best vehicles)
can I assume that all i need is a tow bar and magnetic light kit.

And a rv brake so the Ram’s brakes will work when the rv brakes are applied.