Power Wagon Registry

Will a Power Wagon handle a toy hauler (bumper pull) with a gross dry weight of 8300 lbs? GVWR of the camper is 12,000 lbs and dry hitch weight is 1500 lbs. I would do airbags, but I'm still wondering if it will be to much when loaded with a side X side, gear, etc.? It doesn't take to much to get up to 10,300 lbs that the Power Wagon is rated for.

I think it will do just fine. There are guys on the FB group pulling enclosed trailers, horse trailers and farm equipment around all the time closer to 15k.

We tow regularly but are closer to your dry weight fully loaded without any problems. You've got the 5.7 so you might be a little low on power up steep grades, but the 4.56 rear end will make up for that. The thing I've heard about the 5.7 is watching the trans temp. Maybe put a bigger cooler on it.

Those are my thoughts.

Have a buddy that towed ~10-11k loaded bumper pull a couple times around here with a '11 PW and ultimately (and sadly as he loved it) chose to trade up to a diesel. He said the stability with weight distribution, etc wasn't bad but the 5.7 was just enough to keep it moving, of course rev'd like heck, and only moving at 35-40mph on the mountain passes. Seems like on flatter ground and lower altitudes a couple times a year it would be doable. But at high altitude, your truck would take a serious flogging.

Yeah, being in Wyoming the majority of my towing will be at over 6000 feet in elevation. I'm thinking I want to keep the GVWR at under 10,000 lbs. and the dry weight of the camper under 7000 lbs.

Yea. The dry weight of our travel trailer is 7000 pounds. Even at that, if I was towing it around a lot more than I do then I would be looking into a diesel. The hemi works, but it almost gets annoying with all the revving and gear changing just on the slightest of grades.

I had a smaller trailer and moved to one with a GVWR of 7,600lbs this year. It is a Coachman Freedom Express. I live in Colorado and we tow it around everywhere. I made a trip out to Leadville with full water, kids, dogs, and full load etc. I use an Andersen weight distribution hitch. To give you some info to compare, weights were as follows:

Steer Axle: 4,140lbs
Drive Axle: 4,880lbs
Trailer Axle: 5,940lbs
Gross Weight: 14,960lbs

My truck empty (with me, ARE topper, full gas tank, and rock rails)

Steer Axle: 4,240lbs
Drive Axle: 3,180lbs
Gross Weight: 7,420lbs

The overall experience with the truck has been very positive. It pulls well, but as olyelr says it will be doing some revving and gear changing especially here in the big mountains. Going up the Ike Gauntlet from Silverthorne to the Eisenhower tunnel I pulled it back going 55-60 the whole way up, but she was screamin' the whole time. The oil temps jumped up on the way up, but I run Amsoil Signature Series 5w30 for that reason.

On the way across I-80 from Laramie to Rock Springs, I towed the trailer in 96 degree heat, and it did a great job as well. It will downshift going up the hills and the motor runs at a pretty high rpm. That being said, I don't usually tow over 65mph with this setup. When I keep it under 65 it is happiest. Past that and it really works to pull that speed. The truck itself handles the weight of this camper very well. It feels stable and very much under control. I don't run airbags, and it sits within a quarter inch of level with this setup. I think a trailer the size you are asking about would be too much for out here. I think it would do it, but it would be struggling unless you make some other upgrades. I currently run 33 inch tires as well, so I should have the best set up for towing on a PW.

It is not a diesel, so towing with this setup will always make the gas engines rev high and downshift especially in the high country. Towing out here is a different animal, so I feel like my setup is about as big as I would go. I looked at other trailer that were heavier, but I am glad I did not go any heavier with this setup.

X2 - what ghaugo says (Springdale GVWR 7,200 #; long trips +/- 4,000 - 5000 m & +/- 3 - 5 week trips) Oregon to Texas via various routes. Would not want a heavier set up either but enjoyable w ours! Enjoy

I think around 7k dry weight is about as big as I'd go. My trailer is 7k dry and 8500lb loaded and 9k GVWR. That puts me under all numbers except payload. So tires, axles, tow rating, and GCWR are all just under.

I added airbags and other stuff to account for payload. Honestly driving around town I'm 30 lbs over payload after all the mods and recovery gear in the ramboxes etc.

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Yes, it'll do it.

Take it slow and watch temps on the long uphill pulls, but it'll get the job done.
I go over the continental divide just about every weekend all winter long.

Thanks for all the replies. We ended up signing papers for a toy hauler yesterday. Dry weight is 6373 lbs and GVWR is 9985 lbs. I was wanting to keep it under 10,000 so this should work. My SXS is around 1800 lbs so I should have around another 1800 lbs to get up to max (I better never get to max). It's coming with distribution/sway control hitch. I'll probably be over on payload as well and may have to do some airbags. We'll see the first time it's loaded I guess.

If you have weight distribution and are not leveled you should be just fine.

That should work well. You'll be near the top of what the PW can do for distance and it'll whine some up hills. I chased this and that for a long time to get it fully 100% stable. Airlift airbags and daystar cradles will serve you well. Make sure you dial in the WD hitch. Have them give you two sway control bars (if they give you the eaz-lift hitch). If you want further info just let us know. It took a while but the PW can tow. Mine tows that load just like my 11 Duramax did it just took longer to get it all figured out.

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MOPARManiac wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 12, 2018 3:58 pm

Thanks for all the replies. We ended up signing papers for a toy hauler yesterday. Dry weight is 6373 lbs and GVWR is 9985 lbs. I was wanting to keep it under 10,000 so this should work. My SXS is around 1800 lbs so I should have around another 1800 lbs to get up to max (I better never get to max). It's coming with distribution/sway control hitch. I'll probably be over on payload as well and may have to do some airbags. We'll see the first time it's loaded I guess.

Heck, I got bags in Daystar cradles even for our tiny trailer. I hate, hate, HATE rear end squat.

See how it does on our first trip when loaded, but I couldn't even tell the trailer was behind me towing it home. Crazy how easy it towed.

MOPARManiac wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:24 pm

See how it does on our first trip when loaded, but I couldn't even tell the trailer was behind me towing it home. Crazy how easy it towed.

That’s great to hear. I wouldn’t doubt it. My little trailer doesn’t even effect MPG on my truck. But it’s a little hard side pop up doesn’t hurt because it has hardly no wind drag. We are going to upgrade the trailer next year. The one we want will be about 5k lbs dry. The Wagon will easily handle it. But we do throw 3 dirt bikes in the bed while trailer is in tow on occasion. Payload max gets flirted with. Another reason why I got bags right away. I’m covered.

Have fun with it. I just switched to 35's and mine still pulls fine. It does lug a little more, but as long as you're not trying to set speed records, the truck will pull. Glad to hear you got a nice setup.

First big trip with the Power Wagon and Toy Hauler. My pickup sits better with the Mule in the back of the camper as it takes some of the weight off the tongue. Without the Mule in the back it really makes the rear end sag a lot. I ordered Daystar Cradles and Airlift bags to help with that. The WD/Anti-sway hitch works great, just need a little help with the suspension. I drove a lot of miles in 3 states and the Powerwagon has plenty of power, but I also didn't pass by to many gas stations. It was 99 degrees today and I was average 6 MPG with the AC on Max into a head wind. All oil/coolant temps were great though.

I know you already did it, and are set up for your first trip, but I will still give you my experience.

I have an '05 PW with 35s. The last camper was a 7,700 GVW 29ft bunkhouse-style Dutchmen. The camper itself was overloaded by about 1,200lbs the one time I did the math. It towed fine after I finally upgraded to a Hensley hitch. It swayed unmercifully before, but that wasn't the truck's fault. Plenty of power, and I only added Timbrens. I always felt in control with this combination.

The current camper is a 12,8xx GVW 35ft Jayco Octane toy hauler. Tongue weight when empty is over 1,300lbs. Dry weight is about 10,000. Oh my, what a difference. Before I finally gave in and bought a 3500 Cummins, I added Helwig helper springs, kept the Timbrens, cranked the f#*% out of the bars on the new Pro Pride hitch, and it STILL dropped the rear end well below level. It also porpoised, pitched, rolled, and in general was on the edge of control.

And then there is the 5.7... Later versions may have worked, but the '05 isn't up to the task without running the balls off of it.

That being said, I think you did the right thing staying on the lighter side of toy haulers. Good luck, and Happy Camping!

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Eventually plan to tow a big skid steer a few times a year for retirement property work and back to current home and I will be over 12K for sure. I figure its only a few items a year, and a few hundred miles each way. But I like learning what everyone else has done to tow over the limit weights. Sounds like equalizer hitch is number 1.

FordyceCreekTrail wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 02, 2019 11:23 pm

Eventually plan to tow a big skid steer a few times a year for retirement property work and back to current home and I will be over 12K for sure. I figure its only a few items a year, and a few hundred miles each way. But I like learning what everyone else has done to tow over the limit weights. Sounds like equalizer hitch is number 1.

It certainly is a night and day difference with a weight distribution hitch. Removing a bunch of weight from the rear axle and placing it on the front axle does wonders for towing experiences.

And, a hitch like the Equal-izer one also has good sway prevention built into it as well, so that makes it even better.

2x

leveled 2012 PW with 19 Ft Attitude toy hauler tows fine here. Towed if for a year and then decided to adjust the WD Hitch (which made a huge difference!) Now 75 mph (my comfortable limit) feels like 65 mph used to.


What oil temps or coolant temsps would be considered high?

leveled 2012 PW with 19 Ft Attitude toy hauler tows fine here. Towed if for a year and then decided to adjust the WD Hitch (which made a huge difference!) Now 75 mph (my comfortable limit) feels like 65 mph used to.


What oil temps or coolant temsps would be considered high?