Well we went on a trip this weekend and had a few questions and welcome any suggestions by anyone. We have a Dodge 1500 Hemi and we have a Ponderosa 3 horse slant bumper pull. Well this was the first time we used this combo. When the trailer got 2 horses in it the whole truck sank and the front end looked like it was going to pop off the ground! Is there anything I can buy to prevent this? ( I know it is my suspension and a 2500-3500 would not do this)
Also it really sucked the gas I mean I think we were getting 11 miles to the gallon.

After this we are thinking maybe we need to get a 2500-3500 and a diesel. Any opinions on this?!

SuperSprings will help level your truck when loaded at http://mrtruck.net/supersprings.htm Did you have enough power? Loaded a bigger truck won't get any better fuel mileage. My diesel gets 9 mpg loaded. Did the trailer sway any with the 2 horses. I don't know how balanced Ponderosa is, but you might try using the rear two stalls if it doesn't cause you to sway. Alot of trailer companies use a heavier tongue weight to control sway when the trailer is empty. But they should balance the load better for more control empty or loaded. Another good place for Hemi truck towing info, is the forum on my www.HemiTruckClub.com

Well it seemed like going up hills it was chugging a little. I know loaded that I am going to be over my weight limit. Also with three horses in there I think the trailer is going to scrape the ground.

Are diesels with a better suspension not better for a lot of towing like this? We haul horses and go long distances.

Diesels are great for towing. They have power at lower rpm's. Gas engines are about wide open throttle when at their max tow capacity. But there are some ecomonimcs involved. Diesels now cost around $6000 more than a gas engine. Oil changes are higher, and so on. If you tow often, diesels may be the answer. But it will take over 150,000 miles to break even using just fuel ecomomy over a gas engine.

Hi Janda ..

While Mr. Truck likes Supersprings, I lean toward the WDH. The hitch doesn't just level your truck it transfers some of the weight to the front tires... Your steer wheels... Which increases your trucks's steering control, a good thing with a live,moving cargo

This is all assuming your total weight is under the GCVWR (Gross combined vehicle weight rating)


As Mr Truck has alluded to, A bigger truck will consume more fuel. It's a simple fact, more weight needs more energy to move. The advantage a bigger truck gives is the increased capacity margin with the trailer. Over the long haul, the bigger capacity should mean better reliability. Getting stranded on the road is no fum.

Remember AAA will not help you with the horses or trailer. I've heard horror stories that AAA wanted the stranded driver to unload & leave the horses before AAA's service would even touch the downed vehicle.

I can't argue with that Hosspuller, I'm a big fan of wdh too. For a 1/2 ton, SuperSprings and a wdh like Equalizer would be ideal together. In lighter trucks and SUV's as in 1/2 ton, when you use a wdh to level out the truck and trailer, transfering weight to all the axles, it does take some of the traction weight off the trucks rear axle and in mud, snow or the slick grassy parking lots at fair grounds, having SuperSprings leaf spring control will help with traction.

Well we looked into getting a diesel but just want to wait until we could get a nicer one than the used ones that are out there. What can we do to the Ram 1500 to help it tow this better? We are going about 2000 miles over a weekend pulling this trailer so I want it to do a good jon and not have trouble. Any ideas please! Would the WD hitch do the trick?

A good wdh with built in sway control would be a good overall way to go if you had to decide between aftermarket overload springs and a wdh. See my wdh article at http://mrtruck.net/wdh.htm

One more point ... WIth a 1/2 ton truck you can easily overload the rear axle & tires. The WDH reduces the load on the rar axle. Helper springs keep all the weight on the rear axle & tires.