Towing with Dodge Mega Cab

mmathias3

Member
Hey guys, new to the forum... Hopefully in the next couple of months will be the proud owner of a Sundance 3300rlb and had a couple questions regarding towing questions. I have a 08 Dodge Ram 2500 Mega Cab and was wondering if any of you have had any experiences with towing with a Mega Cab and the really short bed. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Hi mmathias3,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and hopefully to the family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to help if needed.

I'm sure you will get some replies about towing with the short bed.

Jim M
 

westxsrt10

Perfict Senior Member
Hey guys, new to the forum... Hopefully in the next couple of months will be the proud owner of a Sundance 3300rlb and had a couple questions regarding towing questions. I have a 08 Dodge Ram 2500 Mega Cab and was wondering if any of you have had any experiences with towing with a Mega Cab and the really short bed. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

The short box on the MegaCab is the same length as the other models. Short box 6'-3".
You should be ok but make sure your new Sundance has the long Pin Box.
 

mmathias3

Member
Thanks... do you think that I will need to buy a slider hitch or with the new Sundance turning radius will I be ok without.
 

argyll1st

Well-known member
Oh Oh .long pin box ? I have just bought a sundance 2010 model and I dont know what "a long pin box" is,can you tell me the ditterence ? I think I may have just bought the model of sundance you were looking at from All American coach
 

westxsrt10

Perfict Senior Member
Thanks... do you think that I will need to buy a slider hitch or with the new Sundance turning radius will I be ok without.
I think you will be ok.....get it, try turning sharp, i bet you can get the 88 degrees. Here is a pic of the PIN of our Sundance, it longer than many units out there and thats a main reason we bought it.
 

Attachments

  • SDpin..JPG
    SDpin..JPG
    121.1 KB · Views: 55

PUG

Pug
Does the Sundance you are buying have the curved Heartland frontend? If so you should be ok. I have a one ton dually dodge megacab short box and pull a 3950 Cyclone and it is fine. I don't have a slider but did mount the center line of the Reese 20K about 2 inches behind the c/l of the axle. I did so because first the installer said the dodge 3500 would handle the weight ok and my previous short box chevy was mounted over the c/l of the axle and the chevy is a couple of inches longer in the bed. I have turned my Cyclone close to 90 degrees and with the curved front end it clears fine. I think in retrospect i probably could have moved the hitch another inch or so closer to the c/l of the pickup axle and would have been ok and made the 3500 squat just a little less but it really does handle it fine.
 

westxsrt10

Perfict Senior Member
One good thing is the Ford's short beds are 6'-9", the 5th wheel hitches mount 3 1/2" off center towards the center of the truck.
 

MurrayN.

Well-known member
I have your prospective trailer and have no problems with the factory supplied pin box and a standard truck hitch (non-slider) in my short box Chev. My hitch is 2" behind my rear axle c/l, and I am very happy with this setup and would not change a thing. I can turn practically to 90* before coming close to my cab. You will love this trailer, we are really happy with our decision to get ours.
 

5erWonk

Well-known member
I have been towing a Bighorn with the short box Dodge for three years, two with the Mega Cab and one with the Crew Cab (both 6' beds). I use a B&W hitch which is not a slider and have had no problems. Obviously you need to be careful when cutting in on a tight turn but I have never found it to restrict getting my rig in a tight spot.

I have noticed that the Mega Cab felt more stable when towing than the Crew Cab due to the longer wheel base, I suspect.
 

driver311

Well-known member
the pin should never be set behind the center line of the rear axle. setting it back puts more weight on the rear axle. u probably all ready have too much weight there anyway. so do it right and get a super slide by pullright and then u never have to worry about hitting and u have moved some weight to the front axle.
 

newbie

Northern Virginia
Are you sure about that? IIRC, the installation instructions that came with my Reese 20K spec'd at least an inch behind the rear axle.

EDIT: I just googled a Reese manual and it should be centered over the axle.

John
 

westxsrt10

Perfict Senior Member
the pin should never be set behind the center line of the rear axle. setting it back puts more weight on the rear axle. u probably all ready have too much weight there anyway. so do it right and get a super slide by pullright and then u never have to worry about hitting and u have moved some weight to the front axle.

(Web search) Too many people have had problems with the Superslides for me to take one as a gift...bad welds and gears binding tearing things apart. Sometimes less is better.
 

linuxkidd

Member
Hello mmathias3,
As some others have pointed out, the short bed on the MegaCab is the same length as the other short bed options on Dodge Trucks. I tow my Heartland Landmark with a short bed quad cab. I have a normal 18k signature series hitch in my truck, no slide and have never had a problem. There may be situations where I might have gotten backed in with fewer pull-up/back-up iterations if I'd had a slide-hitch, but I assure you it is simply not required.

Back before I purchased this setup, I ran a poll on the forum. You can see the results at this link, but it basically came down to 84% of the respondents not having ever used their manual slide hitches. ( The full thread is available at this link.)

Enjoy your new coach, and your Mega Cab! ( I really really want the new 2010 Dodge Crew Cab!! But, alas.. my '07 QC will last many more miles.. )

Thanks,
LK
 

sgtbigb

Well-known member
I have a 2007 Dodge 2500 mega cab.I tow a 3610 RE Bighorn. I have a slider hitch, but has never had to use it! Ther should be No provlem with your Sundance!
 

mmathias3

Member
Thanks for all the responses guys....sounds like a slider hitch isn't a necessity. Getting ready to post a new question, hope to get more feedback!
 

LilGTO71

Member
Sorry it took so long to answer this post as I was on the road with my new "Dog House." I have a Reese 16K Slider that I had to have with our old 5er. Since purchasing our new Sundance, I've never had to use it and the pin is 1" off centerline of the rear axle. I love our new trailer and the only recommendation is to add some Firestone AirRides. I tow a horse trailer as well and with only 30lbs in the bags, I'm level from bumper to bumper, and you will notice a huge difference in "yawing" or up and down motion of trailer to tow vehicle. Just my .02. Enjoy your new rig and get out on the road.
 
Top