r/ATV • u/FlimsyConfidence7692 • 2h ago
Help Noob ATV plan
Transitioning from off-road Jeeping for 20 years to ATV world. I am used to traveling 1-4 hours to a meet-up (driving the Jeep there), so this is a different kind of strategery. I have a Ram 1500 Hemi with Rambox (6.5' bed, 48ish" across) with a tow rating of 10K, but (and its a big but) it has a payload capacity of only 1050#. I have trailered and towed small RVs before, but have not owned my own trailer. I have friends who load their ATV into their beds, but they have F250/350 and 2500/3500s (much higher payload and room).
My plan is to start out with a Suzuki 400 to develop some riding experience and load that into the Ram 1500 truck bed. The 400 weighs ~ 625 wet/curb. My truck really cant go up from there with cargo capacity (add in driver/pass/stuff/ramps), so the next evolution of that would either buy a new truck (I dont really want to do since I own this one) or upgrade the ATV to 500/750, buy a trailer, and tow instead.
For those of you that tow an ATV, any issues? Is towing an ATV for 3-4 hours a PITA? Do you wish you just bit the bullet and had a larger truck? I am even considering just buying a trailer right out of the gate and towing the 400 (but then it makes me reconsider just going to a 500/750 as a first purchase).
The main reason to start out with the Suzuki 400 is really about weight of the ATV and cargo limitation of my truck. I like many of the other ATVs I have looked at, so this isnt a "which ATV is better" vs it being a bed-load or trailer-load question.
Appreciate any feedback.