I think the difference you are seeing between conventional and fifth wheel simply has to do with the type hitch. Bumper hitches don't have the capacity like the fifth wheel hitches do. Anyway, I agree GCWR is the max for the truck, regardless of trailer tow rating. Optimally you need to now the real world weight of the truck. Subtract this from the gcwr and you will get the actual max weight for the trailer. Now, many tow more weight than is officially rated, and the truck does fine, but if you go outside of the factory rating, you are risking warranty issues if the tranny pukes for example. Here is a link to a .pdf file from Trailer Life magazine for the 2008 tow ratings. Don't know the details of the truck, but it should be in the 13,000lb range. That's a pretty stout 5'er and I'm not saying the 3/4 ton won't do it, put for my taste, and if your gonna put any serious miles on with this combo, I would go with a dually and definitely a 4.10 gear. But then again I'm partial to a dually....

http://www.trailerlife.com/images/di...wGuide0801.pdf

 

Very interesting. This is an old post. Does anyone have a current link to the GCWR for a 97 V10 2500 Ram?

 

I just bought a 12 2500. The owners manual said 15500 max trailer weight.