Trailer tow rating Chart
 

I was asked to do a trailer tow rating. Here is a copy and paste from our 95 service manual in the FAQ. This will be posted in the FAQ. This is for The 92-96 Magnum engines. For 87-91 your rating will be lower than the chart due to lower Torque and Horse power ratings.

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/a...dgef25/Tow.jpg

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/a...25/Payload.jpg

According to this chat I can tow 6,400lbs, if I had the 5.2. But with the 5.9 I can tow 8,500lbs, according to this site. http://www.trailerlife.com/towrating...hrys-dodge.cfm (For a 99)

Damn for a Single Cab 5.2 auto with a 3.9 rear can tow 6,900lbs.

A Ram with V8 is rated at 8,000lbs.

Is that rating include using a 5th wheel setup, or just using a class III?

Well I have a class III/IV (whatever that means) and it has a rating of 7000 lbs, so obviously the hitch is not the limiting factory. Those numbers in the FSM are based on engine/transmission load, suspension load, brake load, how much of a load the frame can take, etc, which would not change based on where your hitch is located.

Your hitch is mounted to the tail frame? Thats class 3.

I bet you could haul more if you ran a 5th wheel set up. It would put the tongue weight over the back axle instead of on the tail. Which if you put to much weight on the tail it would end up lifting the steers off the pavement. That would be a bad thing. :icon_no:

Brian did you really not know what the classes were?
A 3/4 just means it works both.
For you or others.

Class 1 (Class I) trailer hitch

Trailer hitch with capacity of up to 2,000 lbs gross trailer weight and 200 lbs tongue weight.
http://www.hitchcorner.com/images/hitches/fixed.jpg


Class 2 (Class II) trailer hitch

Trailer hitch with weight-carrying rating of up to 3,500 lbs gross trailer weight and 300/350 lbs tongue weight.

http://www.suspensionconnection.com/...itch_large.jpg

http://www.discountramps.com/cargoImages/hitch-size.gif


Class 3 (Class III) trailer hitch

Trailer hitch with weight carrying rating of up to 5,000 lbs gross trailer weight and 500 lbs tongue weight. Also sometimes used to refer to a hitch with any 2" receiver, regardless of rating.
http://scoutparts.com/products/photo...389_232892.jpg



Class 4 (Class IV) trailer hitch

Trailer hitch with weight carrying rating of up to 10,000 lbs gross trailer weight and 1,000 - 1,200 lbs tongue weight. Although many times any hitch with a capacity greater than 5,000 lbs gross weight is referred to as a Class 4.

http://fileresource.sitepro.com/file...0E1824B1D4.jpg

Class 5 (Class V) trailer hitch

Fifth wheel hitch
A Class 5 trailer hitch that mounts in the bed of pickup truck which uses a plate in the bed of the truck (similiar to a semi-tractor) and a pin on the trailer.
http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto...-main_Full.jpg



Gooseneck
A Class 5 hitch that mounts a ball in the bed of a pickup truck (either 2-5/16" or 3" in diameter) to engage a coupler on a trailer. Not to be confused with a fifth wheel.
http://image.automotive.com/f/miscel...-dodge-ram.jpg

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/...ck-hitch-1.jpg

Once I finished all of that I found this pic!

http://i50.tinypic.com/2zjizra.jpg

Well I was close, but I deleted it and its too late to bring it back. Your pics there are kind of contradicting though. One of them says I was right in saying the class 3 is good for 5k lbs and the class 4 is up to 10k lbs. Then the bottom picture turns around and changes that. Then one of those pics says I was right in saying a class 5 is mounted in the bed, but the bottom picture has a class 5 rear mounted hitch. So basically, the only thing I was confused about was the double lable, which I'm still confused about. But it looks like I'd be right calling it a class 4 with a 7000 lb capacity.

haha, ratings are overrated... i have rolled across the scale at the wreckers weighing 17.xxx LBS haha

oh.. yeah... i am not suggesting anyone does that... i broke my stock dakota springs. All of them... They are baby trucks.... not 450's or 1 tons.... Thats why I have 1 ton leafs :D

Gummer do you have a pic of the broken springs? That would be interesting to see.