I have a 1985 Dodge W250 4X4 that I am fixing up. Does anyone know what the towing capacity is for my truck, I have a 22 ft. tow behind camper that weighs 6000 lbs. that I want to tow with my Truck?

 

What gears doyou have. there should be a label in the drivers door that says the ratio from the factory. I had an '84 W150 with 3.21 gears and pulled 5000 pounds a few times. It went slow with those gears, but it did okay as I took my time.

 

thank you for responding, The gears are original OEM not sure I haven't been able to find any specs for my truck, I have come across posts on the web but nobody is consistent.

 

I don't think 6000 pounds is going to be a problem for your truck. What I find is, 8300 pounds for a truck with a 5.2...... Larger engine, and gearing will adjust that.

 

as long as the trailer has trailer brakes i think you should be safe. as far as pulling power goes i doubt the truck will get up to speed very good at all. i know i have had 2000lbs in my bed and found that pretty sluggish with a 4bbl and 5.2. considering its age it likely has 3.21 gears which were super common on the pre-overdrive trucks. 3.55 gears were more common on the trucks with overdrive.

 

I could of swore i seen these old trucks pulling horse trailers in the 80s, Does any one recall?

Also I have taken out that old 5.2 (which was smoking ) and put a rebuilt 360 souped up with headers, cam , holley carb, high rise intake, hopefully that will be able to pull my camper?

are the 3.21 gears ok?

 

and speed limits were also generally a bit lower in the 80's than they are today. if the trailer has brakes it may be fine stopping. it will just be slower getting up to speed. you can try hooking up to the trailer and see. 3.21 gears are not really great for towing but back before they had overdrive transmissions you couldn't really go with higher ratio's like 3.55 or 4.10 gears without sacrificing top speed and having the engine scream at highway speed even tho it will pull off the line a lot better.

 

My old '84 towed a horse trailer before I got it. 3.21 gears and a 318. (No metric garbage back then!) It was mostly stock but it had a really nasty brace welded to the frame from the rear receiver to a bar over the rear axle. I had a girl find that out the hard way when she was texting and rear ended me.

 

I will try it soon and let you know how it is, thank you all for your input it was quite helpful

 

I like to go by the hitch rating. That's typically what is challenged on a roadside check. Next will be that you're not over GVWR, and your tire ratings are not exceeded.

Change whatever you want on the truck to make it tow better.

Here's a factory list... not sure what year exactly, but new enough for overdrives and 5-speeds.