i have a 98 5.2 2x4 with a club cab and the max gcvw says 8500, but i have pulled well over 12000 lbs without a problem. plenty of power. i have even moved around my father's 17000 lb trailer without a problem.

 

whats all this about dissing the 5.2l, dodge has been using that basic design for the last 30 years, and until recently with new epa crap, have they had to change to the 4.7l. You don't have to believe me if you don't want to but with 36's and 3.55's, I towed a 28,000lb trailor, it was tough, but it did it, of course 2 days later the tranny went out.

My point is don't bash the motor, bash the week tranny, I told the guy at the tranny shop, and he upgraded me to a 47re and said that I can safely tow up to 20,000lbs, but he said it I was going to tow 28,000 to buy a F550

 

these trucks will out tow anything you put them up against. the magnum engine is in my opinion, the strongest stock motor out there. the transmissions are weak as hell, but with the right tranny application you could out tow any 1 ton without a problem.

 

amen to that....[sm=americanasmiley.gif]

 

+2 on that.

 

Im not quite sure about that...


But, they will tow like a sumbitch, my uncle's 96 1500 5.2L AT ext. cab short bed tows his 7k manlift with his 2k pound trailer like its nothing. Its all about distributing the weight properly. The transmissions are NOT known to break under a load, its the seals on the input shaft (which was not machined correctly) that fail, causing the hydraulic pressure to drop in the case, causing a no shift from 2nd to 3rd, or even sometimes 1st to 2nd.

 

The factory bumper is only rated for 5k and a the hitch for the ram is rated for 5k-6k any higher load weight will have to have additional accessories i.e. weight distribution which brings it up to 8k-10k or a 5th wheel or goosneck hitch which can haul up to 16k its never smart or safe to haul any thing that out weighs the truck

 

what about a tractor trailer? their payloads exceed the weight of the tractor almost everytimes :P Also, it is very common for people with pickups to tow more than the truck weighs. Take the F-550 dump trucks for example. We put 7 tons rock in the bed all the time and the truck is rated for it and also weighs 11500 dry. On top of that, while we have it loaded with 7 tons of rock, we also haul a 28ft. skid trailer at around 3000lbs with a T300 skidsteer and then a soil condition, two buckets, and a set of forks. Truck just needs a cummins so it can pull it better although the powerstroke doesnt do bad with the 6spd auto with high 5.xx or low 6.xx gears haha.