Replying to another post prompts this question.

I am trying to get an idea of what exactly the truck can take. When I work the numbers, I come up -267 lbs on the GVWR / PAYLOAD of the truck. I am a bit shocked that the GVWR for this truck is only 6650 lbs.

If you own the same model and are towing something around 5k. What problems if any have you encountered ?


The Camper :

Hitch Weight 600 lbs.
Axle Weight 3,610 lbs.
Ship Weight 4,210 lbs.
GVWR 7,600 lbs.
Length Exterior 26' 5"
Exterior Height w/AC 10 ft. 3 in.


Camper Tag
gvwr 7370
uvw 5090
ccc 1974
lpgas 9.75 x 4.2 41
water 32 x 8.3 266 <- DONT CONSIDER WILL NEVER BE USED


The Truck: (This is a Thunderroad model minus the 20" Wheels)

2005 RAM 1500
SLT, Quad Cab, 4x4, 6.25 Ft, 5.7L HEMI Magnum V8 Engine, 5-Speed Automatic Transmission
With 3.92 Axle Ratio You Can Tow 8600 lbs
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating(GVWR)=6650
Payload=1389
Curb Weight=5261 actual weight 5760 with driver and full fuelThe truck :
Curb WeightFront/Rear=3075/2186
GAWRFront/Rear=3900/3900
Gross Combination Weight Rating(GCWR)=14000

 

GVWR-Actual truck weight=safe payload so given your calcs:
6650-5760=890# SAFE PAYLOAD

Don't forget to subtract the tongue weight of the trailer
6650-5760-400=490# to spare ON THE TRUCK.

GCWR-Curb-trailer wt (max is 7370 but I doubt it will way that much)
14000-5760-7370=870# left to spare total weight TRUCK AND TRAILER

It is good that you remember to add the weight of people and cargo and gas to the total curb weight as most people forget to do this and possibly overload thier trucks, although I doubt anything would happen. I've seen C/K 1500's towing huge peanut trailers that weight a sheeot load. I will suggest that you get sway bars and at the least better shocks on your Ram. And if you'll be towing often and EXTRA tranny cooler, especially in hilly areas.

 

Oh yeah ... Reese WD system and Dual Cam Sway ... In another post ... someone mentioned towing a camper of substantially greater size with approximately the same vehicle as I have.

So, I began to ask myself, "What exactly can this truck handle?"

Thanks for you input.

 

I want to hit on just one point:


It's a half ton light duty. Softer springs for a better ride, weaker brakes, axles, possibly tranny, clutch/TQ, cooling, etc. If you want an 8000 pound gross weight you should have bought a 3/4 ton.

 

Well, horatio102, I cant deny that your probably right. Lots of other circumstances pointed me this way. Ill spare you the long winded details.

Things like springs, brakes and cooling are easily addressable. Although I understand that I can improve some of these points; Heavier duty springs, air bags ... rotor and caliper mods blah blah blah, but it still wont make my truck a 8k GVW vehicle.

I dont think that 267 or even 500 lbs is going to make all that much of a difference. What I'm trying to find out is what other Ram 1500 owners are actually towing on the road.

One other thought was that the 05 Ford F150 XLT 5.3l that I traded in on this Ram (again Ill spare you the details) had a GVWR of over 7K. Thats why the 6650 striked me as odd ... a little low.

Thanks for the input.

 

Dodge is just a shade bit conservative when it comes to payload limits.

 

No doubt. My truck was absolutely fine driving with 7000 lbs of gravel in the bed. I wish I had scanned the transfer station receipt so I could share it reading over 12,000 gross. Yeah, I had it overloaded since its gross registered weight is 8510, but it sat fairly level and accellerated fine. Stopping was a bit sketch though.

I don't think you'll have a problem with 500 over either. I'd be willing to put money that you could go 1000 lbs over without damaging anything.

 

Horatio, you had 7000 IN THE BED???!!! AND IT SAT LEVEL!!!??? Damn, I'd have to see a pic of that! The axle is only rated at like 4000# or something like that. I would never do that, but I'm glad that it can if the situation ever arises.

 

Fairly level. I've got a picture somewhere with the bed full and an excavator on the trailer hooked up - gross combined weight of about 17000-18000 iirc. The trailer put me over the top and the **** started sagging as soon as I started driving down the road - exhaust was rubbing on a shock due to the >12" sag. But the 35" wild country TXRs didn't blow out.

Found it. It's sagging pretty hard here, but as you can see the trailer is hooked up.

I had made one run to the dump already with just the dirt (wet dirt and gravel mixed), then this load I took the rental back, and another load after this one. The second two loads I took somewhere else because they told me it'd be a lot cheaper than it turned out. :furious: They said it'd be about $20, but instead it was over $100. They must have given me a price break due to the fact that it was just dirt/rocks because I don't remember it being nearly $300, but the gross weight was over 12k and my truck's tare weight is about 5200 with me in it.

On a side note back in high school my buddy had a 79 ford and hauling away a concrete patio from my folks place we had his truck gross up over 12k too. But his was scarier because you could hear the sidewalls rubbing on every bump in the road.

I've got a D60 and I think it's rated for 5000 lbs and my front d44 is rated for 3500 or so.

[IMG]local://upfiles/12068/6FFA1E6917774ED3937C7708A21102E9.jpg[/IMG]

 

Factory ratings HAVE to be pretty conservative for liability reasons.

Most of us have or know others who have pushed the limits without problems. One simply doesn't want to do it often or for long... I'd suspect.

All the best.