I traded up from a 1500 Hemi to get better gas mileage. I love this diesel. I pull a fairly lite trailer 4,500 dry. I have driven it from Seattle to Florida and other places. Looking at getting a 5th wheel but am concerned if I can have that pin weight on my bed. The RV dealer, of course, says that I can. Trailer life says that I can pull 12,400 but doesn't say anything about that weight on the axle. I think the GVWR is 9,000 which seems really low. I am so confused as to what I can tow. The trailer I have now is a piece of cake to drive. Don't even feel it over the rockies. Emergency stopping hasn't been a problem. I wanted to upgrade to more room and ease of backing up with the 5th wheel. I forgot to mention that I have a short-bed. I'm not a gearhead so I don't know all the terminology or parts. I thought the Dodge dealer told me that this truck has a heavier axle than standard but can't find anything to substantiate that. I know somewhere we have the paper that shows what was included. The 5th wheel is about 10,000lbs.

 

Welcome to DF! Moving this to the 3rd gen Ram section. They will be able to answer your questions.

 

If you have a look at your door jamb (or sometimes the glovebox), the payload tag for your stock truck could be as low as 1700-1800lbs depending on your options. Now deduct the weight of any add-ons, hitch, passengers, tools, etc and see what you have to work with to stay under the GVWR of the truck. Odds are the pin of the fifth wheel will be too high but in terms of performance, it'll tow it all day long.

 

If you want to know exactly what axle you have, PM me the vin and an email address and I will send you a build sheet which will identify all the equipment on your truck.

 

Your problem will be with Payload for a 5th wheel. I have a 5th wheel but I have the 2500 HEMI with a 2500lb payload. The diesel Mega-cab is quite heavy and only goes up from 8800lb to 9000lb which i never understand why Dodge did not up the GVWR to at least cover the added weight of the diesel engine. Now that said I am sure there are a lot of people towing 5th wheels exceeding their GVWR but under the axle ratings.

 

I just know with the Mega Cab it's tricky because you have a 2500 axle (10.5 AAM) but you have 1500 leaf springs

 

he has a 2500 not a 1500 Mega Cab...

He should be fine with a 5th wheel, but he needs to check what Axle he has... my guess is it's prolly either a 4.10 or 3.92.

Then he just has to check the payload on the doorjam sticker and subtract the weight of the hitch and other stuff he has in the bed.

 

Didn't see the 2500 part lol, my bad. But if he has a 2500 then he either has 4.10s or 3.73s. And you should be able to tow way more then 12,400

 

Thanks....I sent an email to you via Dodge Cares with vin info

 

Thanks for all the help guys. It is a 2500 MegaCab 5.9l diesel. Everybody says that I can pull anything but I don't want to hurt my beloved Dodge! Just took it in for a 47,565 mileage check and everything is good. Have towed a trailer to CA, TEXAS, NM WV FL. Even went to FL twice last year one with the trailer and one without. Got 22mpg w/o trailer.