SRW vs DRW

Me Again wrote:

twodownzero wrote:

GAWR does not matter in the real world. You will not overload an axle before you overload the GVWR.

RGAWR ratings matter. A lot of states could care less about the manufactures GVWR and license vehicle higher.

RGAWR is most often set by the load capacity of the tires. Exceeding RGAWR with a 5th wheel is the main concern. 99.9 % of pin weight goes on the rear axle of the TV. We have a resident weigh master on the forum that has many times said the LEOs could care less about the manufacture GVWR.

We tow/towed a 16K 5th wheel with a 2015 RAM 3500 SRW, loaded for full timing and choose a model that has a lower dry pin weight of 2435. This is a 39'4" Bighorn high profile 5th wheel.

Your older SRW 350 is not as capable as the newer 350/3500's.

It doesn't matter what your state says. If you're over your GVWR, you're overloaded.

If you need a law enforcement officer to ticket you in order to ensure you're loading your truck safely, I don't really know what to say.

By your logic, my older 3500 is just as capable as a newer truck because it has tires that will support more than its axle weight ratings (and indeed as much as any newer 1 ton SRW truck), and therefore its GVWR, according to you, is irrelevant. All I have to do is move back to Illinois, where they required me to plate my truck for 12,000 lbs because their plates are 8k or 12k, with non in-between. The axle assembly itself is rated for way more than the tires, so by your logic, I'm entirely safe to load the truck significantly beyond its GVWR. It has factory overload springs that don't even touch their pads until it is overloaded, so I doubt you'll have anything legitimate to say about the rear springs and their support capacity.

Yet if I loaded my rear axle to its rating (whatever that is, likely 6400 pounds), I would be overloaded by something like 1,000 pounds.

Trucks have many ratings. If any one of them is over, it's overloaded. It can be a tire, an axle, the GVWR, GCWR, all of the above, etc. The only way it is not overloaded is if none of those ratings are exceeded. In your world, GVWR is the sum of the axle ratings. In reality, that is not true for pickup trucks. Your logic would be especially dangerous for a dual wheel truck, because the tire ratings exceed the hard parts by a pretty substantial margin.

It is not possible to load my truck to its rear GAWR without busting the GVWR by a long way first. Thus, its consideration, in real world numbers off the scale, is irrelevant. Such is even more true for a 3/4 ton truck of a similar year, which has 1,100 pounds less payload/GVWR to begin with.

I could probably pull the 5er you describe if they didn't lie about the actual numbers. It would have to be carefully loaded to keep the weight on the trailer axles, which is perfectly legitimate.

BTW, most states do not care about RVs and weight. The chance of you getting busted is **** near zero anywhere I've traveled. But the potential liability if you crash while knowingly overloaded could land you a huge lawsuit, no insurance coverage, and even in prison for a felony if someone is seriously hurt or dies. I would definitely never, ever tempt that.