Hi Dave,
The rear axle of the truck rating is what is needed to go by. The GAWR-Rear. That rating is declared from the "weakest" component in the rear axle system. Meaning the actual axle itself, the springs, shackles and mounts, wheel and tires. Odds are high the rear axle itself "might" be the same as was used in a F350 of the same time period. The tires are what they are as listed on the side wall max rating for full psi cold. The springs are something that most likley is the limiting factor. They de-rate any item if they are the weakest.
While I saw your rear axle rating to be too high for a 2500 truck, you are in the situation where that door sticker may be printed wrong OR not. If for some reason they put softer springs in then the more traditional 6,000# capacity, then this is a problem.
Why we are singling out the rear axle is what happens to is when you drop a "loaded" heavy tongue weight camper on it even with a WD hitch. You need to make sure you do not go over the capacity of the rear axle rating.
If you can get the VIN sticker sorted out and you do have a 6,000# rear axle rating, this helps eliminate a lot of issues.
Unless there was a miss print on the truck GVWR too, that 8,800# rating is something lower then the modern day trucks which are up in the 10,000# range for a 2500 now a days. This is not to say you cannot still pull a good size camper, it means you need to be really weight conscious. That nice well proven 7.3 up front weighs a lot and it eats up payload of the truck towards that low GVWR.
This come back to, fill the truck with full fuel, take wife and kids or other absolute must have things in the truck and go get a front and rear axle weight at a truck scale. Only load in the truck the must haves, as you can put cargo weight in the camper to keep the truck GVW lower.
Once you have a solid weight slip, then you add on a loaded tongue weight and subtract that from the GVWR. What is left, if there is any, is what you can put in the truck bed as cargo. While the diesel eats up more payload over a gasser, the good news is you have a pick up. Guys in 3/4 ton SUV's have it worse. The pickup weighs less as there is no glass and rear body weight of the SUV eating up payload rating. Most all times, the PU can hold up more weight then the SUV because the truck weighs less and most times has a higher GVWR and rear axle rating to start with. My 2500 Suburban had a 8,600# GVWR, a 5,600# rear axle and just my wife and I where in it with 300# of camping gear inside, all I had left was I could hold up a max of a 1,200# loaded camper tongue weight and not trip the GVWR and I just made it inside the GAWR-RR. Your diesel verses the gasser hurts on available payload even if it can pull more.m
Point: Weigh the truck and then look for the camper. And get that door sticker fixed if at all possible.
The tires, you have wider tires LT295's then the stock tires, LT 265's. "If" these are on the orignal rims that "may" present a towing stability issue. The smaller width rim bead does not line up well with the wider tire. In some cases this can allow the side wall to flex left to right more. And you have a D tire as opposed to the original E tire. While your D's have the weight rating, odds are favorable the original E rated can become stiffer side walls at 80 psi then the D's at 65psi.
I bring this up as trying to control a 37 foot camper needs all towing items in the combination to be optimized in the middle and not on the edge of working. The wrong tires can allow the truck to shift left to right while the anti sway system is trying to control that long trailer when sway causing conditions present themselves. Tire themselves can make or break the stability of a towing rig. From what I know of my towing experience, on long campers I believe you will be more stable using LT265E range @80psi then LT295 D range @65psi. And then the rim width issue even more affects this. You really will not know this is a problem until you try it as there is no side wall stiffness ratings on tires, unfortunately. But, the odds are not stacked in your favor.
After you sort out the axle sticker real rating, figure out what the actual available weight you can hold in the truck and not break a truck rating, GVWR and Axle ratings, then there is the tires. These factors once facts are known may say, doing 37 feet with a high loaded tongue weight is not a good fit for your truck trying to use a Reese DC system. As long as you fit inside the truck weigh ratings, the Hensley, Propride and even better, the Pull Rite hitch can solve the controlling the 37 foot camper. The Pull Rite may also be cheaper than the Hensley/PP.
Pull Rite Hitch The only thing to watch for on the Pull rite is the TW ratings. They make a 1,000# and a 2,000#. They do not make one in the middle, unfortunately.
Hope this helps
John
