Trying to figure out the towing capacity for 2018 Ram 2500 6.4 hemi with 3.73 axle short bed crew cab. We are looking into buying a 14000 lb fifth wheel. Has anyone pull this heavy of a fifth wheel with a Ram 2500? Does anyone know how much Rams 2500 can tow?
rmdbauer,
After all the giberoush below. GO find yourself a 5W with dual 5K axles, empty weight if you can in the 7-8000 lbs range. Also make sure it has the smooth fiberglass walls, no front bedroom slide. You can load this to around 11-12000 lbs, 2500 or so on the hitch, the rest on the axles. you will then be below all your manufacture performance ratings. You are beyond warranty time, so you are the warranty check book be yours to pay it under or over your ratings.
The fiberglass walled versions will be 400-800 lbs heavier than a corrugated aluminum wall version, but due to better aerodynamics, easier to pull overall, get you better mpgs etc.
NO you will not be the fastest rig on the road! You will have to spend $80-100K on a TV with one of them thar 400/1000 diesel crew cab pickumups to get what one person says you need to pull a 12K trailer.
I had the ability with my 2000 2500 reg cab C2500, other than the motor that came with it. If I would have had a 454, 4.56 gears GCW is 20000 lbs, vs 13500 with the 350 and 4.10 gears. This 2500 had all of 400 lbs less payload than my 05 DW Crew cab dmax diesel per the payload on the door label! BIG trucks vs smaller trucks do not mean better in all ways!
Enjoy RV'ing!
Marty
Says most people that are trying to justify their underpowered __________ vehicle. $80-100k? Lol. Sure you “can” spend that much but for new trucks, there’s some diesel 2024 Ram 3500s left in the mid $50s and new 2025s for $60-65k with the new 8 speed. Big screen, heated seats etc. Just not the $20k trim and interior upgrades.
Apples to apples comparing to the OPs 7 year old truck, you’re talking $40k for a very nice diesel with lower miles.
But that same sort of embellishment may also be the reason why you’re suggesting that a 25 year old GMT 400 with a big block could even think about towing a 14k 5ver even remotely well. (20k gcvw per your post). Even at low altitude here in WA it would be doing 25mph up any grade on I 90.
Just open the drivers door and find your vehicles weight limits that are for your vehicle. There is a tire sticker that lists tire pressures, payload and weight limits or you could call or go to any Ram dealer, with your vin and they can tell you this information without getting a bunch of B.S. from know it all people.
Hahaha, what BS? Now you’re funny too? The sticker will show about 3klbs of payload. About 1klb more than a diesel even though the payload generally is mostly or all on the rear axle and the empty rear axle weights are very similar gas to diesel.
Not that he has a diesel but just showing how payloads on some trucks (particularly 3/4 tons if they’re still on a 10klb gvw rating aren’t good real world guidelines.
all what Grit said plus, a 2018 crew cab short box 2500 will defiantly exceed the payload capacity if the 5th wheel is properly loaded. with a payload of only 3000 lbs, a 14000lb 5th should have a pin weight of approximately 3500lbs. then add 200 lbs for the 5th wheel hitch and we are at 3700lbs and we haven't filled up the gas tank or put people or pets in the truck yet.
now Grit will probably tell you Dodge's run on unicorns and pixi dust and will handle it.. most truck will but it will not be safe with out some modifications to the suspension and then you will still be non compliant with the Law haha
Most 5th wheels are designed to have about 20-25% of the GVW on the king pin. It is important to check what the manufacturer says. Many people don't properly load their trailer, nor even look to see what the cargo capacity is. Sometimes the cargo capacity on an RV is so low that you can't carry water, let alone anything else. Many 5th wheels have around 1500 pounds of cargo capacity, which is insanely low. My 5th wheel is rated for almost 3300 pounds of cargo. Many people do not realize just how much clothing and food weigh, let alone everything else thrown into a trailer. Some people add cargo or bike racks on the rear of their trailer. These racks can weigh 100 pounds empty.
The OP didn't state if the 14000 pounds was GVWR or empty weight. If we assume it is GVWR then the king pin should have between 2800 and 3500 pounds. If it is 14000 pounds curb weight, empty, then he's truly over loaded. He didn't even say which 5th wheel, so we are left guessing.
Some 2500's lightly configured may have a 2800 pound cargo capacity. But that doesn't include the 5th wheel hitch (about 250 pounds or 40 pounds for an Anderson hitch), tools, passengers, drinks, snacks, (upgrades to tires, wheels, suspension) etc. I doubt that you can find a 2500 with 3200++ pounds of cargo capacity.
RAM 2500's are "derated" to 10000 pounds of GVWR for cost savings. Good luck getting over 3000 pounds of cargo capacity from a RAM. I looked at the cost difference between a 2500 and 3500 and chose a 3500 SRW.
Will the RAM 2500 pull the 5th wheel. Yes, just not legally or, IMHO safely. The spring shocks on the 2500 are for better ride comfort compared to heavy leaf springs. Many many people report that their 2500's rear sways while pulling near max load 5th wheels. I've talked to many people who have traded up because of how bad the sway is when it's windy and/or going through mountains or along winding roads near rivers/creeks.
Once you get to this size 5th wheel, you really want a long wheel base. For RAM this means a Crew Cab with 8 foot bed or the Mega Cab with short bed. The long wheel base increases stability, people forget that they are pulling a trailer that may be 25-35 foot behind their truck. You want the truck in charge, not the trailer. Such a truck is about 22 foot long, with a wheel base around 14 foot long.
What is truly scary is that people buy oversized 5th wheels for their 2500's, when often they are close to needing a DRW (I've seen people towing 40 foot toy haulers with 2500's). These tend to be the same people driving 70, 75, 80 mph or even faster down the freeway. I've seen people pass me while I'm going 85 mph (in Montana) while towing a large 5th wheel (and sometimes a 2nd trailer). A heavy truck and 5th wheel might take twice as long to stop at 70 mph as 60 mph, at 80+ mph it takes many football fields to stop.
RV's will have blowouts, it's not a matter of if, just when. I can't imagine going at those speeds while a tire blows.
Personally, I limit myself to 63 mph max, unless needing to go a few mph faster to pass. I don't doubt for a minute that my 2019 RAM 3500 SRW Crew Cab Long bed with HO engine can pull my 35 foot 5th wheel at 100 mph going over a mountain pass. It is a towing beast. Curves, potholes, rocks in the road, crazy drivers pulling in front of you and then slowing down, or pulling onto the freeway at 45 mph, sudden stops because of accidents, road construction, a police car on the side of the freeway or grandma going 40 mph on the freeway will always be a thing.
Most 5th wheels are designed to have about 20-25% of the GVW on the king pin. It is important to check what the manufacturer says. Many people don't properly load their trailer, nor even look to see what the cargo capacity is. Sometimes the cargo capacity on an RV is so low that you can't carry water, let alone anything else.
wow a lot of words to agree with what I said. 3500lbs for if it came in at 14000lbs as you have to be able to tow the max it could weigh up here. so it doesn't matter if your 5th weighs 12000 empty , you have to be set up as if it weighs the 14000lbs it says on the sticker. and there is never a 5th made that the water isn't accounted for in the gvwr. if it is it is because you use the allotted water weight for junk. I am assuming that the 14K is the gvwr because that's the only weight you can find just by looking at the outside of the rv and what most people look at for weight.
Well, yeah it will handle a 4klb pin weight with just some airbags. Not unlike your Ford. Although the Ram 2500 coils are not my first choice for heavy loads, they doo fine. They also make heavy duty coils for about the same $ as a basic set of bags.
The parts of the truck that care about the pin weight from a structural standpoint are the same on a 2500, 3500 and dually, save for springs.
Yes the OE rims will be at or near their load rating. I won’t digress into the millions of miles that are racked up on slightly overloaded (based on conservative mfg ratings, imo) srw rims without issue.
And there’s not a “law” to break regarding this unless maybe the OP is your neighbor. Not a thing in the US of A.
“Safety” of it is all relative. But to your point, someone who’s got a wholly underpowered truck asking this basic of a question may want or need to err on the side of being extra safe with the equipment to help with their lack of experience.
But regardless, the powertrain is wholly under sized for pulling that kind of weight and wind resistance unless out in the prairies, IMO.
you guys can't get a fine for being overloaded in the US of A? if not why are so many people posting about it all the time?
ya I am not sure why they ever went to coil springs in a 3/4 ton, I can see in a 1/2 ton but oh well.
and the parries can be the worst toing you ever do, I have got my worst fuel milage in the flat lands because of the dam head and side winds. I live in the heart of the rocky mountains and usually don't get great milage to start with but I go to Alberta of Saskatchewan if the wind is up say good buy to any fuel savings 🤣
You have not said where/what type of towing you’ll be doing. That matters. It’s a completely different ballgame if you’re towing it to the lake in Iowa….from Iowa vs loading up on the east coast and pulling thru the hills back east and the Rockies out west. Chassis is stout enough for either or both. The drivetrain is lacking for more than the hypothetical flatland short distance occasional trips.
The engine will handle it, barely, in “Iowa”. In Colorado, you’ll want to turn around by a he time you get to Floyd Hill and trade it in on a diesel.
The weak link is the crappy 66rfe trans. You got the last year of the HD gasser with a sub par transmission on all accounts.
I have a 2016 diesel with the 68rfe that I kinda fell into, would never have bought one otherwise or for full price. 14k would make me cringe and I’d baby it up every grade and it’s rated higher than the 66.
In this case ignorance isn’t bliss. You just don’t have the right drivetrain to tow that big and heavy
Some will tell you the 2500 is overloaded. It isn’t. But the drivetrain is under powered and undersized for the job. Considerably.
This coming from a Ram/Dodge/Mopar guy.
You sir are worse than dangerous.
In at least 48 states it is illegal to surpass any rating on your vehicle. Some states it is a civil fine, while others it is a misdemeanor.
The tow rating is usually the least important rating. The most important ratings are:
1. Cargo capacity
2. Gross Combined Vehicle Rating (GCVR), which includes the towed vehicle.
3. Axel ratings
4. Hitch rating
The GCVR and axel ratings are printed on tags. For the tow vehicle they are in the drivers side door jam. Sometimes they include the Cargo capacity, other times you must calculate it using the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating minus the vehicle curb weight. You can not go online to find these vehicles (except maybe a VIN search at the manufacturers website). Most RV trailers have their tags either near the pin box, the hitch receiver, or sometimes on the drivers side front of the trailer.
There is only one way to get the ratings changed, you must pay to get a new certification, which is not cheap.
Adding air bags, better shocks, better springs and other improvements may make the vehicle handle better, but they do not officially change the vehicle's official rating.
The fines for exceeding the weight can be relatively low (about $200) to several thousand dollars. If it is a misdemeanor you can face jail time (up to a year), community service, etc.
Things really change if you are involved in an accident. You could be found automatically "at fault". Some states may even charge you with manslaughter if someone dies. You may be responsible for injuries and property damages. Some insurance companies will deny claims if you are found "at fault" for an accident due to an overloaded vehicle.
OMG, each of your posts gets funnier. Tell me what’s different about 3 and 4 above, in reality, on any srw HD truck. Here’s a clue. It’s not much, actually quite insignificant when the SAME CHASSIS is used.
