Thanks Wadcutter for putting the real facts in plain English. Too bad so many RV'ers can't seem to understand English. The weight police appear to have many readers and members brainwashed and/or confused.
The weakest component capability on your tow vehicle determines your actual weight carrying capacity. Be it tires, wheels (rims), suspension, frame, engine/drive line capability, axles, etc. You'd be hard pressed to ever violate federal weight laws with a modern stock (OEM) built 2500HD (3/4 ton) or 3500 (one ton SRW or DRW) pickup truck pulling any normal production RV trailer or hauling any production TC sensibly loaded to MFG'ers GVWR. Yes, an idiot could load an ADDITIONAL 10,000+ lbs of lead in his pickup box to prove he is just that, an idiot! I trust RV'ers are much smarter than that. An owner of said pickup truck must go by the weight etc laws of registration, if specified, in the state he has registered his vehicle in.
jmramiller, You have it correct as to the production AAM rear axle used on the GM 2500HD. 3500 SRW, and the 3500 DRW pickups. They are all the same exact size/strength with the only difference being corresponding alterations to the axle ends to allow needed wheel attachment configurations (single or dual wheels). AAM rear axle strength rating as tested and certified is 10,800 lbs, GM lists it as 6,084 to 9,000 depending on which truck configuration it is placed in or the model year in question. The weight capacities GM lists HAVE to do with the lowest weight rating capacity of the limiting component. 6084 lb axle capacity from GM is for the 245/75/16 E rated tires on the 2500 HD OEM pickups. The axle it's self is still 10,800 lbs capacity. The actual rear axle OEM component capacity doesn't even figure into these GM pickup trucks which are listed in this post as it's capability is far beyond the vehicle MFG'ers highest rated rear capacities. The other 2 manufacturers follow similar practices.
The edit is to correct the typo error of 6480 to the correct number of 6084. That is 3042 times 2 for the 245/75/16 "E" tire OEM tire capacity.
