2004.5 Dodge 3500 towing capacity questions?

“Short tips no problem or concern imo.“

Why are short trips no problem or concern? This isn’t a situation where you can pull off to let the engine or transmission cool off. It’s a weight issue. Failure can come at any time. Two miles from home or 2000.

Bag it n carry on.

Why not everyone else does.

I had an 03 with the HO engine and the NV5600. I towed 16,000 pounds (5er and boat tandem) for tens of thousands of miles. The only problem I had was that the rail pump died when it was 9 years old and 100,000 + miles. Never had any ill effects for towing that weight.

Your official towing capacity is roughly 14K#. That's for warranty and idiot proofing reasons.
A couple of thousand pounds more isn't going to be any issue at all.

Those are some big tires for that truck, 6,000# per tire, same as my dually's tires combined. My guess is my 04.5 dually has the same 9,350# rear axle as your truck. With two people and around 400# in the bed, my rear axle weighs in at 3600#. The engine won't think twice about it but with a 40" tire rolling diameter you will be stressing your clutch and truck brakes. I'm assuming you are talking fifth wheel or gooseneck.

Poor advice here: I would make sure my trailer and truck brakes were top notch and tow the 30 miles. If my buddy's truck broke down, I wouldn't think twice about hooking up his 16k fifth wheel and towing it to a safe place.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
15K is OVER your tow capacity regardless of tires/clutches etc

You still have truck AXLE weight ratings that will be maxed at 14K

I have 3500 SRW,.....14K 5th wheel puts me right at RAWR and under Rear tire max load rating

No, rear axle is good for 10klbs, tires are (obviously) way overkill. Might not have the springs for that tongue or pin weight though. He didn’t say.
Cheap/easy overload springs can be accomplished with wedges above the bottom leaf.
Going back to OE tires will put them into play load wise, but not a deal breaker if good 3500lb + rated tires in my experience.
Hauled a 2 ton TC many thousands of miles on heavy E rated tires. Short tips no problem or concern imo.

Well that’s quite the combo! You use 1st gear taking off empty I presume with those 40” semi truck tires?
Obviously 15k is a bit over the OE rating, but you’re nowhere close to OE.
15k behind a very similar truck (our 07 with a canned tune and clutch) pulls just fine. I’ve towed that much or more a few times when my company half ton just wouldn’t cut it, lol.
That truck with a tuner and a stout clutch (or even an OE clutch) will pull 15k with relative ease on normal size tires.
The brodozer tires combined with the tall gears (for that tire size) will hurt that ability considerably.
With that clutch and rappin it out in each gear, I surmise it’s doable. But it will be much easier on you and the truck with some normal 32-34” tall tires.
It is short trips, but if you have to start out on or pull any significant grades, I’d 100% ditch the semi wheels for a cheap set of 8 lug OE type wheels and tires. (If you haven’t done a permanent 10 lug conversion). If relatively flat terrain, I’d try it but be ready to use 4 lo for maneuvering the trailer to stay off the clutch.

The “rest” of the truck will be fine if your brakes and driveshaft are in good shape and the trailer has good brakes.

15K is OVER your tow capacity regardless of tires/clutches etc

You still have truck AXLE weight ratings that will be maxed at 14K

I have 3500 SRW,.....14K 5th wheel puts me right at RAWR and under Rear tire max load rating

The legal towing capacity is set by the manufacturer and mods will not change that. They can make the vehicle more stable.