Are 250/2500 trucks limited by their Class?

ShinerBock wrote:

fla-gypsy wrote:

Unfortunately it is still all speculation unless he has inside information of what the individual specs are for each component. Add to that the entire platform is rated as a system and not necessarily a sum of its parts possibly (perhaps not) for very good reasons. That's the point though, we don't know why they did it regardless of seemingly obvious reasons including liability of the maker that it will perform in a prescribed manner at capacity. While these discussions are interesting and may shed some insight on what is likely to happen as far as performance and safety go they will never change that sticker affixed to the door post.

Okay, lets go through the list of critical parts of the Crew Cab Ram 2500 CTD 4x4 Laramie that I have shown in the original post and their ratings on other trucks so you can tell me what you think is the weakest link.

Here are the specs again.

2500


3500



Now, I know for a fact that the 2500 CTD and 3500 CTD SRW share the same frame, the same front axle, the same front suspension, the same rear axle, the same tires, the same brakes, the same driveline components, and the same 68RFE transmission. If you want to check each part then you can go to MOPAR parts. The only difference is the rear suspension. So from this we know that all the components besides the rear suspension in a 2500 CTD can handle the same weight ratings as a 3500 SRW CTD.

Now, here is what I am getting to. The 2500 6.4L and the 2500 CTD have the same rear suspension yet the 2500 CTD has a payload of about 1,000 lbs less with the 6.4L being 3,150 lbs and the CTD being 2,180 lbs. Why is that? Going by ratings of the same parts in other trucks, the 2500 CTD should have a payload of at least 3,150 lbs like the 6.4L does. Why doesn't the 2500 CTD have the same payload since the rear suspension can handle 3,150lbs in the 2500 6.4L, and the rest of the components can handle much more weight in the 3500 SRW.