mtofell1 wrote:
I get the idea that having the most payload is nice for future needs and such but I can't ever imagine running out of payload on a 2500 with a TT. My 2500 has 3200# payload.
It depends a lot on the truck and what you are doing with it, obviously. My '06 2500HD diesel weighed 6900# with just me and a full tank, and had a 9200# gvwr. So 2300# of actual payload per the scales (I'm not sure what the sticker ratings were). The diesel and Allison are heavy! My family is light -- we are about 550 combined, even with 6 of us -- but even then, that would have left about 1700# for hitch or pin weight. Just about any 5'er would have put us over that limit.
Sure, that was plenty of payload for a TT and my family, but even then, we'd get close. I remember one trip out to the Oregon coast. We had 6 people in the cab, bed full of enough firewood for a week plus bikes and a grill and a small 4 wheeler, and my 6500# TT hooked up. We rolled across one of the logging truck scales they have on the backroads and the truck had about 9100# on its axles as I recall. So even there, we were close, and my trailer is not that heavy.
I think historically, many recommend just going w/ the 3500 because for the last 10-15 years (or longer?), the one ton has many of the same parts, rides the same, only costs a little more, and usually gives you another 1000# payload or so.