Ram 2500 Diesel

Grit dog wrote:


You're missing the point because you can't see through your mfgs gvw rating glasses...
Put aside some people's perceived "liability" of the matter for a moment and think about it.
YOUR truck has a 3klb payload. How much heavier is your truck's unladen rear axle weight than a comparable diesel 4wd? I'll answer for you.
About 1/2 the weight of the transfer case, so about 100lbs heavier.
Yet, with the same rear suspension and chassis, the diesels are considerably less, but pretty much all the diesel's (and front axle) weight is on the front axle. Therefore, the rear end of the truck with the SAME everything else is just as safe and capable.

With the concept of the truck being a 10k lbs gvwr the engineers designed the springs for that weight. the springs are the same for either the CTD or a 5.7 gas, only the payload cap changes, because that is the stated goal of building a 10k lbs gvwr truck. And engineers tend to build to suit the design need, not the backyard mechs dreams.

If you really want to go into the weeds you would need to examine the rest of the vehicle. Is the braking system the same? Or are the 3500 series brakes heavier? I honestly don't know, and don't care, because I have always assumed that the engineers designing something and a manufacturing a piece of equipment that are willing to put a warranty on it, have a better idea of what it can do than the average guy with a toolbox and a JCWhitney catalog.

I gave my opinion, and stated why I dont think it's a good idea for the op's stated idea, if you want to suggest otherwise, feel free.