Towing capacity vs max cargo weight rating

RoyJ wrote:

rhagfo wrote:
Well from 1994 to 2002 Dodge/Ram didn’t offer a SRW 3500 the 2500 with camper package and optional 265/85-16E tires gave it plenty of capacity NONE of which I was reflected in the VIN sticker front axle 5,200#, rear axle 6,084# and GVWR 8,800#.
The camper package included the same rear springs as the 3500 DRW, tires rated at 3,415# ea. The standard tires were 245/75-16E rated at 3,042# ea.

My guess for the 8800 GVW is lack of tire selection in the 90's. I still have my old camper pkg V10 2500, and can verify the springs will indeed hold up well over GVW without sag. I've had over 5400 lbs of sand with the rear maybe an inch lower than the front!

But, mine came with 245/75R16 tires. So Dodge probably specced the GVW based on the smallest tire.

If 20" tires were available with 4000 lbs capacity, they could've easily made it 11k GVW "3500 SRW".

Hello, OP here. I guess I was concerned with the legalities of things first and foremost. We did use our truck to pull a 12,500 lbs horse trailer around the West for months, camping with our two horses full-time (it weighed about 2800 lbs on the hitch). The truck _appeared_ (!) perfectly capable to tow this trailer and stop it - I am not the kind to fly about with a trailer with livestock attached in the back anyway, my self-imposed limit is 65mph when I tow. Now, with that said, we bought the truck brand new in 2016 (F-250 4x4 diesel, crew cab, short bed) and it squatted something awful when we put the trailer on. I had to go the next day and get a set of "super springs" installed on the back, to level the truck under load. We traded in a 2006 GMC 2500 diesel 4x4 crew cab to get the new Ford and interestingly enough, the 10 years older GMC did not squat much with the same trailer (it too appeared perfectly capable to tow the trailer) - this tells me that personal anecdotes mean little in these discussions as sometimes all they are is "ignorance is bliss" kind of approach :)

Thanks! :)