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jerryleejr's avatar
jerryleejr
Explorer
Oct 26, 2021

Vin vs door sticker

Punched in the VIN of a truck I’m looking at. It lists the GVWR as 11,400 However the door sticker says GVWR 12,300.
Any ideas? It’s a Ram 3500 mega cab
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18 Replies

  • toedtoes wrote:


    Truck weights have changed significantly over the past several years and the VIN format has not been updated to account for it. A 150/1500 pickup will now weigh 12,300lbs, but the VIN format still only accounts for a max gvwr of 11,400lbs for a 150/1500 model.

    So the manufacturers (Dodge is the most common for "overweight" pickups)


    I totally don't understand what you wrote.
  • My guess is Ram adds heavier springs and shocks on the front end to compensate for the added weight of the diesel. So the heavier GVWR would be correct.
  • My guess is RAM has a problem with the computer software that prints the door sticker or the wrong one was put on at the factory. The VIN should include all options. That’s one of the points of it.
  • For 2015, the year of my truck: SRW gasser has a 11,400 GVWR. SRW Diesel has a 12,300 GVWR. They add 900# to the GVWR to compensate for the extra weight of the diesel so the payload capacity of each truck is almost identical. However, the VIN on the build site should match the door sticker.

    One thought is that the build will list two GVWR. The 11,300# for the basic truck configuration and then the 12,300# for the optional diesel.
  • Kayteg1 wrote:
    I would call the dealer to clarify.
    Both numbers are taxable data, having very loose connection to actual truck capabilities.
    For TC purpose, the rear 7000 lb capability is what really counts.

    Yeah just thought it was odd, even building one on rams website will allow a SRW or DRW with a 12,3000 GVWR. Of course 14K GVWR is also an option.

    JJ
  • I would call the dealer to clarify.
    Both numbers are taxable data, having very loose connection to actual truck capabilities.
    For TC purpose, the rear 7000 lb capability is what really counts.
  • I would go by the door sticker.

    Truck weights have changed significantly over the past several years and the VIN format has not been updated to account for it. A 150/1500 pickup will now weigh 12,300lbs, but the VIN format still only accounts for a max gvwr of 11,400lbs for a 150/1500 model.

    So the manufacturers (Dodge is the most common for "overweight" pickups) use the max gvwr of 11,400lbs when establishing the VIN, but put the actual gvwr on the sticker.

    I dealt with this a lot at work because our vehicle database pulled from the VIN and the gvwr was wrong more often than right.