Ram tow ratings

[southernsky]

I'm looking to purchase a Grand Design Solitude 384GK. The GVWR is 16,000 lbs. UVW 13,400 with the hitch weight of 3,150. My truck is a 2011 3500 Mega Cab dually, 4x4 ,3.73 gears, with the 6.7. Doing some homework of the tow rating of my truck am I seeing right of 2,600 payload and 12,950 Max. trailer? Seems a bit light for a 1 ton dually. At those numbers the Solitude 384GK will be to big for my truck.

[BenK]

Folks can look at as 'recommendations' too, but note that when my stuff came
back and found that the owner didn't follow my manual/specifications/etc...I'd
not sign off on any warranty the service department sent back to my design teams

Warranty, but okay, take as a recommendation from the OEM...so if you don't follow
that recommendation...then why would the OEM provide warranty?

My industry sector was not automotive, but no different from any market
sector.

It is my design, my specification that cost me tons of money to design
to a specification...and pay for certification by the regulatory agencies
and then field the product.

All that costs me money and expect to make money to stay in business.
Part of that business are warranty costs, plus other overhead expenses

As for the 'read me first', 'manual', etc documentation...it is well
established in the courts that folks generally do NOT read them. OEMs
can NOT force them to read them, nor follow them...so the courts just
look at 'good faith' that all that stuff is in the product...so if
you toss them all without reading them, or understanding them...is is
okay with the courts and you will not get warranty/liability/etc

[Cummins12V98]

BarneyS wrote:

jrp26789 wrote:
Ratings are recommendations.

Maybe in your book but not in mine!:R
Barney

Ok Barney, my truck sits at 15,040# with my little MobileSuites sitting on it. My trucks rating is 14,000#. Am I overloaded?

My front axle rating is 6,000# weight is 5,460#, my rear axle rating is 9,750# weight is 9,580# so per ratings I am within both axle ratings..

My front axle weighed about 5,300# from the factory, if I add that number to the 9,750# rear axle rating it magically makes the truck weigh 15,050#.

My point is the 14K number is just that a number! It is set at that amount to keep from going into the next truck classification for licensing and insurance purposes.

[BarneyS]

jrp26789 wrote:
Ratings are recommendations.

Maybe in your book but not in mine!:R
Barney

[jrp26789]

Ratings are recommendations.

[NC_Hauler]

Towing 20K GVW with my 13', I will be under all the numbers..Towing with the 16"...GVWR is the same at 14K, but GCWR went to 39,100# and TQ, in my case is going from 850 to 900...Looking forward to hooking up and towing with new truck with rear air assist..

[Cummins12V98]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
One either goes with ratings or justifies not using ratings.

Agreed 😉

[Old-Biscuit]

One either goes with ratings or justifies not using ratings.

[Cummins12V98]

2011 HO Dually towing a combined load of 28-29K. Hook up and go!

[Grit_dog]

tinner12002 wrote:

southernsky wrote:
I'm looking to purchase a Grand Design Solitude 384GK. The GVWR is 16,000 lbs. UVW 13,400 with the hitch weight of 3,150. My truck is a 2011 3500 Mega Cab dually, 4x4 ,3.73 gears, with the 6.7. Doing some homework of the tow rating of my truck am I seeing right of 2,600 payload and 12,950 Max. trailer? Seems a bit light for a 1 ton dually. At those numbers the Solitude 384GK will be to big for my truck.

Hard pill to swallow but it sounds like its time to upgrade. A 2015 2500 SRW has more towing capacity than your truck but it won't quite handle the RV you have listed...a 3500 will in dually form...the pin weight is what gets you to the dually.

No pill to swallow and no upgrade in trucks needed unless you refuse to be over weight on paper. Otherwise, don't worry about it. That truck is about as stout as they get save for going to a class 4 or 5 truck, which is unnecessary for your purpose. And if it's a HO which a mega dually likely is, you're not giving up much in torque either to the new trucks either.
On the upside, if you do upgrade, your current truck will fetch close to $40k likely in good shape and not too many miles. If you downgrade cabs to a cclb dually you can probably have a new truck for about $10k upcharge, but a new Mega will drain more out of your wallet.

[NC_Hauler]

tinner12002 wrote:

southernsky wrote:
I'm looking to purchase a Grand Design Solitude 384GK. The GVWR is 16,000 lbs. UVW 13,400 with the hitch weight of 3,150. My truck is a 2011 3500 Mega Cab dually, 4x4 ,3.73 gears, with the 6.7. Doing some homework of the tow rating of my truck am I seeing right of 2,600 payload and 12,950 Max. trailer? Seems a bit light for a 1 ton dually. At those numbers the Solitude 384GK will be to big for my truck.

Hard pill to swallow but it sounds like its time to upgrade. A 2015 2500 SRW has more towing capacity than your truck but it won't quite handle the RV you have listed...a 3500 will in dually form...the pin weight is what gets you to the dually.

The numbers, as stated earlier, went up drastically relevant to towing in 2013' with the new frame, front and rear suspensions..Mega has always had lower GCWR due to weight of Mega cab..Even heavier than a crew cab with a long bed.


Iv'e been towing a ,loaded to 16,300# 5er for almost 3 years with truck in my sig .Has a 3460# pin weight..I have the Aisin with 4,10, and am under GVWR easily and over 10K under my trucks GCWR.. Tows it quiet easily through the mountains of SC, NC, TN, VA and WV..

[tinner12002]

southernsky wrote:
I'm looking to purchase a Grand Design Solitude 384GK. The GVWR is 16,000 lbs. UVW 13,400 with the hitch weight of 3,150. My truck is a 2011 3500 Mega Cab dually, 4x4 ,3.73 gears, with the 6.7. Doing some homework of the tow rating of my truck am I seeing right of 2,600 payload and 12,950 Max. trailer? Seems a bit light for a 1 ton dually. At those numbers the Solitude 384GK will be to big for my truck.

Hard pill to swallow but it sounds like its time to upgrade. A 2015 2500 SRW has more towing capacity than your truck but it won't quite handle the RV you have listed...a 3500 will in dually form...the pin weight is what gets you to the dually.

[Old-Biscuit]

southernsky wrote:
That's where I got my numbers from OB. Are those numbers for a bumper pull trailer or a 5th wheel/goose neck. I searched for 5th wheel towing numbers and all I find is the chart you posted. Still looking for more info.

Fine print states anything over 12K requires 5th wheel or gooseneck hitch

[southernsky]

That's where I got my numbers from OB. Are those numbers for a bumper pull trailer or a 5th wheel/goose neck. I searched for 5th wheel towing numbers and all I find is the chart you posted. Still looking for more info.

[Old-Biscuit]

ALL 2011 3500 Megacab DRWs (4x4/4x2) have a 10,500 GVWR (SRWs 10,100)

The DRWs have a base weight of 7800-----7990 so very little is left for payload which was always the issue with Megacab

3:73 gearing only gets 21,000# GCWR so max 5th wheel is 13,050# (or less depending on trim level) provided truck doesn't weigh much more than BASE weight.
At GVWR 10,500.......max trailer is 10,500 IF you stay within ratings (GVWR & GCWR)


2011 RAM 3500 Ratings

[jrp26789]

The payload seems way off for a dually. I had an 05 hemi, the rating was close to 5000.