Dodge 3500 towing heavy

[Cmlazyboy98]

Hi all I have an 05 dodge ram 3500 SRW with a 11.50 3.75 axle ratio I just bought a 05 keystone raptor toy hauler GVWR 15,500LB triple axle I have a 5th wheel hitch rating of 15,000 im curious to know what you think about if it will pull the camper

Hi all thank you very much for commenting on this post I wanted to give you an update on the Stuff that I have found in doing my own research my camper is not 15,500 lbs dry The GVWR is what the campers carrying capacity my camper Weighs 10,810 pounds and the pin weight is 2,400 lbs.

on my truck it is a 6 speed manual and i have put air bags on it when i first got it I would like to get an Exhaust brake and a tuner eventually.

[Grit_dog]

Tires are variable. Could be good for 6400lbs total or 8000lbs. Not an absolute factor, especially on an old truck. They can be whatever you want to put on it.
Rims? Again easy upgrade, sometimes a cheap upgrade too.
9900 gvw? ROFL…you haven’t learned anything on this forum or you just don’t believe it….
I’ll leave it at that. Other than to say the only reason 3/4 tons used to and some still continue to be <10k gvw is for DOT purposes. That “2500” Dodge is the exact same chassis as a dually.

Haven’t seen you chiming in much in recent years, but apparently you can’t pass up the opportunity to spew some weight cop BS like the old days?

[twodownzero]

Grit dog wrote:

JIMNLIN wrote:
If I remember right the older 3500 srw Dodge trucks had 6200-6500 rawr (tire/wheel/rear spring pack). Your trucks drivers side door post certification sticker has the trucks fawr/rawr.
Drop by a set of CAT scales and weigh your truck front and rear axles separately.
Subtract the CAT scale number from your trucks rawr will give you how much in the bed payload you have to work with.

Those older trucks rear axle may weigh in the 3200-3400 lbs ...subtracted from 6200 rawr = approx 3000-3300 lbs before exceeding a tire/wheel or rear suspension.

This trucks rawr will more likely be overloaded.

The '05 truck has the AAM 11.5" rear axle good for over 10k lbs so its not a concern.
And of course if its the 5.9 Cummins it won't have any issues pulling that size trailer.

Many older 350/3500 srw truck owners with heavy truck campers...heavy 5th wheel trailer hitch loads upgraded to 19.5" tires/wheels...air bags of some type of rear suspension help

Don’t go spewing the over axle rated capacity bs. That is literally the last thing to be worried aboot as long as the tires are rated for the load, on good wheels and the truck ain’t a rust bucket.

The limiting factor on the truck in question is the rating on the two rear tires and the GVWR, 9,900 pounds. I have had the same truck for over 18 years, and mine weighs 7,080 pounds empty. That leaves 2,920 for payload. GCWR is 23k so mine has plenty of "capacity" if it could handle the pin weight.

Would I regularly pull the trailer this person proposes? Doubtful. It'll have 3,000+ pounds of pin weight (maybe more like 3,500), which leaves none for me, my wife, and dogs in truck, or even the hitch in the bed for that matter.

The rear GAWR doesn't even matter--you will bust the GVWR way before that.

[blt2ski]

Cmlazyboy98 wrote:

Bionic Man wrote:
I bought a 2003 brand new in December of 2002. Mine was a short bed with the HO engine and the NV5600 manual. Kept it for about 10 years and around 110,000 miles. I never had trouble with the engine or tranny (or really anything with it).

My usual load was the trailer I still have today (12,000 pounds) with my 5500 pound boat towed in tandem.

I did add a Smarty Jr and a Jacobs exhaust brake.

That truck was great. I think with the tuner it was actually stronger than my 2012.

That is basically what i want to do eventually i would like to buy a boat and tow that when i go camping and i would like to buy a tuner and an exhaust break for the truck.

The manual transmission that Bionic man's truck had, has a tow rating 2-3K lbs higher than you auto. Along with an overall low 1st gear lower too. Easier to start in steeper grades, vs stalling out depending upon the steepness of the grade. I'm talking over 15-20% mind you, not a typical 4-6% freeway grade. IE something you WILL need 1st gear to start on!
I had an NV4500 behind a GM 6.5td, it could outpull on the freeway, low steep grades etc the higher rated 4L80E. Yet the ability of the manual was 20K up a 30% grade, vs 16-18% for the auto. THe atuo overheated frequently vs the manual version. Yet it was rated 2000 lbs LESS than the auto.
THere is more to this towing ability than just ratings per say.

OH, a 265-65-18 LRE 10 ply tire has a few more lbs of capacity than the equal diam 265-75-16, and 800-1000 lbs more than the 265-17 tires you have! THose are the worst 31.5" diameter tire in a 265 width of any that I know of!

Marty

[Cmlazyboy98]

Bionic Man wrote:
I bought a 2003 brand new in December of 2002. Mine was a short bed with the HO engine and the NV5600 manual. Kept it for about 10 years and around 110,000 miles. I never had trouble with the engine or tranny (or really anything with it).

My usual load was the trailer I still have today (12,000 pounds) with my 5500 pound boat towed in tandem.

I did add a Smarty Jr and a Jacobs exhaust brake.

That truck was great. I think with the tuner it was actually stronger than my 2012.

That is basically what i want to do eventually i would like to buy a boat and tow that when i go camping and i would like to buy a tuner and an exhaust break for the truck.

[Bionic_Man]

I bought a 2003 brand new in December of 2002. Mine was a short bed with the HO engine and the NV5600 manual. Kept it for about 10 years and around 110,000 miles. I never had trouble with the engine or tranny (or really anything with it).

My usual load was the trailer I still have today (12,000 pounds) with my 5500 pound boat towed in tandem.

I did add a Smarty Jr and a Jacobs exhaust brake.

That truck was great. I think with the tuner it was actually stronger than my 2012.

[Me_Again]

Cmlazyboy98 wrote:


the 17in that i bought have a load rating of 3086 Pounds for one that should be enough for the camper then right. when i frist bought the truck i did put air bags on the back to help i would like to put an Exhaust break on it eventually

In contrast the 265/75R16's on my 2001.5 RAM 2500 had a 3414 pound rating or 628 pounds more per axle.

[Cmlazyboy98]

JIMNLIN wrote:
If I remember right the older 3500 srw Dodge trucks had 6200-6500 rawr (tire/wheel/rear spring pack). Your trucks drivers side door post certification sticker has the trucks fawr/rawr.
Drop by a set of CAT scales and weigh your truck front and rear axles separately.
Subtract the CAT scale number from your trucks rawr will give you how much in the bed payload you have to work with.

Those older trucks rear axle may weigh in the 3200-3400 lbs ...subtracted from 6200 rawr = approx 3000-3300 lbs before exceeding a tire/wheel or rear suspension.

This trucks rawr will more likely be overloaded.

The '05 truck has the AAM 11.5" rear axle good for over 10k lbs so its not a concern.
And of course if its the 5.9 Cummins it won't have any issues pulling that size trailer.

Many older 350/3500 srw truck owners with heavy truck campers...heavy 5th wheel trailer hitch loads upgraded to 19.5" tires/wheels...air bags of some type of rear suspension help

the 17in that i bought have a load rating of 3086 Pounds for one that should be enough for the camper then right. when i frist bought the truck i did put air bags on the back to help i would like to put an Exhaust break on it eventually

[Grit_dog]

^Perzactly. I’d go on a limb and say that most all early OD autos were less reliable and more finicky than their 3 speed counterparts.
To this day I’d take a C4/C6, TH 350/400 or 727 for reliability over any early 4R…., 200/700R4 or 45/6/7/8RE slush boxes, apples to apples.

But we’re off topic. A good stout 48re will doo what the OP needs, it just will not be nearly as nice and will have more limitations especially behind a Cummins with not a lot of rpm range.
It decides how you drive, not the other way around. And it’s a guaranteed upshift at redline almost to keep ‘er in the power in the next gear.

[FishOnOne]

Grit dog wrote:
^Lol. I agree with you to a point. The “4 series” Chrysler transmissions were never my favorite. But all in all they were comparable to and as durable as other 80s/90s transmissions IMO, just a bit more finicky.
Now considering we are over 2 decades into the 21st century, and they have been bottom of the barrel for the same amount of time, I would find it even harder than I did 15 years ago to own one, especially for towing and certainly not for big boy towing.

And just to be clear some of the GM and Ford transmissions weren't that great. I remember my Dad getting pissed with our 1981 Chevy C10 OD would shift too early and lug the motor down when towing our 20ft Prowler and the only way to disable the OD was to unplug a connector on the fire wall. The OD was so bad that he never enabled the OD after that, but it was a reliable transmission.

[Grit_dog]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Me Again made a good point, it's a triple axle so that should lower the pin to 15% maybe a bit more. Best to weigh, like we mentioned the 17" tires are a potential problem.

"Even 12V is a weight cop now? Lol" NAW, just pointing out potential issues.

True story on the 17s. Good that you and MeAgain identified that. I tend to overlook it since it’s so economical and easy to solve that problem. (If the OP is actually still running them crusty ole 17” wheels). And should be obvious to anyone who who is hooking or hauling anything significant.
Fun fact, there are some higher rated 17s being produced again. I’ll never understand the 17” LT tire mystery…

[Grit_dog]

^Lol. I agree with you to a point. The “4 series” Chrysler transmissions were never my favorite. But all in all they were comparable to and as durable as other 80s/90s transmissions IMO, just a bit more finicky.
Now considering we are over 2 decades into the 21st century, and they have been bottom of the barrel for the same amount of time, I would find it even harder than I did 15 years ago to own one, especially for towing and certainly not for big boy towing.

[FishOnOne]

Grit dog wrote:
As strong as a 48re can be, or even a 47 for that matter…you can build either to handle truck pulls and 10 second quarter miles easily…they are HORRIBLE for towing heavy. By not only todays standards but by every GM diesel built after 2001, every Ford built after 2003? I think, and every Dodge built after 2007.5.
Running one of them is like having to take a piss but only lowering your zipper 1/2”. You can get the job done, but why? (Unless your zipper is stuck…lol)

I hate it when that happens :B

I disagree on the 48re and 47... I don't think you can go back far enough to compare it to an equivalent GM or Ford transmission.

[Cummins12V98]

Me Again made a good point, it's a triple axle so that should lower the pin to 15% maybe a bit more. Best to weigh, like we mentioned the 17" tires are a potential problem.

"Even 12V is a weight cop now? Lol" NAW, just pointing out potential issues.

[Grit_dog]

As strong as a 48re can be, or even a 47 for that matter…you can build either to handle truck pulls and 10 second quarter miles easily…they are HORRIBLE for towing heavy. By not only todays standards but by every GM diesel built after 2001, every Ford built after 2003? I think, and every Dodge built after 2007.5.
Running one of them is like having to take a piss but only lowering your zipper 1/2”. You can get the job done, but why? (Unless your zipper is stuck…lol)