Great Tow Capacity - Bad Payload Capacity... Increase PL?

[SirKeats]

So I have a 2016 Ram 2500 Megacab with the 6.7 Cummins. I love it. Great truck. It has plenty of tow capacity for us and our current trailer and possible future 5th Wheel upgrade at 16,936lbs.

The problem is that the payload capacity is absolutely horrible at only 1637lbs!!

We're looking to upgrade from our TT to a slightly larger (like 4 extra feet) 5th Wheel at some point, and after taking into account our family (people/pets) and what little cargo we carry in the truck, I'd need a pin weight of like 1000lbs to say within spec!! I checked... not gonna happen.

That said, is there anything that can be done to increase the payload capacity? I can easily stay under the tow/trailer capacity, I just need to be able to increase the pin weight capacity.

Like I said, I really like my truck. Would hate to have to up-size just to get a 5th wheel.

Thanks!

[spoon059]

valhalla360 wrote:
We have a F250 and it has a 2700lb payload. No it's not going to handle a 15k 5th wheel but way better than the OP's 1600lb.

Better? Based upon what metrics?

[n0arp]

MFL wrote:
OP stated:
"So I have a 2016 Ram 2500 Megacab with the 6.7 Cummins. I love it. Great truck. It has plenty of tow capacity for us and our current trailer and possible future 5th Wheel upgrade at 16,936lbs."

I am taking this to say, the tow capacity of the OPs truck is 16,936, not the weight of the FW he is considering. A srw 3500 would struggle with a 17K FW. OPs truck may run out of tire capacity as the FW nears 14-15K.

Jerry

We swapped over to 19.5s on our '15 SRW 2500 for this.

For a while, we also ran Method MR305 NV wheels rated for 4500#/ea, with Cooper STT Pro tires rated for 4080#/ea, which were notably less stable than the 19.5s.

We ran a full Kelderman air ride on that truck, which is the same suspension whether you have a 2500 or 3500.

We bought a DRW when we decided to go FT, and found it notably more stable (with OE LRE tires) than the SRW with 19.5s.

... Now we have a heavy truck camper and 19.5s on the DRW...

With our HO/AISIN model, at least, there are a lot of differences between the 2500 and 3500. The entire driveline (aside from the front axle, I think) is different. Rear axle is definitely different with a much larger tube. Rear brakes are much larger. Transmission (obviously), transfer case, and rear differential are different. HO differences aside, the suspension on the 2500s and 3500s is a lot more different on Ram than it is on the other brands.

[MFL]

OP stated:
"So I have a 2016 Ram 2500 Megacab with the 6.7 Cummins. I love it. Great truck. It has plenty of tow capacity for us and our current trailer and possible future 5th Wheel upgrade at 16,936lbs."

I am taking this to say, the tow capacity of the OPs truck is 16,936, not the weight of the FW he is considering. A srw 3500 would struggle with a 17K FW. OPs truck may run out of tire capacity as the FW nears 14-15K.

Jerry

[Grit_dog]

OP, if you don’t understand vehicles and their components and don’t wish to, just go get a dually like some think is “necessary.”
If you want to keep your truck, I wouldn’t think twice about dropping any pin up to about 3,000lbs on it.
The for and against banter will continue.

[blt2ski]

Real reality as rhagfo is sort of implying. Is you states SP does not care a hoot about the manufactures performance/warranty ratings. You get 500 lbs per inch width of tire up to 20K lbs per axel, 34K lbs per tandem. OP WILL NEVER be over weight per those standards! That is what I get to follow in Wa St.
I also have to have a paid for license that meets or exceeds the total tonnage I am at, including both truck and trailer! That part is easy, pay the tax people! about $15 per ton of gvw I wish to be at. Hence why my sons two half tons, and my new to me as of February GM 1500 are at 8000 lbs GVW. I was overweight by 200 lbs when I went thru a scale house yesterday at 8200. Fortunately it was not open. I would have not gone thru if it were.....
Lets get to the real reality, as I mentioned in initial post after first post. Said 5W in reality, will overload the OP's truck based on most of our typical engineering specs. Yes OP can make his truck more capable, he can my more tonnage if his state allows. Reality, a DW is probably the better option. If he is like me at one time, family of 6 with 4 teenage adult sized kids, we cam in at 1200-1300 lbs depending upon cloths boots etc we were all wearing, add in bikes, firewood, canoe etc. we needed 2000-2500 lbs of payload for family, now add in 4000 or so lbs of hitch weight to the bed for the 5W, and you have the need for 6000-6500 lbs of payload. I need to be honest here. Not too many 35 series DW trucks with this amount of payload. One needs to be in the class 4 MDT relm of things.
Its one thing to add a leaf for better handling of a given load on a truck as i may do today to my 1500, or have done to many other trucks of owned, mostly 8 lug 25/35 series SW trucks, a few midgets and some mdt's. BUT OP is frankly out of his/her league with current truck for handling the total load of said trailer. That is with out spending some $4-6K in after market add ons, like new springs/coils, tires rims etc.

Marty

[rhagfo]

Once again the two schools of thought, all weights matter, and only axle weights matter. Well your state DOT, but if in an accident, a hungry lawyer may come after you with a lawsuit for being overweight and that being the cause of the accident.
We had a 2001 Ram 2500 CTD 5 speed manual and 3.55’s, towing our current 5er we were
1,700# over GVWR but under both axle ratings. Being 1,700# over the 8,800# GVWR, so I figured time to upgrade to TV in signature.

[valhalla360]

deltabravo wrote:

The situation you have is exactly why I always say when truck shopping, skip the 2500/250 series trucks and go straight to a 350/3500. That way, you won't need to buy a new truck when you decide to upgrade the RV.

If you are buying new, I would generally agree with moving up to the 1ton SRW...but you are overstating the issue based on an extreme case.

1600lb payload in a 3/4 ton is about the worst possible scenario.

We have a F250 and it has a 2700lb payload. No it's not going to handle a 15k 5th wheel but way better than the OP's 1600lb.

[otrfun]

mtofell1 wrote:
I believe it was around 2016 that the RAWR on the 2500s went from 6500# to 6000#. Check your door sticker to be sure. My 2014 has 6500# but I know the newer ones are 6000#.

The 2014-2018 Ram 2500's came with both a 6000 RAWR and 6500 RAWR. The 17" wheel/tire option (typically found on a bare bones Tradesman) had a 6000 lb. RAWR. The 18" wheels (steel & alumunium, all trim levels) bumped you up to a 6500 lb. RAWR.

[goducks10]

Per Ram the 2016 Mega 6.7 4x4 has a 6500 RAWR and a base rear weight of 3084 lbs leaving 3416 lbs for pin and other stuff. Of course the model options change that so what.

[mtofell1]

I believe it was around 2016 that the RAWR on the 2500s went from 6500# to 6000#. Check your door sticker to be sure. My 2014 has 6500# but I know the newer ones are 6000#.

[Michelle_S]

If you search there are Up Fitters who can legally raise the cargo capacity, but it won't be cheap. They give you a legal form with the new capacity.
They are out there you just have to look.

[deltabravo]

SirKeats wrote:
That said, is there anything that can be done to increase the payload capacity?

No. The payload stated by the truck manufacturer "is what it is" and can't be changed.

Time for a truck upgrade.

The situation you have is exactly why I always say when truck shopping, skip the 2500/250 series trucks and go straight to a 350/3500. That way, you won't need to buy a new truck when you decide to upgrade the RV.

[valhalla360]

Your prayers have been answered. Dodge has heard your plea and made amends...They offer a higher rating option...It's called a 1 ton.

Plus at just shy of 17k pounds, that's dually territory with a 5th wheel.

Heck even for a moderate size travel trailer, 1600lb payload is marginal. An 8000lb trailer is going to have 1000-1100lb hitch weight. Add a family of 4 and you are maxed out before putting a single stick of firewood in the bed.

[otrfun]

SirKeats wrote:
So I have a 2016 Ram 2500 Megacab with the 6.7 Cummins. I love it. Great truck. It has plenty of tow capacity for us and our current trailer and possible future 5th Wheel upgrade at 16,936lbs.

The problem is that the payload capacity is absolutely horrible at only 1637lbs!! . . .

The empty rear axle weight on the Cummins equipped '16 Ram 3500 SRW megacab and '16 Ram 2500 megacab is nearly identical at ~3100 lbs. RAWR on the 2500 is 6500 lbs. (with 18" wheels/tires) and 7000 lbs. on the 3500.

Bottom line: you have approx. 3400 lbs. of rear axle capacity remaining on your 2500 (and 3900 lbs. of rear axle capacity remaining on a 3500 SRW).

Some folks will tell you don't have this rear axle capacity based on the lower payload and 10k GVWR, but the fact is, based on Ram's own specs, you clearly have 3400 lbs. of rear axle capacity on your '16 Ram 2500 Cummins megacab.

Since the Ram 2500 and 3500 SRW use 99% of the same components, it's easy to deduct the lower payload and 10k GVWR on the 2500 is solely based on the need to pigeon-hole a 2500 (in reality a 3500 SRW with slightly derated rear axle) into a class 2b (3/4-ton) rating for marketing purposes only. Nothing more, nothing less.

A lot of folks will say you need to upgrade to a 1-ton 3500 SRW. Not sure it's worth your time and money just to gain 500 lbs. of additional rear axle capacity.

[wing_zealot]

Your problem is tongue weight vs. pin weight. For any given weight trailer, the tongue weight of a TT will be approx. half the pin weight of a 5 er. So tell me again why do you want a 5er - so you can buy a new truck?