Vin vs door sticker

[jerryleejr]

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
PICS

[Grit_dog]

mkirsch wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
(With a smidge of there are many different gvwrs assigned to trucks that are physically the same and have different gvws mostly for regulatory considerations)

What are you going to believe, the door sticker or the Internet? Seems in your earlier reply you were implying that the door sticker is authoritative. Now you're pushing an Internet opinion.

Nope, I'm saying the "same" trucks can and do get assigned different gvwrs. Reflected on the vin, as well as mfgs towing guides or other informational documents.

My initial comment, based on mfgs towing guides is typically the gassers show a lower gvwr, to account for the lighter front end, which typically doesn't change alot on the front axle weight, to keep the available "payload" accurate with whatever criteria is used to determine the payload and knowing that "most" payload is in the med and primarily borne by the rear axle.

Yet even trucks with the same engine (diesel or gas is the big weight difference between similarly equipped trucks) also get assigned different gvwrs.

[Grit_dog]

ajriding wrote:

Grit dog wrote:


I totally don't understand what you wrote.

He got confused too.

I'm not confused in the least. At the end of the day, the weight watchers and those who are unfamiliar with trucks would still be well served to go off the door sticker.
I cannot discount that there are not any "incorrect" VINs out there, but in 100s or 1000s of trucks, I've yet to see a wrong one (aka, truck won't register due to a vin issue).
But at the end of the day, speaking for the trucks that we are speaking about, HD pickups, class 3 srw specifically, if you stay within whatever factory tire load ratings you have, you won't be fundamentally overloaded.

[mkirsch]

Grit dog wrote:
(With a smidge of there are many different gvwrs assigned to trucks that are physically the same and have different gvws mostly for regulatory considerations)

What are you going to believe, the door sticker or the Internet? Seems in your earlier reply you were implying that the door sticker is authoritative. Now you're pushing an Internet opinion.

[ajriding]

VINs can be iffy. While shopping for a used truck I checked every vin for trucks I was looking at. Most were accurate but others had variations for some features.
I ended up getting a truck that had a totally wrong vin, same truck but different model than the vin said, so I got it cheap bc it would not sell, $4,000 cheaper. It was advertised as what the vin said, then people came to buy and discovered it was not even close to what they were looking for. Sometimes the customer wins at the dealership.

[otrfun]

jerryleejr wrote:
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
PICS

2014-2018 Ram 3500 diesel 4x4 SRW CC SB trucks typically had a GVWR of ~11,700 lbs. Megacab (available in SB only) and CC LB (3500 diesel 4x4 SRW) trucks, 12,300-12,400 lbs. Gas 6.4 versions were typically 900-1000 lower at ~10,800 lbs. and 11,300-11,400 lbs., respectively. I believe the 2019+ Rams have similar GVWR's.

[ajriding]

Grit dog wrote:

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.
)

I totally don't understand what you wrote.

He got confused too.
Passenger trucks do not weight anywhere near 12,000lbs. That is the maximum that the truck can weigh counting the truck weight (6,000-7,000lbs) plus all the cargo and passengers and everything. Think of it as how much weight the tires will have on them.

600lbs either way is not going to be a big deal.
So, the weight number you see is NOT the weight of the truck. This is the gross weight the truck is rated to be with stuff loaded into it. Subtract the truck weight from the number and you get your cargo weight rating.

[Grit_dog]

^ It's a 2021 based on the pic in the first post.
This is just a mixup between the gvwr assigned to a gasser and that assigned to a diesel.
(With a smidge of there are many different gvwrs assigned to trucks that are physically the same and have different gvws mostly for regulatory considerations)

[zb39]

What year is your megacab. The GVW changed on them depending on the year and of course SRW or DRW.
Older ones have a lower GVW.

[Grit_dog]

This is just another comical gvw thread.
You’re implying that the door sticker is wrong and the internet is right?
Well if the internet is right, Ram’s towing guide lists 3500srw Mega gassers with a 11,400gvw and the same truck but diesel with a 12,300gvw.
Just sayin….

[JIMNLIN]

I google news around 5:30-6 am every morning. Several days back I read where some vehicles had the wrong door tag gvwr assigned and advise was to check with the vehicle mfg/dealer for them to issue the correct sticker.
I would say the vin is correct.

[Pete_k]

Just input the vin into this and see what it shows.
https://www.ramtrucks.com/towing/towing-guide.html

[Grit_dog]

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.

[srschang]

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.

[jimh406]

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.