5.7 Hemi Front Axle Weight

mtofell · Aug 25, 2017

I'm trying to help figure just how overloaded a buddy is with his towing setup. Can anyone give me an idea of how much your front axle weighs in at on a 1500 5.7 4X4 with a 6.5' bed?

I'm thinking around 3200-3500# but am using his total weight. He made it across the scale but didn't know to weigh axles separately.

Thanks!

muzupan · Aug 25, 2017

mtofell said:
I'm trying to help figure just how overloaded a buddy is with his towing setup. Can anyone give me an idea of how much your front axle weighs in at on a 1500 5.7 4X4 with a 6.5' bed?

I'm thinking around 3200-3500# but am using his total weight. He made it across the scale but didn't know to weigh axles separately.

Thanks!

Front axle weights are anywhere from 2500 to 3300 pounds depending if it’s a standard cab, crew cab, V-6, hemi V-8 or eco-diesel 2 wheel or wheel drive . On the sticker in the doorjamb it gives the maximum front and rear axle weight.

Jimmy07 · Aug 25, 2017

Need way more info. Year? Crew cab? Quad cab? Mega cab? Bottom line is, it will tell him on his door jamb exactly the number he's looking for for his specific truck.
https://www.ramtrucks.com/assets/towing_guide/pdf/2014_RAM.3500.Towing.Specs.pdf

mtofell · Aug 26, 2017

Really, nobody knows their axle weight? I was giving my buddy **** but I guess he's not alone. My 2500 6.4 Hemi CC 4X4 is about 4400-4550 consistently. Hooking up my 11,000# 5th wheel changes it by +/- 100#. The rear is what varies widely.

I'm well aware of the chart and door stickers. I just figured someone has weighed their 1/2 ton or was somewhat aware of what the weight was. Door stickers give max ratings.... I need to know what it is rolling down the road. I thought I gave enough info but here goes again:

2015 5.7 Hemi, Limited, 4X4, CC, 6.5' bed, silver color, grande latte in the cupholder

Anyone with anything close will do. It's not going to vary by more than a couple hundred pounds withing the specs originally given.

Mitag3 · Aug 26, 2017

Just weighed mine the other day. 3380#

'14 1500 Quad cab 6'4 4x4 with 5.7 hemi

mtofell · Aug 26, 2017

Mitag3 said:
Just weighed mine the other day. 3380#

'14 1500 Quad cab 6'4 4x4 with 5.7 hemi

THANK YOU!! You've restored my faith in truck owners!

That's just about what I was figuring. The good news is I was pretty close with my estimate. The bad news is my buddy has about 4400# on his 3900# rear axle.

Also, pretty funny.... I did some research and found a post from a guy 2 years ago with a Ram 1500 and his front axle was the EXACT same - 3380#
Towing Capacity, Tongue Weight, and Payload Capacity - DODGE RAM FORUM - Ram Forums & Owners Club! - Ram Truck Forum

Front axle weight has been amazingly static on the trucks I've owned over the years. 98%+ of the tongue/pin weight ends up on the rear axle.

Mitag3 · Aug 26, 2017

mtofell said:
THANK YOU!! You've restored my faith in truck owners!

That's just about what I was figuring. The good news is I was pretty close with my estimate. The bad news is my buddy has about 4400# on his 3900# rear axle.

Also, pretty funny.... I did some research and found a post from a guy 2 years ago with a Ram 1500 and his front axle was the EXACT same - 3380#
Towing Capacity, Tongue Weight, and Payload Capacity - DODGE RAM FORUM - Ram Forums & Owners Club! - Ram Truck Forum

Front axle weight has been amazingly static on the trucks I've owned over the years. 98%+ of the tongue/pin weight ends up on the rear axle.

Wow that's impressive! Dude must be 220#'s and have an unreasonable amount of napkins stuffed in the glove box as well! And dang, yeah thats quite a bit over the rear axle. Dunno how/if these rear axles are pretty under-rated or not but hopefully he has some better tires at least my stock goodyears were junk under load.

mtofell · Aug 26, 2017

Mitag3 said:
Wow that's impressive! Dude must be 220#'s and have an unreasonable amount of napkins stuffed in the glove box as well! And dang, yeah thats quite a bit over the rear axle. Dunno how/if these rear axles are pretty under-rated or not but hopefully he has some better tires at least my stock goodyears were junk under load.

He's got the 20" wheels and the tires are rated at 2520# each so at least that's within capacity. The whole thing is just annoying. My friend just didn't ask anyone before swapping trucks and went from a stout but under-powered 2500 Suburban to an overpowered but less than stout 1500 Ram. He was just sold on the 10,000# tow rating and didn't want/have the knowledge of what all the numbers mean.

I looked at his door sticker and the payload is a dismal 1070#. I guess the manufacturers are moving back a couple decades and a 1/2 ton is truly a 1/2 ton. Maybe I'll convince him to buy my 2500 and I can get the Cummins I've been salivating over

Mitag3 · Aug 26, 2017

Yeah that's what mine were, they handled the weight (not as much as his I think I'm within like 300lbs of my rated rear axle weight loaded up) but there was noticeably more sway. Upgraded to tires rated I think around 2750#'s and even that was a huge difference, will probably be stepping up to a 3000#/tire rating here soon. But yeah I'm willing to bet a good 90% of the 1/2 ton truck market out there right now believes their half tons can tow the rated 10,000+ lbs without being over their weights. Its borderline fraud since about no real world load out could actually reach the rated tow numbers without busting payload but most people do not realize that and do not scour forums before buying a truck. Yeahh I'm at that borderline point where I should probably just be buying your 2500 off you lol

mtofell · Aug 26, 2017

Mitag3 said:
Its borderline fraud since about no real world load out could actually reach the rated tow numbers without busting payload but most people do not realize that and do not scour forums before buying a truck.

Truer words were never spoken!

They don't show up here until the headlights are pointing at the sky :roflsquared:

The catalyst for the whole things was us sitting at the campfire and him asking if I'd ever seen an icon on my dash that was a picture of my truck bed and an arrow pointing at it. "Uh, no, but that doesn't sound good," I said. Apparently the Ram air suspension has a sensor and screams if it's being overloaded.

Jimmy07 · Aug 26, 2017

Mitag3 said:
Its borderline fraud since about no real world load out could actually reach the rated tow numbers without busting payload but most people do not realize that and do not scour forums before buying a truck. Yeahh I'm at that borderline point where I should probably just be buying your 2500 off you lol

No, because when you hook a trailer to your truck, you are now a combo unit, and it's now the gcwr you go by, not the payload. Most will say to stay within your axle ratings, but in the real world, your tire ratings is the limiting factor as the rear axle can handle far more weight than any set of tires you can find.

barr0208 · Aug 26, 2017

my 2016 Laramie quad cab front axle with everyone in it and full tank scaled at 3380 lb adding that was with my 5vr hooked up and ready to go lol

mtofell · Aug 26, 2017

Jimmy07 said:
No, because when you hook a trailer to your truck, you are now a combo unit, and it's now the gcwr you go by, not the payload. Most will say to stay within your axle ratings, but in the real world, your tire ratings is the limiting factor as the rear axle can handle far more weight than any set of tires you can find.

WTF???

Payload and GCWR are completely different things.

GCWR, GVWR, FAWR, RAWR and payload are all different and you don't abandon one in favor of another. In a perfect world a person never exceeds any of them. In reality, some GVWRs are set low and exceeding them as long as staying within FAWR/RAWR is okay in many people's books.

I agree tires are the most important but the statement about axles "being able to handle far more...." is just not true. Axles are rated to a weight limit. Of course, there's a pretty large factor of safety engineered in but to just say the rating doesn't matter is nuts.

TRCM · Aug 27, 2017

mtofell said:
Really, nobody knows their axle weight? I was giving my buddy **** but I guess he's not alone. My 2500 6.4 Hemi CC 4X4 is about 4400-4550 consistently. Hooking up my 11,000# 5th wheel changes it by +/- 100#. The rear is what varies widely.

Never had any reason to weight my 1/2 ton....most people don't.

Now the 1 ton I had, yeah, I weighed it, and while I don't remember the exact numbers, the front axle was ~ 2x the rear.....3500 cummins dually .

Jimmy07 said:
No, because when you hook a trailer to your truck, you are now a combo unit, and it's now the gcwr you go by, not the payload. Most will say to stay within your axle ratings, but in the real world, your tire ratings is the limiting factor as the rear axle can handle far more weight than any set of tires you can find.

Combo unit still has to abide by the payload of the tow vehicle.

As to tire ratings & axle ratings...if I remember right, the dana 80 rear on my dually was rated 11,000 lbs....the 4 tires cumulative were rated 12,400 (3100 each)...and the stock rims were rated 11,440 (stamped 2860 each) cumulative.

So how it that the axle is rated WAY more than the tires & wheels ?? On mine, the axle was actually less than either.

Jimmy07 · Aug 27, 2017

TRCM said:
Never had any reason to weight my 1/2 ton....most people don't.

Now the 1 ton I had, yeah, I weighed it, and while I don't remember the exact numbers, the front axle was ~ 2x the rear.....3500 cummins dually .

Combo unit still has to abide by the payload of the tow vehicle.

As to tire ratings & axle ratings...if I remember right, the dana 80 rear on my dually was rated 11,000 lbs....the 4 tires cumulative were rated 12,400 (3100 each)...and the stock rims were rated 11,440 (stamped 2860 each) cumulative.

So how it that the axle is rated WAY more than the tires & wheels ?? On mine, the axle was actually less than either.

I'm not aware of any 4th gen 1500's (which is what we're talking about in this thread) that come with 4 tires on the rear axle

Jimmy07 · Aug 27, 2017

mtofell said:
WTF???

I don't know why your mind is blown by this. All payload is, is gvwr - base weight. So, let's say you have a truck with a gvwr of 10000# that weighs 7000#, and a trailer with a gvwr of 8000# that weighs 5000#. Once you hook them together you now have a GCVWR. So that's 18000# gcvwr - 12000# base weight =6000# for payload. You can put that payload anywhere you want between the two vehicles (because you are now a combo unit) as long as you're within all your axle ratings.

TRCM · Aug 27, 2017

Jimmy07 said:
I'm not aware of any 4th gen 1500's (which is what we're talking about in this thread) that come with 4 tires on the rear axle

Yes, you are correct, no 1500s have DRW

And I am also correct in that most people (like 99.5%) have no need to weigh their 1500 to determine axle weight. The only reason I mentioned my 3500 is cuz that is the only truck I have ever needed to weigh for any reason.

It's called an example.....

mtofell · Aug 27, 2017

Jimmy07 said:
I don't know why your mind is blown by this. All payload is, is gvwr - base weight. So, let's say you have a truck with a gvwr of 10000# that weighs 7000#, and a trailer with a gvwr of 8000# that weighs 5000#. Once you hook them together you now have a GCVWR. So that's 18000# gcvwr - 12000# base weight =6000# for payload. You can put that payload anywhere you want between the two vehicles (because you are now a combo unit) as long as you're within all your axle ratings.

You're oversimplifying. 10% of the weight in the trailer goes to payload but 100% goes to GCWR. All pounds are not created equal. It depends where you put them. But regardless of where you put them payload matters, axle ratings matter, etc, etc. There is NEVER an instance where you can just ignore payload since you hooked up a trailer.

mtofell · Aug 27, 2017

TRCM said:
And I am also correct in that most people (like 99.5%) have no need to weigh their 1500 to determine axle weight.

Not from the data I've gathered in campgrounds and freeways around my town

Mitag3 · Aug 27, 2017

Jimmy07 said:
I don't know why your mind is blown by this. All payload is, is gvwr - base weight. So, let's say you have a truck with a gvwr of 10000# that weighs 7000#, and a trailer with a gvwr of 8000# that weighs 5000#. Once you hook them together you now have a GCVWR. So that's 18000# gcvwr - 12000# base weight =6000# for payload. You can put that payload anywhere you want between the two vehicles (because you are now a combo unit) as long as you're within all your axle ratings.

By this example you'd be saying that I could simply swap in a Dana 80 rear axle on my 1500 and put 6000#'s of payload on my 1/2 ton suspension.

5.7 Hemi Front Axle Weight

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

USN, Retired

Senior Member

Senior Member

USN, Retired

Senior Member

Senior Member

Member

Similar threads

Forum statistics

Share this page