Hauling firewood while towing a trailer

[TRCM]

View attachment 123927

Not sure where you got that info from, but look at the sticker on the door...it will be a good bit less.

For instance, my owners manual (which is generic for the trim/model) claims I can have 1610 lbs of payload max.....but the sticker on the door (which takes into account the way the truck is actually built) says I can only have 1161 lbs payload max.

That's almost a 40% reduction.................

 

[justintyme01]

The sticker on the door states the same thing. There is a link on this sight somewhere for a build sheet for your particular truck and I think the ram website where it gives you your max weights. You just have to enter your vin number. They were all the same on the website as they actually were on my truck.

 

[TRCM]

Count yourself lucky then, cuz most of us on here are like mine is.....barely enough payload for actual use if towing as well.


Again, using mine, the door sticker says 1161, the ram towing website says 1278...still a ~10% error.

Which one is correct ??

 

[onemc4you]

In many cases, the coil springs provide better weight support than leaf sprung trucks. I don't want to link to another website or forum necessarily, but if you do some looking, there are a couple video blogger journalist organizations that do MPG tow tests, etc on these trucks and they've shown with Ram trucks with coils tend to squat less. I saw an example of this when a Ford was Paired with a Ram (250/2500), the Ram truck squatted half an inch less than the Ford with a leaf pack.

However, I did recently hear Ford went from a 2.5" wide leaf to a 3.0" wide leaf (still using 2 leaves with the helper spring). So I'm not sure how that mash-up would be now.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The Vulcan in me says that coil springs will never sag because one coil rests above the other. Unlike leaf springs which are overlaped with lesser length sections. I would say also that leaf springs are better at controlling the axel from shifting when accelerating.
Live long and prosper.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TRCM]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The Vulcan in me says that coil springs will never sag because one coil rests above the other. Unlike leaf springs which are overlaped with lesser length sections. I would say also that leaf springs are better at controlling the axel from shifting when accelerating.
Live long and prosper.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Between leaf spring twist & shackle movement, a leaf spring axle moves around quite a bit.

A coil spring axle has 4 links that hold it in place, so it actually moves around less.

Have you ever power braked a leaf spring vehicle to the point of wheel spin and felt the rear end drop some ? That is from the leaf spring flexing & shackle movement under the torque load. It is a lot more noticeable on lifted vehicles.

 

[justintyme01]

TRCM, I’d obviously go by the door sticker in case you ever got pulled over unless your one of the people who don’t really worry about weight. The payload and towing capacity were the two main things I looked at when buying my truck. I wanted higher payload but you pretty much have to special order a truck from any manufacturer to get max pay load. I wanted 4 doors but had to have 6’5 bed at least. That’s how I ended up with a quad cab express/st. Had just the right amount of options, enough room in the bed and was still capable enough for the things I do often.

 

[GsRAM]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The Vulcan in me says that coil springs will never sag because one coil rests above the other. Unlike leaf springs which are overlaped with lesser length sections. I would say also that leaf springs are better at controlling the axel from shifting when accelerating.
Live long and prosper.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Peace and long life!

 

[GsRAM]

Hard to say without knowing if the wood is wet or dry. Dry I would think you'd be fine.

It's going to to be a totally different experience from your 2500. Last year I went from a 2015 1500 Chevy with 1700 lbs of pay to my 17 ram 2500 with over 3100 lbs of pay. Huge difference.


In December I had the bed filled over the rails as high as I could without having stuff fall out with firewood, concrete block, etc. The Ram laughed at the load, hardly squatted the rear at all. My Chevy would have likely been on the bump stops.

If your hauling big wood loads so often, why didn't you get another 2500 and then your concerns would all be moot?

With the weight in the bed your weight and the trailer tongue weight you may be over your payload limit.

Take a picture of your yellow door jamb sticker and post it here. If your numbers on the sticker are exactly the same as on rams website, you'd be the first one I've seen.

Most time, the yellow sticker is less. Rams site says mine should be over 3200. The yellow sticker reflects the weighed weight off the assembly line and is the most accurate. At least that is my understanding. Good luck

 

[justintyme01]

The only reason I didn’t get a 2500 is I wanted a new truck and got a hell of a deal on my 2018 half ton. Just a couple grand more than a used one. The 19’s are coming out and they wanted to get rid of some of the trucks they had in stock.

 

[justintyme01]

Sorry it’s not exactly the same but only 34 pounds less so very close

 

[MasonD21]

Count yourself lucky then, cuz most of us on here are like mine is.....barely enough payload for actual use if towing as well.


Again, using mine, the door sticker says 1161, the ram towing website says 1278...still a ~10% error.

Which one is correct ??

At the end of the day, the plaque on the vehicle is the only loading label information placard that matters. No after market equipment or alterations, legally, will change that factory installed piece of information.

And now that you know that, make sure you read your paper registration. My Washington registration originally had my gross weight at an absurd number (12,000), when my truck is a PW, and is 8510. Gal at the office told me my VIN originally didn't pull the proper info, so she "copied" the info of another person's "Ram 2500 CCSB".

 

[TRCM]

At the end of the day, the plaque on the vehicle is the only loading label information placard that matters. No after market equipment or alterations, legally, will change that factory installed piece of information.

And now that you know that, make sure you read your paper registration. My Washington registration originally had my gross weight at an absurd number (12,000), when my truck is a PW, and is 8510. Gal at the office told me my VIN originally didn't pull the proper info, so she "copied" the info of another person's "Ram 2500 CCSB".

I know that, but was trying to let the OP know that the websites ain't always right.....................

 

[MasonD21]

I know that, but was trying to let the OP know that the websites ain't always right.....................

No worries. I wasn't sure if you were actually asking the question or being facetious.

Hard for tones and smiles while typing to come through text

Plus, it's always good to reiterate the info. Some people STILL think all they have to do is get rid of the factory P-rated tires for E-rated LT tires and suddenly they no longer have to pay attention to that stuff

 

[TRCM]

No worries. I wasn't sure if you were actually asking the question or being facetious.

Hard for tones and smiles while typing to come through text

Plus, it's always good to reiterate the info. Some people STILL think all they have to do is get rid of the factory P-rated tires for E-rated LT tires and suddenly they no longer have to pay attention to that stuff

or they think that cuz the RV salesman told them it was good, they are good.

 

[GsRAM]

Sorry it’s not exactly the same but only 34 pounds less so very close

View attachment 123958

Nice! By ram 1500 standards you have good payload rating. Hey I get it, makes total sense and is why I don' buy used trucks anymore.

 

[TallBoy1969]

I hauled 100 bales of square hay behind mine on a 16ft trailer if you load a trailer correctly you can get a purty good load of about anything!! Haaa
Only got squirrly because I loaded it square
I should have put more on toungue to keep the rear ended from trying to steer

 

[LarryA]

FWIW - I used a 2 horse trailer (2,500 pounds empty) to pick up hay - When full it had ~ 26 bales (they were rather larger) at like 80 pounds each. I really wanted 30 so I added 4 more in the bed (likely 320 pounds).

All in all the ride home was smooth and uneventful.

 

[BWL]

I'd load the trailer first since that won't be a problem and then load up the truck until it's sitting level or where you're comfortable. May not get the whole load, but enough to be worth the trip or it could be dry enough that it's no problem.

 

[LouM]

Load the front half of the bed as full as you can, if the trailer can handle it load it right to the max, if the trailer has brakes that work good your all set, if not give yourself a lot of stopping distance, several times your normal.
Or get a good tandem trailer with brakes and throw 2-3 cords on the trailer.

 

[Vicman]

I used my PW to bring back some drill bits from a customer last summer, around 3500# per the scale. The truck didn't care a bit about the load but the tires didn't like going over 58 mph. I just kept it at a cool 50-55.