Air bags to increase pay load

bcbouy · Apr 11, 2022

airbags will improve the ride but will not increase your payload so if you plan to tow/haul get them,as for insurance,well,Canada,not the U.S.

cms1528 · Apr 11, 2022

Don't do it man, that's WAY to heavy for your PW, like folks are saying you need to be looking at a 3500 for that.

Big_Papa_R · Apr 11, 2022

I don't comment much on here. I have been a tech for 18 years and I have seen alot of over weight issues. In my opinion the truck will hold the weight with the air bags. The truck will drive with the weight. The issue is the design. The brakes and steering are not designed for that much weight in the rear. Not to mention dot/insurance would have a trip with you if something happened. Just a warning seen it before they would void your insurance the minute you are over spec. Also would strongly recommend against anything that long in a 6.4 box. I have a 2500 Cummins I put a sled deck on with two quads. I'm about 400 lbs over weight and I feel thats iffy if I got caught. Just my two cents.

Hunter Rob · Apr 11, 2022

DA Smith · Apr 11, 2022

Unfortunately going from your 1500 to the Power Wagon is not necessarily a step up when you're talking about towing and hauling heavy loads. The Power Wagon is a purpose built truck to do what it does best and that is not hauling heavy loads. For the load your talking about you need a real three-quarter ton or a one ton truck. The power wagon suspension is not much more than a slightly beefed up half ton!

andymax · Apr 11, 2022

Hunter Rob said:
View attachment 490943

RV manufacturers and dealers will tell you anything you want to hear.

Big_Papa_R · Apr 11, 2022

DA Smith said:
Unfortunately going from your 1500 to the Power Wagon is not necessarily a step up when you're talking about towing and hauling heavy loads. The Power Wagon is a purpose built truck to do what it does best and that is not hauling heavy loads. For the load your talking about you need a real three-quarter ton or a one ton truck. The power wagon suspension is not much more than a slightly beefed up half ton!

I agree. Even the 2500 non pw is not really designed for the major weight in the box since they moved to coils in the back. Drives way smoother. But a lot different from the old days were there wasn't much difference between a 1 ton and 3/4 truck

Hunter Rob · Apr 11, 2022

Hey guys I get it about the weight for the PW susp.
I agree now that i had lots of feedback.Dont know to
much about this style of susp. thats why i asked.
Now as for a 8ft 11" camper in a short box 3/4 ton
or 1ton ...well i disagree. for a PW if it could handle the weight
i would go for it and thats a big IF. I see now that theres no way
it will no matter what upgrades i do.

392DevilDog · Apr 11, 2022

Hunter Rob said:
Hey guys I get it about the weight for the PW susp.
I agree now that i had lots of feedback.Dont know to
much about this style of susp. thats why i asked.
Now as for a 8ft 11" camper in a short box 3/4 ton
or 1ton ...well i disagree. for a PW if it could handle the weight
i would go for it and thats a big IF. I see now that theres no way
it will no matter what upgrades i do.

I see now that the 2 foot 7 inch is the area of the tailgate. But, this adds weight into an area the PowerWagon suspension is not made to hold.

A PowerWagon. Is going to be beat suited to a low profile camper the size of the box.

The cabover and huge profile of that camper is going to be a huge issue fot the PowerWagon...and most RAM 2500 trucks. The coil springs habe no issue with the weight. They are located inboard of a typical leaf spring and their issue is the high center of gravity with side to side sway.

Good luck. Hope it works out.

thkbaron · Apr 11, 2022

It’s funny when people get into the payload discussing on the wagons. Haha. If I was routinely hauling lots of weight I would have went with a one ton.

bushyrem · Apr 11, 2022

dhay13 said:
The funny thing about this is payload is limited by steering, suspension and brakes, not power...lol

thkbaron · Apr 11, 2022

I mean really you could probably toss 3500 springs front and back and do it. But the coppers won’t care if you get pulled over.

bushyrem · Apr 11, 2022

I had a 2011 1500 club cab bighorn and put a slide in pop up camper (6 1/2 ft) in. Had Helwig sway bar and heaviest shocks Carquest sold. Two trips to Alaska and no issues. Traded the 2011 for 2019 1500 classic crew cab. Put the Hellwig on and Rancho shocks. Only a couple shot trips so far. I just added Airlift 1000HD bags to help with the sagging (wasn't bad) and will take a trip next month. Camper weight 1100 # dry.

OC455 · Apr 11, 2022

Good thread here:

Truck camper -> Extreme body roll/sway. Help!

I have a 2016 2500 Mega 6.4L with Thuren front 2" lift springs, track bar and Fox shocks at all 4 corners. I left the rear springs stock. Riding on Toyo AT2 295/65R20 65psi front, 75psi rear. Just drove 150 miles to pick up my new (used) truck camper and was scared to death driving home. As...

www.ramforum.com

JerryETX · Apr 11, 2022

Hunter Rob said:
Hey guys I get it about the weight for the PW susp.
I agree now that i had lots of feedback.Dont know to
much about this style of susp. thats why i asked.
Now as for a 8ft 11" camper in a short box 3/4 ton
or 1ton ...well i disagree. for a PW if it could handle the weight
i would go for it and thats a big IF. I see now that theres no way
it will no matter what upgrades i do.

You can go forward with the short bed but if you really are ASKING you're in long bed dually territory. I would be surprised if the camper place you are buying your slide in from would even load it in a short bed 2500 for you. Long bed 3500 without question and I would recommend a dually.

Elkman · Apr 11, 2022

The 3500 adds payload by having a second leaf spring pack. You can to the same with a 2500 truck by adding SuperSprings. Took me less than an hour to increase the payload of my 2500 truck to 4,000 lbs and with the truck on the ground - no need to jack it up.

Springs will last the lifetime of the truck and no worries about an airbag failing (and there are two that can fail) in the middle of a trip and limping home or being stuck in a town waiting for replacement parts. With my 4WD off-road vehicles I have always cared about not having a breakdown well off the beaten path and having to get a tow truck to the vehicle. Even 25 miles from the highway is one heck of a walk to try and hitchhike to the nearest town.

With the SuperSprings on my truck the bed was level when empty and level with a 3700 lb slide in camper in the bed. Greatly reduces side sway as in a turn more than half the weight is on one side of the suspension. With reduced sway the stock shocks were much more effective although for the truck I replaced them with Rancho adjustable shocks. The adjustable shocks are great at being able to tune the suspension front and rear.

BWL · Apr 11, 2022

Better off buying a 3500 and converting the rear suspension to air or if possible converting it to coils with airbags like you want to do on the 2500. The brakes,frame. Really pretty much everything are the same on the 3500 apart from leafs vs coils on the rear and front spring rates and you'd get the bigger payload sticker with the 2500 ride.

ZookaTx · Apr 11, 2022

I think the biggest limiters in the weight and tow capacity equation for PWs are:

1. the D rated tires the PWs come with. Their sidewalls are softer than E rated (both rated for 3195 lbs per tire, though) so sway would increase. I went from 33" D rated Duratracks (stock) to 35" Toyo AT3s, an E rated tire, the 35s are noticeably stiffer, and weigh 10 lbs or more over the 33"s. And that is running them at 45 psi front and 50 rear, unloaded.

Also, 2. the PW has softer springs that make it sit an inch or so higher. Meaning they sway easier.

Both of these differences from a regular 2500 are to make its offroad ride softer. I had a 2002 2500 Cummins short bed 4wd that had a 6 speed standard and the "camper package" of 4.11 axle ratio, super stiff rear springs, and a Dana 80 rear axle. What a beast. That was basically a HD 3500 rear suspension. Took it over Tincup Pass in Colorado, 5 years after the Forest Circus stopped maintaining the rocky road; my buddy and I were pretty beat up by the time we got across. And that was with several hundred pounds in the bed. The softer offroad ride of a PW would have been nice.

I'm pretty sure the PW has the same rear axle as the HD 2500s, the same brakes and steering too. Different springs and shocks, and a little spring lift. Don't know if the swaybars are different size between regular 2500s and PWs.

OC455 · Apr 11, 2022

Elkman said:
The 3500 adds payload by having a second leaf spring pack. You can to the same with a 2500 truck by adding SuperSprings. Took me less than an hour to increase the payload of my 2500 truck to 4,000 lbs and with the truck on the ground - no need to jack it up.

Springs will last the lifetime of the truck and no worries about an airbag failing (and there are two that can fail) in the middle of a trip and limping home or being stuck in a town waiting for replacement parts. With my 4WD off-road vehicles I have always cared about not having a breakdown well off the beaten path and having to get a tow truck to the vehicle. Even 25 miles from the highway is one heck of a walk to try and hitchhike to the nearest town.

With the SuperSprings on my truck the bed was level when empty and level with a 3700 lb slide in camper in the bed. Greatly reduces side sway as in a turn more than half the weight is on one side of the suspension. With reduced sway the stock shocks were much more effective although for the truck I replaced them with Rancho adjustable shocks. The adjustable shocks are great at being able to tune the suspension front and rear.

Again, as this was explained in another thread that you posted in, you can not add a "leaf pack" because the rear of the Power Wagons and 2500's are coil springs. You may have done this with older Rams, but new ones like the OP has (2022) it is not feasible to change from coil springs to leaf springs, not designed that way in a Power Wagon. A 2600-2800lbs slide in camper is too heavy for the Power Wagon.

thkbaron · Apr 11, 2022

ZookaTx said:
I think the biggest limiters in the weight and tow capacity equation for PWs are:

1. the D rated tires the PWs come with. Their sidewalls are softer than E rated (both rated for 3195 lbs per tire, though) so sway would increase. I went from 33" D rated Duratracks (stock) to 35" Toyo AT3s, an E rated tire, the 35s are noticeably stiffer, and weigh 10 lbs or more over the 33"s. And that is running them at 45 psi front and 50 rear, unloaded.

Also, 2. the PW has softer springs that make it sit an inch or so higher. Meaning they sway easier.

Both of these differences from a regular 2500 are to make its offroad ride softer. I had a 2002 2500 Cummins short bed 4wd that had a 6 speed standard and the "camper package" of 4.11 axle ratio, super stiff rear springs, and a Dana 80 rear axle. What a beast. That was basically a HD 3500 rear suspension. Took it over Tincup Pass in Colorado, 5 years after the Forest Circus stopped maintaining the rocky road; my buddy and I were pretty beat up by the time we got across. And that was with several hundred pounds in the bed. The softer offroad ride of a PW would have been nice.

I'm pretty sure the PW has the same rear axle as the HD 2500s, the same brakes and steering too. Different springs and shocks, and a little spring lift. Don't know if the swaybars are different size between regular 2500s and PWs.

Hey I never took into account the tires......That's not something that's been discussed before or at least I haven't came across that. Wonder what all of us are actually increasing our payload to by adding the E's or F's in some peoples case.

Air bags to increase pay load

Senior Member

Member

Junior Member

Junior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Junior Member

Junior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Junior Member

Senior Member

Junior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Embrace the skeptisism

Junior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Similar threads

Forum statistics

Share this page