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I have to disagree with the brakes and steering being the issue. It’s the softer spring rates of the PW creating the issue. My 05’ PW pulled and drove like a 1 ton but sagged like a 90 yr old woman with a very heavy load. Put more than a ton in the box several times, for a very short distance, and ended up snapping both rear leafs at the front eyelets. The PW is the only truck anywhere using that leaf. My 17’ PW drives fine with a load but in no way is it the same as non PW.
GAWR is axle ratings front and rear. GVRW is gross vehicle rating. Honestly if you have your heart set on a 3/4 ton I'd steer clear of the Ram .The GM and Ford both have 1100lbs or more payload across the board. Equivalent duramax GMC has a couple hundred pounds plus payload over the Gas ram and the gas is roughly 1100 more than the Ram 6.4. Ford is the same. They both bumped up their GVWR instead of playing the class game and keeping it under 10k. If you go ram then 3500 is really the only way to go if you tow a 5th wheel, pull a large trailer or want a camper on the back sometimes. Ford does have a 9900 downgrade package. What the package includes is a lower GVRW sticker and that's it. You lose 800-900 bs of GVRW without changing anything on the truck for guys worried about needing a cdl to drive their pickup.
But aren’t the axles, diff, brakes, frame etc on the PW all full-on 3/4 ton grade and it’s just the softer ‘off-road’ springs that result in the lower payload ratings? Seems if there’s one truck you can use air bags too carry somewhat over rated load its the PW.
Yep. Exactly.
Yup. I’ve been down this rabbit hole with people before. Unless you have a super **** retentive state no trooper will ever stop you hauling a big load because they realize it’s a 2500. Everything else except the springs are identical
A lot of the lower payload rating downgrade is the extra weight of the power wagon accesories making the trucks tare weight higher. Things like the winch and heavier front bumper for example . The gvrw is still the same as the regular 2500..
Front bumpers are the same as non power wagons. But yes, the winch and mount and added skid plates do add some weight over a non power wagon.
The GVWR of a PowerWagon is less than the 10000 lbs the regular 2500 get
As already stated, the GVW of a Power Wagon is in the 8,500 lb. range while a normal 2500 is up in the 10,000 lb. range. In regards to accessories, the winch and mounting hardware are the only significant weight increase of the Power Wagon. Would guess in the 150 lb. range for that. Doubt the swaybar disconnect and locking diffs add more than 100 lbs. total.
