Gear ratios and towing weight capacities

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Dan Lockwood

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Let's see if this works for you:
http://www.rambodybuilder.com/2012/docs/ram/rammlup3500.pdf
It's a PDF download with all the towing infromation for the 2012 3500s

Thanks for the link.

Again sorry about the hi-jack of this thread, but it titled:
Gear ratios and towing weight capacities

I'm sooo confused with ratings etc. Every RV dealership I've been to tells me that my RAM 3500 DRW diesel can handle anything that they can throw at it. Although it does only have the 3.73 ratio rear gears. For towing I would prefer to have the 4.1 gears, but I will not be towing all the time.

The PDF that the link refers to says that my RAM has a GVWR of 12,300#, and GCWR of 25,000#.

My truck with two people and full tank of fuel weighed 8,400#. Deduct that from my GCWR of 25k and I end up with 16,600# allowable tow RV weight.

My Raptor will gross at around 18k#.

I went to Motor Trend's link on the '12 same setup as mine and they list the "towing" capacity of 19,350#. Without knowing all the lingo, I take that as the weight of the RV, not a combined total of truck and RV.

I have installed the B&W below bed gooseneck with their Companion 20k hitch. So my hitch will be good for my RV, but I'm still a little concerned about the GCWR of only 25k#.

In the real world, should I be concerned as long as I keep the speeds down to a reasonable level?

I realize that newer RAM 3500's have air bags and some can do a combined of 35k#. But sadly mine is not new and does not have the latest technology for towing.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance. Oh, I'm driving up to des Moines on the 6th to bring it back to O'Fallon MO. I guess I'll see how it tows empty first and get a better idea of how the truck performs. The roads are not that hilly so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks again and hope you all have a great holiday weekend... :)
 

crash68

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I'm sooo confused with ratings etc. Every RV dealership I've been to tells me that my RAM 3500 DRW diesel can handle anything that they can throw at it. Although it does only have the 3.73 ratio rear gears. For towing I would prefer to have the 4.1 gears, but I will not be towing all the time.

The PDF that the link refers to says that my RAM has a GVWR of 12,300#, and GCWR of 25,000#.

My truck with two people and full tank of fuel weighed 8,400#. Deduct that from my GCWR of 25k and I end up with 16,600# allowable tow RV weight.

My Raptor will gross at around 18k#.
The CTD will drag just about anything you can throw at it, quite nicely too. The extra 2K isn't going to make much difference, even with the 3.73 gearing. A buddy tows a +16K fiver behind a 2500 that's 3.42 geared.
As long as your GAWR, GVWR and what your truck is plated for you'll be fine(I doubt your trailer will have a 4K lbs pin weight). It depends on your state, but there is usually a GCWR limit for the vehicle class or they use an Elected Gross Weight (you plate the truck for *** GVWR), just don't go over that(big fine if you get caught).
 

Dan Lockwood

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Thanks for the reply.

To show my ignorance on the towing subject, are our pickups towing large fifth wheels subject to the weigh stations on the freeways? Do I need to pull through if open?
 
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