Tradesman with Powerwagon Package vs Powerwagon

[4xdad]

What does the colour of your bumper have to do with payload buy what you want or need having not researched this I don’t know are the rear axles the same on a tradesman and a pw if so it’s about springs and tires the lockers are what makes the difference plus the winch and sway bar disconnect the reason for coils is to get more articulation at the expense of payload every thing is a compromise. Want more payload get a duals want a go fast toy get a Trx a pw is somewhere in between.

 

[olyelr]

Coils instead of leaves is what makes the difference

Huh? All 2500’s, even non power wagons, have had rear coils since 2014.

 

[4xdad]

I was not aware of that they must have higher rated coils

 

[4xdad]

I don’t really follow other trucks if they are the same how explain the difference in payload

 

[62Blazer]

Huh? All 2500’s, even non power wagons, have had rear coils since 2014.

I was not aware of that they must have higher rated coils

I don’t really follow other trucks if they are the same how explain the difference in payload

So the first message states that all 2500's, PW or not, have coil spring rear suspension. So that means that the previous comment about coil springs versus leaf springs is not the reason for different payload or trailer towing capacity between a PW versus non-PW. Now with that said just because it is a coil spring style doesn't mean the coil springs are identical.......not like there is only 1 exact coil spring that can used. It's very common and long-time knowledge that PW's use a lighter rated coil spring than other 2500's. That is not the only reason that PW's have a lower capacity, but is one of the primary reasons.

 

[Docwagon1776]

I don’t really follow other trucks if they are the same how explain the difference in payload

Just because they both have coils doesn’t mean they have the same coils. Spring rates vary.

 

[4xdad]

So what are the other reasons enlighten me. Like I said I don’t really follow other trucks but knowledge is power.I am thinking you can increase the payload of your pw by swapping out the springs. A pw has a 2 inch lift compared to a regular 2500 but I’m sure you can find different springs though ride quality might suffer

 

[4xdad]

A spring swap should be pretty easy

 

[4xdad]

You can easily get higher rated tires. I have seen some people saying air bags might be the answer but not in Alberta they don’t seem to live the cold. I know someone will say modern semi trucks run them but not quite the same thing.as big trucks are more robust and I have seen them fail with a bang too lol

 

[ramffml]

I'm not a PW expert but in addition to coils you'd also have to do shocks. The lift kit and offroad/squishy tires will also reduce stability/towing.

At that point why have a PW when your intent is to turn it back into a standard 2500?

 

[4xdad]

Lockers and winch sway bar disconnect 2 inch lift you can get load rated off-road tires I get your point if I had my time back I might have gone with a tradesman with the pw package. I don’t haul or tow anything heavy but those where the things I wanted

 

[62Blazer]

So what are the other reasons enlighten me. Like I said I don’t really follow other trucks but knowledge is power.I am thinking you can increase the payload of your pw by swapping out the springs. A pw has a 2 inch lift compared to a regular 2500 but I’m sure you can find different springs though ride quality might suffer

Lighter rated coils combined with increased height, shocks tuned for the lighter coils, taller and lighter D rated (versus E rated) tires. The swaybars may be lighter/less stiff but I'm not sure. If you look at the industry standard SAE J2807 test which is used to determine trailer tow capacity several tests have to do with lateral stability and sway (handling), and the bigger the trailer the more it impacts the handling of the truck. All of the above components can cause increased sway and decreased lateral stability during the test and a big reason why PW's have a lower rated capacity. Several other aspects of the J2807 test have to do with braking and engine performance power, which is generally the same or very similar to any other 2500 with the same components....there is nothing special about the brakes, engine, transmission, etc... of a PW in regards to towing capacity.

 

[4xdad]

So basically if you went with a standard 2500 2 inch lift with the shocks and e rated tires you would have a2500 pw I am counting the shocks as part of the lift

 

[akguy09]

So basically if you went with a standard 2500 2 inch lift with the shocks and e rated tires you would have a2500 pw I am counting the shocks as part of the lift

Well, thats kind of leaving out the expensive/ decent stuff like the smart bar and F/R lockers

 

[4xdad]

No I mean add the springs and shocks from a standard 2500 2 inch lift to pw to increase the pay load a 2 inch lift is not that much higher than the standard 2500 it would increase your centre of gravity but not a whole bunch but you should gain more payload the parts should all work. I think the only difference is in the spring rates/ coil wire diameter. I’m not sure how much payload you would lose with the lift.anybody running a 2 inch lift on a standard 2500 could you in lighten us on how much pay load you lose with a lift if any

 

[4xdad]

I would think it should be a simple swap

 

[olyelr]

No I mean add the springs and shocks from a standard 2500 2 inch lift to pw to increase the pay load a 2 inch lift is not that much higher than the standard 2500 it would increase your centre of gravity but not a whole bunch but you should gain more payload the parts should all work. I think the only difference is in the spring rates/ coil wire diameter. I’m not sure how much payload you would lose with the lift.anybody running a 2 inch lift on a standard 2500 could you in lighten us on how much pay load you lose with a lift if any

The aev lift kit uses 3” front spacers and 2” rear spacers. When installed on a power wagon they highly recommend installing the coils from a standard 2500. So it really only gains about an inch or so of lift up front on a power wagon, basically the same out back, yet you get added payload and hauling ability for overland type gear and such.

Sounds like this is basically what you are talking about?

As far as most other lift kits go, i think coil spring rate typically gets a bit less for better ride quality, and then compounded by being taller…not so sure that would help all that much for payload in most cases.

 

[62Blazer]

No I mean add the springs and shocks from a standard 2500 2 inch lift to pw to increase the pay load a 2 inch lift is not that much higher than the standard 2500 it would increase your centre of gravity but not a whole bunch but you should gain more payload the parts should all work. I think the only difference is in the spring rates/ coil wire diameter. I’m not sure how much payload you would lose with the lift.anybody running a 2 inch lift on a standard 2500 could you in lighten us on how much pay load you lose with a lift if any

Theoretically swapping regular 2500 springs, shocks, and E rated tires to a PW should increase the payload and trailer capacities. Then some spring spacers to raise it back up slightly to get the lift height. This has basically been discussed and debated dozens of times over the years on this forum. The Payload Police will jump on here and say none of this changes the official factory ratings and any potential legal aspect of overloading the truck, and technically they are correct. However I've never seen anybody provide any good real world experience with the truck exploding, killing a bus full of nuns, and then the driver spending a life sentence in jail because they were slightly overloaded. Sure, under certain circumstances you could be denied insurance coverage if they prove you caused an accident because of blatant disregard for towing capacities and driving conditions....but would like to hear about some real examples. Think about it.......you run a stop sign and cause an accident your insurance still covers it, right? Running a stop sign is "illegal" and not what you are supposed to do, but insurance still covers it. Even if you run your car off the road and wreck it, and get cited with failure to control...insurance still covers it as an accident. So if you are towing a trailer that is over weight and have an accident insurance will automatically deny it? Will they say you should know the difference between a 10,100 lb. trailer and a 10,500 lb. trailer just by looking at it? Can they prove that you intentionally pulled too heavy of a trailer, and can they prove that the trailer weight was 100% the cause of the accident? I'm not talking about pulling a 30,000 lb. piece of construction equipment here that is blatantly overloading the truck, but rather pulling a camper that is a little bigger than the rating. I will also say that total weight is not the only concern on a trailer as I've seen some really scary smaller loads (improper weight distribution, poor tie down, no trailer brakes) that are well under the truck's capacity. Not saying you should intentionally go out and pull too heavy of the load.....you should get a truck matched to the trailer weight you are pulling.

About the only modification I ever see for people who tow heavier loads with a PW is usually a set of air bags, but a lot of non-PW trucks use air bags also.

 

[4xdad]

That’s exactly what I meant when was the last time you took your camping rig over a scale