That's incorrect. And in the interest of trying to avoid a flame war and an onslaught of "experts" rushing in to attack the "outsider" (me), I'll THOROUGHLY EXPLAIN why. So if long posts or facts aren't your thing, just stop reading now. Don't read the whole post and then blame ME for wasting YOUR time. There were two different GVWs for 3/4 tons. Maybe there still are. I'm not concerned with new pickups and I said nothing about them to start with. The GVWR difference is hardly "slight". I BELIEVE (I don't have my manual with me) that in 1994 it as 1200 lbs. I MIGHT be wrong. But I KNOW the difference is substantial when you're talking about less than 9000 lbs in either case. Which can translate to 4000 to 8000 lbs difference in total vehicle weight when towing. Once again, I don't have an operators manual handy but I know it's a major increase in GVW capacity. And when you put the same load behind a LD truck and an HD truck, especially on TRAILER, that "slight difference" becomes obvious and significant.
And the differences didn't stop there. My '94 is a TRUE 2500HD and says so on the door tag. It also says so when the VIN is actually SEARCHED instead of just being put into one of those "decoders". Even though the experts claim there was no "2500HD" for another however many years when it started showing up ON A PIECE OF PLASTIC, they were actually around from DAY ONE in the 2nd Gens. However many years? I don't KNOW when the "HD" came out? No, I don't know when they started making a different PLASTIC TRIM PIECE with "2500HD" on it, to put on trucks so people who don't know where to look for the REAL information can easily find it. And even the 1st Gens had MAJOR differences between the two GVWRs. Of course, the GVWR is EVERYTHING in a cargo vehicle. You know, if you consider things like GVWR, load capacity, load rating, total vehicle weight rating and such IMPORTANT in a a vehicle built to carry load instead of passengers. My truck also has the 48RH transmission BUILD CODE. 47RH, 47RE, 48RE etc are not transmission MODELS.
They are specs a 4-spd/OD transmission from Dodge 518/618 transmission FAMILY is BUILT TO. And even WITHIN a CODE, there can be internal part variations. Which is why factory manuals tell you to reference the transmission PART NUMBER. I've done so, and my pickup has the transmission "model" the "experts" claim Dodge never built. Except it's just a CODE with two number and two letters the factory used so the guys on the line got the right "parts" in the right truck according to the VIN and GVWR. It ALSO has the NV241HD transfer case none of the "expert sources" mention being in those trucks. They mention the NV241DLD, but not the NV241HD. What's the difference? NV241HDs are built for a PTO option. I wonder if the "DLD" on the STANDARD transfer case stands for "Dodge Light Duty"? Hmmm. Another one of those "minor differences". And my truck has 4.10 gears. You could NOT get the HD GVWR with anything BUT 4.10s. You can have a 2500 "LD" with 4.10s, but not a 2500HD with 3.54s. I know this. It's in the owners manual. I use FACTORY information and I want to LEARN about these trucks, not just repeat what the online "experts" say as they pursue their dream of acquiring "guru" status.
If you care to do some actual research, you can learn ALL of these things for yourself and when you're done you'll know FAR more than any of the "experts" who just recited whatever they see online. That's not me. I'm a professional diesel technician, lifelong gearhead, lifelong 4x4 pickup freak, and I've been around dozens of Dodge Cummins trucks over the years. I've worked on a lot of them. Not doing the "cool" stuff like bolting on this part or that part or the "high tech" stuff like plugging in a "tuner". I'm talking about real nuts and bolts repairs where those "slight differences" are of major importance. These days if you call Cummins for Dodge Cummins parts they USED to ask you for the CPL. Now they want the engine serial number. Apparently those slight differences matter. You can have two "identical" engines with different power ratings.
I can still remember the first Dodge Cummins I DROVE and being in a full leg brace knee dislocation when I did it. Believe me, when you're 6'3" and 235 and can't bend your left leg at all, it is a CHALLENGE getting in a 1990 Dodge W250 and going for a spin. I did it because I "had to". That's just how I was then and now I'm mostly the same except old age and lots of experience with being told I don't know what I'm talking about by people who don't or can't do what I do has made me a "prick". Oh well. It was a PITA and it was just a quick drive around a motel parking lot where my Grandparents were staying, but I still remember it. Mainly because it was late January and WAY TOO COLD for any diesel pickup of THAT time period to start in without at least being plugged in. It probably got down to 10 degrees that night. We're talking back in the 6.2/7.3 days here. Remember THOSE? I do. But that Dodge started. I was hooked. I still remember where I was when I saw the Cummins Dodge I ever SAW, too. Weigh-in for my 4-H calves. That Cummins just sat there and rattled and rattled for hours. So I've been around these trucks and I know them pretty well.
Mostly in a farm/ranch/commercial environment where trucks get USED and hardly EVER get their pictures taken to be posted online. My Grandpa still has the '90 Dodge W250 Cummins (my"first time" truck) he bought new and the '98 Dodge 2500HD 4x4 extended cab he bought new. They've never left the farm and probably never will. And they've never been in TDR, either. I might have to change that. Show some folks how the "other side" lives, lol. In my "circle" of immediate family and close friends, there a couple dozen of these trucks ranging from that 1990 to a 2013. I know the trucks because I'm passionate about them as a WHOLE, not just about mine. And because I'm a professional diesel technician, I know that there ARE no generalities you can apply across the board like you just did. It's one thing to study machines as a hobby or there again be interested on a personal level because you own ONE or TWO where you don't have to worry about anything else but YOURS.
It's another thing to have to work on machinery and deal with all the variables and inconsistencies that come along with two "identical" machines being VERY different one you get past a nameplate or model designation or brand name or production run. But I NEVER call myself an "expert" because "experts" refuse to be wrong. I KNOW I'm wrong. A lot. Which is why I KEEP learning. And why I DON'T just walk away when someone disagrees with me when I'm right. Especially when they say something intentionally vague and ambiguous like "there is no difference EXCEPT". That is a difference. And its enough of a difference to BE the difference between getting the RIGHT part and the WRONG part. Which is why OEMs use VIN and PIN numbers. Not meaningless designations like model numbers, model years, words on a piece of plastic trim, etc. So be careful what you say and who you believe if you're REALLY interested in these trucks. NO ONE knows it all and every day "experts" in EVERY field all over the WORLD are having a real bad day when they find out they don't know it all. There's no shame in not knowing something.
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
