Load ratings?

[Jengle]

Figured if anybody would know, this would be the place to find an answer. I have a 3500 SRW LWB truck with the CTD engine. It is rated as having a 4480lb payload in the bed, according to Dodge. The truck weighs 7380 empty. This adds up to 11860lbs. Why does the truck sticker inside the door and DMV rate this vehicle as 9900 MGVW? It doesn't add up.

 

[Peter Campbell]

The driver weight is usually at 150#- + 11,860 is right around 12,000Lbs- that rating may be for a DRW. Not the first time the dodge site mad an error.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Where did you get that 4480 lb payload number from? My guess is that you got it from an ad somewhere. What you have to keep in mind is that they are going to put those numbers in the best light possible. When they give a payload number it is based on a minimum weight truck - ie regular cab, 2wd, gas v8, manual transmission, vinyl interior, no power anything, no fuel in the tank, no passengers, etc. The numbers that really matter are the GVWR GCVWR & GAWR's and your true base weight (which I include a full fuel tank and my expected passenger load in). If you are over on any of the numbers (each axle weight individually, gross vehicle weight, and gross combined weight) then you are overweight. Max trailer ratings come about the same way - minimum equipment, lightest truck possible, no fuel, no passengers, etc.

 

[klenger]

The 4480 lb rating is probably for a reg cab, 2WD, gasser, DRW. That combo would have the highest GVWR and the lowest curb weight. If you can find the place where you found the spec, you will notice that it states "when properly equipped" or something like that.



According to your numbers, you have a payload of 2520 lbs. Good think you didn't get a 2500, or it would be only 1620 lbs. If I buy a new one, I'm planning on getting a 2WD, that reduces the empty weight by 500 lbs.

 

[dresslered]

Yeah, I'm guilty of the same mistake. After receiving my truck, I found a slip of paper in the glove box that says that I can carry a whole 2772-lb. payload in the back of my fully equipped dually! I ran back in the house and pulled out my Ram brochures and sure enough, I had highlighted the same 4480 lb (I actually thought it was 4800?) rating which is only applicable to the stripped down Ram's. Also, if you have a rear seat in your truck, Dodge aticipates that you will have 3 150-lb people sitting back there. Funny thing is that my overload springs don't even come into contact until I have a least 4,000-lbs. in the bed (not that I've ever tried this before )

 

[Jengle]

You may be onto something there, but the sales brochure shows the LWB 4x4 QC with CTD as having a 4460 payload. I haven't went outside yet to check my sticker on the truck. It also doesn't show the specs for the single rear wheel. Still, the numbers don't add up right. I once heard a good statistician can make the numbers show whatever you want them to, also. Sounds like a lot of sales hype, smoke and mirrors to me. So, if they hide the real numbers like that, what are we supposed to do to figure our real capacities? Just haul what we need to haul to get the job done. Seems like that's what a lot of us are doing anyway. I guess they could advertise it could go from here to Paris in 8hrs, with the little subscript number beside the claim, reading wrapped in a 747, properly equipped.

 

[Jumbo Jet]

The truck should be able to haul 4,000 lbs. based on the fact that for 4 years my 1964 Dodge 1/2 Ton LWB 225 c. i. slant 6 hauled 60 bushels of peaches every day during the summer from Wynne, AR to Memphis, TN at 65 MPH. 60 bushels weigh about 3,120 lbs.



Traded that for a 1968 1/2 ton LWB 318 c. i. that hauled the same load for several years.



Never broke a thing!!

 

[RustyJC]

Ummm... . why not just weigh the truck empty with the driver inside on certified truck scales to get the steer and drive axle actual weights (unless you already have these from the first weighing you quoted), then work through the math concerning the truck's GVWR and GAWRs? Then you know the payload the truck can actually carry and how it can be placed without exceeding ratings.



Most payload ratings, like trailer tow ratings, are for a base truck with only a 150 lb driver - no options, accessories, passengers, cargo, etc. Often, the base truck weight will even be calculated using the lightest engine/transmission combination available - anything to get the highest numbers possible, even if they have nothing whatsoever to do with reality.



Rusty

 

[zari]

I think <em>payload</em> figures are mostly marketing gimmick. The real numbers are your G*WRs, and those you will only get by weighing the actual truck. If your truck actually weighs in at 7380#, and your GVWR is 9900#, your 'payload' is 2520#, whatever the shiny brochure might say...