towing beyond GCWR

[Rick Stewart]

My son just bought a '94 Ram 2500 5 speed with a 3. 54 rear, and I might occasionally need him to tow a yard tractor around for me. However, depending on what kind of tractor I decided to buy, we may end up exceeding the 14,500 lb GCWR for his truck. The trailer weight with the tractor will be between 8,000 - 13,000 lbs, which would put the GCW for his truck at between 14,500 and 19,500 lbs. I've heard plenty of stories about people going way beyond the towing capacity of their Rams and doing just fine (we hauled 20,000+ with our old F250 fairly regularly, which was rated for 18,000, and never had a problem), but before we start towing with my sons truck I wanted to check and see if anybody had any thoughts on what might be the limiting factor for towing capacity on a '94 Ram. I would think cooling and breaking would be the biggest things to be wary of. Will we be alright with the stock cooling system or would it be worth while to get a more heavy duty fan or something? Will we be ok in the hills w/o an exhaust break? Anything else we should be thinking about? Thanks

 

[Rman]

Hope your flame suit is ready!



Brakes are the pressing issue. A 180 degree thermostat will help the cooling system, atleast it has for mine. Upgrading the rear drum wheel cylinders would be a good thing. Having the rear drums adjusted well, and quality brake controller with good trailer brakes.



Properly inflate your tires and most of all becareful. Most ppl won't have kind words for you, even death threats on some threads.



The radiators get dirty as they age, perhaps yanking it and giving it a good cleaning will aid as well, look closely and see how much "stuff" it has collected over the years.

 

[Foil Freak 1211]

One thing I would be concerned about is your son's liability insurance should you be involved in an accident. It seems to me that a claim could be denied if you are either knowingly or grossly over the GCWR of the truck.

 

[GAmes]

One thing I would be concerned about is your son's liability insurance should you be involved in an accident. It seems to me that a claim could be denied if you are either knowingly or grossly over the GCWR of the truck.

I have read this insurance denial tale many times, so I read my policy. It has a few items that would void my claim, but towing over GCWR isn't one of them. In fact I could have an accident with a cab full of hookers and 10 pounds of weed in the back and still be insured. I am convinced that the denial of coverage is an old wives tale with no merit.



Oh, as to the original post, are you sure the GCWR is only 14,500? Seems awful low since my 92 auto had a 14,000 GCWR. I am also convinced that GCWR is a warranty CYA thing for DC anyway, since the official DOT rating is the GVWR tag on the door frame and the GVWR of the trailer on the trailer frame.

 

[MSalvatore]

I have heard of people registering there trucks higher than what the door say's. Is this legal or a loophole? Mine is 8800lbs is there anthing ilegal if I register it at 9900lbs?



Thank's

 

[Foil Freak 1211]

I have read this insurance denial tale many times, so I read my policy. It has a few items that would void my claim, but towing over GCWR isn't one of them. In fact I could have an accident with a cab full of hookers and 10 pounds of weed in the back and still be insured. I am convinced that the denial of coverage is an old wives tale with no merit.

I certainly don't claim to be an expert, but I did work in the auto insurance industry for three years. Your right, in an example like yours, policies do cover stupidity. However, claims adjusters take every claim on a case by case basis. If you ever talk to one, ask them a specific claim question. I'd bet dollars to donuts that their response would be "let me see the claim before I commit to an answer". I'm not saying for sure that a claim would be denied, but I would not rule it out. Does your policy specifically state that you are covered if you tow over GCWR? If not, there COULD be risk. Again, I think it would be up to the individual claims adjuster, and insurance company.

 

[Rick Stewart]

Hey, I am the son, since its my truck I'm going to borrow my dads name and take over. I'm going to get my own name one of these days, but I've been lazy. Yeah, the owners manual says 14,500 lbs. I was kinda surprised. With 4. 10 rear its 18,000. This makes me think the GCWR is cooling or power related, because breaking isn't going to be effected by axle ratio.

 

[champspa]

I pull my lawn tractor all the time with my gooseneck , trailer and tractor combined 15500 lbs, got about 214k on the truck pull every weekend in the summer and spring right through fall , works fine.

 

[MABurns]

Where do they list the GCVWR?



My door sticker only gives the GAWR (front and rear) and the GVWR for the truck itself.

 

[AWray]

The GCWR ratings from my '95 owners manual:

Axle ratio

Eng. Transmission 3. 54 4. 10

2500 & 3500 5. 9L diesel

Man. 5-speed 16,000 18,000

Auto 4-speed O/D 16,000 18,000



Pardon the format. It looks different when it posts.

 

[Rick Stewart]

16k for a 3. 54 rear makes a lot more sence. For some reason my owners manual says 14,500. Did something change from '94 to '95, or did Dodge just change their mind and decide 16k was ok?

 

[MSalvatore]

can I register it higher than my door say's?

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Yes you can register it to whatever you want up to 80k.



If you are a commercial hauler I would register your truck to whatever the sum of GVWR of truck+GVWR of trailer is.



But otherwise I don't think it is necessary as they don't mess with personal vehicles.



I. e. I will be registering my truck at 26,000 lbs when I get around to it : $406 bucks per year!



They put 5000 lbs on my title so I rolled my eyes, played dumb and said OK. But it is personal use right now. When I go commercial I will pay up.

 

[MSalvatore]

I am not commercial but my trailer is 14k GVW and with the trailer loaded the truck weighs around 9300lbs. My gvw is 8800lbs, Which is why I wanted to register at 9900llbs. Will there be a problem with the conflicting gvw (door -vs- reg)

 

[MPalachuk]

In the state of Washington they take the weight on the title and times it by 1. 5, A 7000lb truck X 1. 5 = 10500 then they round it up to 12000 because tonnage comes in even numbers. This is there way of making extra money on licensing. If the truck weights less than a certian amount it can be licensed for 8000, I think it was under 6000.

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Mark it depends--what are you trying to accomplish?



The registration weight really only means anything in New jersey because it is NJ that gets the tax dollars for it.



In or out of NJ, for a personal vehicle I would say it doesn't matter at all.



In other states, they are not really going to look at your registered weight. In fact other states are not going to look at anything. Neither is NJ. That is why I am wondering what you're trying to do.

 

[MSalvatore]

the gn trailer with 2 jeeps is 13k. Can I tow it with my truck and be "legal"? debating on putting a gn munt in my truck but if I amnowhere near legal than I won't.

 

[CumminsPower98]

I transport RVs and it really is irritating trying to figure out what's legal or not so I just drive and hope all goes well. My truck's GCWR is 16k and that makes it pretty hard to haul much and be "legal" since the truck alone is at or near it's GVWR of 8,800 with a full load of fuel. I guess what I don't understand about all this is why a lower gear gives you a higher GCWR as far as it being a DOT/safety concern? I understand a lower gear being able to tow more better. Also how are they going to even know what your GCWR is since it's printed only in the manual and not on the door sticker? I had to pay a $75 fine at the AZ/UT border port on I-15 once because my truck was registered for 12k and I was well over that. I am now registered for 24k. Funny thing about that was that the officer himself admitted that it was just a money thing. It just really gets me the way they are all different. Some go by the sticker GVWR numbers and others go by actual weight. The heaviest I have been was 20,700 actual weight. I just wish things could be more uniform between states and officers. I'm just glad I haven't been bothered much.

 

[PatrickCampbell]

The reality of it is that nobody really cares on a personal vehicle.



What weight you register it for is a NJ state revenue thing and has nothing to do with making it legal to run those weights in the "being over your GVWR" sense.



You will be over the GVWR, but it doesn't matter. Only thing I would say is make sure you are within the tire ratings and inflate them to the necessary pressure.



CumminsPower98, was that AZ or UT that fined you?

 

[CumminsPower98]

It was Utah. Yeah I agree that it's just a tax thing and does nothing for what the truck itself can legally haul. I run good tires and keep the pressure right up there at 80 in the rear and usually 70 front. Most of the time I don't haul the bigger trailers but now and then I take one if I need a long run or to get home or something. That registration problem is the only time I have been bothered since starting in Feb. '05. I have never even have my log book looked at yet so I'm sure greatful for that. I think guys hauling cars and other cargo under their own authority get bothered more then us RV transporters. I know my cousin had all kinds of trouble when he hauled cars because he didn't get all his legalization stuff in order to start with and learned as he went. Plus he was hauling over 26k some of the time so that opens up a whole other can.