Ram 2500 vs 3500 Gooseneck?

[HK45]

Im looking at getting a new truck. I have 2 gooseneck trailer one a 14ft dump and the other 25 deckover gooseneck. With trailer and what I tow I'm around 13,000. Im thinking of just getting another ram 2500 vs the 3500. I really liked the coil spring setup on the Ram. They have the same tow rating of 17,000 something and a gcwr of 25,000. The payload bed is the only different. If only towing a few times a month is it worth going to the 3500. thanks

 

[RedNeckRacin]

What's the price difference? Are you sure the tow ratings are the same for the 3/4 and the 1 ton?

 

[Diamondpilot]

I know when I went from a F250 to a Single Rear Wheel F350 it was night and day. The 1500# payload jure mad the avaliable tow rating a lot more usable and comfortable. The F250 squatted about 6", the F350 maybe 2"

No comparison.

Chris

 

[mikesee]

Here are some things to consider. The higher GVWR of the 1 ton will allow you to increase the tounge weight which will allow you to place the load on your flat bed closer to the truck to take weight off the rear trailer tires. The down side is that if you are using this set up for work or to make money the 350 will put you in CDL territory.

 

[HK45]

Okay got specs but its for the 14 ram 2500 GVWR 10,000 PAYLOAD 2,180 BASE WEIGHT 7,825 FRONT WEIGHT 4,811 BACK 3,014 GAWR FRONT 6,000 REAR 6500 GCWR 25,000 TRAILER MAX WEIGHT 17,010 THIS IS FOR THE 3500 SRW GVWR 11,500 PAYLOAD 4,020 BASE WEIGHT 7,483 FRONT 4,520 REAR 2,963 GAWR FORNT 5,500 REAR 7,000 GCWR 25000 TRAILER MAX 17,350. How to you figure pin weight?

 

[Diamondpilot]

As you can see the 3500 has 1500# more payload capacity and 500# more rear axle capacity.

To figure pin weight on a again it's usually about 20%. So let's keep the math simple. Say you got a 5K trailer and 10K load for 15,000# total. 20% of that would be 3,000#, well within the 3500's capacity but over the 2500's

If you bumped it up to the max 17,000# limit 3,400# would be your pin weight.

I'm not a fan of 3/4 ton trucks. Had 2 and just way to easy to overload and most just will not actually the max trailer weights because of the limits on pin weight.

Chris

 

[HK45]

whats the max pin weight on the 2500?

 

[HK45]

is the 2180 the pin weight max?

 

[moriboy]

I went with a 3500 SRW and it does pretty good with a heavy loaded trailer, but really doesn't compare to my dad's 3500 DRW. It's definitley more stable when hauling heavy loads.

 

[gatorguy7]

I have a '14 2500 Cummins. The rear coil springs are the cats meow!

I used to have a 2007 5.9 3500 SRW and my dad had a 09 2500. Back then, I would take my one ton over the 3/4 ton all day long. Now the tables have turned and I have the 2500 and my dad has a '14 3500 SRW. The main reason I bought a new truck is for the coil spring rear suspension. It performs very well and is incredibly underrated. Obviously Ram needs to sell 2500s and 3500s so I'm a firm believer that its just numbers on paper. I like how my truck handles loaded and empty better than my dad's truck. The new 3500s don't have a helper springs on top like my 07 so the main pack has to be stiffer to make up the difference. To me, it feels like the tires are at 110 psi on the one ton compared to my 3/4 ton.

Not to be cliché, but the coil suspension on the 14+ 2500s are the perfect combination of ride comfort and load stability. Here's my truck with 2,000 lbs of fertilizer in my truck. Thanks to my toolbox, the load is mostly behind the axle. Even still, the truck only squat about 1 3/4".




Don't think I'm just a fanboy who uses my truck as a grocery getter, my truck gets put to work.




Also, you can't compare other truck brands' 3/4 and one ton models as they have nothing in common (just watch the comparison videos on youtube). My cousin is a farmer down here and he almost got rid of his F250 because the suspension was so weak. He had to add air bags and its still subpar.

There are more pictures and reviews over on the Cummins forum http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/2013-general-discussion/1002186-pictures-loads-rear-coils.html

 

[aczlan]

is the 2180 the pin weight max?

The "Payload" number is the legal max for the pin weight, the passengers and all the stuff in the truck.

Aaron Z

 

[HK45]

So if I stick with the 2500 I will have to get a little trailer to move my machine around. I would rather have the nicer ride since my trailer only is used a few times a year.

 

[Diamondpilot]

So if I stick with the 2500 I will have to get a little trailer to move my machine around. I would rather have the nicer ride since my trailer only is used a few times a year.

No matter what you do if you get a 2500 you are limited to 10K on the trucks axles. The truck itself weighs 7.6K leaving 2.4K for payload. Put you and your family in the truck. Mine equal out to 500# so that leaves 1.9K for payload. That would only leave about 10K for the trailer assuming about 20% pin weight to stay legal.

This is the very reason the build 1 ton SRW trucks.

Chris

 

[FatTire]

I have a '14 2500 Cummins. The rear coil springs are the cats meow!

I used to have a 2007 5.9 3500 SRW and my dad had a 09 2500. Back then, I would take my one ton over the 3/4 ton all day long. Now the tables have turned and I have the 2500 and my dad has a '14 3500 SRW. The main reason I bought a new truck is for the coil spring rear suspension. It performs very well and is incredibly underrated. Obviously Ram needs to sell 2500s and 3500s so I'm a firm believer that its just numbers on paper. I like how my truck handles loaded and empty better than my dad's truck. The new 3500s don't have a helper springs on top like my 07 so the main pack has to be stiffer to make up the difference. To me, it feels like the tires are at 110 psi on the one ton compared to my 3/4 ton.

Not to be cliché, but the coil suspension on the 14+ 2500s are the perfect combination of ride comfort and load stability. Here's my truck with 2,000 lbs of fertilizer in my truck. Thanks to my toolbox, the load is mostly behind the axle. Even still, the truck only squat about 1 3/4".




Don't think I'm just a fanboy who uses my truck as a grocery getter, my truck gets put to work.




Also, you can't compare other truck brands' 3/4 and one ton models as they have nothing in common (just watch the comparison videos on youtube). My cousin is a farmer down here and he almost got rid of his F250 because the suspension was so weak. He had to add air bags and its still subpar.

There are more pictures and reviews over on the Cummins forum http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/2013-general-discussion/1002186-pictures-loads-rear-coils.html

I am an F350 guy (actually a toyota guy, except for the 1 ton) but your photos with the fertilizer are impressive!

 

[HK45]

So Can somebody tell me how they come up with a max trailer tow of 17,000 and gcwr of 25000 if realistically the truck can only tow probably around 8,000?

 

[RedNeckRacin]

So Can somebody tell me how they come up with a max trailer tow of 17,000 and gcwr of 25000 if realistically the truck can only tow probably around 8,000?

How do you figure it can only tow 8k??? Basically you take the GCWR-truck curb weight=trailer and load total. Obviously then you subtract the trailer weight and you are left with payload. Ideally the GN should have 20-25% pin weight. A BP should have 10-15%.

so 25,000-8000=17,000lbs max tow.

 

[rustyshakelford]

I have a 13 f250 and gross 27k regularly. Like atleast once a week. That's my truck, trailer and tractor. It handles it great. I added a lift with mini packs in the rear to help with squat. It had airbags before that. The f250s springs are soft as are most 3/4 ton trucks to improve the ride. If I was to venture a guess, I'd say about 75% of new 3/4 ton truck sales are for grocery getters or used to pull a 16' bp with maybe a four wheeler. Atleast that's how it is in the Houston area. The difference between a f250/350srw is an overload spring, slightly larger rear block and tpms if I remeber right. There is actually a huge dfference when you step up to a dually though.

Brett

 

[HK45]

redneck racin ,Because of the pin weight. I was told you take the trailer gvwr x it by .20 so for me my 14495 trailer pin weight is 2899. So for me to be legal From what Im reading I can really only tow 10,000 total. Let me know if that wrong

 

[Diamondpilot]

redneck racin ,Because of the pin weight. I was told you take the trailer gvwr x it by .20 so for me my 14495 trailer pin weight is 2899. So for me to be legal From what Im reading I can really only tow 10,000 total. Let me know if that wrong

You are correct. This is why I ditched my F250. It's tow rating could not be obtained with my 7300# truck and me at 170#. My truck was a loaded diesel FX4 Extended cab. I basically had 2500# to play with. So a 12,500# trailer with 20% pin weight put me mat max. Well below the 16K tow rating it had. The only way to obtain that 16K tow rating was a stripped down truck that came in at 6,800# with a driver. Possible, but not what people really buy.

My current F350 SRW on the other hand is a loaded Lariat 4x4 and weighs 7600# with me in it. Only 100# heavier than the F250 it replaced but has a 11,500# GVWR leaving me 3900# to play with. It's max tow rating is 16.8K. 20% pin weight on that is 3360# leaving me over 500# with a max trailer for my family or additional cargo.

As for the ride they are both leaf spring trucks and I honestly can't tell any appreciable difference.

Chris

 

[rustyshakelford]

Or you put more weight on the trailers axles. 2k is plenty of pin weight. Ive never heard anyone having an accident pulling a compact tractor and being a little over their axle weights and being hung out to dry let alone being ticketed. This is from responding to 1000s of motor vehicle accidents. I have gone round and round with people before. My GN is rated at 20k lbs. using y'all's math my pin weight should be 4-5k lbs. this is ridiculous. Absolutely not need for that unless you like wearing out pinion seals along with tearing up your axle. You also take a bunch of weight off the steer axle.

If you find an f250 you like, buy it. Sags to much, buy air bags. If you find an f350 you like buy it. If it sags to much, buy air bags for it.

This is the most over complicated topic on TBN

Brett

Another example-
If I have my class A cdl. I pull this truck, Dozer and trailers. My trucks axles are in weight along with my trailers. Weights and measures is happy as long as all safety stuff is good. They don't care what ford publishes as my max trailer weight. That's all advertising hype. This example is if I'm strictly commercial. Farm plates get you some leeway if for farm use