Your towing rigs and trailers

[s219]

Not so much ironic as consistent design. Everybody knows how the levers work. And by knows I mean knows without thinking about it. There have been a handful of incidents & deaths from people being killed or injured due to fancy but unintuitive new shifter designs. New might be better, but it can also be just plain confusing.

That is a good point and I remember some of those incidents.

My wife's Honda Pilot (which we traded in) had a push button shifter and neither one of us liked it. Too easy to hit a button down on the console when you didn't mean to. It would ignore most of the inputs when moving at speed, except there were quite a few times it got toggled into sport mode or snow mode unintentionally.

One time when backing out of the garage at idle, our dog brushed the buttons with her paw and I went from low-speed reverse to low-speed forward in a blink. That confused my brain and eyeballs (looking in the mirrors) until I realized what happened. Could have damaged the garage door or house if the timing was just a little bit different or my reaction was slower.

While I never saw the point of those buttons, I think they would have been a lot better if they were moved to the dashboard instead of the console. A lever with detents works down on the console, big flat buttons don't (nor do they need to be there).

BMW has done a pretty good job with their shifter, which still looks like a lever but is just a big switch. It works well and does things a traditional shifter could not. However it is not intuitive at all. You have to learn how to use it and most new BMW drivers can't figure it out without some instructions. I'd call that a failure overall.

I feel thankful to still have a car with manual transmission. Before long those will go away. Very few sports cars still come with manual transmission these days, I bet it's down to less than 10-12 cars at this point, at least mass market. Camaro, Mustang, Miata, 380Z, 2-3 BMW M models, Subaru WRX and STi, .... ??

 

[civilian]

The old fashioned column shifter is the best IMO. I don稚 like the center console ones. One of my buddies has a floor mounted 4x4 shifter that doesn稚 really shift anything. That痴 a complete waste of floor space compared to a twist knob IMO. Now if it actually shifted anything that would be different. A direct mounted floor shifter is cheap and reliable.

I agree on a column shifter, or something similar like in my 2011 Sienna van. It is a stick shifter on the dash next to the steering wheel. Console shifter if they are a lever is ok with me. But the new Ram interior with its shifting system would baffle me. Difinitely need operational instruction. I really have not looked at new vehicles since buying my van back in 2011. Jon

 

[Hay Dude]

I like the Allison automatic shifter box I had in newer medium and heavy trucks. Built right into the dash

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

My 2014 Grand Cherokee has an interesting shifting lever. It's a console shifter that is spring return to center with detents on both sides of center. You push the button and go however many detents you would normally go with a regular shifter. When you let go, it bounces back to the middle. Park to reverse is one detent down from center. Reverse to drive is two (or just slap it all the way down like you normally would). Drive to park is just push it all the way up. Once in drive if you want to go into sport mode go down a notch and repeat to return to regular mode. It is a good transition from a standard auto shifter to the electronic ones. It also has the paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Those are rarely used except when cruise control is being too slow to downshift going uphill.

 

[2017JD1025r]

My 2014 Grand Cherokee has an interesting shifting lever. It's a console shifter that is spring return to center with detents on both sides of center. You push the button and go however many detents you would normally go with a regular shifter. When you let go, it bounces back to the middle. Park to reverse is one detent down from center. Reverse to drive is two (or just slap it all the way down like you normally would). Drive to park is just push it all the way up. Once in drive if you want to go into sport mode go down a notch and repeat to return to regular mode. It is a good transition from a standard auto shifter to the electronic ones. It also has the paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Those are rarely used except when cruise control is being too slow to downshift going uphill.

Similar to how Toyota has had their Prius dash shifter for a couple generations

 

[dodge man]

1770 or 1840 depending on which engine config (eTorque gets the lower one). Must be the 3.21 axle ratio if the towing capacity is only 8k-ish. The 3.92 axle can tow 11,290.

Ram Trucks - Towing & Payload Capacity Guide

There should be a sticker on your drivers door jamb that lists the payload of your truck. I keep hearing Rams s have poor payload is why I am curios of a real world number.

 

[BigBlue1]

There should be a sticker on your drivers door jamb that lists the payload of your truck. I keep hearing Rams s have poor payload is why I am curios of a real world number.

Why would the Ram towing/payload guide not be accurate?

 

[Fallon]

Why would the Ram towing/payload guide not be accurate?

Not just a RAM thing, it affects all manufacturers. The various trim levels & options aren't reflected in the basic charts. My F350 double cab king ranch has less payload than a stripped down basic F350 double cab with the same gears. The Ford spreadsheet based capacities off the stripped down trucks if I recall.

Some options like the RAMboxes, but fuel tank leather & other things really start to add up in weight. Always believe the door sticker over the charts as the door sticker is specific to your truck with your options.

Older trucks dont have the payload numbers on the door tags. So you need to get them on a scale & subtract the scale results from your GVWR number on the tag to find payload.

My F350 scales at 8,800 with me in it, a full (larger) fuel tank & a toolbox. Noticeably more than the 2014 Ford double cab shortened numbers Ford put out. Some of that is aftermarket stuff, some not.

 

[BigBlue1]

Not just a RAM thing, it affects all manufacturers. The various trim levels & options aren't reflected in the basic charts. My F350 double cab king ranch has less payload than a stripped down basic F350 double cab with the same gears. The Ford spreadsheet based capacities off the stripped down trucks if I recall.

Some options like the RAMboxes, but fuel tank leather & other things really start to add up in weight. Always believe the door sticker over the charts as the door sticker is specific to your truck with your options.

Older trucks dont have the payload numbers on the door tags. So you need to get them on a scale & subtract the scale results from your GVWR number on the tag to find payload.

My F350 scales at 8,800 with me in it, a full (larger) fuel tank & a toolbox. Noticeably more than the 2014 Ford double cab shortened numbers Ford put out. Some of that is aftermarket stuff, some not.

The Ram charts are pretty detailed. You can filter down through cab style, box size, drivetrain, axle ratio, engine and trim level. If you have to get down to the weight of leather seats vs. cloth or other minutia then perhaps you're pushing limits a little too far. Yes, the door sticker is the definitive answer, but the charts supply solid info. The question was asked about what the payload is for a truck configured as posted and the charts are well enough to provide that answer. Honestly, some folks would argue anything on these forums just to try to show that they know just a little more than the rest and it gets tedious.

 

[dodge man]

These days the actual payload of your truck will be on the door jamb sticker, usually a yellow and white sticker. The guides are often a joke and list higher than actual numbers.

 

[DavesTractor]

Honestly, some folks would argue anything on these forums just to try to show that they know just a little more than the rest and it gets tedious.

I see that a little differently. I appreciate the guys that go into detail on whatever the subject might be. I can skim over it if I wish. I've always been amazed at the breadth of knowledge on this site. If someone mentions financing, a CFO disguised as a weekend farmer might chime in. If an electrical issue, sure enough, an electrical engineer starts talking about sine waves and frequencies or whatever. I see this as a valuable contribution as I am a lifelong learner. No doubt some folks just like to stir up issues or show off, but that seems rare on this site. Just my opinion and meant somewhat generically.

 

[dodge man]

I looked up a couple of window stickers for actual trucks, I would guess your payload sticker will be as low as 1500 lbs and as high as 1700 lbs. That’s pretty good for a loaded truck. At one time on previous versions of Ram it would have been lower by as much as 500 lbs. I think Ram has addressed their lower payload numbers. The reason I’m asking is the payload numbers are important to me and I’m curious what it is on an actual truck not a towing guide. I am not trying to show how smart I am.

 

[BigBlue1]

Then it will be interesting to see what Nik responds with from his sticker.

 

[deezler]

^ this is why I like having a 9200 lb GVWR with sub 5800 lb curb weight on my 2500HD, even though its mostly overkill for my homeowner needs. Never have to think about splitting up pallets of brick, pavers, block, etc.

I don't know how you guys get by with these 1000-1500 lb payload ratings.... put your family in the cab and you're nearly tapped out. Well, actually I do know, many of you probably just regularly exceed the rating. :laughing:

 

[nikdfish]

Here's the numbers from the sticker. Says mfg date 6-20, vin lookup said 7-22 but that may have been the first transfer date. I believe curb weight is in the 5000 - 5200 lb. ballpark (crew cab +v8+ 5'7" bed).

GVWR on sticker is 7100 lb.

 

[dodge man]

The other sticker will list the actual payload number.

In the past I had a Dodge 2500 and the payload on that truck with the Cummins is less than a lot of modern half tons.

 

[nikdfish]

OK, got the right one.

Looks like 1301 lb. Odd how things are out of sync. 5200 (curb weight) + 1301 (max cargo on sticker) = 6501 lb while GVWR is 7100 lb. Load range 113 tires should be OK for 2500 lb. each, so where does the limitation come from?

 

[dodge man]

Your truck probably weighs closer to 5800 lbs, the options add up and take away from the payload.

 

[s219]

I had the same experience with the various brochures and towing guides from the manufacturers being unreliable for cargo and tow ratings. If you're lucky they will be within 400#. The doorjamb sticker (or sometimes in the glove box) is the most accurate data and will usually be specific to the VIN or configuration and trim level.

The loaded up trucks suffer in cargo capacity, no doubt about it. You're trading off cargo capacity for options, crew cab, etc (and you carry it around all the time). And at least with GMC, going with the heavier engine options also deducts from cargo capacity. In a GMC, if you care about cargo or towing capacity, best option is a lower trim level with the smaller V8 and avoid crew cab. That can gain 200-500# in extra capacity for cargo and towing.

I hear a lot of people proclaim that the bigger engines are better for towing. Well, they might feel stronger when towing, but they also knock down the towing capacity. I think there is a couple hundred pound loss in tow rating with the larger V8 in GMC.

 

[lostcause]

OK, got the right one.

Looks like 1301 lb. Odd how things are out of sync. 5200 (curb weight) + 1301 (max cargo on sticker) = 6501 lb while GVWR is 7100 lb. Load range 113 tires should be OK for 2500 lb. each, so where does the limitation come from?

View attachment 666598

seeing this just made me curious so i grabbed a flashlight and went out to check mine, and my numbers all add up. 7200 gvw, 5405 curb, 1795 payload... both the tire sticker and the manufacturer towing / hauling sticker matched up on the max payload amount. Hard to believe that any newer-ish trucks (even from different manufacturers) would vary by that much. Makes me think that they aren't going apples to apples, and that makes me surprised that they don't all use the most advantageous data they can.