2500 payload and towing questions

[switters]

4.10s are nice, but they're going to come at the cost of poor fuel economy. 3.73s are a pretty awesome combo and would suit your towing needs quite well. If it were me, that's what I'd be looking for. You'll still get good performance when towing and keep the rpms down a bit when driving around town.

Thanks. This is exactly the information I was looking for. I'll stick with the 3.73.

 

[runamuck]

what is it about a Rebel that eats up the payload. when I was new 2500 shopping last year I only considered laramies and the gas ones I looked at all had around 3000# of payload. I ultimately went with a dsl laramie 4x4 ccsb with pretty much every option and it has 2100# payload. just curious

 

[chopperman1]

Where did you get 1510 payload from? Rebels have one of the lowest payloads. My Rebel is 988 payload.

 

[switters]

From my own door jam sticker. I have a 2022. From what I've gathered, recent year models have a higher payload than older models.

 

[dieselscout80]

I have a 2020 Ram 2500 with the 6.4 and 4.10 gears and I love them and get good MPG with the 4.10s.

It will shift into 8th at 53 mph stay in 8th and it gets good highway mileage at seventy it will get 18 mpg empty.

 

[switters]

I have a 2020 Ram 2500 with the 6.4 and 4.10 gears and I love them and get good MPG with the 4.10s.

It will shift into 8th at 53 mph stay in 8th and it gets good highway mileage at seventy it will get 18 mpg empty.

How does it ride when you aren't towing?

 

[nlambert182]

I have a 2020 Ram 2500 with the 6.4 and 4.10 gears and I love them and get good MPG with the 4.10s.

It will shift into 8th at 53 mph stay in 8th and it gets good highway mileage at seventy it will get 18 mpg empty.

I routinely got 19-20 mpg highway with my 6.7 and 3.73s. I am getting around 22 mpg with my current 6.7 with 3.42s.

With my 3500 with 4.10s and a 6.7 I got roughly 18 highway hand calculated. I'm saying all that because in my experience the diesel gets better fuel economy on the highway. Are you hand calculating your mileage? I would expect the 3.73s to net even better mpg, but I wouldn't expect a gasser at over 2k rpms to get the same as the diesel. Not poking... just curious.

 

[nlambert182]

How does it ride when you aren't towing?

Probably about the same as most other 2500s. I didn't notice a big change between how my 1500 and 2500 rode... The 2500 is a bit stiffer, but with coil springs it's pretty comfortable.

 

[62Blazer]

The payload police might jump in here, but I wouldn't think twice about pulling that. You wouldn't notice if you were over by several hundred pounds, you just need to get your weight distribution correct (both the hitch and the actual weight in the camper). If you were starting with nothing then I could see going with the 2500, but if you already have the 1500 I certainly wouldn't go through the effort of changing.



You absolutely do not need a cummins for this. If you pull very frequently then sure but for occasional trips, diesel is entirely overkill.



I wouldn't call a 2500 rough by an means, but you will certainly notice a difference. I have a 1500 sierra that is definitely a smoother ride around town, but when you put a small load on it you notice right away, while my 2500 ram you will legitimately not even notice until you have several thousand pounds behind you.

Pretty much agree with everything on this post. I think the OP, along with a lot of people who post this question, are just WAY overthinking the whole payload and weight ratings.

The OP is simply not pulling that big of a trailer. I would make sure the current truck is setup properly (would recommend a WDH) and see how it feels. If the rear axle is rated for 4,000 lbs. and you are 200 lbs. over realistically it's not that much. Not like it will run forever at the max 4,000 lbs. and if you put an extra 200 lbs. on it something magical happens and it immediately blows up.
For anybody reading this....I'm not saying to completely ignore the rated numbers, but use a little common sense. Guess I just come from a background of farming and construction where we were constantly hauling trailers around. We never took the trailers to the scales and decided not to haul something because it might be 100 lbs. heavy on a 15,000 lb. overall truck and trailer setup. But we did use a little common sense and didn't try to haul a 20,000 lb. trailer with an 1/2 ton truck.

 

[Redfour5]

I have a 2022 Ram Rebel 1500 5.7 Hemi with a 1,510 payload.

We just bought a 25' Airstream Trade Wind. The base weight is 6,300 lbs, and the GVWR is 7,600. Tongue weight is between 850-900 lbs, according to a few people on the Airstream forum who've weighed it.

I'm worried about exceeding payload with my Rebel 1500. With 900 lbs of tongue weight and a 125 lb WD hitch (Weigh-Safe), that leaves only ~500 lbs for passengers and cargo. We're a family of 3 plus two dogs, which gets us pretty close to 500 lbs without any cargo at all.

So, I'm considering trading the 1500 in for a 2500. I'd prefer the gas version to maximize payload, but they are very difficult to find within a 300-mile radius, and I don't want to wait for a custom order.

Questions:
1. Can anyone tell me the payload range for a Rebel 2500 Cummins that is fairly loaded with options? I've heard they can be as low as 1,900 lbs. That would be an improvement over what I have now, but not by as much as I'd like.
2. How does the ride quality and driving experience when you aren't towing compare between the 1500 and 2500?

Thanks!

1500 payload? I presume a 3.92 rear end? If that is what you have on that 1500, you are fine... Go get some "air bags" and it will pull fine. You might be close to your payload, but 1500 is great for a Ram 1500. Now, if you have a 3.21 rear end, I would limit my mountain travel, but overall you are in good shape. AND, the only reason to get a 2500 is if you are already getting ready for your next trailer in the 10K range loaded. And based upon what you are saying, GO Hemi 6.4. I have 3000 payload and a 15K tow rating. When I can get the wife to retire, we will likely go bigger than what we have now, but boy does it tow nice with the 2500.

I moved up because of similar issues but I was pushing it and during Covid I settled for a 3.21 with the Hemi. Mistake... But I live in the Mountains. I was technically within specs or right at them. I have a 29 foot single slide with a max weight of 8500 and 800 loaded tongue weight. No kids, but 150 lbs of dogs... And realistically whatever your tongue dry weight is, add 200 lbs with 2 full propane tanks (30 lbs) and two group 27's. You have the best WDH there is so good on you.

AND, these days, remember all the manufacturers use the American Society of Automotive Engineering standards J2807 for the ratings. They are more forgiving than you might realize. Essentially... Now days this is "assumed" to be the case so, YOUR tow ratings are after these things.

• For light-duty full-size pickups (GVWR < 8,500 lbs.), SAE J2807 assumes that the tow vehicle includes any options with higher than 33 percent penetration;
• It assumes there is both a driver and passenger in the vehicle, each weighing 150 pounds;
• It assumes that tow vehicles also include up to 70 pounds of aftermarket hitch equipment (where applicable); and
• For conventional trailer towing, SAE J2807 assumes that 10 percent of the trailer weight is on the tongue.

Your 1500 payload is plenty for that trailer as I only had 1300, but I'd still consider the airbags. They aren't too expensive install easily and not too expensively if you have someone do it and you basically leave them at 3 psi when not towing and they help...

 

[switters]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I agree I may be overthinking this! I tend to do that haha.

I do have the Airlift 1000HD airbags installed, and I have a 3.92 RAR.

I'm picking the trailer up next Saturday (8/31) about two hours away, so I'll have a chance to see how my current setup feels on the way home. The road is windy and hilly in parts—should be a good test.

 

[dieselscout80]

How does it ride when you aren't towing?

In my opinion it is one of the best riding 2500 class trucks there is.

About the only issue with the ride is low speed and the front axle crossing say a speed bump at an angle. In that situation it is rougher than the IFS on my previous GM trucks.

 

[2003F350]

Where did you get 1510 payload from? Rebels have one of the lowest payloads. My Rebel is 988 payload.View attachment 549186

It depends heavily on options, really. It sounds like he's got a tow package on his that gives him the 3.92's as well, and he very likely has fewer options on it.

That's the gamble with 1500s - they can have ridiculously dissimilar payload ratings based on just a few option choices.

 

[mtofell]

4.10s are nice, but they're going to come at the cost of poor fuel economy.

A few years ago there was a long thread about people sharing re-gearing experiences. 4.56s seemed to be the best choice with stock tires. Some guys doing that actually reported better MPGs with city driving.

Edit: Here's the thread: https://www.ramforum.com/threads/6-4-hemi-gear-swap.77499/

It went pretty long but has a lot of good info. It looks like I started it in Dec 2015... Can't believe it took me almost two years with my truck to become annoyed with the gearing

 

[dhay13]

Steeper gears will often give better mileage in town as the motor doesn't have to work as hard from a stop. Really not enough to notice at the pump but on paper you are likely to see a small difference.
FWIW the best mileage I have seen was just under 17 on the highway and I average about 12 overall. Towing I get better mileage in the 2500. In my 1500 with 3.55s I got about 6.5 MPG towing about a 7500lb TT. Towing the exact same trailer with my 2500 I averaged about 8.0

 

[2003F350]

Pre 8-speed trucks with 4.10s don't get the best mileage, my Wagon (because my typical trip was about 30 miles on 55 mph roads) would average 16-17 empty, and about 10 towing on the expressway (I don't like to pull over 65 if I can avoid it). 8-speed trucks tend to do a bit better, there are guys saying they're averaging 18 empty.

 

[Zoe Saldana]

Pre 8-speed trucks with 4.10s don't get the best mileage, my Wagon (because my typical trip was about 30 miles on 55 mph roads) would average 16-17 empty, and about 10 towing on the expressway (I don't like to pull over 65 if I can avoid it). 8-speed trucks tend to do a bit better, there are guys saying they're averaging 18 empty.

I have a 6 speed and get 17.5mpg at 62 mph.

 

[nlambert182]

I have a 6 speed and get 17.5mpg at 62 mph.

What rpms are you turning at 70 mph? What I've found that works for me personally for a sweet spot is a gearing that allows me to remain below 2k rpms at 70 mph (when unloaded). I get the best mpg there with my 6-speeds.

2012 - 3.73s, 6 speed - 265/70R17 tires - 1,970 rpms
2016 - 4.10s, 6 speed - 235/80R17 tires - 2,120 rpms
2018 - 3.42s, 6 speed - 285/60R20 tires - 1,750 rpms

 

[62Blazer]

Again, let's not overthink the difference between 3.73 and 4.10 gears. You are only talking the difference of about 170 RPM at 65 mph. That is simply not that much. Sure, the 3.73 should be slightly better freeway MPG....but slightly. City or more stop and go driving can be a wash with the 4.10's possibly being better.
In regards to the older 6 speeds versus the 8 speeds, I don't see how highway mileage would be much different. The ratio of the top 3 gears on both transmissions are basically identical. When you are cruising down the freeway, especially empty, there is no reason you will be in any lower gear, and therefore both transmissions should be equal. The biggest difference with the 8 speed is that 1st gear is way lower, and then you basically have one extra gear in the lower range when accelerating from a stop. So city or stop and go driving should be a little better.
As everything on the internet, what starts out as "option A is slightly better than option B" turns into "option A is the greatest thing on earth and option B is absolutely terrible".

 

[nlambert182]

I don't think that I've said one was great and one was just terrible. I am only telling you what I saw, and prefaced that with what worked best for me. I saw a noticeable difference in mpg, but didn't list that specifically because one was in a 2500 and one was in a 3500DRW, which is likely to get slightly worse gas mileage anyhow with the additional rolling resistance of 2 more tires and a heavier truck. The OP should choose the one they want.

Now... between my 2016 3500 and my 2018 2500 there is a significant increase in fuel economy (and I still tow a 10k travel trailer with no issues) but aside from the difference in the trucks, I am also turning 370 rpms less. The 18 (stock emissions) gets 4.5 mpg better than the 16 (full deletes). Pretty big difference between those two. I can't say what it would be in a SRW.