- Joined
- Dec 16, 2022
- Messages
- 1,128
You can get very well equipped rams (and I'm assuming same with Ford/GM) with 1700+ pounds of payload, you just need to know what to look for. Like you, my truck was purchased to tow my RV + utility trailers so I made sure that payload was high before parting with my hard earned pesos. You can find them, just have to know what features add the weight and most of them are "useless" ones that you don't need anyway.
My door sticker says 1750 lbs payload. I have a big horn 4x4 crew cab, with highway gears (3.21) I'm limited to around 8200 pounds but with towing gears (3.92) my exact truck bumps up to around 11,000. The 3.92 is like $200 to add to the truck, I purposely ordered my truck without as I wanted the better MPG and I'm not ever going to tow > 8000 pounds in a half ton no matter who builds it or how its configured. 3/4 tons exist for this function.
Doing the math: 8000 pounds at 13% tongue weight = about 1040. 1750 - 1040 = 710. That leaves considerable amount of room for passenger/cargo weight.
Using my current trailer at 6000 lbs (I'm not likely to go larger anytime soon): That give 970 lbs of payload left!
Even then; though I try hard never to exceed my payload, what matters to me most is my RAWR. There is some room left there yet when pulling a trailer. You can exceed your payload by a few hundred while not exceeding your hitch or rear axle ratings.
Those are the real values which can't be exceeded, payload is more of a general guide; if you're not over your payload you won't be over your axle ratings, but you can be over your payload and still under your axles. And I suspect this is the difference between a half ton and a midsize; the half ton will take more abuse, and will care less about additional pounds than a mid size will. Adding 50 pounds over rear axle on a civic is a terrible idea. On a one ton it won't even notice. As you go up in car/truck size, the same additional 50 pounds are less of a problem as they are built stronger, and the percentage/ratio of 50 pounds vs rear axle rating gets less and less.
I have the level 2 package (highest available in big horn) which means some very nice creature comforts (heated seats, large/upgraded dash and a bunch of stuff I've long forgotten), but no sun roof, no etorque, no air suspension etc; nothing other than crewcab + 4x4 which kill weight. Just a bench up front with the folding middle seat.
It's not a "luxury truck" when compared to a limited/tungsten. But's a luxury truck to me considering how plush it rides/handles, the features it has vs my older rides, the attractive exterior/interior styling, the smooth/linear/strong v8 performance and sound. Sometimes we just need to come back down to earth and adjust our expectations. I wouldn't waste a single cent on a limited. This bighorn was already a massive jump up for me and though I could have afforded the limited, I could have never justified it.
But yeah, my back seats don't recline. I don't believe I've even folded them down yet though, they stay in the folded up position and I use the floor space as a giant cargo room with a perfectly flat floor.
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. Point is complaining about trucks fancy cutting into capacity does not matter for the majority of sales. There are folks who buy trucks for a purpose like a nice welder I met at Starbucks who had F350 sagging with a larger welder/generator? At rear and his boxes of gear in bed.
