gts95

This is probably a stupid question....but is the max GCWR listed on the door sticker of the truck?? If I were to get questioned by the Highway Patrol and put on a scale, do they go strictly by what the manufacturer has listed as the maximum GCWR? On the Dodge website, our trucks with the optional 4.10 gears have a higher towing capacity than those with the 3.42s and 3.73s. What if my truck were to come originally with 3.73s but I changed it to 4.10s (or numerically higher) down the road, how does that come into play if there is a question if I'm over capacity or not?

Sorry, but I have no experience in this area.

FunFinder5

In Texas (as I understand it) all they care about is if you are exceeding your GAW per each axle, for safety only as long as your load looks safe they aren't going to bug you about this (this would be a "safety" ticket only if you were over...not anything really big). The more important and fine able offense $$$ is that your truck (trailer is separate) is not above what you've paid for on your tags.

Look at your registration receipt. There will be a listed gross weight on there...That's what you've paid for and that's what you can't go over. You can easily walk into your title/registration office (In Texas it's not at the DMV) and "upgrade" your truck by simply just re-registering it for more gross weight. In Texas it's something close to a $.01 a pound or like $18 a ton.

If your registration shows a higher gross weight than your door... Just keep a copy of it in your glove box showing you've paid your taxes for 8800lbs, 9000lbs, or more.

(Passenger cars are different... this only applies to vehicles titled as a "Truck")

badme

Here in the east they go by the weight on the door. It does not matter what you did to the truck. If you are under 26000# they do not usually bother with you.

bkrukow

Here in Iowa they changed it a year or two ago. It is whats on your registration and it ALL has to be on your truck. All trailers are registered for 0 pounds. I have never upped my registration on my truck and I supose someday it will come to bite me in the rear but oh well. Tecnicaly Ime barely legal driving it around empty let alone with my huge toy hauler behind it. It makes me mad cause typical standard truck registration is $65/year. Once you start adding weight to it for your trailers it gets substantaly more expensive but the trailer registration did not go down at all, in fact my camper registration doubled this year from $35 to $70 and the registraition says its registered for 0 pounds. The moral of the story is some day I will get in trouble if a cop wants to nit pic at the fine details cause my truck is only registerd at around 8500 pounds.

CD in NM

Here in New Mexico your truck is registered for (a given) gross weight AND your trailer is registered for (a given) gross weight. You can register to any (given) gross weight up to a certain limit that your truck or trailer fits by it's class.

My truck is right now registered for 13,999. That I believe is right at the top of what my state allows for my trucks class. All of my trailers are also registered at or close to the top of their class as well.

Registrations for trucks and trailers are fairly reasonably priced when the gross is below 10K, but when you go above 10K it starts to get costly. New Mexico puts/prints the gross weight on your truck and trailer registrations.

My personal experience with DOT check points in New Mexico, Kansas and Minnesota - they all looked at my registrations only, they did not check out any of the door stickers, nor did they have any reference charts or materials that they did any comparison. They DO look at the weight ratings on your tires also. That's pretty much the way it has gone/been when I have been stopped in DOT checks in the last couple of years regarding weight check.

To take your question a little further just in case you are asking because you are planning a trip somewhere and are concerned about getting stopped and what the process may be all about - in the event you are stopped in a DOT checkpoint - besides the normal stuff - license, registration, insurance, and the portable scale, they have also asked about/and wanted to see things a fire extinguisher, first aid kit, and safety triangles. They also check to make sure your electric brake battery on your trailer is in working condition, any thing you are using to tie a load down is within DOT specs, and IF you are not a commercial 'for hire' vehicle they DO suggest that you have a 'NOT FOR HIRE' type of labeling on each side and back of your trailer (they did not mention any labeling needs on the truck). They DO dip your tank to test your fuel, and on one occasion the officer asked me about fuel receipts, which I did have, and because my receipt specified that I had purchased ULSD they chose to not dip my tank and specifically made that statement as to why they did not do a dip.

I have never been flagged into/stopped in a checkpoint when I have running empty, only when I have been towing a trailer. They have stopped me at different times over the last 7-8 years with my 20' BP car hauler, my 22+4' flatbed beavertail GN, my 30' BP TT, my 28' 5th wheel, my 4-horse BP stock trailer and my 32' GN horse trailer. So, they do not seem to be specifically aimed at one type of trailer or load over another whether it be what truly appears like something for a commercial type use or something that is obviously more of a recreational nature.


I hope I answered your basic question. The other info was just some additional FYI stuff, but very valuable to know. I would imagine that most all checks in all states are similar. In many other discussions in other threads it appears to be that most all checks are about the same.


CD

Valv

What you see on your sticker is the GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) of 12000lbs.
The GCVW is Gross COMBINED Vehicle weight.

This means your truck cannot weight more than 12000 on a scale with nor without a trailer attached (but off the scale). A 3rd gen dually 4x4 weights approx 8200lbs, you have approx 3800lbs available for load and trailer pin weight.

My Megacab is 9000lbs GVW rated by Dodge, I can haul 2000lbs of load or have a trailer that puts max 2000lbs weight on it, I can tow a trailer up to 26000lbs with no CDL (or more since I have a CDL class A) as long as the pin weight of it doesn't go over 2000 (which will put me over my door tag label).



To make it more interesting, many scales require vehicles over 4 tons to check in. Well most 4x4 duallys of any brand should stop in then...

gts95

Thanks guys...that is a wealth of information. One reason I'm asking is the following: I'm in the market for a new Dodge Mega Cab 4x4. On occasion, I pull a 36ft two-car hauler loaded with two cars on it. The trailer weighs close to 4,000 pounds if I remember correctly, and is rated for up to 14,000 combined weight.

At any rate, I'm wondering if I should strictly focus my search for a new truck on the Ram 3500, versus a 2500. Looking at the Dodge website, the tow capacity of the 3500 (I really only want a SRW) better fits my weight fully loaded. If I'm to get inspected by the DOT in some state fully loaded, would the fact that I had a 3500 over a 2500 come into play?

BigDave12768

I wouldnt worry about the 26k law on a 2 car trailer. If you buy a 3500 and it has a GVWR of 12.5k DRW and your trailer is 14k for a total of 26500 this would put you at a CDL A. But you can just call the trailer manufacture and ask them for a new tag that says 13k. They will charge you about 20 for a reprint to cover cost of shipping and such. Dot wont bother you with a 2 car. They look for the 3500's with 3-4 car carriers that are weigh over 26k. Trust me I have been there and done that. just get number off tag and be sure to drop weight on registration.

Sorry I type all this out and then saw you wanted a SRW 3500. They only have 9900 GVWR so you would be fine and would not be bothered at all. Hell I wouldnt even pull into a weigh station with a SRW truck. They wont even give you a second look unless truck is all lettered

rich

txdot goes by the tag on the door and then they will check the the trailers total carrying capacity and add it together and then determin if you are over 26k. they will also look at your tires and check their weight capacity. doesnt matter what you paid for on your tags they determin it by the manufactures tag. if youare overweight by either tires or capacity they will write it up. also if you are crossing state lines for money and you are over 10k then your in the usdot world. lots of post about this in the towing section. lot of states are eyeballing hotshot looking trucks a lot more now. got www.hotshothauling.com and look around there for more info

ib516

GCWR is not a legal rating. It is a manufacturers rating for performance in all conditions. You should be able to tow through death valley at GCWR and not overheat for example. Beyond GCWR, you're on your own.