Current ride is a 2500 but I'm considering goosin it and doing a little hot-shotting. Question is, how much of an advantage would it be to install 1 ton axles, springs, etc? Would that change be worth the increased towing capacity? I'm still a newbie to all this heavy duty truck stuff so this might sound like an unintelligent question, but I'm just wondering if doing something like this would be feasible, or should I just save up and buy an older used dually for the tow vehicle? Last off, how much do the rest of you fellows pull with a truck like mine, and how much can those hoss duallies pull? Thanks for the help y'all.

 

Same Same already.

 

How so? There wouldn't be much of a difference at ALL between a 2500 and a 3500 if EVERYTHING were the same, right?

 

u probably already have the same axle in urs considering u have a 6 speed...the only thing that changes is the dual rear wheel aspect..and a couple extra springs.

u wanna tow more? just change ur gear ratio...if u have like 4.88 gears in there u can output almost anyone with a 4 banger

 

new trucks use the AAM american axles ...older trucks had DANA/SPICER...manuals on 2500 models usually came with dana 80s just like the duallies....the axle u got is more than enough...get a couple more leafs on each side to avoid the sag if that bothers u

 

Do a search on the subject. He's right for the most part. The 2500 and 3500 have the same axles- 9.25 front, 11.5 rear. Both AAM's. Same transmission options, same transfer case options, obviously the same CTD. The only difference between the two is an overload spring in the rear.


Kstoner6tb

You need to get in the tow/haul forum and read up on hot shotting. I am not an expert, but there is a lot involved- Log books, insurance, etc. You could learn alot reading the tow/haul forum and asking questions there. If you are looking for max load capacity, you need a 3500 dually. That will give you the highest available GCWR.

2500 has GCWR of 17k
3500 has GCWR of 23k
I think these are the right numbers, but someone else will comment I'm sure.

Here is a website you can visit to get complete towing specs for the dodge trucks.

http://www.dodge.com/vehsuite/TowingGuide.jsp

 

You can always buy some dually wheel adapters and some firestone airbags and your good to go!

 

Exactly - try a search that goes back a year or so - this has been discussed ad nauseum. The differences between 2500's and 3500's are subtle with not much in the way of rhyme and reason in the differences of hardware and GVRW's etc. I also believe the dually's rear brakes have more swept area (different calipers).

 

Thanks for the replies guys. My bad, I didn't search harder on the subject; I didn't realize there were so many similarities...my rookie a$$. As for the advice on the springs though, I'm going to look into that. Thanks again

 

There you go!!

 

I just caught that...That helped out a lot, thanks man

 

make that around 22k GCWR for the 2500....and a little more for the 3500

 

Sorry that is incorrect. The 03 on up Dodge Cummins 2500, 3500 SRW and 3500 Dually all have the same GCVWR of 21,000lbs for 3.73 gears and 23,000lbs for 4.10s. Of course they are all capable of pulling more, but that is what DC rates them at.


The axles, brakes, spring packs etc. are also the same on the 2500, 3500 SRW and 3500 Dually trucks. The 3500 trucks, SRW and Dually, have the 2 overload springs. The Dually gets the two extra rear tires.

Soooooo, that said......the GVWR is 9000lbs for 2500 trucks, 9900lbs for 3500 SRW trucks, and 12,200 for the dually trucks.


GVWR is the weight of the truck and all of IT'S cargo only. The GCVWR is the weight of the Truck, it's cargo, Trailer and it's cargo combined.

So, in theory.......the 2500 trucks can PULL just as much as any of the others if you can do so without going over the ratings for the GVWR or rear axle.

If you want to go over the GVWR....I would suggest getting some air bags and some Rickson Wheels with G rated tires. You can also do a dually conversion on a 2500 as well. Good luck.

 

Well, we are both wrong...check it out at http://www-5.dodge.com/vehsuite/TowingGuide.jsp ......it's 21k for a 2500 4x4 auto 3.73 gears.

 

I thought that is what I said. 21,000 for the 3.73 gears for all of the trucks....2500, 3500srw and 3500 dually.


All of the trucks are rated to "pull" the same amount of weight. The differences come to play when you start loading the truck with cargo or pin weight or tongue weight.