I have looked into this truck a little deeper. No one in my area expects to even see one until after the first of the year.

Nether the 4500 or 5500 have any towing capacity when you look at weights. The 3500 with more hp and torque would be a better choice for combined capacity.

From Dodges* Web site;

Curb weight 4500 quad cab 188" wb with six speed standard tranny 8000lbs*.
52 gallons of fuel estimated 350lbs
Passenger weight 300lbs
Hauler bed 1400lbs

= 10,050lbs. Rated Combined towing capacity 26,000 lbs.
= 15,950lbs left for trailer weight.

The 3500 with a 4:10 and 6sp tranny

Curb weight 6440* lbs
Fuel 35 gallons 245lbs
passenger weight 300lbs
= 6985lbs

Rated combined capacity 23,500lbs
16,515lbs left for trailer.

Now I relize that the curb weights may not be totally accurate. But the idea is the 4500/5500 has no towing capacity compared to other 4500/5500 trucks. No True Crew Cab, and no truck bed.

The GVW is the same as other 4500/5500 trucks. I also realize Dodge wanted to limit GCVW to 26,000lbs for commercial applications.

What about the rest of us who will not use the truck commercially?

Some additional combined towing capacity exceeding what a 3500 is capable of would be nice.

Also, the dealer in Orlando told me that the 2009 will have a real crew cab. Sterling told me 2010 via e-mail several months ago. The Dodge dealer also told me the 4500 would be offered with a truck bed. I'm not buying a Quad Cab when a Crew Cab is due next year. I'll dirve the ole 3500 another year.

Maybe the change in ownersship at the top is making a differance in the thought process.

Dave

 

i'm plated for 38,000

 

Interesting...
NV5600 gcwr 26k
NV4500 gcwr 19k
47RE 17k

 

Why do you need a 4500/5500 if you do not use the truck commercially? What is a "real crew cab"?. Towing capacitys are just numbers,what matter is how the truck manages the load,stopping,accelerating,I feel more comfortable in my new 5500 knowing that it's rated at a 11,000lbs of payload insted of 4500lbs on a 1 ton,I would be confident that i would not be running my equipment to the maxium.

 

A real Crew Cab is Smaller then the mega cab and bigger then the quad cab.

Nick.

 

I'd like to know too... I'm sure we can come up with a better definition that bigger than a quad and smaller than a mega. I've sat in the back seat of a quad cab and didn't feel cramped... I'm 5'10" so obviously I'm not a giant. I guess it's all in perspective.

 

I agree. From my "perspective" a real crew cab is the mega cab. If you are buying a 45/55 you either want a standard cab because you have a single employee driving for pickup, delivery, etc and you don't need any extra cab room. Or you are driving a "crew" around to a site and you need as much cab space as you can get so you can carry as many "crew" as possible. If the whole reason why you cannot get an 8' box with the mega cab is because Chrysler didn't want the expense of creating a whole separate frame for the megacab, then they could have done it with the 45/55 which is a whole new frame anyway.

How many companies that haul people/crews to worksites chose the Furd because the cab was bigger? I think its a substantial amount of potential customers they are losing out on because the quad cab isn't big enough.

This is all my humble perspective.

 

You really must be lost in space, if you don't know what the differance is between a Quad Cab and a Crew Cab as offered in a Ford or Chevy (Crew Cab). I have a quad cab. The quad cabs offered by Dodge since 2003 have 3" more leg room than my quad cab. In comparison the Ford or Chevy Crew Cab and the pre 1990 Dodge Crew Cabs (do you remember that one?) offer about 6-9 inches more room in the back seat area than does the current Quad Cabs. I did not measure one, but its a good guess having owned a real crew cab not a Mega Cab which is bigger than the crew cab.

The GCVW, (Gross Combined Vehicle Weight) Towing Capaccity, is just not numbers. Its the manufacturers rating for the truck. Get in an accident while towing more than the manufacturers rated listing and you'll find your insurance company will drop you like a rock, so you must be self insured if numbers don't matter.

I was not talking about Payload nor am I interested in what the truck can carry on itself without a trailer. That is GVW. Its nice to know I could hang a trailer on the fifth wheel in the truck bed, that had a 9000lb pin weight and the truck would still be legal. Using the 20% factor for pin weight the trailer would be somewhere around 42,000lbs which means your combined weight is around 50,000lbs. Thats a little more than 26,000lbs, if you did not have a bed on the 5500 which adds weight and reduces combined towing capacity.

The only reason I'm looking at the 4500 is for its bigger brakes, frame, fuel tank and the optional 27gallon side tank that can be purchased. I can live with the 26,000lb GCVW with the fifth wheel trailer I currently have.
The "Real Crew Cab" , if it happens, will also reduce the combined towing weight once its on the street, because the trucks curb weight will increase.

In case you did not know, the Ferd F450 with 4:88 gears and that stupid 6.4 twin turbo, is rated at >32,000lbs combined. Thats were the 4500/5500 should be.

Dave

 

Yes, I know the dirrerence between a Quad Cab and a Crew Cab I just thought that you were still stuck in 2000 thinking that dodge only makes pickups with sueiside doors. Didn't you ever hear that the person that makes the payments gets the most comfortable seat?. I have 14 trucks that are fully insured and licsenced because thats how I run my businness. I did not mean that GCVW's are unimportant nor was i questioning your research just that you can play the numbers game all day long and get nowhere.

 

Wait until the new SAE gcw standardized tests come out. These inflated (and frankly unsafe) max gcw's are all made by the legal dept and Ford's legal dept decided the risk of lawsuit (which is pretty impossible to sue anytime you get in an accident while towing) is less than the amount of increased revenue realized when they upped the ratings. So they have 25 more hp, a little bigger brakes, and an in-cab brake controller, that must mean the gcw can go from 16k to 20k

 

I want to see 2 identical dualys (we'll go with 350's or 3500's so the power is equal), with the same powertrain (auto's with 4.10 gears), hook up the same very large gooseneck and race up eisenhower tunnel. I bet the 6.7L wins. In addition, the integrated exhaust brake will make for a much safer run back down the hill. So why is Ford's tow rating so much higher?

 

The GVCW rating of the 5500 is set at 26,000 because you need a CDL to go above that. I assure you it will haul more weight comfortably than a 3500. look at it's brakes and size of its front and rearend. I have the 5500 4x4, they're a real soft ride empty for a class 4-5 truck which makes them too soft for heavy loads on their own axles, but with airbags added they do fine.

 

Thats how Dodge gets out of warranty work. Thier tow ratings are on the Dodge web site and they change them all the time. Thats how they had my warranty void. The dealer rep told me that I bought a light duty 3500 and it wasnt capable of towing 10500 lbs. That is for the Hemi not the cummins. I had all ratings and weights in black and white and it still wouldnt do any good they voided my warranty for towing 14k. When I got my 07 I checked all the ratings and when they offered the new tranny and the 4500 and 5500 they droped the ratings on my 07. Chrysler is a bunch of liers and crooks. Be very careful what you say and do with these crooks.

 

I'm having warranty problems with Dodge too.

 

Guy's say what you will about towing capacity, but here is the real truth the trucks are capable of pulling soo much more weight than they are rated for i.e. 26,000 lbs combined. This rating is based on one thing and only one thing STOPPING! How fast can the brakes stop the truck under full weight nothing more nothing less, its about the braking capacity period, the ford is rated higher because they maybe have a better braking system.
I was educated on this by a heavy truck supplier in WPB and like he said you can pull as much as you want with these trucks but it’s the ability under federal law to stop and dodge feels 26,000 is safe for slowing the load. Don't believe me ask around.