I had no problems driving with a bed full of broken up concrete, but I know it was pretty heavy... j/w

 

I have been drivin around with broken up concrete in truck for a while now..... havent been able to get rid of all of it yet.....

should be somewhere around 2000 lbs in order to meet the GVWR.

Get your truck weighed empty to know for sure.

-Trey

 

According to Dodge a 97 Dodge Ext Cab 4x4 it is 3,590 pounds, this is taken from the 1997 Sales brochure

 

I hope yer talking load capacity, not weight.

Heck, my 93 mercury sable s/w weighs more than that...by about 400 lbs.

My 97 3500 ctd dually weighs in at around 7100 lbs., with an 11,000 lb gvwr.

 

Yes that is the payload capacity on the 97 2500 4 wheel drive,, My 2500 weighs in a7700 pounds with tools and extra fuel tank

 

Yes, he did ask what the payload capacity was not what the weight of the truck is.....

All the Payload rating is, is the GVWR minus the curb weight. A 2nd gen 2500 has a 8800 lb GVWR so, for example, if the curb weight of the truck is 7000 lbs, you have a total payload capacity of 1800 lbs. Though, we all know that these trucks can operate easily and safely well above this factory rating.

 

I was going by what dodge has in the 1997 Sales brochure, and it has posted 3590 pounds of payload. not the 1800 pounds you have posted. Payload capacity does not work on the GVW, it works on what the axles can hold and tire size and for a 97 club cab 4x4 it is 3590 pounds. IF you look on the door the GAWR is 6084 pounds so that is where chrysler gets the 3590 pounds payload from. I for one have crossed many scales with alot more than 1,800 pounds on it, as most of the RV Campers i haul have a pin weight od 2,300 in that area and never once was I ever over weight. They have told me with my tires and all the tools along with the 75 extra gallons of diesel i have in the back, I could cross legally with a pin weight of around 3,000 pounds

 

You will also notice the sum of the front and rear axle weights exceeds the GVWR......this is to allow for uneven loading of the payload......if you were to truely heed the OEM GVWR rating, a 2500 with a GVWR of 8800 lbs should not be exceeded regardless of how the other ratings are interpretated. The weight police in these parts will go by registered GW and OEM axle weights on the door (not the OEM GVWR) but, again, if one were to follow the OEM GVWR guide line, the truck is not to exceed the OEM GVWR. You can be darn sure the weight police couldn't care less what the "advertised" payload capacity is - that doesn't mean anything to them.

Also, you will note that the 1800 lbs was an example of payload.....I certainly didn't intend to generalize that all 2nd gen 2500's had a 1800 lb payload - they don't because not all 2nd gen 2500's have a curb weight of 7000 lbs.

Again, very rarely would the weight cops go by the OEM GVWR - they usually go by the sum of the GAWR's.....but the question was what was the payload capacity.....and if you were to follow the OEM guidelines so as to not exceed the OEM spec'd GVWR, you would have to subtract curb weight from the GVWR to obtain the actual payload.

 

Never would the scales go by the GVW,, after putting on 600,000 miles in 4 years, hauling campers from Indiana back to canada, i deal enough with the scales to know that they dont go by the posted GVW on the truck. My 96 2500 was licenced for 20,000 pounds legally and that is all the scale boys look at when and if they want to weigh you along with the capicity of the tires, you break 6,200 on a rear single wheel 2500 or 3500 you will get busted, the scale boys dont have time to look at the door to see weights, and never will,, not sure where you live, but from the states I haul in and Canada, not one has every looked at the door, they may want to see what you are licenced for is about it

I was going by what Dodge says is the payload on the 97 2500 was and its in there book at 3,590 pounds With what you are saying,, a 97 1 ton dually only has a GVW of 10,500,,, now the empty truck weighs 7,000,, so you are telling me the payload is only 3,500 on a dually? Not a chance,, if that was the case, most 40 foot 5th wheels campers would put you overweight on the drivers axle, and i have not seen 1 yet that is. Not trying to argue here, just stating my experiences with the scales and what Dodge posts in there manual

 

As you may have noted in an earlier post I made, I did agree that the weight cops do NOT go by the OEM spec'd GVWR on the door. It was not my intention to argue this point in any way whatsoever. I made no attempt to contest registered GW and combined weights, either - that was NOT my point in this debate.

My point simply was: If you were to truely heed the OEM spec'd GVWR, the payload would simply be the GVWR minus the curb weight. Failure to do this could allow the payload to exceed the OEM spec'd GVWR (regardless of any type of advertised payload rating).....if you do indeed care about that.