BoldAdventure
Adventurist
I think the only REAL difference affecting GVWR between the PW and a 2500 is the springs. The frame et al is the same IIRC.
That said, having owned one and wheeled one, the diesel is HEAVY. My front axle weight is as much as my old Tacoma weighed at 5,500 lbs. The diesel trucks are just not as agile as the gassers because of that front axle weight. Heavier is not a good quality on the trail. So while I agree there are LOTS of pros to owning the diesel (it's an AMAZING engine!), there are some significant cons as well in my experience.
YMMV.
Three things come to mind for me, because I've been scratching my head about this, and we always are discussing it in offroad power wagon.
Coils, Shocks, and Tires. The vehicle is lifted from the factory, soft coils, soft shocks, and d-rated tires with very soft side walls on a 17 inch wheel. That's my best guess.
The axles are the same size (9.25 & 11.50); but curious, I have 500lbs less axle weight rating on the front than the standard 6.4 2500. I also have 200lbs more axle weight rating in the rear than the standard 6.4 2500.
Yeah, that one is weird. Less up front, more out back??
Only guess.... lockers?? It's the same damn axle with 4.10s... ???
The payload is usually determined by subtracting whatever the determined GVWR is from the vehicle's base weight. That varies truck to truck with the options you get. The PW usually has less payload because the GVWR is already reduced.
Personally, I don't look at it as full gossip to follow to the T. But I do pay attention and try not to overload axles, tires.
On that note, I am technically over my FAWR. But I also have an axle truss, diff protection, heavier tires, larger heavier shocks and a steel bumper all hanging off the front now .... But if I look up the standard 6.4 2500 FAWR, I'm not over the axle rating. So...... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ am I in life threating danger?? Will my axle explode?
And I have CAT tickets from when we bought the truck and weighted it with us in it. And we were 200lbs from the FAWR anyhow. So.... dafuq is with that?
Again, lots of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Random aside:
I've mentioned this before, but I noticed when researching 1/2 tons awhile back, that the RAM 1500 had more built-in safety in the axle ratings compared to the Ford F150. A little fuzzy, but I think the F150 had like 200lbs when you added up front and rear axle weight rating and subtracted the GVWR vs the Ram 1500 which was like 1000lbs. I dunno what that means in terms of anything really. Just a random factoid I noticed.
And it's been awhile, but I think it was 3900lbs FAWR & RAWR on the Ram 1500 which comes to 7800 lbs, but the door sticker put the truck at 6800 GVWR ??? Again, I haven't had the 1500 since 2016 and haven't had to recite this in awhile, so take all these numbers with that in mind.
This is mostly bad memory rambling.
I just find it interesting. No one has really been able to ever fully detail how GVWR's are arrived at. I am sure a lot of engineering numbers and then liability concerns are taken into account.
Tires, frame durability, longevity, liability, coils, shocks, etc. A lot of factors.
I think the fellows over at Diesel Power Products built a project Ram 2500 with the 6.7l Cummins and used it for rock-crawling during a recent Ultimate Adventure trip with the Four Wheeler crowd. According to the after action, the truck through got through everything, though it suffered some damage (which seems to be the norm for those events).
The point is, those heavy-a## trucks can be used on the technical trails if modified properly.
Yeah, they cut the bed off a long bed single cab, shoved a short bed box on it, put 42's on it and didn't weld the axle tubes and spun the axles. Not to mention re-geared, cut the pinch seam off, relocated the DEF tank, custom rear bumper, lockers, etc. That is a very very expensive rig. I love the Howizter! It's an awesome build.
But that thing is not an "everyday man build" I wanted to copy their work on the pinch seam and move my sliders up, and when I got to talking with a body shop about the amount of work and cost, that idea quickly evaporated.
I don't have a "body shop buddy" who can just do me a solid like those guys.
But I do have a Canadian pal who wrecked his PW and moved all the parts over to his Cummins, and he wheeled with us in Moab and did just fine. Except for when we all went to play in the Dunes. He sank like a rock. LOL
This is true. But then again it holds true for pretty much all types of 4wd vehicles. Vehicle damage seems to be normal, almost expected, at those Ultimate Adventure gatherings. So anyone trying to recreate those 'adventures' is going to have the potential for hefty repair bills. Similar issue for Ken Block wanna-be's jumping their Raptors, ect. ect....stupidity is not limited to any particular brand or vehicle type.
I dunno...
There seem to be two types. Guys who manage to tear up everything no matter what and those who can manage to do the same line/trail/obstacle without tearing everything up.
Being stupid will always result in breakages.
Mistakes happen, and stuff breaks. That's chance.
But stupid is avoidable.
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