
Last year we did a column discussing the payload number on ¾ ton pickups after which we had several emails asking for a similar explanation for ½ tons. Several were from Ram truck owners which tend to have relatively low payload figures even though the trucks actual ability to carry weight is pretty much the same as other half tons.
Currently in our fleet is the 2017 Ram EcoDiesel 6.5 box crew cab that I took to Nova Scotia a couple of years ago. This truck is still completely stock, making it a good platform to look at numbers with. The GVWR* on this truck is 6950 pounds subtract its empty weight with fuel of 5880 Pounds and you come pretty close to the payload number assigned by Chrysler, a paltry 1,164 pounds. Both front and rear axles (GAWR*) are rated for 3900 pounds so in theory if you can distribute the load evenly this truck should carry 7,800 pounds. Subtract the empty weight and you have a payload of 1920 pounds.
Recently I needed to pick up a few things at a lumber yard 25 kilometers from my house. Since I did not feel like moving bags of cement twice, I piled them on at the back of the truck. In the picture it does not look overloaded, but it sure felt like it was, oversteer the wheel a little and the truck started to sway over the rear axle quite substantially. Had a deer picked that time to run in front of me I would have had very little capacity to avoid it. It was unstable enough that I decided to take a little detour past the scales to see exactly what the weights were. It turns out the rear axle capacity GAWR of 3900 pounds was not exceeded as I was 20 pounds under at 3880. The GVWR of the truck is 6950 pounds and I was at 7200 so I was 250 pounds over the GVWR.