RAM Truck 2011 User's Guide download pdf (Page 8)

RAILER LIF

Towin

Guide

set up for towin

. We’ll arbitraril

assi

n it a

vwr of 9,900 pounds, a front

awr of 5,00

pounds, a rear gawr o

6,824 pounds, a gcw

23,000 pounds and a quoted maximum to

rating of 17,000 pounds.

As is often the case in sin

le-rear-whee

trucks, the rear axle’s

awr on this truck is de-

rived

rom each tire’s maximum load o

3,41

poun

s. Pic

ups suc

as t

is norma

y start a

more than 6,000 pounds, and with a diesel

automatic and nice trim, fi

ure that with a ful

tank of fuel and hitch, this unit wei

hs at least

7,000 pounds. I

we add two “standard-size

”

people (154 pounds each), a

ew tools an

some car

o, it wei

hs 7,500 pounds. That is

lit to 4,000

ounds on the front axle, an

3,500

ounds on the rear axle

The

irst thing you should have noticed is

at t

e maximum tow rating cannot app

with the truck

ull

loaded because

(23,000) minus

vwr (9,900) leaves 13,100

ounds — about 4,000

ounds less than

quoted towing ability. A

ter adding options

peop

e to t

e examp

e truc

, an

tracting that value (7,500)

rom gcw

(23,000), the effective workin

tow ratin

the truck becomes 15,500

ounds, about

1,500 poun

ess t

an t

e truc

’s quote

max

mum tow

ng rat

ng.

However, you

ave yet to c

numbers and verif

that a 15,500-pound traile

will w

rk. If

r i

fif

h-wh

has 20 percent o

its weight on the pin, that

adds 3,100 pounds to the back o

the truck.

This would make the truck overwei

ht — it

7,500-pound read

-to-roll wei

ht plus the

3,100

ounds on the

in e

uals 10,600

poun

s — 700 poun

s more t

an t

e truc

’s

gvwr, and just 224 pounds shy o

the rear-axl

limit o

6,824 pounds

SUVs and other non-pickup tow ri

s can-

not escape scrutin

. The vehicle’s loaded

weight, with the anticipated load o

passen

gers aboard, must be subtracted

rom the

gcwr to determine the realistic tow rating.

Other Factors

e tow-ratings c

art

ists ve

e-towing

maximums segregate

y engine, ca

sty

drive and sin

le- or dual-rear wheels as appro

priate. In

eneral, assume the maximum tow

ratin

alwa

s requires a towin

packa

e —

and special towing equipment

(

see “Towing

Packages,” beginning on page 36

)

— and the

hest numerical axle ratio offered, and as

the exam

le shows, maximums can be con-

fusin

. You can do

our own estimates b

starting with the in

ormation given and

keeping the

ollowing generalizations in mind.

Transm

or the majority o

vehi

les, automatic transmissions o

er the higher

ow ratin

s when the

var

transmission.

n heav

-dut

(HD) models, the differenc

be 1,000 pounds or less, and on li

hter

uty ve

es, a manua

tranny mig

t rate

,000-poun

ower tow rating. Exceptions

nclude hi

h-output en

ines that are avail-

ble onl

with manual

earboxes, vehicles

here the manual transmission wei

ore t

an t

e automatic an

transmission

n vehicles designed

or high per

ormance

nd not towin

Axl

Lower

earin

(the numericall

her ratios, e.

. 4.10:1, 4.56:1, as oppose

o 3.31:1, 3.42:1

)

, typically produces greater

ow ratings because o

greater torque multi

lication. There is a wide variance in the axle

atio’s effect on the tow ratin

, with som

iesel-powered pickups var

onl

a fe

undred pounds. On others, changing

rom

.73:1 to a 4.30:1 sometimes increases t

ow ratin

3,500 pounds. In the past

ome ratin

s have increased b

a facto

reater than three (from 2,000 to 7,100

ounds) simply by using a di

erent axle ratio

ower gearing wi

so ma

e your ve

e ac

elerate quicker up to 50-55 mph. In

eneral,

one-ste

dro

in axle ratio (4.10:1 to

.73:1) on an HD pickup will drop tow ratin

gcwr

y a ton

Lower gearing has an adverse e

ect on

uel econom

, but it’s usuall

not proportiona

o the

ain in towin

abilit

. Under the best

ircumstances

the difference between the

ighest and lowest gear ratios o

ered (say

.42:1 and 4.10:1

)

results in a 1.5-mpg de-

rease in non-towin

, stead

state-hi

hwa

ruisin

. In most conditions that chan

e is less

han 1 mp

, and if

ou tow a relativel

heav

rai

er a

ot, t

ere’s no question t

at t

ow-

st gearing is

est

Drive S

stem

Vehicles that drive onl

wo wheels, be the

front or rear,

enerall

ave hi

her tow ratin

s (all other thin

s bein

qual

)

. Even though modern 4WD and AW

ystems are quite e

icient, a small amount o

TL1102 TG Selecting a Tow Vehicle LO.qxp_Towing Guide 12/7/10 3:26 PM Page 8

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