I am having a discussion with a friend that owns a 2500 and is shopping for a camper. I was sure I could find a loading guide at dodge.com and failed. Do you have a link to the Dodge camper loading data?
Thanks in advance.
Bill
Bill Sprague
2004 Beaver Monterey, 8.3 ISC 350 Cummins
2007 Ford Edge AWD
9 ft Quicksilver inflatable boat w/ 15 hp Suzuki
It would be nice if that information was on dodge.com, however, in my experience, it isn't always that easy to come by. I went around in circles on this subject with my dealership saying it should come from the factory, with the factory later saying that information was supplied to the dealers which should then be provided to the purchaser at time of sale. When I traded in my '07 Power Wagon for an '07 3500, I again asked about camper loading info and got the same runaround. After I got home, I then found a single sheet of this very information buried in some of the paperwork I ended up getting from the dealer.
Ford has a booklet that is about 20 pages that can be hard to find. I once had a copy of one, but no longer. It seems that Ford dealers get about enough for their sales staff.
New, it would have been included in the paperwork in the glove compartment. It is a nice little dissertation by lawyers on COG, etc. and has little, if any, application for camper users.
'05 Dodge Cummins 4x4 dually 3500 white quadcab auto long bed airbags overload springs bumpers
'00 Elkhorn 10V w/basement
What really pi44es me off was when I was buying my '05. I was trading in a '01 (with camper package option) and the dealer knew that I was using the truck for a TC. The loading data disclaimer that was "conveniently sneeked" in the glove box after PDI and purchase really ticked me off! This in my opinion, data should also be clearly marked on the build sheet.
For me, a load is a load. I took the axle weights unloaded from the data page on Dodge's web site, how much the camper was going to weigh, estimated it's CoG and applied the weights to the axles. Came out really quite close. Now, I chose to stay inside of the manufacturers GVWR so I wasn't all that close to axle limits, but since at the time I hadn't had the benefit of education on such things from this web forum, I was happy with how it all worked out. Given that I am also towing a sizable trailer and have the Hemi in my Dodge, it's a good thing I stayed light - Hemi's are great at what they are designed to do but rolling at much over 16K - 17K with a 3.73 rear gear isn't one of them!
2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab, Hemi, 5 speed manual, 3.73 gears, Tow Beast hitch with 24" extension.
28 ft race car hauler, Lola T440 Formula Ford, NTM MK4 Sports Racer
2004 Travel Hawk 8' Truck Camper - Roll at 16K combined weight
When I was looking at new CTD's in 05 the crew cabs had the paper in the glove box showing how to load a TC but then a big red stamp stating TC's are not recommended. My standard cab had the same paper WITHOUT the big red stamp. The only thing I can think of is the CC puts more weight on the front axle while empty. Adding a TC could push the limits of the front GAWR. But really depends on the COG of the TC.
05 Dodge Ram 3500 SLT SC DRW 4X4 CTD G56 373's CAI,Edge Juice/Attitude,Jake,Rancho9000x,Torklift tie downs,Superhitch,Stable Load and Ride-Rites
04 S&S Avalanche 9' with slide 26th Marines RVN 69-70 Semper Fi M-14 was the only Woodstock I saw in 1969.
There is a lot of discussion about campers in Dodge trucks on the TDR site. Basically the factory cannot guarantee that you will always drive just right with a heavy camper so they add the paperwork about campers. Since they have no control of what size camper you put into the truck and how much is behind the COG or high, they cover their butts. It is sort of like saying not to use cruise control on ice--if you do and you have a problem, well you were warned.
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