Weighed mine today

[boatman37]

Went to the local CAT scale. I have a 2018 Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi 4.10 rears 4x4. Boat is a 2006 Crownline 250CR (similar to Sundancer). I have towed a 9300lb 36' travel trailer with my truck with no problem but never really tested it on hills until today. Trailer is a 2016 Venture aluminum tandem axle. Statement of origin says it weighs 1300lbs. Truck was weighed today and came in at 7380lbs with me in it and 3/4 tank of fuel. Combo was 16,240lbs so boat/trailer weighed 8860lbs so boat was 7560lbs. Boat had about 1/2 tank of fuel (75 gallon tank) and about 20 gallons in the fresh water tank. Other than that boat is as it would be, meaning anchor, life jackets, etc, all in the boat.
I know boats typically have lower tongue weight compared to travel trailers but I had 660lbs tongue weight (7.4%).

So we have a hill near me called mile hill. Not sure if it is quite 1 mile but it is about a 6-7% grade with a few bends. I was almost stopped at the bottom cause a truck slowed to turn into a driveway at the bottom of the hill. Speed limit is 45MPH. I was in tow/haul mode and not sure what gear I was in but was turning just under 3500 RPM at 45 MPH at maybe just over 1/2 throttle. Made it up with ease.

Remember to add that 660lbd tongue weight back to the boat on this weigh ticket:

 

[Mark.60]

So what are you saying a Ford would pull your boat up that hill with less effort

 

[Thornton69]

Imagine how little throttle you would have needed if it was a Duramax under that hood.....

 

[firecadet613]

Years ago, I had a '04 Four Winns 268 I pulled with a Ram 2500 5.7. It scaled about the same as your Crownline and the Ram did well towing it...

 

[boatman37]

Well if it was a Ford the boat would have probably had to tow the Ford up the hill...lol

Yeah the Cummins would require less effort but a 2500 would limit my towing too much. A 2500 Cummins only has about 2100lbs payload and a typical 10,000lb travel trailer will max out a 2500 Cummins. I towed my step-sons TT that weighed 9300lbs on the scales and my truck with all of us in it and the tongue weight added was 9100lbs. A Cummins weighs roughly 800-900lbs more than the 6.4 Hemi so we would have been right at max legal weight. If I were to ever buy a Cummins it would definitely be a 3500. 10,000lbs is just about the max for a 2500 Cummins in terms of payload. A boat is a different story cause of the lower tongue weight. My truck has 2973lbs payload. We had 1100lbs of tongue weight with that TT and 700lbs of people in the truck. With the 2100lbs Cummins payload you would be almost maxed out. That TT was brand new and had nothing in it. It was a 2021 Grand Design Imagine 3250BH.
For me a diesel would be a waste of money. I don't need it so the extra $8000 would be wasted. Yeah I'd get most of that back at resale but I plan on keeping this for quite awhile so resale would be way down the road.

I believe Duramax has a higher payload. Ram payload is pretty bad. Very heavy trucks. I don't know the payload off the top of my head but I believe both Chevy and Ford have about 500lbs more payload than the Rams

 

[firecadet613]

Options matter when it comes to payload. I had a few loaded F150s and Rams, adding the dual panel moonroof and checking off more boxes sure lowered that payload number quickly!

 

[my3sons]

And Configuration. I just bought a new puller, the weight ratings change with every option and configuration change you make. I want all the GVWR and rear GAWR I can get in a SRW. I had to build the truck a dozen different ways to get the options I really needed and a few I wanted and still get the capacities I considered minimum.
Then had to go find it out of state. Ordering now is a joke. Turned out nice though.

Good to see people using scales. Too many just hook up and go.

 

[boatman37]

Yeah. My truck is on the heavier side for a 2500 gasser. Most 2500 6.4's are closer to 3200lbs payload. Mine is 2973lbs but that is plenty for me.

And yeah, I see lots that buy a 1500 then go buy a 10,000lb travel trailer cause they advertise they can tow 10,500 but don't look at payload. My step-son has a 2020 Tundra that has a 9800lb tow rating. His TT was the one I towed that was 9300lbs. Yeah it is under max capacity but he is about 400lbs over payload and about 200 over his max rear GAWR. His max is 4100lbs. He scaled it and his rear axle was 4260. So now he will be trading in his brand new truck for a 2500 next spring. Salesman told him it was fine. I'm sure I have broken those numbers at some point due to ignorance but when I started towing heavy I started researching. The F150's have a high payload but only because the truck is so light which creates its own issues when you have a 5500lb truck towing a 10,000lb trailer. Same with a 2500 Cummins towing a 5th wheel. Very hard to find a 5th wheel that would be legal behind a 2500 Cummins unless it was a stripped down regular cab 2WD. Then trying to tow that same 12,000lb 5th wheel with a gasser is pushing it. So you need a 3500 Cummins to comfortably tow it and be legal. You might be legal with a Ford or Chevy. IIRC the F250 Powerstroke has almost 4000lbs of payload so likely ok there.

I just watched a video where a guy illustrated a brand new 2500 Laramie Cummins towing the same TT my step-son has (2021 Grand Design Imagine 3250BH). He ran the numbers and that truck would be right at max towing that 9300lb TT.

There are so many numbers it can get confusing and then you have salesman that have no idea or just want to make a sale and tell them they are fine.

Here are the weigh slips from towing that 9300lb TT. The bottom one is my step-sons Tundra hooked to it. The first one was with just me in the truck but the one with the TT attached had 2other guys in the truck so that was an additional 420lbs. Remember to add the 1100lb tongue weight back to the trailer when calculating trailer weight