Ram Truck Towing Figures Might Have Misled Owners
Ram offers a convenient online tool to allow Ram truck owners to learn their exact payload and towing specifications. Owners enter the VIN, and the tool spits out the information. Recently, some users reported strange problems with this tool when double-checking their numbers. What’s going on with the towing figures? Are owners being misled about their Ram trucks’ towing capacity?
How are Ram trucks’ towing numbers confusing owners?
Some owners found that entering their pickups’ VINs into the Ram Trucks Towing Capacity Guide a year ago delivered different results when they used the tool recently. The stated payload and towing numbers changed, sometimes decreasing by several thousand pounds, alarming users.
The discrepancy doesn’t mean the truck has lost the ability to tow or carry as much as before. A likely reason for the change is a technical glitch in the online tool. The Fast Lane Truck team contacted Ram for more information but hasn’t received any updates. However, the automaker agreed to investigate the problem.
How different can the Ram towing capacity numbers appear?
After inputting the VIN of a 2022 Ram 2500 Limited Crew Cab 4WD with a 6.7-liter Cummins diesel engine, one customer received different figures from one year to the next. The first time the online tool returned information, the payload was 2,069 pounds, and the maximum towing capacity was 20,049 pounds. Those numbers were surprising because the Ram 2500 has never been officially rated to tow more than 20,000 pounds and has an official rating of 19,990.
The same owner entered the same VIN a year later and saw dramatic changes in the numbers. This time, the guide showed the Ram truck’s payload and towing capacities were 1,980 and 15,050 pounds. That could be a problem if this owner has a trailer weighing 16,000 pounds or more.
A second problem found in Ram’s online tool
Another test uncovered a different problem. The folks at The Fast Lane Truck entered the VIN of a 2019 Ram 1500 twice to determine its towing capacity. In one test, they input uppercase letters in the VIN field; in the other, they used lowercase letters. Strangely, the results showed different towing capacity numbers.
When given capital letters in the VIN, the tool showed that the truck, with a 5.7-liter Hemi V8, was rated to haul 1,317 pounds and tow 11,217 pounds. But when given lowercase letters, the system calculated the same truck could carry 1,780 pounds and pull 11,240 pounds.
Which figures are owners supposed to trust?
How should Ram truck owners proceed?
Ram publishes a towing chart with every truck configuration on its website. The Fast Lane Truck team suggests owners use that graphic. Towing capacities don’t typically change within the same generation, making this chart helpful for all model years of the same generation.
Of course, it would also be helpful if the automaker removed its Ram Trucks Towing Capacity Guide and used the same old-school process as General Motors. GM lists the towing and payload ratings on an informational sticker on every truck. That gives owners an easy way to know the truck’s GVWR, GCWR, payload, tongue weight, and trailering capacity.
