2019 Ram 2500 Cummins with a Northern Lite 10-2: door sticker says 1,960 payload, the scale says something else. now what

Jun 20, 2025 · 6:45 AM#1

2019 Ram 2500 Big Horn, crew cab, 8 foot bed, 4x4, 6.7 Cummins. the payload on the door sticker is 1,960 lbs. camper is a 2021 Northern Lite 10-2 EX, which i got this spring, long story for the buying board some other day.

wes said post real tickets, so here is mine. Pilot in Bellemont, camper on, me in the driver seat, full fuel, 30 gallons of water, both propane bottles full, our usual junk for a week. steer axle 4,980. drive axle 6,860. total 11,840.

GVWR on the sticker is 10,000. rear axle rating is 6,500. so i am 1,840 over on the truck and 360 over on the rear axle. it drives fine. it does wallow on the curves on 89A down Oak Creek Canyon and it squats more than i like. what do people actually do here? airbags? new springs? sell it and buy a 3500 and eat the difference?

Jun 20, 2025 · 7:30 PM#2

first, the thing people hate to hear. airbags do not add payload. nothing you bolt on changes the number on your door. what they do is level the truck and take the sway out, which is most of your wallow.

the 2500 Ram has coil springs in the back, not leafs like the 3500. that makes it a good candidate for bags inside the coils, Air Lift and Firestone both make kits for it. with a camper your size i would run bags and leave the springs alone.

Sumo springs are the other choice and they are fine for lighter campers, but at 11,800 they bottom out and you lose the adjustability. you can pump bags up for the camper and let them down when it is off.

Jun 21, 2025 · 8:10 AM#3

buy a 3500. i will say it because airbags is too nice to. a 2500 with a 10-2 on it is the most common overloaded truck in every campground in the west. you knew the camper's weight when you bought it.

Jun 24, 2025 · 8:40 PM#4

somewhere between those two. the numbers i actually watch are the tires and the brakes. look at the sidewall of your rear tires, you will see a max load at a pressure. if your rears are LT275/70R18 E rated they are good for about 3,400 each at 80 psi. two of them is 6,800, so your 6,860 drive axle is right at the limit of what the tires carry. run them at max pressure with the camper on.

and stop driving with 30 gallons of water. that is 250 pounds you are hauling at 65 mph for no reason. fill up at the campground. i do Grand Junction to Moab with my tank dry and fill at the spigot at Ken's Lake.

Jul 1, 2025 · 7:20 AM#5

went back to the Pilot with the water tank empty and about 140 lbs of stuff left in the garage. 11,420 total, drive axle 6,610. still over on paper, i know.

tires are LT275/70R18 E, max 3,415 each at 80, so lance was right, i was running them at 65. they are at 80 now. there is a plain page on nhtsa.gov about reading the sidewall and the load index that i wish i had read two months ago.

ordered the Air Lift LoadLifter 5000 kit for the 2500.

Jul 9, 2025 · 9:05 PM#6

add a rear sway bar if you still get wallow after the bags. i put a Hellwig on my Silverado and crosswind on I-80 between Laramie and Rawlins went from white knuckle to annoying. it was about 450 dollars and i did it in an afternoon.

Jul 28, 2025 · 6:30 PM#7

bags are in. three hours in the driveway, the hardest part was getting the upper bracket past the brake line. running 55 psi with the camper on, 10 with it off.

took it up to the North Rim last weekend with the water tank empty and filled at DeMotte. the wallow on 89A is mostly gone and the truck sits level instead of nose up. i am still over the sticker. i know that, my insurance agent knows that, and the 3500 conversation is on the list for when the Ram is paid off.