Do you need to look up the towing and payload specifications for a Ram Power Wagon? You came to the right place. While it may be agreed upon that the Ram Power Wagon is the most off-road capable heavy duty pickup from the factory, the truck’s payload and towing specifications are not easy to find in one place. After all, the Power Wagon is an HD truck and it ought to do work like a heavy duty pickup.
This truck offers tremendous off-road hardware such as: front and rear locking differentials, disconnecting front sway bar, skid plates, hill descent control, Bilstein shocks, 33-inch Goodyear Duratrac tires, and a 12,000 lbs Warn winch. The suspension uses a single rate coil springs and tuning to provide very good off-road articulation and a comfortable on-road ride. There is a compromise, and it comes as a decreased payload and towing capacities.
Maximum payload is the amount of weight (people, cargo, and/or trailer tongue weight) the truck is rated to safely handle. Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) is the maximum weight of the truck and all the payload inside it. If you checked all the boxes for optional equipment (heated leather seats, etc), then your truck’s curb weight increases and your payload capability decreases. It’s because the GVWR limits the maximum weight your truck can carry. The story is the same with the Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR). This is the maximum weight of you truck and trailer together.
2017 Ram Power Wagon Crew Cab
Maximum payload weight: 1,444 lbs
Maximum trailer weight: 9,790 lbs (with a weight distributing hitch).
GVWR: 8,510 lbs
GCWR: 17,500 lbs
What does this mean in the real world? If you have a 2017 Ram Power Wagon, and you are towing a 9,000 lbs trailer (with 900 lbs of tongue weight), then you can add up to 544 lbs of weight (people and/or cargo). All together, truck + trailer + people + cargo cannot exceed the GCWR, which is 17,500 lbs.
In general, the fancy suspension on the specialty off-road trucks does limit the payload and towing capabilities. This is not just the case with the Power Wagon. The payload/towing capability decrease is similar with the Ford Raptor, Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro, Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, and many others.
Here is the 2017 Ram Power Wagon punishing rocks and dirt around Moab, Utah along with the new Raptor and Tacoma TRD Pro.
