BearFootSam
Well-Known Member
My 22' Rubi is stickered at 1172 payload with soft top, auto, bumper and some other bits. I've driven vehicles at or near max GVWR and while it was doable there are aspects where it suffered like climbing steep grades in CO. Think climbing up 70 west of Denver and being in 3/4th gear at 4200RPM. While I think the gladiator could handle it better than most given it is based on a RAM 1500 frame and with solid axles, it will still suffer. You are putting a lot of stress on suspension, differentials and driveline.
When I last made that climb it was early June and 28* with snow, but my oil temps were 245*F. Imagine if it had been 95*F. Aerodynamics are going to come into play as well. Air resistance squares by speed so the profile of a camper is going to strain your truck more substantially than a flatbed with steel plate. If you make that choice you should really be doing severe service maintenance like changing differential and transmission fluids out by 30k miles. Even still you may be cutting the lifespan of major parts from 200K+ to 75-100k miles.
When I need to tow heavy I get a rental. It saves money in the long run and passes the trouble along to someone else. Enterprise rents HD trucks for towing use at reasonable rates.
When I last made that climb it was early June and 28* with snow, but my oil temps were 245*F. Imagine if it had been 95*F. Aerodynamics are going to come into play as well. Air resistance squares by speed so the profile of a camper is going to strain your truck more substantially than a flatbed with steel plate. If you make that choice you should really be doing severe service maintenance like changing differential and transmission fluids out by 30k miles. Even still you may be cutting the lifespan of major parts from 200K+ to 75-100k miles.
When I need to tow heavy I get a rental. It saves money in the long run and passes the trouble along to someone else. Enterprise rents HD trucks for towing use at reasonable rates.
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