[Santa]

Jester, I beg to differ. I've had several try to tell me the only difference between 2500 and 3500 GM pickups is "a magical leaf in the rear springs." The rear axles are different, 3500 has 1" bigger ring gear and gussets at the tube to pumpkin connection.

Wonder why the difference? I'm betting to handle more weight safely.
Can you overload a truck and get away with it? Sure, but when it fails it is dramatic.

I bought my Monty in January and towed it home from Virginia to Ohio across the West Virginia turnpike through the mountains. My 2500 HD handled the 5er just fine, not one hiccup.

When I started looking at things I discovered the weights in my earlier post on this thread. I was over on the truck's GVWR and RAWR. I was within CGVWR and trailer GVWR the truck could tow. All those numbers were with an empty truck and trailer. Can you do it? YES Can it possibly fail, absolutely. But when it does fail you cannot hide, you will most likely be on the move and not parked somewhere. Will you lose control, yep. SAFETY is compromised when you lose control.

I ran a "what if" by a friend who is an Ohio State Trooper. He advised me that as soon as an officer sees a truck with a huge trailer hooked up in an accident they decide if things look Kosher. If they think you may be overloaded you Will get scaled. Even if not blatantly at fault you loading can be deemed as contributing to the accident. He said he would not want to deal with the attorneys brought in.

So a safety situation becomes a legal nightmare for the operator. If you don't overload you can avoid the potential nightmare.

Mike