"The Ram 3500 shot past Ford and Chevy pickups’ maximum tow rating of 23,100 pounds to a stunning 30,000 pounds, enabled by a new 50,000 pounds-per-square-inch, high-strength steel frame, a stronger transfer case, a higher-load transmission (Aisin AS69RC), larger front drive shafts and U-joints, an upgraded Cummins diesel engine, and other upgrades.

Original is at 2013 Ram Heavy Duty Pickup Trucks: Ram 2500 and 3500 2013 Ram Heavy Duty Pickup Trucks: Ram 2500 and 3500
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Lots of impressive numbers, maybe worth a look see...

 

wow that's a lot of nice truck there.dodge fan or not,pretty hard to deny that.

 

No doubt that with those specs they have raised the bar real high...

 

Yup. Clear into class A territory. Get your CDL out boys...

 

Ram is coming up in the truck world for sure. They are even getting their transmissions in order.

 

Not quite sure I'd want to be towing 30,000lb with a 1 ton. Talk about the tail wagging the dog.

 

this is a good read too;
Ram-ifications of Ram's New Tow Ratings - PickupTrucks.com News

dee004,times are a changing clearly.don't let the old name "3500" fool ya.apparently the payload ratings are not released yet.according to this posted on the 8th.
2013 Ram HD: The King of Towing at 30,000 Pounds - PickupTrucks.com News

 

but it is still a dodge turd of a truck. plastic dash with parts that fall off when you hit a bump, and rides like a tank with square wheels.
i will stick with my fords.

 

Good reads!

As someone who drive a F 350 for its PAYLOAD ability and as someone who uses it. What I have observed in the recreation class of folks using truck for 5th wheels, trailers and campers is that more are over weight than those that are driving within the stated parameters of their truck. In fact I am both amazed and stunned at what some of these folks will haul with a truck and tires that are nowhere even close to being a safe load.

When I bought my camper, at Arctic Fox 1150 that when wet and fully loaded weighs in excess of 5500 lbs I was told by multiple dealers and people on forums that a F 350 or equal with single rear wheel was fine, not a problem.

So that is what I bought and if I knew then what I know now I would have never bought a SRW! In my defense I had never owned a camper and the stated weight of 3200 lbs seemed fine and well within the SRW of a F 350 with camper package. I suppose that luckly for me I am an engineer and driving it just did not seem right, too much sway, too unresponsive etc etc. And like a good engineer this led to a lot of research and a trip to the scales in full travel trim...WOW I am overweight for my rig by a lot and too much for me and my family.

So a few months later I bought a dually and now I am within the working parameters of the truck with my travel load. (Luck was on my side, I stumbled across the SRW F 350 at a in town dealer in Scottsdale AZ who took it in on trade on a Mustang...dad had given the truck to his son for a HS grad present and son traded it in. It had sat on the dealers lot for nearly 3 mo and the dealer was shipping it off to auction the day I stopped by so they were more than glad to unload a truck they would never sell...I traded it in and got $500 more than I paid for it at a country dealer who sold more F 250/350/450 then he did cars).

Point being that I hope all trucks meet the bar to some extent that Dodge has raised as the recreation market is just plain dangerous. Few buy any truck beyond a 250 series no matter what they are hauling and you wold be drop jawed at some of the pics posted by owners so proud of their 150 series pulling a 35 ft trailer and a 5000 lb camper. Common questions are 'how can I beef up my F 150 to haul my 4500 lb camper. What is worse is the typical answers of 'add and extra leaf in your rear springs and better tires and you are good to go".

Sadly most dealers will also tell you that F 250 out there on the lot will do it when in fact its not even close. I have found you really have to get out in the country at a dealer that sells more truck than cars to farmers and ranchers to find a sales guy that has any idea what he is talking about.

I generally see no problem upping the bar, the form factor on the truck is still the same, just that parameters have increased thus safety and I hope Ford/GMC follows the lead. I do not think this will push anyone into needing to get a CDL. I drove our 45' motor-coach pulling a 28 ft box trailer and I looked into the CDL...if you are not carrying for pay either goods or passengers you do not need a CDL in any state I can find.

Safety: for $25000 less than I paid for my F 350 I can buy a 639 HP Ford Mustang, the domain of those under the age of 25...

 

For those that haven't looked at the Ram lately, it's worth taking a glance. The 4500 and 5500 models have my attention at the moment. I have two on order and the waiting list is pretty long. It was a hard choice to veer away from Ford but when you can get a 5500 Ram with the diesel for about the same price as an F-550 V-10, how do you NOT jump at the chance?

The interior construction, materials and finishes are much improved. They must be doing something right. Ram is leading Ford in dually sales for the last two years running, which is impressive since they only offer trucks in class 3,4 & 5 segments while Ford has class 6 & 7 models. Even so, Ram still sells more dually trucks. Impressive.

I think the tow rating increase is directly aimed at the F-450 pickup market. There are a lot of folks buying a F-450 pickup even though its really just an F-350 with a lower gear ratio. Ram probably wants a piece of that pie. Gotta give them credit for marketing initiative if nothing else...

 

Shake and bake aint the sterling pickups basically a ram 5500/6500?

 

Growing up in rural Texas, the state where more trucks are sold than cars I remember the time when no self respecting farmer or rancher would drive anything but a Chevy.

Then, Chevy/GM knowing they had a wrap on it sat back to rest and in resting died...along came Ford seeing the potential in truck sales also upped the ante. Ford improved fit, finish, payload, towing and tossed a diesel in the mix. They also did one other thing that neither GM or Dodge did. They raised the top of the cab and its still raised today. Was this the clincher? No one will ever know but down here we wear hats, Cowboy hats, did then, still do today. Ford is still the only truck where a 6'2" man like myself can climb in and not take off his hat.

When I finally retired and wanted to get back to the ranch a lot of times had changed. I am an engineer and all I had was memories of days gone by of Ford tractors and Chevy ranch trucks. Now it was John Deere or a Kubota and Ford sells more trucks than both Chevy and Dodge combined here in Texas. That did not matter to me, I am no follower so I looked at all of brands. This is how it went down:

Chevy/GMC: Want a 350/450 series it comes in white, has AC, cloth interior, roll up windows and a AM/FM radio...Oh you want it in a differnt color, want the fancy stuff, we can order all that. This was stopping at dealers in S Tex and in Phoenix AZ. Want a brochure, ain't go none.

Dodge: In a word 'coarse'. Its a work truck they added power windows and a stereo system. Drove like truck. Is the NOISE from the Cummings standard or an option? I can hear a motorcycle running down the road a mile away and tell you if its a Harley and I can hear a Dodge coming from a mile away. Cheaper than a Ford and I mean CHEAPER...in my world cheap don't come good, good don't come cheap, sums up a Dodge.

Ford: YES SIR may we help you? Why do you want a F 450? Can you give me your requirements? Sir you do not want a 450, it more than meets your towing needs, but for your payload requirements you want a 350 and here is the difference between the 2 trucks...(I like this, I like tech talk, its the world I lived in and this guy is the first one to tell me the 350 was a better fit than a 450).
Add to this the wife factor, she thought the Dodge looked cheap and was noisy, Chevy just did not impress, and the Ford fit and finish along with a really nice dress out on the interior (we looked at the Lariat).

Outside of the Ford tractors I grew up with, never or my Daddy ever owned a Ford in our life, dyed in the wool Chevy men...but I drive a Ford F 350 truck and would buy another one.