2020 RAM 3500 Towing Capacity by Configuration

Direct answer: 13,660 to 35,100 lb across completed pickups

The sole 35,100-lb row is the 4x2 Regular Cab, 8-foot-box, DRW configuration with the high-output 6.7L Cummins, AS69RC Aisin six-speed, 4.10 axle, 14,000-lb GVWR and 43,000-lb GCWR. Its adjacent 3.73 row is 33,700 lb, so the maximum cannot be detached from its axle and combined-rating branch.

The 13,660-lb minimum belongs to the 4x4 Mega Cab, standard 6-foot-4 box, gas DRW row with the 6.4L HEMI, 3.73 axle and 21,500-lb GCWR. RAM separately prints a 17,160-lb 4.10 value for that same body and wheel arrangement.

Read one complete row, not a model-wide headline

Choose 4x2 or 4x4, cab, box, SRW or DRW, engine, transmission and axle ratio before reading GVWR, GAWR, GCWR and maximum trailer from the same line. Nearby rows often share an engine name while publishing a different base weight or combined rating.

RAM calls payload and maximum trailer weights estimated and rounds them to the nearest 10 lb. The source also says payload and maximum trailer weight are mutually exclusive. Occupants, cargo, options, hitch equipment and tongue or pin weight must still fit the truck's physical labels and axle ratings.

The chart has three distinct powertrain paths

The gas 6.4L HEMI uses the 8HP75 eight-speed. The standard-output 6.7L Cummins uses the 68RFE six-speed, while the high-output Cummins uses the AS69RC Aisin six-speed. The two diesels are not interchangeable even though both are 6.7L engines.

All 4x2 completed-pickup trailer ratings

Slash pairs preserve the source's 3.73/4.10 order. A single SRW diesel value means RAM publishes only a 3.73 row. The short-box Crew Cab and RamBox groups have no DRW cells; the dashes below preserve that absence instead of borrowing long-box ratings.

All 4x4 completed-pickup trailer ratings

The 4x4 matrix adds Mega Cab and retains a separate RamBox branch. DRW is published only for the standard-box Mega Cab, Regular Cab long box and Crew Cab long box. Every other 4x4 family remains SRW-only in this source.

How all 70 completed-pickup cells were counted

The four 4x2 body groups contain 28 populated trailer cells. The six 4x4 body groups contain 42 more. Repeated numbers remain separate cells when their body, drive or powertrain selector differs; payload, GVWR, base-weight and GCWR entries are not counted as trailer ratings.

2020 is not a copied 2019 table

Several nearby-looking cells changed. The 4x2 Crew Cab RamBox high-output SRW value is 23,210 lb for 2020, not the prior table's 23,350 lb. The 4x4 Regular Cab high-output DRW pair is 33,260/34,660 lb, and the long-box Crew Cab pair is 32,720/34,110 lb.

The Mega Cab high-output DRW pair is especially important: RAM prints 32,530/32,880 lb. The 4.10 value is retained exactly as published even though its 43,000-lb GCWR might tempt a reader to calculate a different result. No cell is silently repaired.

GVWR and GCWR remain row-specific

Gas SRW GVWR spans 10,700–11,400 lb, diesel SRW spans 11,500–12,300 lb and every completed-pickup DRW row is 14,000 lb. Shared GVWR does not make two bodies or engines interchangeable because base weight, axle ratings and GCWR can differ.

GCWR ranges from 21,500 to 43,000 lb. It is the combined truck-and-trailer rating, not the trailer allowance by itself. The source's maximum-trailer column already applies RAM's stated passenger, option, trailering-equipment and tongue-weight assumptions.

Hitch rules do not create three missing matrices

RAM's notes say a fifth-wheel hitch is required for trailers over 23,000 lb and a gooseneck hitch is required over 30,000 lb. The chart still publishes one maximum-trailer column rather than separate conventional, fifth-wheel and gooseneck ratings. This guide therefore does not label every lower value as available through every hitch method.

The installed receiver, fifth-wheel or gooseneck system may impose a lower limit. Verify its labels, mounting, condition and compatibility with the particular truck and trailer.

The box-off chart is separate incomplete-vehicle evidence

RAM's four-page 2020 box-off document publishes twelve gas SRW RAM 3500 trailer ratings across six body and drive families. It also carries maximum completed vehicle weight (MCVW), frontal-area and maximum-upfit fields. Those rows are not finished pickup-box configurations and stay outside the 70-cell completed-pickup count.

Maximum upfit weight is not payload or trailer capacity

The box-off notes define maximum completed vehicle weight as total base weight plus permanently attached upfit weight. The maximum-upfit field is therefore a body-completion constraint, not cargo payload and not an extra trailer allowance. The completed body also changes actual weight and rear-axle loading.

Only gas SRW RAM 3500 rows appear in the box-off matrix. No diesel, DRW or completed-body rating is created from the absent cells.

Payload and trailer maxima are mutually exclusive

A trailer applies tongue or pin weight to the truck. People, tools, cargo, options, accessories and hitch hardware consume carrying capacity at the same time. The catalogue trailer maximum cannot be combined with the catalogue payload maximum as though both remain fully available.

Start with the truck's certification and loading labels, then calculate the intended loaded combination and confirm axle, truck, trailer and combined weights on appropriate scales.

Source method and durable verification

The eight-page completed-pickup PDF and four-page box-off PDF were downloaded from RAM, hashed, extracted with layout preservation and rendered page by page for visual review on 14 September 2026. Their SHA-256 records begin a964a7f6 and 942ab34b respectively.

RAM identifies the estimates as SAE J2807 calculations, uses 300 lb of passenger weight and 100 lb of options, and assigns 75 lb for conventional-hitch equipment, 70 lb for gooseneck equipment or 250 lb for fifth-wheel equipment. Those test assumptions do not replace the truck's actual loading record.

Candidate verification checklist

Confirm the 2020 model year, pickup versus box-off body, cab, box, 4x2 or 4x4, SRW or DRW, engine, transmission and axle ratio. Photograph the certification and loading labels, obtain the factory build record and identify the installed hitch.

Then account for passengers, cargo, tools, accessories, body equipment and tongue or pin load. Check truck, trailer, combined and axle weights in the intended operating condition and use the lowest applicable vehicle, axle, tire, hitch, trailer or legal limit.

Canadian use requires the individual Canadian truck's evidence

These U.S.-hosted manufacturer matrices do not prove the original market or certified rating of an unseen Canadian VIN. A Canadian candidate still needs its physical labels, build documentation, installed-equipment limits and applicable provincial or territorial rules.

No tonne conversion is used to round a rating upward, and a source cell is not transferred merely because the Canadian truck has a similar badge.

FAQ: does every 2020 high-output Cummins RAM 3500 tow 35,100 lb?

No. High-output Cummins completed-pickup values in this chart range from 23,000 to 35,100 lb. Cab, box, drive, SRW or DRW, axle ratio, base weight and GCWR all change the applicable row. The maximum is one 4x2 Regular Cab DRW configuration.

FAQ: are Mega Cab, RamBox and standard-box values interchangeable?

No. Mega Cab and RamBox rows have their own base weights and trailer values. Mega Cab appears only in the 4x4 section, its RamBox branch is SRW-only, and missing DRW cells are not permission to reuse the standard-box result.

Related research and commercial boundary

This guide establishes configuration-aware 2020 source values, not reliability, failure rates, condition, legal operating permission, inventory, sellers, dealer counts, prices, financing or offers. The marketplace remains a separate protected commercial route and no available truck is implied.