like mentioned, their is no such rating, unless you were looking to hang the tailer off a cliff and held up by the axle (in which case its load rating would come into effect!)
Just because you have a 20,000lb trailer, doesnt mean the "horizontal load" is 20,000lbs. their is no such measurement as this cannot be accurately measured and would vary greatly depending on conditions
The load rating of the axle (vertical) is the rated load that the spindles/wheel bearings and housing can support. this could of course also be used as your "horizontal" load as the stresses on the components are similar.
The tow rating used by dodge (GCVWR) is more of a reflection on the trucks construction than the axle itself. You have to take into consideration the stresses transferred through the driveline, the springs, frame and ultimately the hitch system. Dodge of course always sways on the light side of things to reduce wear and tear as well as saving their azz when someone crashes pulling a huge load.
You could call AAM, as with Dana, they can tell you the axle's (and the axle only) design limits. they should be able to tell you the load rating as well as input torque and an estimated max GCVWR. Of course this in no way means that if they say that axle is good for 50k gcvw, that you wont tear the rest of the truck to pieces LOL
Like mentioned, input torque and heat are the biggest things to watch. you could pull a 5 billion pound trailer with it, if the load on the axle didnt exceed its rating and you didnt exceed its torque rating (granted the torque was enough to move the trailer!)
Just because you have a 20,000lb trailer, doesnt mean the "horizontal load" is 20,000lbs. their is no such measurement as this cannot be accurately measured and would vary greatly depending on conditions
The load rating of the axle (vertical) is the rated load that the spindles/wheel bearings and housing can support. this could of course also be used as your "horizontal" load as the stresses on the components are similar.
The tow rating used by dodge (GCVWR) is more of a reflection on the trucks construction than the axle itself. You have to take into consideration the stresses transferred through the driveline, the springs, frame and ultimately the hitch system. Dodge of course always sways on the light side of things to reduce wear and tear as well as saving their azz when someone crashes pulling a huge load.
You could call AAM, as with Dana, they can tell you the axle's (and the axle only) design limits. they should be able to tell you the load rating as well as input torque and an estimated max GCVWR. Of course this in no way means that if they say that axle is good for 50k gcvw, that you wont tear the rest of the truck to pieces LOL
Like mentioned, input torque and heat are the biggest things to watch. you could pull a 5 billion pound trailer with it, if the load on the axle didnt exceed its rating and you didnt exceed its torque rating (granted the torque was enough to move the trailer!)
