5 Of The Best Ram Trucks For Towing, Ranked By Max Capacity

People buy pickup trucks for a variety of different reasons. Some simply like the size and look of the vehicle, seeing it as a crucial piece of Americana. Others use the truck bed for transport, while some like their off-roading capabilities. Then there are those who buy pickup trucks to haul some serious loads, ones that require you to tow a heavy piece of equipment behind the truck itself. This could be anything from pulling a mobile home to moving heavy construction equipment. Well, if you are going to get yourself a new pickup truck to perform these tasks, one of the first places you are probably going to look is Ram trucks.

Ram specializes almost exclusively in pickups and has something for everyone, whether you need a truck for day-to-day life or a heavy-duty truck for work. If towing capacity is what you are after, then Ram most certainly has some terrific options for you. Here, we are going to look at five different Ram trucks with the highest maximum towing capacities. Note that this is distinct from the trucks' payload capacities, and our ranking is strictly based on how much these Ram trucks can tow with a hitch.

For the most towing capacity out of a Ram truck, you need to look at the company's Heavy Duty line of trucks. At the very top of this list is the 2025 Ram 3500, which is the biggest truck that Ram offers. However, you can't just get any Ram 3500. At its most basic, there is the Ram 3500 Tradesman trim with a regular cab, which comes standard with a 6.4-liter Hemi HD V8 engine. That would get you a maximum towing capacity of 18,150 pounds. While that would still place you well above a number of the other models on this list, the engine you should be after is the high-output 6.7-liter Cummins turbo diesel engine.

Along with an impressive output of 430 horsepower and 1,075 lb-ft of torque, the Cummins provides a maximum towing capacity of 36,610 pounds. This engine becomes available on Ram 3500 Tradesman if you opt for a crew cab model and are willing to spend an additional $12,595 for the Cummins. The only way that the engine comes standard with the pickup is if you get mega cab option on the Laramie, Limited, and Limited Longhorn trims. Even the crew cab options on these upper tier trims require you to spend that additional $12,595 for the engine. The starting price for a 2025 Ram 3500 Laramie with a mega cab is $78,845.

The next truck on this list is not a traditional pickup truck. Instead, it is a chassis cab. The 2025 Ram 5500 Chassis Cab falls just a little bit behind the Ram 3500 in terms of maximum towing capacity, but the difference is very minimal. The reason they are so close is because the two trucks use the very same engines. Once again, the standard engine for the truck is the 6.4-liter Hemi HD V8 engine, but with this truck, that towing capacity is higher than the 3500 at an impressive 21,240 pounds. However, if you have the high output 6.7-liter Cummins underneath the hood, you can expect that capacity to increase to 34,540 pounds.

That slight decrease in towing capacity comes with a commensurate decrease in power output, as the Cummins makes up to 360 horsepower and 800 lb-ft of torque in the Ram 5500. Like the Ram 3500, getting this upgraded diesel engine is going to cost you a pretty penny. If you're happy with a base-tier trim, you are looking at an additional $9,495 charge for the Cummins engine. Unfortunately, you are out of luck if you want the Cummins to come as standard. Even the Ram 5500 Big Horn crew cab model comes standard with the 6.4-liter Hemi V8 and requires you to specifically select that you want the Cummins. On the positive side, the Cummins is available for every trim and every cab size for the chassis cab truck, so you can get that 34,540 pounds of towing even if you don't need a traditional truck bed.

Third place on this list is the 2025 Ram 2500. Like the previous two models on this list, you are looking at the high output 6.7-liter Cummins turbo diesel engine for this truck if you want to maximize the pickup's towing capacity. Because this is a smaller vehicle than those other trucks, you are going to see a significant step down in that capacity, but you can still expect to tow an impressive 20,000 pounds with this truck. Despite the lower capacity, it does have the same power output rating as the Ram 3500, with a maximum of 430 horsepower and 1,075 lb-ft of torque. If you have the standard issue 6.4-liter Hemi HD V8 engine for the truck, the capacity will drops to 17,750 pounds, a relatively minimal difference that should encourage you to consider many other factors before deciding between the 6.4-liter Hemi and 6.7-liter Cummins.

Of course, we run into a situation once again where you are going to have to pay extra to get this Cummins engine in your Ram 2500. For any crew cab trim where the Cummins is an available upgrade, it is going to cost an additional $12,595, just like with the Ram 3500. The Cummins only comes standard on the mega cab options for the upper tier trims like the Laramie, Limited, and Limited Longhorn. The Ram 2500 also has two additional trims, the Rebel and the Power Wagon. The Cummins is optional on the former but unavailable for the latter. A mega cab Ram 2500 Laramie starts at $78,835.

Based on the previously mentioned trucks on this list, you might assume that you need a hulking diesel or gas-powered engine to get the most towing capacity. Well, when it comes to Ram trucks, you get a surprising amount of towing capacity even from its more efficient vehicles. One of those is the Ram 1500 Ramcharger. Most people will be familiar with the regular 1500 model, which has a 3.0-liter Hurricane engine under the hood and can tow up to 11,550 pounds. However, its plug-in hybrid Ramcharger counterpart raises that maximum tow capacity to 14,000 pounds.

The Ramcharger can generate enough power to pull this kind of load thanks to the combination of a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine and a 92-kilowatt-hour battery pack, which is paired with a 130-kilowatt generator. Ram places its combined power output at 663 horsepower and 615 lb-ft of torque. Unlike the other models on this list, the Ram 1500 Ramcharger is not a truck you can just head over to your Ram dealership and pick up. Production on this vehicle has been delayed, but it is expected to finally make it to market in the second half of 2025. Because of this, pricing isn't available just yet. However, if you're looking to spend a bit less money on gas while being able to tow some pretty heavy loads, the Ramcharger should be a great option for you.

Just like with the Ram 1500 Ramcharger, the final entry on this list is a truck that is not available for purchase yet, and it is actually going to take a little bit longer to be delivered to dealerships than the hybrid. That would be the Ram 1500 REV, which is expected to finally debut sometime in 2026. This is the all-electric version of the popular full-size pickup truck, and Ram measures its towing capacity at exactly the same level as the Ramcharger. The REV can tow up to 14,000 pounds, once again outpacing the traditional gas-powered version of the truck.

Of course, there is no engine in this pickup. Instead, the REV uses a 168-kilowatt-hour battery pack that gives the truck a maximum power output of 654 horsepower and 620 lb-ft of torque. The Ram 1500 REV should turn a lot of heads regarding the cultural reputation of electric vehicles and what they can be used for. When this truck finally comes out in 2026, the idea that someone can use an all-electric pickup truck for serious work will no longer be far-fetched.