It was a lot of weight. Did it rain? Those chips would weigh a shit load if wet. Your Dodge can certainly tow a lot. Least of your problems would be worrying about its load capacity.

You always need a pickup truck as a homeowner, imo
 

It did rain over night and it was a lot of sand. The guy who did the stump grinding got carried away chasing roots that were inches below the grass.

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There ya go. You probably had a ton or God knows what in that sucker. As far as the truck giving the sensation that it wanted to push forward...

If it was momentary, you might have a worn u joint or u joints, and the stress from the payload would exasperate the sensation.

You can crawl under the truck and grab the driveshaft in both hands and twist it back and forth looking and feeling for movement in the u joints. It can also be the transmission speed sensor going a little goofy due to the heavy load. They can get a little weird on those older Dodge trucks...My shift point was always a bit high and "thumpy" until I replaced the speed sensor. They can also be adjusted, but it's a trial and error kind of thing. I remember I would let off the gas a little and it would shift.  (Prior to having it replaced, after the mechanic tried to get me by with an adjustment)

All in all, give me the truck you have vs. a Chevy or Ford as far as load carrying. There's a reason your truck rides like a friggin brick in comparison to those brands. 

 

When I had the transmission checked, the shop told me there's a little "slam" because my u-joints have a slight wear on them.

As for how the truck rides. Suspension has been replaced via new shocks all around and the front end has all new tie-rods, etc. Ball joints were also replaced in front end. When hauling that load. I felt bumps in the front, but when the ass went over them ... smooth as can be lol

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I would imagine that with that lift you'd be getting accelerated wear on the u joints, but don't know if they changed the angle of attack on your differential when they did the lift to compensate. Speaking of the lift, the reason I speculate that they cut off your receiver as opposed to breaking off or rusted... No way that heavy gauge steel is going to rust off prior to anything else, and the load to break it off before snapping the welds...no way, I say. I think when they lifted the truck they had to cut it off to make the lift work. You described the receiver as going through the plate, if it was intact, that is...I'm assuming like cars of my era with the gas tank fill through a hinged license plate kind of deal. That's not normal, at all, and I'm also wondering if they eliminated the "drop" that the receiver would have from the frame to "normally" get it just below the bumper to where it is now.  You may be a victim of an industrial grade 'Nip and Tuck" as it were..

All that being said, my envisioned solution would be to get a properly lengthened properly gauged piece of box steel, 2 pieces of sheet steel, piggy back downward from the existing receiver, welding to that and the cross member, dropping your new receiver below the bumper where is should  be. Oh, and put the hitch pin holes in it. 😆  I got it at 250 out the door if you find the welder intrigued and up for the challenge of unf%cking what some idiot did to f%ck you
 Guys like that love to bitch about the idiot that came before lol. Just dont mention your line of work. With a truck like that, he wont guess it, lol Camo pants wouldn't hurt.
 
 

It seems vehicles are quite insanely overpriced. Even if the transmission needs to be replaced, I can do that for about $1,000 and even if I go high-end on the hitch, that's $450. Still a lot less expensive then spending $10,000 on a truck that has who knows what issues with it. At least I know most of my under body is new and the engine has less than 20k miles. I might have to redo the trailer wiring but that shouldn't be too difficult.

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