audiodane wrote:
thanks gritdog. I assure you, I *have* spent many dozens of hours reading posts here and on other forums, and most of them end up getting into "he said/she said" wars, disagreements, and arguments.
your second paragraph ("FWIW, ..") is along the lines of what I *have* been deducing (and more or less said as much in my OP). That's why I wanted to post a VERY specific example, using VERY specific numbers, in hopes to iron out a VERY specific answer. Either the gvw's *do* matter (and if so, why?), or they are just used for vehicle class ratings by the manufacturers (in which case, they can largely be ignored).
and fwiw, I never said I was a *good* engineer. lol!
..dane
Lol, not sure I am either, but rest assured, this conversation will most likely end up the same.
As an engineer, you would look at the individual components and see if the sum of those components is the same for 2 different "things".
In the case of pickup trucks (save for the minor differences in Rams that I mentioned above, oh and Ford now has an even more beefy rear axle for the 1 ton srw compared to the srw but the srw axle is still rated waaaay higher than the "rated" class 2 payload), the sum of all the same parts = the same answer and this is what is happening here.
Typical class 2 trucks (8 lug 3/4 ton trucks, please some try hard, don't bring up the old 7 lug Fords and 1500HD GMs) are the same truck as the Class 3 single wheel counterparts, but they are intentionally de-rated to fit within this weight class.
You can do a he said/she said argument about why, but practical application is it allows companies to have HD pickups without having to maintain DOT driver files. It allows HD pickups to run on "no commercial traffic" highways in states that have those restrictions. It allows Joe blow to own a HD pickup and park it in his overly covenanted cookie cutter subdivision without the HOA "cops" hassling him.
And the other real world advantage is given the 3/4 ton truck popularity in the US vs the 1 ton. If shopping for a used truck, there are many more 3/4 tons to choose from.
BUT the most important part is the first part. Same axles, same brakes, same frame, same wheels, same drivetrain, same, same, same = its not unsafe to do "1 ton" duties with a 3/4 ton.
