2018 F-150 hype....believe it or not?

troubledwaters wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

demiles wrote:
FYI The SAE j2807 towing standard is available for free around the web. If you can’t find it I can send a link to my own copy.

The J standard is ballyhooed a lot.
Though it is a huge step in the right direction compared to the previously used no standards... Tow ratings used to be totally fiction, as every manufacturer made up their own.

It is important to understand what the J standard is, and what it is not.

It is a MINIMUM standard, with a no score or grade. Just a pass or fail. There is no way to know if the truck barely passed the test, or easily passed it.

IIRCC, it requires 35 MPH speed be maintained up a specified grade (among other requirements).

Many of us here, myself included do not consider that acceptable performance. So that standard is pretty useless for us.

A real life example: The current GM diesel offerings are not rated nearly as high as Ram and Ford according to the J standard. But in towing performance tests among the three at GMs ratings. the GM wins handily.
GM has stated that they want their trucks to deliver an acceptable level of performance because that is what their customers expect. So their trucks easily pass the J standard at the GM specified load. Where the Ram and Ford with higher ratings barely pass the J test at their rated load.

One could make the assumption that the GM could tow just as much as the other two.. I am not advocating that. There are some obvious differences. Axle ratios for one. GM only uses the 3.73 and the others use lower gears in their max to configurations.. This obviously will result in the ability to move heavier loads up a hill, but at slower speeds.

As far as the current discussion about half ton capability.What is missing is the durability of the half tons vs their heavier duty siblings. IOW, you may never have an issue using a half ton towing heavy so long as usage is low. But as usage goes up, so does wear and tear.
I personally experienced this on a half ton I started out with.
The rear end gears simply ground away.
In certain areas... Size matters.

First you start out by saying there is no score or grade, just pass and fail. Then you say the GM "easily" passed while the others "barely" passed. Since no one there was keeping score you witnessed all the testing to make that determination? Did you witness all the testing every year or just one year?

Please share with us your first hand observations. We'd all like to know what you know.