Are You Buying All These Half-ton Claims?

monkey44 wrote:




My point was, and still is, would you rather travel with your family in a truck at the maxed out level of its specs (even if just barely under specs), or would you rather carry your family in a truck in the mid-range of the safety specs.

Which one is safer -- I never said "it is NOT safe", I said if it was at the maxed out level of safety specs, it is LESS safe than a truck that runs consistently in the mid-range of its design potential ...

In an emergency situation, it is much more likely you will exceed the safety specs in a truck operating at that max level than will a truck in the middle of its specs -- under emergency conditions, I personally would like a little more room in the specs to handle that emergency ... Just sayin' ...

And, it seems lots of folks on here want to look at the numbers and squeeze every single extra drop out of those numbers. I believe that is an unsafe position to take when your family safety is at stake ...

When your truck is sitting sideways, and one of your kids breaks an arm, and your head aches from hitting the side rail on your door -- "But I was under specs" is a ridiculous statement to make.

X4
I've read on this forum numerous times about how people are weighing their rigs, loaded, unloaded, etc. just to make sure they fall within their mfr's specs. They come up a few hundred pounds less than the rating and all is good in their opinion. Here's the simple fact (and this will certainly be criticized): if you're so close to the weight limits, either payload or towing, that you have to be so concerned about your weight, then you're already messing up. Get a more capable TV or a more suitable TT. Period. There's no reason people should have to worry about their weights all the time. If that describes some of you, then do something different. I enjoy the peace and comfort of loading my TT and TV however I desire without worrying about the weight situation.

RinconVTR wrote:

To think you are safer than anyone else just because you're under OEM ratings makes you naïve and a bigger safety risk than others who understand there is much more to towing than weights and ratings.

I would argue that this is a very foolish statement. Sounds like the common ideology of the gun control group. How is someone choosing to use a larger, more capable TV a bigger safety risk?

brulaz wrote:

So I am risking the safety of my family by loading my truck up close to it's GVWR of 7500. But not if I load it to 6500# (half the payload).

Do you also travel at half the speed limit?

What nonsense and fear-mongering.

No, I think the nonsense is that people are burying their head in the sand just because someone suggests that, perhaps, a better choice could be made than a smaller TV.

I'm in the construction business and do A LOT of driving and hauling. The funny thing is (well, maybe not so funny) is that the only group of people that have consigned themselves to hauling heavy loads with smaller (ie half ton) trucks are the RV'ers. Hot shot drivers...NO. Car haulers...NO. Work trucks with cargo trailers...NO. Cattle/Livestock haulers...NO. Farmers...NO. Service trucks...NO. Small equipment haulers...NO. No other group of people consistently use small trucks for their hauling. Heck, in my area, people don't even haul large boats with 1/2 tons. So what makes RV'ers exclusive?? Are TT's somehow less difficult to tow?? Are they somehow less impactful to the wear and tear of the TV?? This is a great hypocrisy in the world of towing that I don't think people on this forum are prepared to face. MFR's weight ratings and specs are ALL theoretical, based upon a very well-defined set of conditions. How about we toss the theoretical values aside and consider constant real-world proven data.

An interesting observation as I conclude this rant...nearly all the "1/2 ton defenders" on this thread and throughout the forum have a 1/2 ton truck in their sig line. Notably, of course, the same can be mostly said about the 3/4 and 1 ton truck guys too ;)