Are You Buying All These Half-ton Claims?

Buck50HD wrote:
Many also think that their 10 or 15 year old 3/4 and 1-tons are equivalent to a 2014 model.:S

I'm sure not one of them. I really like my truck, a lot. But as far as comparing it to today's trucks, that would be foolish. It is far and a way ahead of the new F350Ds in one respect - It's paid for! :B

post deleted.

8iron already covered it. :C

spoon059 wrote:
..Then you have the guys that spell the work(sp?) TOW as TOE and BRAKES as BREAKS and then you really have to question the intelligence of someone who doesn't know the appendage on their foot from the act of dragging another vehicle behind them...

Luckily, not everyone judges intelligence by their spelling on Internet forums. Work or word, we know what you meant.

spoon059

I caught myself on one post spelling tow as toe. Hope I didn't miss one and your talking about me. :) I regularly mistakenly type there and their in place of each other. Even though I certainly know the difference. :S

I am a horrible speller I admit. But I do know most 3 and 4 letter words. :B

It's amazing how I can read a post a number of times. But only catch the error after posting it. And I still miss some that embarrass me. :o

I will admit that many times there is a disconnect between my eyes, fingers and brain.

I have also been told a number of times of a disconnect between my mouth and brain.

Although I don't think I was the offender this time. Please accept this as a letter of apology for future transgressions. :o

Also please don't discourage anyone from posting on this board simply because of something such as poor spelling. Not everyone is equal in ability. And participation in this board should be a educational endeavor for all. One that may be at many different levels. Including the ability to spell and communicate.

I have gone past being embarrassed by my poor spelling. But I continue to strive to do better.

I hope no one would expect more than trying very hard. ;)

mich800 wrote:
Is it just me or has this board gone a little crazy lately? It used to be someone had a question about towing limits they would be educated on how to determine for their specific vehicle. Usually the first question by the board would be; what is your gvwr, payload, sticker on the door etc. They would then be shown the nice diagrams on how to calculate if they are under those weights. Even some nice threads on how to get weighed. But now it seems the tide has shifted and this is no longer the case. But, if we cannot use the mfg's ratings who are we supposed to trust to let us know what what those ratings should be?

Good observation. The answer is apparently to trust some stranger on the internet who's 'been there done that' over the mfgr's team of educated engineers.

Here's the formula I see from the 'been there done that' camp:

If 1/2 ton, subtract 25% from the stated ratings, but only if you go in and change out the tires from P to LT-E, first. If on P tires, subtract 50%.

If 3/4 ton, add 50%, 'cuz its and "HD" truck and you know they under-rate 'em from the factory.

If its a 1 ton, ratings are irrelevant -- you can tow whatever you can hook up to it.

Of course, there is no justification for any of these conclusions, other than "well, it's a ______-ton ..."

Me, I'll stick w/ the mfgr's engineers, personally.

IdaD

Very good post.

Gr8life wrote:
A pickup with 10,000 pound gvwr only costs a little more than one with a 7,500 pound rating and will tow the same trailer better. I did not say the 7,500 pound model was worthless, dangerous, or inadequate. There are lots of reasons to choose the various models.

The up front cost difference is pretty minimal. The problem is a lot of people buy the truck first and then figure out the trailer. They see a brochure that says the half ton will tow 11,000 lbs or whatever so they don't worry about the details until later. And once you have the truck it can be an expensive proposition to switch to a different one.

And of course people get defensive about their purchases, especially major ones like a vehicle.

My personal preference is to buy a little more truck than you need cause, as you say, it doesn't really cost much more up front. Then you never have to worry about running out of truck. The downside is a rougher ride, but I don't consider that to be a big issue at all relative to the advantages.

A pickup with 10,000 pound gvwr only costs a little more than one with a 7,500 pound rating and will tow the same trailer better. I did not say the 7,500 pound model was worthless, dangerous, or inadequate. There are lots of reasons to choose the various models.

Gr8life wrote:
I have owned a lot of pickups and the higher the gvwr, the better they tow.

So what over the road tractor do you tow with? Or did you COMPROMISE and buy less than the best because it fit your needs, your family and your budget?

Because if I had the money and a small enough family I would drive a brand new Volvo VNL780 Sleeper with the D16 diesel engine and Eaton manual trans. After all, the higher the GVWR the better they tow right?

Alas, I don't have a $150,000 to spend on a truck... but I don't really need the 40,000 rear axle capacity or 1500 lbs ft torque either. I tow a 6500 lbs trailer and will be getting an 8000 lbs trailer. I need an extended cab for my daughter and son. I need about 1500 lbs of payload to handle all that. That Tundra was substantially less than that Volvo and meets my needs to tow about 3,000 miles a year and handle my family needs the rest of the time.

I think the terms of half, three quarters, and one ton are about as obsolete now as the folks that continue to talk about ply numbers on tires.