Must Have Been A Beer or 12 Involved

Farmerjon wrote:

JSSEC wrote:


In 1999 Ford made a F250 that had a F150 body with suspension enhancements but badged it as F250 to meet new CAFA Standards.

Is that 7 lugnuts ? or just hubcaps with 7 lugnuts ?

I believe those trucks did have 7 lugnuts but I've never owned one.

Reddog1 wrote:

twodownzero wrote:
3/4 ton trucks from that era often had semi floating rear axles, just like 1/2 tons. They had bigger axle shafts, tubes, and wheel bearings, but they were nothing but glorified 1/2 tons.

I do not think this is true. What do you base it on? I have personally worked on both axles, and will say your experience is very different than mine.

In 1981 or 1982, GM introduced the 9.5" 14 bolt semi floating rear axle. 3/4 ton trucks were equipped with it. 4wd 3/4 tons were not available with big block V8s. Some 2wd 3/4 tons with big blocks MIGHT have still had a 14 bolt, 10.5" ring gear, full floating rear axle. No 4x4 3/4 ton would have, though. All of them had the same 10 bolt GM front axle with slightly larger 8 lug rotors and maybe a bigger caliper piston, but other than the 16" wheels and slight brake modifications, the front axle was the same as a 1/2 ton. The 9.5" 14 bolt does have larger axle bearings and 33 spline axle shafts vs. the 1/2 ton, 8.5" 10 bolt's 28 or 30 spline axles and smaller bearings, but when compared to a full floating rear axle, there is no comparison--the 9.5" 14 bolt is much more like a 1/2 ton rear axle than a full floater. In fact, the 9.5" 14 bolt has found its way, with 6 lug axleshafts, into the heavier duty 1/2 ton Chevy trucks. Ford's 8.8 and the larger ~9.25" or so Ford rear has similar specs and features.

3/4 ton Suburbans also use the 14 bolt semi-floater unless they are equipped with a big block V8 (which was not available until the body style change in 1992).

twodownzero wrote:


Respectfully, there is very little in the above post I agree with. As we go through life, things are not always what we think they are. It is important to keep an open mind.

Respectfully, you also disagreed with a factual issue--that 3/4 ton, 1980s-era GM trucks and their semi-floating rear axles. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion about the actual capacity vs. the rated capacity of their vehicles, if your opinion is that overloading a 3/4 ton is okay because 3/4 tons have 1 ton rear axles, your opinion is based on a false premise and therefore whether the conclusion is reasonable is still in question. In that respect, I agree with you--things are not always what we think they are. Keeping an open mind also means that it is worth reexamining your opinion when you realize that it is or may be erroneous. I include myself in that statement, but I have not ever seen any evidence to suggest that overloading a truck is safe based on engineering principles. I am also not an engineer so even if I did, I would probably have to defer to their judgment because while I have common sense, I don't have the relevant technical knowledge to evaluate a rigorous engineering claim.