blt2ski wrote:
Any one recall the days that GM put 350 gas motors in reg cab twucks.....ie reg cabs were the only thing out there excepting a very few and far between crew cab. ie about 1980 or so......a BB 454 4 bbl put out a whopping 195hp, and maybe at best 330 lb ft of torque! oh baby! powerful motor it was! The std motor was a 292 I 6 with 105hp in the 25-65 series trucks.....a 250 I6 in the 1500's.......a 350 2bbl put out maybe 150 hp and 250 lb ft of torque, and the 305 was around 130 and 200 lb ft of torque.......
The Lowest HP motors in GM;s fleet now put out what, 200 hp, and probably over 200 lb ft of torque! the best is the dmax at 400/800 or so! Heck, an intro sb8 has more hp etc than a BB 454 of yor! Pulling power is NOT an issue to day folks! Payload was back then, as it is today.....
SO whomever mentioned earlier "if you have the payload for the people, cargo and hitch wt, you will pull a trailer fine"
Oh yeah, the GCWR for a 350 back then with 4.10;s was 13500. A half ton weighed about 4500 lbs, with an 8500 max trailer tow. A 2500 was around 5K lbs, tow rating 8000 lbs, a dually around 6000 lbs, and a whopping 7500 lbs tow rating. Happened just as the OP states, a half ton can tow more than a 1 ton! Been going on for many many many years with the way manfuactures rate LDT trucks.
Marty
Thank you for the history. I am simple enough to have thought these tow capacity inconsistencies is a recent problem with the pickup truck industry.