Ralph Cramden wrote:
I have been under one while it's been up on a lift, as well as an F250 or two, GM's 2500HD's, and a Dodge 2500 once or twice.
Yes.....the axles......The big 3 have floaters in the rear and the Nissan semi floating. If we are talking definition, when the semi floaters axle snaps, off go's the wheel, and when the floaters axle snaps you keep going. The axle carries the weight on the semi floating, on the floating all the axle does is provide rotational torque, the entire rear end carries the weight. I believe the Nissan has a rear axle weight rating of 4900. I don't know the Dodge or Ford from memory but my GMC is 6200.
Nissan touts a 14" and change diameter rotor, but it stops there. All the big 3 use much more substantial pads and calipers, rotor size non withstanding.
The frame. Much more substantial on the big 3. No comparison can be made on the rest of the driveline or suspension components either from soup to nuts.
Calling them 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton is all outdated terminology going back to the day a 1/2 ton could haul 1000 lbs, and a 3/4 ton could haul 1500. Since my GMC 2500 has a payload of 2835 I guess I could call it a 1-13/32 ton.
The axle is the same as the one found in the NV3500 1-ton van. Whether it is a semi or full floating axle is irrelevant as long as it is designed to carry X amount of weight of the vehicle class it is in.
The brakes on the XD have just as much rotor diameter and thickness per the specs as the other big 3 at 14.17/1.5 in the front and 14.37/1.2 in the rear. To put that in contrast, all Ram 2500/3500 have a 14.17/1.53 front and 14.09/1.34 rear. The both use 10.0 dual diaphragm as well.
In all actuality the frame of the Titan XD is rated at almost the same psi and section modulus as the other big 3 as well with 9 cross-members.
In order for the Titan Xd to be in the same class 2B as the rest of the 250/2500 trucks, it has to able to have a GVWR of over 8,501 lbs. Which it does. Heck, the Ram Power Wagon has a GVWR of 8,510 lbs and people still consider that a 3/4 ton so why would a truck with a GVWR of 8,990 lbs not be considered a 3/4 ton? That is also just 10 lbs shy of a Ram 2500 with the 5.7L Hemi.
