TXiceman wrote:
I am tired of the people that want to tell everyone that it is OK to go over the manufacturers rating and they will do fine. I have no additional comment where folks like to spread false information. I like seeing that I spent 5 years getting an engineering degree and over 40 years as an engineer and these years were totally wasted according to the "self-proclaimed experts."
Good luck on the road.
Ken
You must be a software engineer. Because anyone with a mechanical background would understand how arbitrary automotive capacity ratings are, universally. It is one of the reasons for the push toward SAE ratings, but that won't be any real solution either.
I can understand when those with limited real world experience look solely at the ratings and fear ever exceeding those. In the absence of experience, it is the prudent thing to do. With experience you learn just how silly the manufacturers numbers can be.
I tend to take axle ratings as gospel, and give GVWR and GCVWR with a wink. But even axle ratings can be silly. For example, your 3/4 ton is likely to have a RAWR of 6,000 or 6,100 pounds. But in the Ford at least, it is common knowledge that it is exactly the same axle as an F350, with over 1,000 pounds higher rating. The difference? Wheels and tires, and maybe not even that if you have an upgraded package. One example of silly ratings, which I have no problem exceeding, because of real world experience. Just change wheels and or tires.
Another example, is the 350/3500 that can be purchased with a 10k pound GVWR. It is exactly the same 1 ton truck, but the rating is manipulated for registration or insurance savings reasons. Are you afraid to exceed that artificial rating? I'm not.
Then there is the whole issue of duty cycle. You can be sure there is one, but the manufacturers don't tell us what it is. We wouldn't know what to do with the info anyway, so they don't tell us. I tend to believe that the duty cycle factor is lower on the typical half ton than it is on the typical 3/4 or 1 ton. Simply because the target market is different for the lighter duty truck than the medium duty. Therefore I would much rather see an "overloaded" medium duty truck than a light duty. But that is all just opinion, because we don't have the calculations to review.
Lastly, we have all seen new model trucks suddenly rated higher than the previous model year, with absolutely no change made to the truck. This is usually because of competitive brand changes. So what happened to last years calculations that suddenly made them wrong?
It is funny to me to read comments on this topic, with all the hand-wringing and lambasting. Some seem to put a lot of faith in a finite rating numbers. You know, if you're 100 pounds under a rating you're okay, but if you're 100 pounds over you must be putting all our lives in danger if we happen to be on the same highway as this violator. It all flies in the face of common sense, which is sorely missing in many cases.
2006 F250 Diesel
2011 Keystone Cougar 278RKSWE Fiver
