Looking at new trucks
Looking at getting a new truck (4 door pickup style short bed) and looking at the Ford and the Chevy brands. The 2500 HD Chevy has a payload of 2493 lbs and a tow capacity of 13,000 lbs The F1...
Forum Discussion
kodiakcanuck wrote:
To the OP, are you looking at 2015 trucks and payloads? 2015 Ram's have up'd they payload on many models from 2014 to compete with the over inflated payload numbers from the other manufactures, and Ram did this without changing anything to their suspension for 2015. I think some of the manufactures (uhmm - Ford) have been always boosting the numbers to max high end. This article confirms the new standards truck manufacturers are adhering to.
Umm.. Inflated numbers? really?
One could easily make the argument that ALL the manufacturers are GUILTY of overstating the tow ratings BUT the BLAME FALLS ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE CONSUMERS.
Thats right, the CONSUMERS FAIL to READ THE ENTIRE TOWING DOCUMENTATION INCLUDING ALL THE FOOTNOTES that often state..
BASE MODEL, 4X2, REGULAR CAB AND ALL REQUIRED OPTIONS.
The consumer SEEs towing numbers like 10,000, 12,000 lbs towing for a 1/2 ton BUT FAILS TO READ THE FOOTNOTES. Which means that fully decked out Crew cab 1/2 ton is not able to tow that 10,000 lb trailer since all the added items above the BASE MODEL ADDS WEIGHT TO THE CURB WEIGHT WHICH REDUCES THE AVAILABLE CARGO WEIGHT.
The numbers that the manufacturer CAN NOT "INFLATE" are clearly listed on the drivers door post. That is the GVWR, Axle GVWR, CURB WEIGHT and in newer trucks the CARGO WEIGHT IS CLEARLY SPELLED OUT.
Those numbers ARE "CERTIFIED" to be true and correct for that vehicle by the manufacturer. Each and every thing you put on or in the vehicle now becomes cargo and is subtracted from the available cargo weight.
You CAN easily figure out how much weight you can tow by finding the cargo weight. The tongue weight becomes "cargo" of the tow vehicle..
So, say a manufacturer states 10,000 lbs towing they would have to allow for 1,500 lbs of tongue as "cargo"..
Technically as long as your vehicle only has you the driver and a full tank of gas you "could" in theory tow that with a vehicle that has only 1,500 lbs available "cargo" PROVIDED you don't add passengers, gear or even a potato chip to the vehicle..
Pretty much EVERY "half ton" truck now days will fall into this category since most half tons have at least 1,600 lbs of "cargo" payload available IN THE BASE MODEL.
In the real world you would almost never tow with no passengers, nor would you not have "gear" in your vehicle.. Nor do most people buy a BASE MODEL..
READ THE FINE PRINT, THE INFO IS THERE..
