Will a 3/4 ton do

Lantley wrote:
And this is where it all goes hay wire. We don't want to accept the ratings.
We want to challenge them and re-rate the ratings.
We want to decide which are valid and which are not.
Which ratings apply to our scenario and which can be ignored.
At some point it boils down to either you abide by them or you don't.
I undersrtand some are tax,ratings and registration ratings but in the end they all serve a purpose.
I don't believe your combo is going to explode if you exceed a rating.
However I firmly believe a combo that is within all of its ratings will ultimately be safer and out perform a combo that is within some of its ratings.
In the end 1500,2500,3500 SRW,3500 dually, MDT,HDT basically step up in performance ratings and capabilty.
Stick with all the parameters and your combo will be fine. Or you can Pick and choose the ones you like and pretend there is no ratings system.

It did serve a purpose at one point in time about half a century ago when the class system was created. However, the magical 10k GVWR got imbedded in many state laws as the toping point between commercial and personal vehicles so even if the US DOT and EPA were to alter the truck classes to increase class 2b or have it break away into its own class, there would still be many different state laws limiting it to 10k.

This the main reason why most 250/2500's are limited to 10k and many 350/3500s can have their GVWR altered free of charge through fleet services to 10k. GM actually just recently broke away from this 10k GVWR limitation on some of their 2500's and they are actually class three trucks just like the 3500's. They still offer 10k trucks for fleets, but have higher GVWR limits for those buying a 2500 for personal use.

Also, as Grit stated, it is not always black and white. There are many laws and limits that have grey areas. Take Texas prima facie speed limits(Transportation code 545.352). Even though a county road may have a posted speed limit of 55 mph, I can legally go up to 70 mph(65 at night) if it is safe to do so(ie little traffic, dry road, etc.). Many people and even police officers do not know about this law. So to many who are ignorant about the law and only look at things as black and white, they see the posted speed limit as being there for a reason and is the max safety limit when in reality it is not. The prima facia speed limit is. Same goes with the GVWR the manufacturer is forced to give the 2500 under 10k. It is not binding to the consumer in the eyes of the law, the registered GVWR is and you can even register your vehicles to exceed the manufacturers GVWR in many states.