US Trucks

Avalange

Avalange

Active Member
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Jun 16, 2007
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SW Germany - car & beer paradise -
Hi alltogether!

I'm very into US trucks and big SUVs (although I thing they only work in America and not her in Germany on our crowded roads) and while reading through internet pages I often humble across words like "half ton", "three-quarter ton" or "one ton".

My question is: What do these expressions mean?

Thank you for the answers!
 
klutch said:
It refers to the weight of the average American driver that buys it.
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haha, it actually refers to the payload of the truck. Though I've read that it's not the maximum anymore and that most modern trucks can handle much more.
 
Yeah, nowadays it's just a model size thing. GM and Dodge use 1500, 2500, and 3500 for their 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, and 1 ton models. Ford uses 150, 250, and 350.
 
How can you claim that you're "very into" trucks and SUVs without knowing even the basics of sizes? Just sayin' ...
 
It has to do with the size of the truck and their payload. (ie. how much weight you can pile into the bed) A standard truck is usually a 1/2 ton truck (F150, 1500 etc.)

It also has to do with the running gear. The axles and suspention are going to be alot different in a 1/4 ton and a full ton truck.

Edit: oops, I honestly meant to write 1/2 ton, but typo insued!
 
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And this means actually in the bed and not being towed. But as bartboy9891 said, they often can carry more, but it's just what they were "designed" to carry in the bed.
 
As an example of a truck carrying more. My dad has a 1/2 ton Dodge RAM (1500 model designation). The truck can easily take a 1 ton skid of shingles. I know because we used our truck to buy two skids of shingles. We had to make two trips and drive very carefully. The truck was sitting quite a bitter lower.
 
klutch said:
It refers to the weight of the average American driver that buys it.
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I have to admit that one made me lol for real :lol:


As people said, it refers to how much weight can be supported in the bed of the truck, but it is usually understated.
 
Hidden_Hunter said:
Odd, I thought that their payload would be much higher than that
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Whole point of the F-250, F-350, and if you really want to go crazy, the F-350 dually, but that's more for towing a fifth wheel trailer.
 
Thank you all for your answers!

epp_b said:
How can you claim that you're "very into" trucks and SUVs without knowing even the basics of sizes? Just sayin' ...
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I do know quite a lot about trucks. I just didn't suspect the ton thing to refer to the payload, because you Americans usually measure weight in pounds and don't have the metrical system. Additionally, the actual payload, as pointed out in this thread, is significally higher, so when looking through the specifications, the connection between these two things wasn't really obvious.
 
Straight from Wikipedia:
Wikipedia said:
Full-size pickups in North America are sold in three size ranges - ? Ton, ? Ton and 1 Ton. These size ranges originally indicated the maximum payload of the vehicle, however modern pickups can typically carry far more than that. For example, the 2006 model Ford F-150 (a "? Ton" pickup) has a payload of between 1,400 lb and 3,060 lb, depending on configuration. Likewise, the 2006 model F-350 (a "1 Ton" pickup) has a payload of between 4,000 lb and 5,800 lb depending on configuration.
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That being said I know I've had 425 gallons of water in a tank in the bed of my F-250 (3/4 ton). That's about 3,500 pounds.
 
CraigB said:
That being said I know I've had 425 gallons of water in a tank in the bed of my F-250 (3/4 ton). That's about 3,500 pounds.
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I'm going to be very nosy and curious and ask...why?

In my head I can only assume you accidently parked on the beach during low tide or you turned the flatbed into a swimming pool...:p
 
teeb said:
I'm going to be very nosy and curious and ask...why?

In my head I can only assume you accidently parked on the beach during low tide or you turned the flatbed into a swimming pool...:p
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Hauling water for irrigation purposes or water mixed with an herbicide/pesticide?
 
Avalange said:
I just didn't suspect the ton thing to refer to the payload, because you Americans usually measure weight in pounds and don't have the metrical system.
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In America "ton" refers to the short ton, which is 2000 lbs. Not the British long ton (2240 lbs) or the metric tonne (1000 kilograms).
 
Hidden_Hunter said:
Odd, I thought that their payload would be much higher than that
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It is, see below.

watisdis said:
In America "ton" refers to the short ton, which is 2000 lbs. Not the British long ton (2240 lbs) or the metric tonne (1000 kilograms).
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True, but a bit irrelevant.

poptya said:
As people said, it refers to how much weight can be supported in the bed of the truck, but it is usually understated.
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Understated, and not by a little.

The "half-ton, three-quarter ton, one ton" designations are left over from when that really was the actual payload weight capacity of a truck - about 25-30 years ago. Today, they're just class names, and not actual indications of capacity.

Let's use Ford's line up as an example. The "half-ton" F-150 can have a maximum payload of 2900lbs, almost a ton and a half. The standard payload of the truck is 2000 without the heavy duty package, so it's capable of hauling a full ton around. The standard F-250 "three-quarter ton" truck has a capacity of up to 3200lbs, which is a ton and a half; not much of an improvement over the F-150HD's payload, but it has a huge increase in towing capacity. The F-350 "one ton" truck has an actual payload capacity of *5800lbs* - almost three tons! (Or one whole German.)

So, like so many things, the "ton" rating for pickup trucks is just a leftover from an earlier time.
 
klutch said:
It refers to the weight of the average American driver that buys it.
Click to expand...

You do realize that you live in Canada right?
 
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