Posted by Matt Wilson [108.162.216.153] on Sunday, March 14, 2021 at 18:02:50 :
In Reply to: Re: m37 3/4 ton.-- power wagon 1 ton ??? posted by Vaughn [172.68.132.188] on Saturday, March 13, 2021 at 20:57:05 :
Well, one thing you've got to keep in mind is that the labels "1/2-ton," "3/4-ton," "1-ton," etc., are just that - labels. They are the nominal value of the truck's cargo weight-carrying capacity. I suspect there was a time, many decades ago, when the true weight-carrying capacity of a truck was pretty much equal to its nominal value, meaning a 1/2-ton was really rated for about 1000 lbs, or a 1-ton was really rated for about 2000 lbs. But over time, I'm betting the manufacturers decided they needed to one-up each other to the point where a truck's weight rating in pounds became much larger than its nominal rating.
My 1990 F150 weighs about somewhere around 4000 lbs empty, but its gross weight rating is something like 5800 lbs, so that's nearly 2000 lbs for a half-ton truck. I've looked at specs for many other trucks, old and new, even going back to the 40's or 50's, of all different tonnages, and they're all similar in that their true rating in pounds is much more than their nominal rating.
Like you and Clint (and others), I've carried a lot more than a ton of stuff in the bed of my truck. The most I've carried is in the neighborhood of 6000 lbs of dirt. I did that once, and have carried around 4000 - 5000 lbs of dirt and/or gravel several times. I only went short distances, but the truck handled it all pretty well.
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