Unsure where it comes from. 1500 means half, 2500 means 3/4, 3500 means full
ton, but the reasoning is funny.
Years ago Ford had F100's, but they were very light duty and probably had a
1/4 ton rating, or something similar. Perhaps a light duty half ton. I
believe chevy had C10, C20 and C30 a long time ago, again, half to full ton.
Dodge had D or W (2 or 4wd) 100's, 150's, 200's (I think), 250's, 300(again,
not sure on this one) and 350's.
To further confound things, you could get manufacturers to sell you a "heavy
half" where you got a truck that had been beefed up and actually had the
capacity of the 3/4 ton, but retained the 1/2 ton badging. Camper specials
were also bad for this - capable of hauling a 2 ton slide in camper but they
were "rated" at 3/4 ton. Perhaps, like the deuce and deuce and a half, this
is an off-road weight rating, the maximum weight the vehicle is capable of
carrying over rough terrain. Anyone who's seen a 5 ton (unsure of
manufacturer but I believe it is AM general) from the US or Canadian army
will attest to the fact that it can probably carry about 5X the rated
payload through any terrain, but perhaps the military saw fit to under rate
them a bit to curb overloading.
However the load ratings are somewhat understated from what I have been
told. A friend of mine drove a "3/4" ton 1977 Camper Special Chevrolet
across Canada and into Alaska about 5 years ago, with a 4600 lbs camper on
the back of the single wheel pickup. The only failure was a wheel exploding,
the outer bead in fact separating from the rest of the wheel and going
flying. The tire actually passed them as they stopped.
The whole thing weighed 9200 lbs at the scales, basically a 3/4 ton pickup
with the equivalent of a 3/4 ton pickup in the bed!
>
> Does anyone know why the designations of "3500" "2500" & "1500" (Or
> 350/250/150 for the Ford people who are a tenth of the others) are used or
> where they came from?
>
> When some one says he has a "2500 Dooley" or "Suburban 2500", what exactly
> does he have 3500 of?
>
> (I get the relationship between 3500 and payload and axles and all that)
>
> It could have been simple. Like boats used to be: One Ton. Half Ton.
Quarter
> Tonners, Fifty Footers, etc. 88/109/127/90/110/130... The name had a
> relationship to the thing, which is what I'm trying to find here with
> pickups and their numbers.
>
> Maybe I'll e-mail that source of wisdom and knowledge at GM... Or maybe
not.
> I think I'll get more satisfaction (and learn more) from cleaning the
> dryer's lint trap.
>
> --pat.
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