1/2 or 3/4 ton ?

[rbryan4]

The old "3/4 ton" and "1 ton" monikers don't really apply anymore. An F-150 for example (supposedly a "half ton") can be equipped with a payload capacity of well over a ton, at 2309 lbs - only a few lbs short of their base F250. That is a competent work truck, not just a leisure vehicle.

Driving and towing with one for the last 4 plus years, I'd not switch to any other vehicle, because it fits my needs perfectly - whether hauling gravel or landscape materials, going on a Sunday drive, or towing my 19 across the country. I know, I sound like a Ford commercial....[emoji23]

[MikeS]

Hopefully Steve picks the 1/2 ton, then we can help him agonize over the engine selections.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

The old "3/4 ton" and "1 ton" monikers don't really apply anymore. An F-150 for example (supposedly a "half ton") can be equipped with a payload capacity of well over a ton, at 2309 lbs - only a few lbs short of their base F250. That is a competent work truck, not just a leisure vehicle.

Driving and towing with one for the last 4 plus years, I'd not switch to any other vehicle, because it fits my needs perfectly - whether hauling gravel or landscape materials, going on a Sunday drive, or towing my 19 across the country. I know, I sound like a Ford commercial....[emoji23]

I appreciate your comments . I like the Ford F-150 & the Ford F-250
Unfortunately the only Ford dealer in our area / county closed his doors last week and is no longer in business . There are only two auto repair shops near our home and both will not do service work on Ford’s eco-boost engines That means a 150 mile RT to a dealer every time I need warranty or service work . I priced a Ford F-150 with the max towing - max payload package that got the payload up in the mid 2000 lb area but I could buy a 3/4 ton for less money
This is a decision I have to make . If we decide to stick with our Escape 21,then a new 1/2 ton may be the answer .
I enjoy reading other peoples experiences and they do temper the impulsive side of my nature .
Our Ram 1500 is going to be 5 years old and it’s time to change .

[cpaharley2008]

Mine is 5 years old and less tan 30K miles, just broken in.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Mine is 5 years old and less tan 30K miles, just broken in.

We travel more than you . We hit the 30,000 mile marker in 2016

[padlin]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

Unfortunately the only Ford dealer in our area / county closed his doors last week and is no longer in business . There are only two auto repair shops near our home and both will not do service work on Ford’s eco-boost engines That means a 150 mile RT to a dealer every time I need warranty or service work . I priced a Ford F-150 with the max towing - max payload package that got the payload up in the mid 2000 lb area but I could buy a 3/4 ton for less money

94k miles, have yet to go to a dealer for mechanical issues. I have had 3 recalls so far, each one a trip back to the dealer.

When I bought my F150 EB w/max tow and max payload, the price was 2k less then the 3/4T, which was 2k less then the 1T, it was hard enough to make a decision back then.

By the way, each recall to update the software zeroed my towed miles counter.

[steve dunham]

One of the dealers we visited yesterday had over 100 new trucks sitting on their lot
Not one of the 1/2 ton trucks had the factory tow package , factory brake controller , factory receiver hitch , factory tow rear end with limited slip . They had quite a few 3/4 & 1 ton trucks equipped for towing .
Like the salesperson said “ Most people buy 1/2 ton trucks to commute to work and occasionally tow or haul something “

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

One of the dealers we visited yesterday had over 100 new trucks sitting on their lot
Not one of the 1/2 ton trucks had the factory tow package , factory brake controller , factory receiver hitch , factory tow rear end with limited slip . They had quite a few 3/4 & 1 ton trucks equipped for towing .
Like the salesperson said “ Most people buy 1/2 ton trucks to commute to work and occasionally tow or haul something “

This is likely a regional thing. While some 1/2 tons here do see no use for work, there are many that do in oil and construction industries. Plus given our snowing winters almost everything brought in on spec is 4x4 with heavier towing and cargo options put on it, as a lot of companies just decide they need something new, and want it right away, so they try to be ready for this.

[padlin]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

One of the dealers we visited yesterday had over 100 new trucks sitting on their lot
Not one of the 1/2 ton trucks had the factory tow package , factory brake controller , factory receiver hitch , factory tow rear end with limited slip . They had quite a few 3/4 & 1 ton trucks equipped for towing .
Like the salesperson said “ Most people buy 1/2 ton trucks to commute to work and occasionally tow or haul something “

From what I've read over the years and my one experience, the HD payload pkg is pretty much an order only item.

[James Gang]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

The old "3/4 ton" and "1 ton" monikers don't really apply anymore. An F-150 for example (supposedly a "half ton") can be equipped with a payload capacity of well over a ton, at 2309 lbs - only a few lbs short of their base F250. That is a competent work truck, not just a leisure vehicle.

Driving and towing with one for the last 4 plus years, I'd not switch to any other vehicle, because it fits my needs perfectly - whether hauling gravel or landscape materials, going on a Sunday drive, or towing my 19 across the country. I know, I sound like a Ford commercial....[emoji23]

I have a 2012 F250 XL crew cab w/ a 6' 9" bed and 6.2L gas motor. The payload capacity is considerably more than 2309 lbs. The door sticker reads 3450 lbs. More options = more weight on the truck, and thus lowers the payload capacity. I bought this truck new thinking I would buy a small fifth wheel, not an Escape. My life took drastic change, so I went with a 21. The F250 is overkill for the Escape, but it is paid for and has less than 50,000 miles.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by James Gang

I have a 2012 F250 XL crew cab w/ a 6' 9" bed and 6.2L gas motor. The payload capacity is considerably more than 2309 lbs. The door sticker reads 3450 lbs. More options = more weight on the truck, and thus lowers the payload capacity. I bought this truck new thinking I would buy a small fifth wheel, not an Escape. My life took drastic change, so I went with a 21. The F250 is overkill for the Escape, but it is paid for and has less than 50,000 miles.

Well yeah, most F250s have a considerably larger payload than most F150s. My point was that an F150 with max payload package comes in just under the BASE F250 in terms of payload, and by yesteryear's standards the F150 would be considered a heavy duty truck.

Obviously a properly equipped F250 would have much larger capacities.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Yes, I agree, diesel used to be cheaper than gas, similar to kerosene and #2 heating oil.

Diesel fuel for road vehicle use is about the molecular weight of kerosene and #2 heating oil. Many people think it is a "cheap" or "crude" product which is inexpensive to produce, and in the past it was, but it is now a fuel with critical specifications like automotive gasoline, so the production cost is similar. Another reason for the increase in the cost of diesel relative to gasoline is demand: more diesel pickups means more demand, which raises the price. For the same volume, diesel contains 12% more energy than gasoline (and weighs the same 12% more), so logically it is worth more.

Diesel and gasoline also have different seasonal variations:

• gasoline is used mostly by personal vehicles, so demand and prices go up in the summer travel season, but
• diesel fuel production competes with heating oil production for a similar range of distillation products in the refining process, so the price goes up when heating demand is high in the winter.

[James Gang]

Off of Fords website. These are BASE models similar to mine. The only option to increase these numbers is the 10000 lb GVWR, which is listed, and which mine has. A diesel engine and/or options/packages drops these numbers. A diesel, with all the bells and whistles, might be as low as a HD F150



F250 SRW 4X2 Crewcab XL 159.7 WB 3790 LBS
F250 SWR 4X2 Crewcab XL 175.9 WB 3560 LBS


The base F250 2 door has range of a low of 3740 lbs to 4270 lbs of payload depending on whether it is 2WD or 4WD.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

The old "3/4 ton" and "1 ton" monikers don't really apply anymore. An F-150 for example (supposedly a "half ton") can be equipped with a payload capacity of well over a ton, at 2309 lbs - only a few lbs short of their base F250.

True. These trucks more closely match the U.S. classification by GVWR which led to their model names: numeric names starting with "1" (F-150, Chev/GMC/Ram 1500) for Class 1, starting with "2" (F-250, Chev/GMC/Ram 2500) for Class 2, etc. Even that doesn't really work any more, with the "1"-labelled trucks covering Class 2a.

In the world of real trucks, these are all "light duty" (with "medium duty" starting with the Class 4 trucks that are generally not available as pickups), but within pickup trucks the dividing line which corresponds to a significant change in technical design is between Class 2a and Class 2b. Manufacturers use labels such as "HD" (or in the case of Ford, "Super Duty") to describe the heavier group of pickups. This is the division that distinguishes the two categories being discussed here: "1/2 ton" is light-duty pickup, and "3/4 ton" is the lightest heavy-duty pickup. There have also been regulatory requirements which break at this point, which allow manufacturers to get away with things for the "heavy duty" pickups that they can't in the "light duty" models, such as not testing for fuel economy, or not being subject to any standards if they do test and publish the results.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by James Gang

Off of Fords website. These are BASE models similar to mine. The only option to increase these numbers is the 10000 lb GVWR, which is listed, and which mine has.

The 10,000 pound GVWR limit is the top of Class 2a in the classification system which I described, so the next step over that is Class 3 and the Ford model name changes to F-350.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Well yeah, most F250s have a considerably larger payload than most F150s. My point was that an F150 with max payload package comes in just under the BASE F250 in terms of payload, and by yesteryear's standards the F150 would be considered a heavy duty truck.

I would say that a "recent" (for at least a decade) F-150 with a payload package is a Class 2a truck (not just Class 1 as the name would suggest), which long enough ago would have been called an F-250. All three "domestic" pickup manufacturers have chosen to break their product lines between Class 2a and 2b, and to keep the "1" series names for the lighter range, even though the heaviest of them are not Class 1.

This awkwardly named range in Class 2a, at the top of the "light duty" and with the names starting with "1" - the "heavy half-tons" - seem like the obvious target for towing the heaviest of the Escape trailers.

Two factors seem to drive people into the next class up:

1. they want a larger diesel engine (Ford PowerStroke 6.7 instead of 3.0, Ram Cummins 6.7 instead of EcoDiesel 3.0, etc), which needs the heavier chassis to support it, or
2. high tongue weight plus cargo load exceeds available payload.

[NCBill]

You can actually get an F150 with a payload as high as 3,200 pounds. This sounds crazy, but its out there.

You will NOT find it at your local dealer, so you are talking ordering it. Only a few models have this much payload. You have to get the HDPP (heavy duty payload package), in the Supercrew you have to get the longer wheelbase, 6 1/2 foot bed. And with the Supercab truck, you have to get the 8 foot bed. Makes for a really long pickup.

Kind of wonder how it rides when not towing. I believe in 2019 its only XLT or lower. No Lariats.

The HDPP is separate from the max tow package.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by NCBill

You can actually get an F150 with a payload as high as 3,200 pounds. This sounds crazy, but its out there.

You will NOT find it at your local dealer, so you are talking ordering it. Only a few models have this much payload. You have to get the HDPP (heavy duty payload package), in the Supercrew you have to get the longer wheelbase, 6 1/2 foot bed. And with the Supercab truck, you have to get the 8 foot bed. Makes for a really long pickup.

Kind of wonder how it rides when not towing. I believe in 2019 its only XLT or lower. No Lariats..

All of this makes sense: Ford realizes that an usually high payload implies a lot of cargo, so they only offer this with the longer boxes. It is also mostly for people doing actual work (although it would work for a slide-in camper as well), so they don't offer it in the luxury trucks. These limitations are about marketing and keeping the configuration combinations under control, not anything to do with the mechanical design of the vehicle.

I don't think this is so crazy, or unprecedented. Many years ago Toyota offered a one-ton (literally: 2000 pounds) payload in their Truck, which was substantially smaller than the current Tacoma; in proportion to the size of the vehicle, 3200 pounds in a current F-150 isn't out of line. Among current commercial vehicles at Ford, the Transit Cargo van (which is similarly sized to an F-150, of similar curb weight, and shares some of the same engines) has GVWR from 8600 to 10,360 pounds (so generally Class 2b) and payload from 3140 to 4650 pounds. For hauling (not towing), the Transit is more of a real working truck than the F-150; although offered to commercial buyers, the F-150 is really targeted at people who drive it to work or shopping with an empty box, and occasionally put some toys in the back or hook up a travel or boat trailer.

[padlin]

Originally Posted by NCBill

You can actually get an F150 with a payload as high as 3,200 pounds. This sounds crazy, but its out there.

You will NOT find it at your local dealer, so you are talking ordering it. Only a few models have this much payload. You have to get the HDPP (heavy duty payload package), in the Supercrew you have to get the longer wheelbase, 6 1/2 foot bed. And with the Supercab truck, you have to get the 8 foot bed. Makes for a really long pickup.

Kind of wonder how it rides when not towing. I believe in 2019 its only XLT or lower. No Lariats.

The HDPP is separate from the max tow package.

If I ever run into you you can try mine, rides like a truck used to, not a car. And yes, the truck is long ,but you get used to it.

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

One of the dealers we visited yesterday had over 100 new trucks sitting on their lot
Not one of the 1/2 ton trucks had the factory tow package , factory brake controller , factory receiver hitch , factory tow rear end with limited slip . They had quite a few 3/4 & 1 ton trucks equipped for towing .
Like the salesperson said “ Most people buy 1/2 ton trucks to commute to work and occasionally tow or haul something “

I had the same problem when I went looking for a F 150. Three dealers within 50 miles, one that specialized in trucks with 75 F 150s on the lot. 3 with tow mirrors, and they were all Super Crew Cabs - I was looking for their Super Cab.

I ended up having the truck built, but got what I wanted, including tow mirrors, 36 gallon tank, and no leather seats (which I can't stand). I even got a $1500.00 discount because I live in the town where the aluminum sheet metal is rolled for their trucks!