1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, and 1 Ton Trucks! Know the Towing and Payload Differences!

What's going on, guys? One of the most common questions I am always asked is related to a certain type of truck to pull or tow a certain type of trailer, and they generally want to

know

if they are in a good position to do so. Well, the challenge that a lot of people may not understand is really what the

differences

are between a modern half ton truck, a 3/4 ton truck, a one ton truck with a single rear wheel, and a one ton truck. with double wheels, and even a medium-sized one. truck in terms of

towing

capacity and

payload

capacity, because both are huge factors when it comes to safely

towing

a travel trailer or fifth wheel.

Alright guys, we just arrived at AutoNation Chevrolet in Corpus Christi, Texas, this is your northern dealership. They have two here and what I'm going to do is go through each class of truck that they have and give you an idea of ​​what to expect in terms of towing capacity versus

payload

capacity because again it's very important that you get both. Okay, so let's start with this. Well, let's focus on some of these midsize

trucks

first, so they'll generally be the lightest and smallest pickup

trucks

you'll be able to find. These trucks will generally range from approximately 1,200 pounds total. the way up to about a two thousand pound payload capacity depending on the configuration you purchase these trucks in a two wheel drive truck you will generally have a higher payload capacity because the two wheel drive system is a more lighter than having a four-wheel drive system, but these trucks will vary depending on how you equip them.

A heavily loaded four-wheel drive truck with all the bells and whistles will have a lower carrying capacity than a relatively stripped down truck, so again, if you're looking to get one of these trucks in their most common form, which would be something like this, where it's a crew cab, four-wheel drive package vehicle that will have more options than one of these lower trim models, which you'll expect to see with a payload of thirteen hundred pounds. If you get one slightly reduced and with two-wheel drive, you can see up to about eighteen hundred pounds, again depending on the cabin configuration and what features it has, but a good area would be between 1200 and all the way up to about 2,000 pounds of payload capacity, making some of these trucks actually exceed half-ton trucks in terms of payload capacity;

However, the maximum towing capacity will only be about 7,000 pounds as rated by the manufacturer. In most cases, I do not recommend towing a travel trailer or RV that weighs over 3500 pounds with the truck like this primarily due to to the high profile nature of an RV and how they react to wind and sway, so these trucks will have relatively high payload capacities even though the towing capacity is going to be relatively low, let's move on to the midsize trucks ton. Now when we look at half-tons, things can get very, very interesting, mainly because a half-ton truck with high SPECT and high finish will generally be priced very low.

Low payload capacity: Something like a high-end Chevrolet will generally have a payload capacity of 1,200 or even eleven hundred pounds. If you get one of these Trail Boss trucks, you'll also see a relatively low cargo capacity primarily due to the components they use to make the truck more off-road capable, as well as some of the internal features, if you want to get the highest cargo capacity. For a half-ton truck, you should usually get it in a relatively basic package, now a regular cab truck like this will have the highest payload capacity, especially if it has two-wheel drive.

As you move forward and start adding features, you add length to the truck like an extended cab, that's where you'll see your cargo capacity decrease slightly because the gross vehicle weight rating of most of these trucks will be relatively the same, so which the more you add to the curb weight of the truck will actually decrease the carrying capacity if you look at a two wheel drive vehicle. On a truck like this you can generally expect to see a payload capacity of 1600 to 1800 pounds, now in terms of towing capacity these half ton trucks will generally have towing capacities of between 8,000 pounds and about 12,000 pounds depending on how re-equipping the truck, the more things you add to the truck, can affect its towing capacity and you always want to remember that just because a truck may have a towing capacity of 12,000 pounds does not mean that the hauling capacity it has will be able to. support a trailer that has a tongue weight of 1200 pounds, so keep in mind that a high-spec truck will generally have a relatively low payload capacity and that's about the same for even the heaviest-duty trucks, so what with For a half ton truck like most of these, I generally recommend keeping an RV at around 6,000 pounds and the reason is that many people may not realize that even though these two trucks look identical, this truck may have a maximum rating of 8,000 pounds. towing capacity where this truck could have a maximum towing capacity of eleven thousand pounds and unless you specifically

know

your truck's numbers on what they have done to allow that truck to tow more and what the payload capacity of your truck, you could be putting yourself at risk by unintentionally overloading the truck, so that's the main reason I usually say to try to maintain a gross vehicle weight rating of around six thousand pounds, of course, there is some game there and the towing experience also has a lot to do with it if you've towed a lot of trailers.

You understand how to load your trailer correctly. You understand how to fight the swing when things like that happen. So you could be safe going beyond that six thousand pounds, but for people who are getting into RVing for the first time and thinking about traveling. trailers, this is something to keep in mind and the other thing you really need to pay attention to is that half ton trucks have a very soft rear suspension, they are designed for comfort, they are designed to be able to carry some cargo, but At the same time, they are generally relatively soft in the rear, which means that just because you can load a fifth wheel hitch on it, you can put a fifth wheel tongue on the rear, the weight of the pin of a fifth wheel generally It ranges from about 2,200 pounds all the way up to 6,000 pounds, depending on what you get, it may not seem like the back of the truck sags much, but when you start hitting potholes, when you start hitting expansion joints, when you hit potholes, things like that, you're really going to max out. your suspension and you have a very high risk with the fifth wheel of bottoming out, losing control of the vehicle and possibly damaging or bending your frame, which is one of the things people usually don't think about when trying to pair. a half-ton truck to a fifth wheel, they hook it up, sit back and say, well, look, it looks level, but then when they hit a bump, they don't realize how much stress that's putting on a relatively soft suspension, like this That's the main reason I say you should never combine most fifth wheels with half-ton pickups.

There are some that are incredibly light, even the weight of the pin is very light and in most cases they will be fine, but there aren't many. from manufacturers that make them, well, let's move on to a 3/4 ton truck. So when you look at 3/4 ton trucks you are moving into a completely different class of truck, what that means is that this truck is generally going to be over ten thousand pounds gross vehicle weight up to about twelve thousand five hundred pounds gross vehicle weight. gross vehicle and what that really means is that it has a lot more payload capacity and generally more towing capacity, this is Really, when you start to get into that sweet spot of a truck that has a good payload capacity, as well as a good tow number, what you need to keep in mind is if you are looking at a 3/4 ton truck versus a one ton truck with a single rear wheel, the payload capacity will be significantly different between the two when you put a diesel engine like this Duramax Allison transmission equipped Chevy 3/4 ton in front of us and combine that diesel with that diesel that weighs significantly. more than its gas counterpart, so if you get this in a 3/4 ton package, you may find that the actual carrying capacity on this truck is actually as much as that of a half ton truck;

It could be in those eighteen hundred thousand nine hundred pounds. range simply because the weight of the motor is an important factor in the load capacity that is applied in all manufacturers, it is not just about motors in general, so one thing to keep in mind and always pay attention to is the door sticker on these, usually their load capacity. on a 3/4 ton diesel equipped truck it weighs between seventeen hundred fifty pounds up to about two thousand eight hundred pounds when you get on a one ton truck with a single rear wheel, that's where it will jump up to about two thousand five hundred pounds up to about thirty-six hundred pounds with a diesel when you get the gas-equipped version, you'll generally see the payload capacity in the range of two-five hundred pounds to about thirty-four hundred pounds for a three-quarter ton rear wheel and a single ton, you'll see it between about thirty to two hundred pounds and about forty to one hundred pounds, so the argument between gasoline and diesel really comes into play when you're looking at the payload capacity for these single rear wheel applications, the Towing numbers have gotten really good on many of these trucks most of the time.

I would say if you're going to tow a travel trailer, you can go up to about fourteen thousand pounds with a travel trailer, which is actually very hard to find, most of them will weigh between nine and eleven or twelve thousand pounds. This would be a great vehicle to tow your larger, heavier travel trailers whenever you get into something larger than that. You'll want to look at a one-ton truck with a single rear wheel or even a one-ton truck with two wheels, mostly. due to the greater load capacity and stability. Believe it or not, if you want to get the maximum payload capacity. a three quarter ton truck or one ton truck in crew cab format with four wheel drive, this is the package you would need to get it, this is a work truck package, this package will give you the highest hauling capacity useful simply because it's relatively stripped down there aren't many bells and whistles and because there aren't many bells and whistles it doesn't take away the payload numbers from the trucks so as long as you look at 3/4 ton or 1 ton part single rear Keep this in mind: many times what kills your payload capacity will be the diesel engine, as well as the fact that you have a fairly high spec truck, so when looking at these trucks you always want to keep in mind the which has been. done on the factory truck to take the payload off it ok neither the north nor south chevy dealership had new dually pickups in stock so I'll show you a preview because the ford dealers are down the street.

So whenever you're thinking about upgrading to a dually pickup, that's where you're really going to get the best combination of towing and payload capacity, typically a one ton dually pickup truck from either manufacturer will be between about forty eight hundred pounds up to about sixty five hundred pounds of cargo capacity and that's usually going to be on a crew cab version or an extended cab version, it's even higher than that on a regular cab version, but if you're looking at going up to a double truck, that's where you talk about a suspension which is a significantly stiffer suspension that is designed to support an excessive amount of weight, meaning if you're going to haul a heavy toy truck or a heavy fifth wheel or Even a very heavy travel trailer, you don't have to worry about the trailer moving and causing too much movement in the back of the truck which will cause instability, so when talking about moving from a 3/4 truck ton or even a single rear wheel ton truck that will still have a comparatively soft suspension compared to a dually, the dually will really shine in terms of giving you an excellent towing number as well as an excellent amount of payload, so than with a trucklike this one from any of the manufacturers is not going to be just because you can look at a ram or you can look at a GM truck, you're going to expect something like this to have between 55 and 57 hundred pounds on average as a payload capacity, which means that If you have a heavy toy hauler with 4,000 pounds of weight, you will still have a significant amount of cargo capacity to transport people and your belongings inside the truck without overloading the vehicle, which is really nice and the big advantage is the numbers. of towing and the traction you have in the Motiva the redundancy of having two extra tires on the rear, but when you think about towing with a double, you have to understand, of course, the increase in width, the fact that you won't be able to pass it through your traditional car wash and the fact that you may not be able to maneuver it as well as having a smaller truck, the key behind all of this at the end of the day is figuring out what is the best truck for the best application in terms of trailer, what I like about dual is in general, it gives you the best of everything, with the only compromise of having an extended rear end and a slightly wider turning circle, except if you go for something like a 450 with that front axle of wide track, what you can expect to tow. with something like this would be your large travel trailers over 10,000 to 11,000 pounds, what you want is the most sway control possible and the most stability possible when towing what you would expect to tow with something like this would be your very large travel trailers. large, even your target model, travel trailers, anything that weighs over 12,000 pounds, which I would also expect would be something like a fifth wheel between about 12,000 and up to twenty-five thousand pounds, they make some that are heavier, but they are not very many of those or even a toy truck in the 18 to 25 26 thousand pound range primarily again because of that increased payload capacity and the ability to tow and stop your larger trailers, plus the added weight of these trucks, the make inherently more stable and redundancy. of the extra tires anyway guys I hope you enjoyed this video.

I just wanted to quickly point out the different types of trucks and my recommendation in terms of towing and the

differences

between these trucks and I hope this video helped you decide. to get your next truck guys, if you haven't had a chance, take a moment, subscribe to my channel, give me a like and we'll talk to you again very soon.