One more thing to think about,back in the days of the AD,a rear bumper was an extra or acccesory,as were many other things. Also the weight in the manual is usually a dry weight,no fluids in the thruck at all.So if you figure what a full tank of gas,plus cooling fluid,and engine,trans. and rearend lube weigh it can make quite a difference.As for the reccomend gross weight ,I had a 1965 Ford F100 when I was putting in a new driveway,and garage floor.Many times I had a payload of 3500 to 4000 lbs.on it coming home from the docks. Not that I reccomend that much weight on a 1/2 ton but it steered just like it had power steering.
