I dont think I ever really asked this question but it always had me wondering.... My truck is a 49 GMC 150. It’s definitely a 150 no doubt about that but the original owner (im assuming) had it lettered on the bedside and the weights dont make sense to me. Im guessing this would have been some type of commercial truck at some point but would they just choose what they felt was max load for their own vehicles? Or was there a different reason? I love the original lettering and I think it adds to the cool factor but I was just always stumped on why the numbers are what they are. The GVW on the door tag is 5800lbs.
Where I live, we pay an annual licence fee based on the GVW. The bigger the truck, the more you pay.
40 years ago, I bought a brand new truck 1980 truck. When I registered it, a friendly agent noticed that it had a GVW of 8600 and asked if I really needed that. I said it was really way more than what I needed. So she registered it with a GVW of 6400. This saved me money every year for the next 30 years!
So the licence rating might not match the factory rating....
Ya that 2785 Lt Wt seems a bit suspect. Heck my little fibre glass bodied Cobra replica weighs almost 2400# I'm guessing the truck would be a lot more than that. I'll bet Gords take on it is right, back in the day I'll bet a lot of states were doing the same thing.
38 Chevy 1/2 ton being resto-moded 65 AC Cobra replica USAF vet
Yea that makes sense. I wasn’t even thinking about the cost of the registration. I remember the look on my face when i registered my ford superduty😧
The title on my 1-ton says it weighs 3975#. According to the GM book that is the approx. weight for a chassis/cab. I have read that the shipping weight was yet another number negotiated with the railroads back in the day, and was net of any accessories, fuel, oil, water, spare tire, etc.
Its actual scale weight with fuel and driver is approx. 5600#. In my state if the trucks is over 4000 # you have to license it for 1.5 times the unladen weight. So, I license it for 6,000#. Of course I never carry more than 400# except on the farm.
1951 3800 1-ton "Earning its keep from the get-go" In the DITY Gallery 1962 261 (w/cam, Fenton headers, 2 carbs, MSD ign.), SM420 & Brown-Lipe 6231A 3spd aux. trans, stock axles & brakes. Owned since 1971.
Interesting 🤔. I have seen a few 1/2 tons and 3/4 tons with all different gvw numbers painted on and was always curious why they were so far off.
I have hauled like 800lbs worth of wood pellet fuel in mine. Rides like a dream with some weight out back instead of the rear end bouncing over every crack in the road.
