The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Truck weight question

The shop manual for my 54 1/2 ton states that the gross weight is 4800 pounds with "payload". It also says the "base truck" weight is 4200 lbs. I apologize in advance if I'm an idiot for asking, but is 4200 lbs what the truck weighs by itself (indicating that the max payload is 600 lbs)? I'm in need of a new floor jack and it looks like I need a 2 1/2 ton jack or better to be safe. Does that seem right? Thanks in advance.

Your logic sounds right, although your truck may weigh less than 4200 empty. (my 52 1 ton weighs 4400)

You may never lift the entire trucks weight with the jack at one time, but best to plan for a bigger jack that you think you need any how.

Grigg

What I have found is the heavier the jack, the less the effort when lifting the truck. However, the heavier the jack the more space it takes up including the handle. Some of the larger jacks would be a real pain to maneuver underneath. My old one was a 2 Ton and it wore out. I believe that my new one is a 2 1/2 Ton.

I don't think it means that 4200 is the tare or empty weight of the truck. It's probably closer to 3100#. (That's where the 3100, 3600, etc. series came from.) Here is the page from the 54 Truck Shop Manual. The 4200 base is with the base tires. Most of the other series trucks have multiple GVW ratings depending on tires and springs, etc.
I agree with the others get a jack bigger than you think you need, could be handy.

Frank50,
I have never heard that explanation of the number series but it seems to fit. I wonder how far up the series that goes?

The 4200 figure in the shop manual is gross weight with 6.00-16-6ply tires. The 4800 figure is with 6.50-16-6 ply tires on the rear. That's the mfg. suggested weight limit for a fully loaded truck. Read the note. .....includes the truck chassis with lubricants, water and full tank or tanks of fuel, plus the weight of the cab or driver's compartment, body and special chassis and body equipment, and payload.


By the way, the series numbers have nothing to do with weight.

Weight of a 1954 Model 3104 pickup is listed at 3145 pounds.

Ghostrider- where did you get that figure from? It makes sense, though, especially with what Frank50 wrote about the series number (3100). So the empty truck (54 1/2 ton) by itself should weight around ~3100 pounds, and the *maximum* suggested vechicle weight is either 4200 or 4800 pounds depending on the rear tires. Well that clears that up.

I just wish the shop manual would be more clear about how much the truck weighs by itself. I understand the need for total weight (including payload), but it seems like a more useful number is the maximum payload weight. Perhaps that figure is in the owner's manual. I wouldn't think a typical truck owner would care how much the thing weighs; rather, he'd be concerned with how much he can haul around. Anyway, thanks all for the input.

I'm changing my model number from 221 to 175! Boy I feel better already...

It would be impossible for the factory to give an allowable weight you can put in the bed. There are just to many variables that add up and must be subtracted from the max allowable weight for the whole truck. Small variables being how many people in the cab, tools under the seat, spare tire or not, full tank of fuel, grill guard, mud and dirt stuck in the frame.... Big ones being type of bed and size, dump bed or not, winch, PTO...... and on and on.

The final word is what the entire truck weighs while driving down the road, that's what the engineers figure and the truck is designed for.

Grigg

Greg,
The info is from the Standard Catalog of Chevrolet Trucks.
Page 77 to be exact.

fight nice boys....

Regardless of what a 54 year old document states. Drive it on your local scale empty and get your current empty weight. Chassis gross weight is pre-determined

I also remember either reading, hearing, etc. somewhere that the 3100's were 3100 wet weight, and about 2950 dry weight

Just to confuse this issue: the 1954 Truck Data book gives a "Shipping Weight" of a 1954 3104 1/2 ton Light-Duty Pick-up as 3,115 lbs. This weight includes all regular equipment (grease and oil; 5 x 6.00-16 wheels/tires; 3-speed transmission; no rear bumper; no bed-side tire carrier).

"Curb Weight" with standard equipment is 3,255 lbs (must include 140 lbs for coolant and no gasoline; but, it is supposed to include a full tank of gas and a filled cooling system)?

Maximum GVW = 4,800

The Truck Data Book gives definitions of what is included in Shipping Weight, Curb Weight, and Gross Vehicle Weight

Clear as a bell?

Weight figures for each model, including the added weight by axle for most accesories, is available in the restoration pack for your truck.

Just to muddy up the issue a bit more, I have a related question. On the passenger side of my 1/2 ton '53 is written in stencil GW 7000. It has the small extra springs under the rear axle, but that can hardly change the manufacturer's recomendations, so what gives? I've been carrying some pretty heavy loads the last 2 years, and the truck swims all over the road. I really have to take it easy with the speed sometimes.
Karl

That is over 2000 lbs above the manufacturer's maximum GW, is it meant to include the weight including that on whatever I might be pulling?

These weights all seem to be ficticious to me. Back in the days when we had to buy regular truck plates we had to have a weight slip to get a license plate. Most of us would take off the spare tire all extra equip. sometimes the rear bumper,etc. just to get the weight below 4000 lbs.True the gross weight stated on your tag is a maximum reccomended loaded weight. But 3100 lbs for a half ton truck sounds pretty light.Most of the 1960s 1/2 ton trucks weighed in MT at around 3800 to 4100 lbs depending on how many extras were on it.I would think that the older ADs having heavier body panels would weigh about the same. Only way to find out for sure is to have it weighed.

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.

That's my own private theory about the weights and series numbers and it may be only coincidental that it "almost" fits some of the models. The weight info is in the "resto" pack info. Keith Hardy's site has lots of them on-line and the one for my 50 3604 pickup list the curb weight at 3695 lb. The 3104 pickup shipping weight is 3175. So....it's close. But I do wonder where did they get the series numbers? I know the Canadian 1/2-tons are 1300 not 3100.

Since my '54 GMC 100 had been out of license for over 30 years I had to have it weighed to get title. On a certified truck scale it weighed 3,460 lbs. with no rear bumper and very little fuel.