The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Whats in a weight rating?

Can someone explain how the vehicle weight ratings are determined and how you determine how much you can actually haul with reasonable safety in mind? Keep in mind that this is with a driver who is familiar with his vehicles and pays very good attention to braking distances espescially in todays combatative traffic.

My '72 1/2 ton hauls 1K pnds or slightly more on a regular basis. But it has also hauled around 2K pnds, albeit much slower, and is not something I would do very often.

My '72 1 ton had two axle ratings from the factory, one for 10K pnds and another for 14,400 pnds. It has the axle rated for 14,400 pnds I believe. The GVW is 6600 pnds. Max Capacity at 14K pnds. Max front end weight 3500 pnds, max capacity for the front is 4K. Maximum rear end weight is 6320 pnds and max capacity of the rear at 11K pnds. So, how does that translate into hauling weight?

My GMC COE is rated as a 2 1/2 ton and is considered a cab and chassis, judging by Chevys weight ratings, it has a GVW of around 4-5K pnds with a maximum capacity of 14K pnds. What does this translate to in the real world?

I haven't worried about my '53 1/2 ton since it only sees trips to the hardware store and doesn't carry more than a few hundred pnds anywhere, myself included.

I've never understood how these weight ratings affect how much you can haul? Also, another factor to consider is to treat these vehicles as if they were brand spankin new, which they will be once I'm finished, and that all parts are in perfect working order.

How much can I haul in a 1/2 ton, 1 ton, and 2 1/2 ton?

I doubt I'll ever want to max out the vehicles as I respect my vehicles, but I've always wondered.

Thanks, Jeff

GVW is Gross Vehicle Weight. That is the most the truck is allowed to weigh fully loaded. To find out how much the truck can carry, weigh it empty and subtract that weight from the GVW. For example, I had a 1-ton that had a GVW rating of 9.000 lb. It weighed 6.000 lb. empty, so it could haul 3,000 lb. safely. My wife once had a 1/2-ton that could only carry 666 lb. hat truck can carry I have a 2-ton with a 15,000 lb. GVW rating that weighs around 6,500 lb. empty. That truck can carry over 4 tons, but is called a 2-ton. The nomenclature of 1/2-ton, 1-ton, 2-ton, etc. just names the series of truck, not the payload rating.
The same applies to axle ratings. The rating is the most the axle can weigh. The axle ratings usually add up to more than the GVW to allow for loads that are not perfectly balanced. You can easily overload an axle without overloading the truck if you aren't paying attention.

Jeff,

Your 1972 1/2 ton could have a GVW of 4700 pounds (Standard truck w/o power brakes and 4 ply tires) up to 5400 pounds (Standard truck w/ power brakes, 6 ply tires and HD springs).

The truck curb weight is about 3800 pounds (V8 w/ 8' bed), so you can legally carry between 900 and 1600 pounds depending on how it's equipped.

Mike B