I don't get it. I got an IH ex-fire truck, dually rears, Dana 70 front. People say it's a "one-ton". No way dude, this thing weighs 5,5 (metric) tons fully loaded, and that's at least two tons payload. So where does this kind of classification come from (military I guess?) and can someone please explain the logic in it (if any...) ?

Thanks.

If it's the style i'm thinking of it's actually rated at a one and a quarter ton.

If it's the style i'm thinking of it's actually rated at a one and a quarter ton.


.? :confused:

The dana 70 I think you are referring to is a 1 1/4 ton or a 5/4 ton as some call it. They had a wierd gear ratio of 5:77 or something if I remember on most of the larger trucks.

i've never been able to totally figure it out either. my toyota says it can haul about 1500lbs of payload. does that make it a 3/4 ton?

It all USED to have to do with payload capacity, but that has fallen by the wayside, as OEM's ahve stepped the capabilities of their vehicles the old labels don't mean what they used to.

In example, my old '99 Dakota had a 2,000 lb payload capacity, and that sure was not a one ton truck. But I could get truck plates from the DMV for it, and be exampt from the E-Check in Ohio since it had a 2,000 lb payload.

What the designations were/are are not what the truck can carry at one time but rather what they are rated to carry day in and day out and still operate for a "normal" life span. Your half ton truck can carry well over a ton at a time, but if you do it daily you'll be having some issues real soon. throw that same ton in a one ton truck and you could daily drive it w/o adverse effects.

Justin

i've never been able to totally figure it out either. my toyota says it can haul about 1500lbs of payload. does that make it a 3/4 ton?


Yea a 1500 pound payload. you need to subtract the weight of the passengers and fuel first. 15 gallons of gas gets you to 1380, then your what 150-250 and your dam near 1000lbs

...but you have to consider that it is a 1 ton truck in other countries, it was just never sold as one here