What does a One-Half Ton Pickup Truck Refer to?

Large American pickups are usually rated on the ton scale. 1/2 ton pickups are good for pulling horse and cow trailers. 3/4 tons are for pulling very large trailers and one-ton pickups are simply huge. This figure is far lower than the trucks weigh or how much they can tow so what are they referring to when they use the ton scale?

Some one will have a more technical(meaning correct)answer later, but I’ve always used it as the appoximate maximun weight that you would want to have in the bed, while still allowing the suspension to be functioning as far and handling and safety goes.

It’s the rated carrying capacity (i.e. how much you can throw in the back). For example, a 5/4 ton M-715 military truck is rated to carry 2500 pounds in the bed.

I’d been told that the half-, three-quarter-, and one-ton designations were kind of like nominal carrying capacities, but that actual capacities could differ from that. Kinda like 2x4’s not being 2" by 4".

But while we’re talking about this, there seems to be a mystery number in most manufacturer’s designations that doesn’t quite correspond, either:

1/2 ton: Ford F150; Chevy 1500
3/4 ton: Fort F250; Chevy 2500
1 ton: Ford F350; Chevy 3500

Dodge, GMC, and you-name-it else all seem to do similar things. Where did that number come from? It doesn’t seem to relate strongly to “pounds” - if it did they’d go 1000, 1500, 2000. I’m guessing it’s some strange historical thing that has managed to transcend manufacturers? Anybody know?

In regards to why the numbers are not 1000 for a 1/2 ton, 1500 for a 3/4 ton and 2000 for a 1 ton is simply that it rolls off the tongue better to say you own a Dodge Ram 1500 than a Dodge Ram 1000 (The 1500 is the 1/2 ton). The model numbers are used only as designations and really have nothing to do with the bed capacity other than the higher the model number (1500, 2500, or 3500 on a Ram), the more it is recommended you can put in the bed of the truck.

The numbers are the same across makes except Ford has one less 0 on the end.

I want an F-550 4x4 like one of the 4wheeler magazines is building up.

I’d been told that the half-, three-quarter-, and one-ton designations were kind of like nominal carrying capacities, but that actual capacities could differ from that. Kinda like 2x4’s not being 2" by 4".

But while we’re talking about this, there seems to be a mystery number in most manufacturer’s designations that doesn’t quite correspond, either:

1/2 ton: Ford F150; Chevy 1500
3/4 ton: Fort F250; Chevy 2500
1 ton: Ford F350; Chevy 3500

Dodge, GMC, and you-name-it else all seem to do similar things. Where did that number come from? It doesn’t seem to relate strongly to “pounds” - if it did they’d go 1000, 1500, 2000. I’m guessing it’s some strange historical thing that has managed to transcend manufacturers? Anybody know?

Sorry about that!

This is sort of the question-within-a-question that I had meant to ask. I see the 150/1500 connection, and am curious as to why. It’s been posited that the whole 1500=half ton thing was adopted because it rolls off the tongue, but it still strikes me as strange that all manufacturers of trucks would adhere to this several-steps-removed-from-reality convention.

The the idea that a 1000 lbs = 1500 god-knows-what units come about before each manufacturer really got going, and they used this convention from the start? It seems to me that only in trucks/vans do Ford and Chevy keep such similar naming conventions.

I would not use a 1/2 ton for pulling a horse trailer. I know people do it, but figure an average horse weighs 1000+ lbs., take a typical three horse slant load and add trailer weight and you’re towing too much weight, and the cargo moves and shifts its weight often. The handling is terrible and it’s very unsafe.

YMMV

With regards to the 150/1500 = 1/2 ton thing. That’s not always true. I’ve got an F150 that rated for 3/4 ton (1650 lbs, i.e. ~75% of 2240 lbs). The 1650 comes straight out of the owner’s specs.

Cool truck though. We went whole-hog, got the 5.4L Triton V8, 4WD, power everything. Bought it to pull a double horse trailer, for which it works fine.

There is a difference between hauling in the bed of a pickup and hauling a trailer. A properly loaded trailer should put only a fraction of its weight (ISTR 1/5 was the number) on the towing vehicle. Basically it should put enough weight on the hitch to hold itself down even when the trailer bounces a bit, but not too much more. The load rating on the pickup is related to the strength of the suspension and is for the actual weight placed on the vehicle, as in placing 1000 lbs of weight directly in the bed of the pickup. A ~1000 lb horse trailer should not place anywhere near 1000 lbs of force on the trailer hitch of the pickup.
That being said, I’ve never driven a horse trailer and don’t know a lot of specifics. There may be reasons other than maximum load why driving a particular trailer with a small pickup is unsafe, such as if the trailer’s loaded weight is distributed either too far forward or too far back with respect to its axle(s). (Such a trailer wouldn’t be safe in any pickup, but a heavier pickup would help.) This relates to the mass of the pickup, not its load capacity.

If I’m remembering the documentation from my Monogram models of military ordnance I used to build when I was a kid, the World War II-era Army jeep was officially known as the “quarter-ton (500 lbs.) truck” because that’s what it could carry.

I’m assuming, but the 1/2, 3/4, 1… ton designations were probably established the US military.

On another board, someone was mentioning swapping frames under a 1950 or so pickup. Most people pointed out that this is usually not worth it for cars, but one well-respected guy mentioned that after WWII, the US Army persuaded the US truck manufacturers to standardize bed mountings. This allowed interchangeability when mounting utility beds (and possibly cabs, but I doubt it. Anyway, I can’t remember.)

I assume that the Army or some other part of the government also set standard requirements for trucks of the various weight ratings, so that they could mount XXX-type utility bed on any X/X ton truck they bought, without worrying about weight limits or placement of mounting brackets.