I really do not think the majority or 1/2 ton truck buyers even care what the max payload is. If they are going to haul something they are going to haul it. Now 3/4 ton or more who are constantly hauling a trailer of heavy loads yes but not 1/2 ton buyers.

"Ford has not said it will stop the practice."

Finish the setence......

It should say "on HD"...

Ford does not delete on F-150 and does not have a mid-size.

GM was the only one doing deletes on Light Duty trucks, but had to do another reversal after being called out on their "apples to appls" claims.

Your avg Joe goes by the bump stop as a measuring limit.

For the half ton buyers who care, the 100-150 lbs matters more in a half-ton. A HD buyer with a 3150 lb payload going down to 3000 isn't going to miss much.

But if a half ton buyer with an expected 1500-1700 lb payload was planning on getting that whole amount but can only get 1200-1400, than may throw off his entire plan.

For all of us here who are old enough to remember growing up back in the 60's and 70's, trucks came from the factory without rear bumpers as standard equipment among other things. Rear bumpers, a/c, passenger side mirrors, and auto transmissions, to name a few, were additional cost items. These are some of the things that were not factored in the base calculated wt and it made it easier for the manufacturer to publish simpler base plates on the given models than to have a different calculation for each truck. The data plate always said passenger wt and optional equipment were factored in to the payload wt.

I figure the bumpstop is designed to increase payload by limiting my spring travel. Just as long as I can sorta steer I'm hauling it.

I used my 2000 Silverado 1500 as a 3/4 ton truck for 9 years and never had a problem, just sold it with 271,000 miles on the original engine and transmission no rebuilds!

Most people will go over their payload from time to time. Heck must Mid Size cars have an 850lb payload so you put guys in an accord and your already up to the limit with out even putting anything in the truck. So cars are overloaded everyday in many cases.

in other words, not only is GM clueless, but the 1/2 ton owners are clueless as well, articles like this need to be out there more so people understand that their 1/2 ton really cant tow/haul much, the guys that actually do all this will be very disappointed, such was the case for me, and why I went to a 3/4 ton truck to tow my Travel Trailer, the guys that don't care, will when they are in an accident and get weighed. This article should also point out the difference between weight carrying and non weight carrying, another thing I didn't know until recently, basically your hitch can be the thing that puts you illegal to tow, those big numbers you see the big three throw out are all based on weight distribution hitches, most 1/2 ton guys towing boats and landscape trailers do not have them..........

Where is the Heavy Duty shoot out?
I thought it was supposed to be published today ?

GM and Ford still rely heavily on fleet sales.

GM and Ford ran neck-and-neck with 23% and 24% of their sales to fleet buyers in July, while Chrysler sold 89% of their vehicles to retail buyers and just 11% to fleets.

Since work trucks make up a big part of fleet sales, I think GM and Ford have a BIG PROBLEM on their hands.

http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2014/08/chrysler-less-fleet-reliance-than-nissan

@Nitro

"in other words, not only is GM clueless, but the 1/2 ton owners are clueless as well, articles like this need to be out there more so people understand that their 1/2 ton really cant tow/haul much"

Really, I tow a 9,500lbs trailer a few times a year. With the WDH, the tongue weight comes to around 925lbs. That including me (205 lbs), my wife (130 lbs), gear (100-150 lbs) and the occasional extra passanger when I tow (200-250 lbs) I am still under the sticker on my door. The CAT scale also confirmed I am under my GVWR with the load. So, what were you saying about not being able to tow or haul much with what you refer to as a "half ton"?

I do think that a large number of truck buyers are clueless. I've seen some seriously overloaded 1/2 ton pickups lately.

Most truck guys have not trusted tow haul numbers from the big 3 for decades.

IIRC any trailer over 5,000 lb is required to have an equalizer if towed by a 1/2 ton.

Totally agree with Lou's observation about scary scenes of guys overloaded, and/or towing too much, wrong tires, unworthy brakes, etc.

That said, the considerations that go into deciding on a half ton (or larger) truck go beyond physics and driver safety.

If my business only hauls heavy payloads a few times each year I'd be inclined to choose the half ton and simply make special arrangements on the rare occasion that more capacity is needed.

@papa jim - agreed. There are plenty of commercial carriers out there for that heavy load.

@ALL1
Agreed. The CAT scale has always been on of the first places I take a newly purchased truck.

The gripe I have is that while the unladen weight is a useless number in the real world, it is used to calculate payload and towing numbers. The problem is that we never know how that unladen weight is calculated.

As an avid RVer my whole life (travel trailers, 5th wheels), I have noticed that this practice of determining "unladen weight" is particularly abused in the RV industry. They will come up with weight ratings before the trailer is equipped with appliances, AC, furnishings, etc and that is supposedly how much the trailer "weights".

The problem is they create a number for the "cargo capacity" which is GVWR-unladen weight. They only problem is the unladen weight is an unrealistic number, so the consumer gets the idea that their trailer actually weights that much.

The minute someone is too lazy or uniformed enough to not make a trip to the scales, it becomes a problem. I'm pretty sure that more often that not, people do not bother the weight their trucks.

I really do not think the majority or 1/2 ton truck buyers even care what the max payload is. If they are going to haul something they are going to haul it. Now 3/4 ton or more who are constantly hauling a trailer of heavy loads yes but not 1/2 ton buyers.

Posted by: Dave | Aug 11, 2014 12:20:57 PM

^^This, in my lifetime I have met two times of half-ton owners.

1). The beater. This guy works his truck like an absolute whipped dog. Goes to the materials yard and loads his bed to the brim with gravel, dirt whatever, because heck it holds 2 yards right? Must be able to carry it right? Drops the dirt off and heads over to the equipment yard and hooks up to a Bobcat S250 or equivalent weight loader and hauls it back to his place on a home made flatbed with no brakes because hey a 2 and 5/8ths ball fits in the class 3 hitch so why not?

2.) the more typical person who "works" who maybe owns a ski boat or a pair of jetski's either way nothing that would tax even the base V6 model... or maybe throws some dog kennels and a YETI cooler in the bed, or a half a yard of dirt to help the wife with a gardening project from time to time.

3.) the pure lifestyle owner. Doesn't use the pickup for anything ever... may not even take it off road even if they bought it with 4x4.

Neither of these types cares what the truck carries... one out of ignorance the other because he will never come close to the limit.

I'll add that industry practices and J2807 don't mean the numbers are more trustworthy.

Ram was towing a supposed j2807 rating in the 2014 HD Challenge, but could only tow the weight at less than 30 mph most of the way.

Under j2807 you're not supposed to go below 40 mpgh at grade.

I'm not an expert at J2807, but PUTC could be on the verge of uncovering a huge scandal here involving Ram.

Sorry, looks like Davis Dam was part of the J2807 testing, and not Eisenhower.

PUTC did not tow up David Dam grade for the HD Challenge. They towed on the Eiesnhower.

It isn't only the pickups that have ambiguous marketing.

Just look at trying to buy a phone plan.

Why don't the taxpayer sponsored consumer groups protect the consumer? Across the board.

Every vehicle should be sold displaying it's payload and what it can tow.

If a vehicle is accessorised and optioned and it reduces the payload beyond what it can tow of the drawbar then the trucks tow rating should be reduced.

Why don't the vehicle safety regulatory bodies make a simple regulation, ie.

1. If a vehicle can seat five. Then the payload must be able to carry 5 people, plus a full tank of gas and other fluids. Make the average body weight 220lbs, as it will possible to have 5 people of that average weight in the vehicle.

2. If the vehicle is a commercial vehicle that can carry five and it called a half ton pickup. Then the truck must be able to have a payload of 2 100lbs (US ton).

3. The vehicles tow limit should be set to a vehicle with 5, 220lb people on board and a limit of 1/4 ton in the bed.

4. That means if a truck can carry 1 100lbs of passengers plus 500lbs of goods in the bed, it has a drawbar load of 6 000lbs. This means the tow limit for the pickups is 6 000lbs.

Sorry, the drawbar load is 600lbs, not 6 000lbs.

Let's look at the door sticker shown above. The listed payload is 2704lb.

It will seat 6 passengers; let's assume they average out at 200lb. Then the remaining cargo payload is 1504lb - just over 3/4 of a US ton.

The '2500' designation indicates a 3/4-ton truck, doesn't it? This may just be a peculiarity of this one model but it looks pretty much like it does what it says on the box - and no more...

@All1,

thanks for the info, this is a classic example, you didn't give me all the info, what is your GVW for your truck? what hitch are you using class3, class 4? what truck? what was the unloaded weight of your truck? what was the rear axle weight?

I have done several tests with my friends and I can tell you most big three trucks with that kind of weight you have are over on one of the above or more, which is all you need, its not that the truck can't handle it, but legal it probably cant. the ones I helped my friends with were both crew cab trucks, and the trailer was mine at just 6500lbs and a tongue weight of 980, they were over on the rear axle, and payload, remember don't go by the sticker on the door, that is from the factory and you cannot exceed that, but if you weigh your truck empty with your occupants you can than subtract from the GVW and then do the math on the numbers you have. My current trailer I went thru a Silverado and a ram, both had tranny issues, this is why I went to a 3/4, now I can do what I want with this trailer and don't come close to the max

If 150 lbs. keeps you from hauling what you want to haul with your full size truck, then you need to sell it and give up. I would never not do a job over 150 lbs.

@Nitro

2011 F-150 Crew Cab 4x4 3.73 157" 6.5' bed Max tow

GVW actual: 5,930 lbs
This is with a full tank, my short tool box, and slightly bigger aggressive tires.

GVWR: 7,700

This leave me with 1,770lbs left after deducting the trucks true weight from the GVWR. The weight that I stated I tow and haul above is 1,660 lbs on the heavy side and 1,560 on the light side with little gear and one less occupant. The hitch is a class IV so it is rated for the weight I am pulling. Gross Axle Weight Rating(GAWR) and spring rating is 4,050 front and 4,050 rear. Front brakes are a 13.78 in rotor with a total swept area of 297 sq. in. The rear brakes are a 13.7 in rotor with a total swept are of 255.7 in.

That trailer tongue of yours is a little over the recommended safe tongue weight of 10% to 15% of total trailer weight. Maybe doing some adjusting the load will bring you back into the safe zone of tongue weight. A WDH will also distribute the weight bring some of it off that rear axle.

@ALL1
Don't your pickups have to come with a maximum tongue weight?

The maximum tongue weight isn't determined by the load you are towing. Don't US pickups have their max tongue weights given?

Your truck should have it's Tare (empty), Gross or GVM (truck only max loaded) and Combined GCM (max truck and trailer) weights given.

With these three figure and your max tongue weight you can then load your truck.

My GCM is 6 000kg (13 200lbs) if with a maximum 3 500kg trailer load. Subtract 3 500kg from my 6 000kg leaves me with 2 500kg max for my truck when towing a large load.

So if my GVM is 3 350 and my max tow is 3 500kg these aren't added together to give me a 6 850 GCM, it is 6 000kg, with a maximum 350kg tongue weight.

@ALL1
What I'm stating is even with our pickups towing it's maximum load we can only have a full tank of gas and passenger and no load in the back.

My max vehicle weight when towing at my max is 2 500kg. Subtract the 350kg tongue weight this leaves me with 2 150kg I can actually make my truck.

My vehicle weighs nearly that empty.

So, with your pickups and their low load capacities in comparison makes me wonder how much magic spring dust is used.

Crapsler creates vehicle owners r3t@rd office, puts Ramt@rd HEMI V8 in charge

Tue Aug 12, 2014

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/12/us-autos-chrysler-safety-idUSKBN0GC19S20140812

(Reuters) - Crapsler Group LLC on Tuesday announced the establishment of a new Ramt@rd office called "Ram r3t@rd owners safety and regulatory compliance" led by a veteran Ramt@rd HEMI V8 senior president of Ramt@rds club.

The move comes as U.S. Ram Jihadist are under increased stress of repeating Ram ads 24/7. This action will help Ramt@rds small army of r3t@rds recruit more d%mb people to continue commitment to spread R@mt@rdism Crapsler said in a statement.

Crapsler is fully owned by Ahla god the biggest spaghetti and meatball making clown of Italy.

So far this year, Crapsler has recruited about 3.2 million Ram Jihadist in the United States.

Prior to the establishment of the new R@mt@rd office, Crapsler group was responsible for only 3 Ram Jihadist in the United States HEMI V8, Zviera and Ramed by little horn 1500.

Effective immediately, all Ram owners will be served by Zviera a stand-alone Idi0t," with Zviera reporting directly to Ramed by little horn 1500 CEO of very small horned Ram. Crapsler said in its statement, as part of the company's North American Ram Jihadist executive team.

HEMI V8 has previously been senior vice president in charge of Crapsler's North American act like a clueless Ram owner and repeat crappy quotes. Prior to that, he headed the company's how to cry like a 5 year old engineering division, which handled how to win when the fact you say were totally wrong and cherry picked.

@ALL1
I miss calculated my last figure.

My truck can carry the 2 500kg GVM with a trailer at max load. This figure will rise as my trailer load reduces. So in reality my truck when towing at max is 2 500kg plus 350kg hitch weight or 2 850kg and not 3 350kg max truck weight without a trailer.

With a max trailer load I can have a 400kg load including passengers. That is around 850lbs.

So, if one of your trucks have a 1 600lb payload without towing they can never really tow their max loads.

I like what Rammed has to say.

I don't think I have ever actually known the exact weight of anything carried in the bed of my truck, and I carry heavy loads on a daily basis. I have also never known or cared what the payload capacity actually is. All I know is I can't put much weight in my ram, and I have never had any problem carrying any amount of weight in the bed of my f-250. Overloading a truck is not a problem if you take the right precautions and use common sense. I would guess I've exceeded the towing and payload capacities of all my trucks multiple times but I've never had a problem. One time I put a trailer on my ram and completely bottomed out the suspension. Some idiot could try to drive down the road like that, but I quickly got the load off and never tried it again. My Super Duty handled the exact same load without so much as a squat. Usually with my loads I'm only traveling between a mile and ten miles on country roads. Use common sense and there's no need for me to even know what the truck is rated, except for comparison's sake when buying a new truck. It may be important for people that are towing heavy loads long distances or at high speeds, but not for the vast majority of truck owners with some common sense.

I do know the capacities of the 10 wheelers we use for hauling grain, and we exceed them probably 90 percent of the time during grain harvest. Never caused us any problems in 25 years except occasionally with the DOT officers.

@Big Al

"Don't your pickups have to come with a maximum tongue weight?"

Yes they do, but that is based on the hitch class used. Most trucks with class IV hitches have a 500 lbs max tongue weight without a WDH and 1,000-1,200 with a WDH.

"Your truck should have it's Tare (empty), Gross or GVM (truck only max loaded) and Combined GCM (max truck and trailer) weights given."

We call them different things. What you call it's Tare, we call curb weight which is just the truck with the fuel and fluids filled to capacity(and my tool box in my case). What you call its GVM, we call it's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating(GVWR). What you call it's GCM, we call our Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating(GCVWR).

In my case, my trucks curb weight is 5,930 lbs, my GVWR is 7,700 lbs, and my GCVWR is 17,100 lbs. As you can see from subtracting my trucks actual curb weight (5,930 lbs) from my GVWR(7,700 lbs) then that leaves me with 1,770 lbs payload capacity.

OK then bend over!

PUTC really needs to do an article covering the SAE J2807 standard that everyone is going to be adopting. It would be nice to see it explained in layman's terms.

My fear is that if GM and others have been so easily gaming the system for so long, then the new standards may very well be useless if they can still continue to make up their own numbers.

The biggest question in the back of my mind is whether or not GM made the decision to start calculating more realistic numbers because they knew people would find out, or because they really were making an effort to comply with the new standards.

Either way, it seems to me that there is the possibility that they could have gone on indefinitely calculating payloads this way even after adopting the new standards.

@Lou_BC "Irony at its finest.......... I complain to Cars.com brass about the quality of these blogs and they delete my comments."

lol...the true irony is that a jackass like you thinks he has access to "brass" at cars'com...hehehehehe The only access to brass that you have is the brass between your ears!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S5kOtxUb38

Pallet of wet sod weighs in at approximately 1750lbs, this is a strain for most half tons, and may bend things on a compact.

"Pallet of wet sod weighs in at approximately 1750lbs, this is a strain for most half tons, and may bend things on a compact."

That is what a utility trailer is for.

"Pallet of wet sod weighs in at approximately 1750lbs, this is a strain for most half tons, and may bend things on a compact."

That is what a utility trailer is for.

@All

Having witnessed a load of wet sod shear the lugs on a 1 ton truck I can testify to your comment. The sod dry was no problem, but we didn't count on the little rain shower that came along and added a lot of weight to an already stout load.

Ouch! The boss was not happy.

The only thing I would add is that a utility trailer carrying a heavy load behind a half ton truck requires a review of the surface conditions.

Where I live you'd get that truck/trailer stuck pretty easy unless you stay on improved roads.

Out in the weeds? You're gonna be on your own.

ALL1, my buddies we just did was the same truck you have but a 2013(short bed), but he weighed his truck without the camper hooked up loaded like he does when going camping to give him the exact number he needed, which I don't recall the exact numbers, but he had full tanks him his wife and 2 dogs, and the bed loaded with bikes and such, he was over the GVW by 200 lbs. If you tow long distances with your current truck and that much weight, good luck with that in the long haul, that truck, or any halfton, isn't designed to do that when your that close to the max, hopefully it work out for you.

@Nitro

"my buddies we just did was the same truck you have but a 2013(short bed),"

Was it a Max Tow? Because the non max tow have different springs giving them a 3,900 lbs front and 3,850 rear spring/GAWR. The payload also drops to about 300 lbs in the non max tow versions.

"If you tow long distances with your current truck and that much weight, good luck with that in the long haul, that truck, or any halfton, isn't designed to do that when your that close to the max, hopefully it work out for you. "

I towed that weight from San Antonio, Tx all the way to Moab, Ut, no issues. My truck is NOT a half ton either, a half ton means in only has a half a ton of payload which is 1,000 lbs. Mine has a payload of over 3/4s of a ton. It is funny that the old geezers still use those terms on today's trucks. As for the "half ton is not designed to tow close to it's maximum" I would have to respectfully disagree. I see a lot of my customer's 150/1500 do it day in and day out in the oilfields down here. Our own fleet of F150s even does in on a regular basis. This old perception that these trucks are not designed to do what the manufacturer rated them for is just as an old perception as the term half ton is. It is funny how the fleet world that actually uses these trucks do not share the same perceptions as the public.

Here, check the the specifications for yourself and see how close or even better they are from 250/2500s from just 10-15 years ago. https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/non-html/2013/13_F150_F150Raptor_SB.pdf It is funny that no one would have said a 250/2500 should be towing that kind of weight 10/15 years ago, but they will say a 150/1500(correctly configured) shouldn't even though they don't its specs. Today's 150/1500s(with the exception of a brand or two) are doing what yesterdays 250/2500 did. Likewise, today's 250/2500 are doing what yesterdays 350/3500 did. It is funny I don't see anyone calling out these 250/2500s for pulling loads that an 350/3500 did just 10 years ago.

@ALL1
You aren't very bright are you? Everyone is aware the term "half ton" doesn't really mean a truck only has that payload. We will keep using that terminology as everyone else understands what it means.

I bet most figures of speech confuse you as well. Perhaps you should have payed attention in English class.

Lease a 2014 Ram CrewCab 4x4 for $169.

Anyone else seeing these Ram ads on here? I thought Fiat said it was going to stop giving Rams away.

@Dr. Obvious

I understand what someone is referring to when they say "half ton", but it is an incorrect term that should have died out in the 60s. In my world, the fleet world, there is no such thing as a "half ton" where people use these trucks as trucks the most. They will either say "Lets use the 150 to pull that" or "Put that in back of the 2500". Only the public still use the old archaic term of "half ton". What you refer to as "half tons" today are nothing like what really was a "half ton" back in the day. The problem with putting all 150/1500 trucks into the "half ton" term is because they are not all the same in capabilities. what you call a "half ton" can range from a payload of 800 lbs in a Ram 1500 to 2,300 lbs in a Ford F-150. Neither of those are technically "half tons", and people get confused saying "A half ton shouldn't be towing that" when it's specs say otherwise. Hell, even the DOT doesn't even label them as "half tons". Only old geezers that were still alive when that term literally applied use those terms.

In fact, people coined the term "half ton" in terms of model numbers on the old Ford F-1 which were literally rated for half a ton. They also had the F-2, F-3, and the F-4 with different payloads. A few years later when Ford decided to make the F-1 truck into the F-100. They also merge the F-2 and F-3 to become the F-250, and also made the F-4 into the F-350. Later, Ford came out with an F-150 which was to be a middle between their "half ton" F-100 and their F-250 so the F-150 technically never was a "half ton" from the start. Ford later dropped the F-100 technically dropping their "half ton".

ALL1, if you were to ask a Ford engineer if your truck is ok to haul that that they will tell you absolutely not. To answer your question, yes it was a max tow package, I'm not going to say all trucks will be over, but the ones I have seen are, yours is possible its not and that's a good thing. My statement on your 1/2ton truck, because it is a halfton truck, mine is a 3/4 and your nowhere near my capacities, i'm only saying that from my own experiences and those who I spoke with at all the campgrounds I visit. I towed my camper around 7500 miles a year, and my last 2 half tons had issues after 3-4 years, just too much for them to handle, the issues I had with trannies and rear ends only surfaced when towing over 5 hours straight and doing that a lot. I mostly tow from FL to Canada all summer long and into the fall, wont buy another half ton for sure, good luck with your truck I do hope it works out for ya

@nitro
I would have to agree with you on your comments regarding tow capability vs manufacturers tow capacities.

They are two different beasts.

Most US half tons don't use heavy enough duty drivetrain components. The tow ratings by the manufacturers are risk assessed on what the average usage would be.

If you are to use a pickup at the manufacturers maximum rating for loads your truck will self destruct quite quickly.

Even my BT50 with it's drivetrain wouldn't tow day in and day out running my vehicle at it's maximum GCM. It will move a relatively large load, continuously.

This is where 'real' commercial vehicles and trucks come into play.

Pickups and utes are quite a light duty commercial vehicle. They are 'in between' vehicles a compromise vehicle.

@nitro

"ALL1, if you were to ask a Ford engineer if your truck is ok to haul that that they will tell you absolutely not. "

Actually, this is not true. I work for a dealership group that has over 180 dealerships across the US. We sell Peterbilt, International, GMC, Ford trucks, Hino (Toyota), and various other brands of vocational trucks and equipment. While I don't work at a branch or dealership that sales Ford, I am still considered a Ford dealership employee which allows me some information that some on the outside don't get. I have already spoke with a person on the inside about the very same question you just stated. You saying that a Ford engineineer will tell me that my truck will not handle that weight is flat out false.

A part of my job is to spec out trucks depending on how they will be used for by customers. This is why I am a specs kind of guy and I like to look at what the specs say versus the "my brothers friend told me" sort of approach. This is why I research before I buy and go to the the dealership with the exact model I want.

Will a truck like an F150 take on more wear and tear towing close to it's maximum of 9,500 lbs versus am F250 where that it is no where near it's maximum? Yes, but if you tow that F250 close to it's maximum day in and day out then it will be more susceptible to the same wear and tear as with anything you tow close to it's maximum versus only half of what it can do. The point on my side is that I don't tow that amount of weight enough time a year to warrant an 250/2500. If I towed that about 4 or more times a year then I would probably more inclined to look into getting a 250/2500, but I don't. The rest of the year I am towing weights of 5,000 lbs or less. The only time I tow 9,500 lbs is at certain off road events where it is longer than an hour to get back home if I break something on my Jeep. Most events are close by, but a few are not. And the trip to Moab was a about the furthest I have gone. So please, do not worry about me because this is not my first rodeo. Thanks for you concern though.

ALL1, they will tell you that until you own a truck that has problems, and you tell them you tow that weight, and that's what the answer will be, I can post the name of the Ford engineer(s) that told me that if you like, I have family that work for LB SMith Ford, I can tell you the names of all the people who told me the same thing when I was truck shopping from Ford, but they weren't trying to make a sale since I am family, so they spoke to me truthfully. You should be ok then since you don't tow that much anyway...

@ Nitro

Yes, please post the name of the Ford engineer(s) that told you NOT to tow what Ford states their truck can tow. I will be sure to get with them personally on this to discuss this matter.

So going by your theory, no truck is suppose to tow at or over 86% of their tow rating since 9,500 lbs is less than 86% of my 11,100lbs tow rating? The Ram 1500 rated for 10,650 lbs is really really should be 9,160 lbs. The Ford F250 diesel's 14,000 lbs tow rating should be 12,000 lbs. The GM 3500 DRW diesels 16,500 lbs tow rating shout really be 14,000lbs tow rating. Sorry, but I would have to disagree with you.

Pickup trucks have come along way in the past ten years especially in the last five. Most(not all) of the manufacturer's 150/1500s today have stronger frames, higher torque rated transmissions, beefier drive-lines, and larger brakes with more swept area than 250/2500s of the early 2000s. The only major difference is the slightly bigger axles in some cases and a beefier suspension, but most 150/1500s today still aren't rated with the same payload as the 250/2500 back then either. There are some 150/1500 trucks that have about the same payload of 250/2500 of ten years ago like the F150 with the HD payload package, but that has a beefier suspension with more springs and a 7 lug axle with larger axle-shafts along with a different drive-line.

Fact is, anytime you use something to it's max limit it is going to be more susceptible to more wear and tear then say only half it's rating. Even an F250 that tows all the time at 95% of it;s tow rating will have more wear and tear than if it were towing only 50% of it's limit all the time. Does this mean an F250 cannot tow it's max tow rating? No, but it is going to get more wear and tear doing it just like an F150 or F350 would given the same circumstances.

You were towing closer to the max limit with your old 150/1500 then you are with your new 250/2500 so given what I said above, which one will have more wear and tear? The one that is towing closer to it's max limit in the 150/1500 or the one towing close to half in the 250/2500? The same can be applied to an 2500/2500. What if you were towing close to it's maximum all the time. It would have more wear and tear than towing the same weight with an 350/3500 or 450/4500. Does that mean that 250/2500 cannot tow that weight? No, so why don't you think an 150/1500 would not be able to tow close to it's maximum rating?

Like I said before, I don't tow that amount of weight enough to warrant an 250/2500. In hind site, I wish I would have gotten the HD payload package F150 which I will probably end up doing the net go round.