Auto Buyers Guide - The Right Truck For The Job . (By PB Gill)
When choosing a light or medium duty truck to do a job , it is all to often that the buyer buys the wrong vehicle . The same also applies to people buying personal vehicles that are not designed to do what is expected of them (pulling trailers for example) .
In many cases people let price control what they buy rather than choosing a vehicle that will really handle the job it is being purchased to do . For example ; tradesmen purchasing pickup trucks or vans as work vehicles , will often depend on a salesman to sell them the right truck . The salesman will try to be competitive with the price of the vehicle . The lighter the truck the lower the cost to buy it . Though the salesman may have good intention , the buyer will often end up with a much higher operating cost and much more down time for repairs , because the vehicle is too light to handle the job .
One example of this ; a tradesman I know , bought 3 new vans for his electrical contracting business . The salesman made a package deal based on three vans that the dealer had in stock .
One van was a ¾ ton (250 series) with a V8 small engine . The other two vans were ½ ton vans (150 series) with smaller V6 engines . These vehicles , as with most tradesman’s , must carry a full range of tools and equipment , to do any job that the tradesman is required to do . As in many cases , these vehicle must also carry a stock of parts and materials needed to do the job . They could carry as much as 3,000 or 4,000 pounds of weight at all times . The ¾ ton van is built to handle this job , but the ½ tons are not . In time it was found that the ¾ ton van with the more powerful V8 engine , got much better fuel mileage than the ½ ton less powerful V6 engines as the V8 engine did not have to work as hard to handle the weight . The V6 engines did pull well for their size , but the V8 engine pulled much better . The V6 engines were slower and took longer to go up hills which would also burn more fuel . The V8 engine held cruising speeds much easier and went up hills much quicker , which burned less fuel .
The brake system on the ¾ ton was much beefier and more efficient and would stop all that weight much easier and safer than the lighter ½ tons . The larger brake pads on the ¾ ton also lasted more than twice as many miles (or km) as the ½ ton brake pads . The ½ tons had brake vibration problems due to warped brake rotors , from stopping more weight than the vehicles were designed to handle . The ¾ ton had none of those problems .
The transmission fluid in the 3/4 tons stayed cleaner for longer distances and required less service , due to the beefier transmission . The suspension on the ¾ ton was much stronger and carried the weight much better . The ¾ ton also handled better and was more comfortable to drive at highway speeds , while carrying all that weight
The ½ tons were equipped with 4 ply extra load P series tires (P specifies passenger) with a maximum air pressure capacity of 41 PSI .They also had with 5 bolt wheels . The ¾ ton van was equipped 10 ply LT series tires (LT specifies Light Truck) with an 80 psi maximum air pressure capacity , and also had 8 bolt wheels .
In North America a 150 series or 1500 series truck is commonly refered to as a ½ ton . The 250 series and 2500 series are called ¾ ton and the 350 and 3500 series are called 1 tons and so on . The reference to ½ ton or ¾ ton is a carry over from the early years and no longer specifies the actual pay load capacity of today’s light trucks . They will carry more !
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