[Shredcheddar]

But I've never known what "1/4 ton" or "1/2 ton" meant when referring to pickup trucks. What's the scoop?

[FTS]

If it means what it means here, I believe it's the amount of weight a pickup can haul.

[Shredcheddar]

Well... from what attention I pay to trucks (not much, I personally loathe them ), I've just generally seen small trucks simply classified as 1/4 ton and etc, but I don't really know why that distinction is used. 500 pounds is not much of a towing capacity for my 4-cylinder FWD SUV, much less any truck, so.

[nate95366]

I don't believe it refers to towing capacity. Rather, I think it used to refer to "payload" - which is basically the mass of stuff you can pile on top of what's already there without being overtly worried about parts failing. That's how trucks used to be named. I don't think that the meaning behind the name has really continued with time. You can load far more than 1000 lbs into the average "1/2 ton" truck without worry.....nowadays.

Nate

[GoMilton]

It's based on the payload of the truck, not the towing capacity. It's still generally accurate that a 1/2 ton truck can carry a 1/2 ton and you dont want to go much over if you are driving a long distance. They can handle quite a bit more than a 1/2 ton but generally, you dont have enough bed space to put much more than that.

My 1/2 ton Silverado has taken 1/2 yard of sand, a 1/2 yard of rocks and about 400 pounds of cement blocks at one time, it handled just fine but I only drove about 3 miles with it.

[Shredcheddar]

Thanks, guys.