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Advantage of a 3/4 ton over a 1 ton.


ridgerunner

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If u are just hauling/towing and not daily driving, don't piss around and get a dually, even if it's a 2wd. I have a 3/4 ton 4X4 I daily drive and wish I would have gotten something larger. Something always comes up that is too big to haul or tow even with the 3/4 ton single wheel, for me anyway.
 


gandrimp

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I have always been a gm guy, I know (hangs head). I have had both 3/4 and 1 ton. The one tons were always dually's and would stop a load better and corner far better. My insurance was never much difference.

Honestly my ranger rides worse than either 3/4 or 1 ton I had.

I have a f800 that I now haul with, that gives a whole new meaning of stiff ride.

I personally would not have a dually unless it is 4x4 and locked in the rear, if you never get off the asphalt maybe a locked 2 wheel would work. I haul farm equipment so dirt (wet or dry) is what I do a lot of. I also pulled a racecar trailer thousands of miles, no way I would do either with a 2 wheel drive.
 

zachis4wheeling

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If youre looking at the 99 on up F250/F350s.....unless you throw the dually factor into the equation, the difference between an F250 and an F350 is in the springs and rear blocks and I honestly think thats about it. Frame, axles, etc are the same. Some of the gassers early on had a Dana 50, but thats about it. I have an 03 F350 and my father has an 02 F250. Both have stock suspensions, and mine sits about 3" higher in the front and an inch or so higher in the rear than his. I know the F350 block is about an inch or 2 taller than the F250, and I know my springs barely "smile", while his "frown"........I would say go F350, because if you want to run a bigger tire on a stock suspension, you easily can fit 315s if you want...I really dont notice a ride difference between my dads and my trucks.
 

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One other thing (at least in my area) a 1-ton is licensed as a commercial vehicle and is more money every year for the license. If I really needed a dual lay I'd just swap in a axle for that and get a dully bed or build a wood flatbed. Right now my dads 05 super duty 3/4 ton does everything my ranger can't quite well. And once when t died on my dad 8 miles from home, I flat-towed it back with the ranger. Should have got a picture! Dads is the 5.4 gas and isn't too bad on fuel for the most part. Just rides like a brick.
 

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One other thing (at least in my area) a 1-ton is licensed as a commercial vehicle and is more money every year for the license. If I really needed a dual lay I'd just swap in a axle for that and get a dully bed or build a wood flatbed. Right now my dads 05 super duty 3/4 ton does everything my ranger can't quite well. And once when t died on my dad 8 miles from home, I flat-towed it back with the ranger. Should have got a picture! Dads is the 5.4 gas and isn't too bad on fuel for the most part. Just rides like a brick.
Dad's '04 (2v vs your dad's 3v) is kinda weird, it doesn't feel like it has much for power but if you put a trailer on the back it doesn't really care any more than running empty.

When he first got it it was pushing 16mpg, 2wd automatic scab with a 6.5' utility box with a liftgate. She has gained weight (box and back seat is full of tools and has a gas welder/generator in the bed now... and also now has airbags.
 
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Will

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In Indiana you can put whatever plates you want on whatever vehicle you want. I've seen Honda CR-Vs with 7,000# truck plates and F350 duallies with Reading bodies with 7,000# truck plates...they need an 11,000# plate on that. But since nobody cares, who cares?

Indiana makes a lot of money buy selling license plates. Whatever your spin is, they offer a plate for it. My E350 needs a 10,000# truck plate, but I have a children's hospital plate on it. I have a Marine Corps veterans plate on my Harley, and a Kid's First plate on my Ninja 1000--the proceeds build playgrounds for inner-city kids.

If you are talking physical difference between an F250 and F350--it's just a little bit stiffer springs on the F350. The same is true in all modern trucks from the big three. The dually kit is only avail. on the one-ton, but the 3/4 or one-ton with the single axle will tow more because it weighs less. It's the same exact axle--just a different amount of tires. Even a 30,000# car hauler is fine on a single tire truck--4,500# tongue is no problem with a gooseneck. It's less than a cube of bricks in the bed. It dosn't matter what the rating is on the truck--it's what rating you bought from the BMV. And if your license is suitable for the DOT.

In the past, Ford was the only honest light-truck rater. Chevy and Dodge had 1/2-ton semi-float axles on trucks and vans with 3/4 badges. With the exception of that weird 7-lug F250 in the late '90's, Ford always had the real gear on their 3/4 and 1-tons. Except for their later vans. Mine is a 2000 and has a full-float rear axle, but 3/4 and 1-tons later than mine have semi-float Dana 60s. Even some E150s have that axle. A semi-float axle has no place on a 3/4 or 1-ton. My wife's 2500 Mercedes Sprinter has one. You get one bearing, and the axle shaft is carrying the weight. The shaft flexes and the bearing squirms. And dies. A full-float is like a trailer. The axle shaft carries no weight, and it has 2 larger bearings on a big spindle that does the load bearing. It can carry anything. They don't fail. Ever. You can't break it by overloading it.

Take off the hubcap. If you can undo a circle of bolts and pull the axle shaft out without removing the wheel, you have a real truck--period. I don't care what the badge says. Load in pallets of bricks, playground sand, or concrete mix. Won't ever hurt it.

Any F150, the GM 8-lug 1500HD and such--yeah, you can carry such a load once in a while. But it's not going to last long doing it for a living.
 

alaskan155

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such mixed info here


there is no difference between a 1 ton and 3/4 ton unless it is a dually......
thats it... the dually got a thicker frame in most cases and stronger rear axle(unless OBS sterling 10.25 both DRW and SRW). and some light duty 3
/4 tons (aka 97--98 f250, or 7700 package(7 lug) got semi floating rear ends(c-clips)

99+
a 3/4(f250) can be ordered with the same spring pack as a f350, the difference, especially on early superduty is the rear block, one is 2" tall(f250) and the other is 4"(f350)

on the OBS trucks(80-96),
you had 3 front axles
Dana 44HD
dana 50
both TTB
and the 1 tons or snow plow packages got the dana 60.


the biggest difference is the GVWR,

My 02 f250 is 8800.....
a f350 is 9900
and dually is 11200

now fast forward to 05(where manufactures get smart)
f250 is 9400
F350 SRW 10,700
f350 DRW 13,000


now DOT states that that anything over 10,000 used for interstate commerce has to follow DOT regulations and have DOT numbers and stop at the weight station, and run log books


so ford and other have gotten smart now and offer the f250 at a lower GVWR, which allow companies bypass all that, why you will see them buying a f250 SRW vs a F350 SRW.

also why some states make you register it commercial even though its not as for personal use is not interstate commerce.

now days its just a money game, f250/f350 fall down to legalities, and the f350 dually is when you are needing more that a SRW.

for me ive only overloaded my f250 once......
had to much tongue wieght on the hitch LOL.

19,300 i was at with my trailer.... 700 under my GCWR(which if you look up is the same between f250/f350 SRWs)
 
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85_Ranger4x4

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also why some states make you register it commercial even though its not as for personal use is not interstate commerce.
They can get goofy on you too. I think campers kinda get a do whatever you want and get away with it badge.

A friend of mine got busted going to an antique tractor pull (the kind you spend $50+ in fuel, $15 a hook and first place is maybe a $20 check) for hauling for profit (they considered the potential "winnings" as profit)

They ran him and his new one ton and gooseneck thru the ringer, it was a couple hundred in fines for not having a DOT # and all that just to go screw around with his old tractor (it was a Super M so it was nothing huge) A half ton and a car trailer could have handled it so whatever :icon_confused:
 

don4331

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Ford has gotten really smart about it - you can buy a reduced GVWR F-350 SRW - 9900lbs, if you want to.

And they can get really goofy/campers aren't exempt - Saskatchewan started running trailers through scales - and if your trailer had GVWR over 10k lbs and you didn't have a class G endorsement/class 1 license, you were towed.

Probably just a cash grab, but made people demonstrate that they knew what they were doing before driving away with that monster 5th wheel RV.
 

85_Ranger4x4

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Ford has gotten really smart about it - you can buy a reduced GVWR F-350 SRW - 9900lbs, if you want to.

And they can get really goofy/campers aren't exempt - Saskatchewan started running trailers through scales - and if your trailer had GVWR over 10k lbs and you didn't have a class G endorsement/class 1 license, you were towed.

Probably just a cash grab, but made people demonstrate that they knew what they were doing before driving away with that monster 5th wheel RV.
I am not real familiar with the laws in Canada but down here you don't have two weigh anything with a bathroom and a bed.
 

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Find both of the same year and drive them. Why over complicate things with others opinions? It is your money, your potential ride. Get what you like. Opinions are like ass holes, everyone has one and some of them stink.
 

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Find both of the same year and drive them. Why over complicate things with others opinions? It is your money, your potential ride. Get what you like. Opinions are like ass holes, everyone has one and some of them stink.
They all stink except your own. [emoji1]
 

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Dad's '04 (2v vs your dad's 3v) is kinda weird, it doesn't feel like it has much for power but if you put a trailer on the back it doesn't really care any more than running empty.

When he first got it it was pushing 16mpg, 2wd automatic scab with a 6.5' utility box with a liftgate. She has gained weight (box and back seat is full of tools and has a gas welder/generator in the bed now... and also now has airbags.
Cleaned out the bed (just the welder-generator and roadbox got kicked out) and drove it 2 hours to get a 6cyl diesel engine (301 A-C) and drove it 2 hours home today.

16.5mpg round trip. :icon_surprised:

My 4x4 F-150 gets about that with the same 2v 5.4... and probably weighs half as much. :icon_confused:
 

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