Ok so I have been trying to get this straight for most of my life but never figured them all out or the pattern as it does not seem to always follow a pattern.

F150 or 1500 = 1/2 ton truck
F250 or 2500 = 3/4 ton truck
F350 or 3500 = 1 ton truck

Does the pattern continue as below?

F450 or 4500 = 1.5 ton truck
F550 or 5500 = 2 ton truck
F650 or 6500 = 2.5 ton truck
F750 or 7500 = 3 ton truck
F850 or 8500 = 3.5 ton truck

What about the in between numbers?
6000
7000

Thanks, I was just thinking about this this afternoon.

 

All those designations are nominal and have not reflected actual capacities for many decades.

Our "1 ton" based walk-in vans listed a 2400lb payload on the company-installed sticker.

Ford lists a max payload for a new F150 at 3120 lbs.

2013 Ford F-150 | View Full Specification Library | Ford.com

GVWR ratings for the larger trucks vary widely depending on axles and brakes etc.

 

Thank you for responding. I am aware that they no longer mean anything, but people still refer to them all the time. Truck manufacturing has a need to up their competitor, so they constantly look to make a designation heavier. However, people still refer to a 150 as a half ton tuck when todays half ton trucks are closer to the 1 ton truck of years gone by than they are to their badged counterpart of said era. Even in your post you said "1 ton" based, which emplies that the badging as a 1/2 ton, 1 ton, 2 ton, ect truck still is used even if it is meaningless. So I believe my original post still stands, even if just from an historical perspective.

 

I once worked with a guy that had a chebby s10. He said it was a 3/4 ton truck, reasoning his payload was 1500#, per his world. I guess in a sense he was right, about that part. Thing is, he kept relating it to my F250. OK, whatever.

 

Ok so that leads to a different direction then I originally was asking as well. What would the lable be for a s10, ranger, are they considered the same level as an f100 and what rating would they have been, quarter ton truck. Funny story though, 3/4 ton s10 that is awsome.

 

Just the other day, on a different foroum, I read where a guy referred to a Ranger as a 1/4 ton.
I think it's just an obsolete way of describing a light truck. It really doesn't do that good of a job, but most know what the subject matter is. At one time, and I won't swear to it, it was a legitimate way to differentiate different models.
One I always thought strange was the term, "deuce and a half". You mean to tell me that thing was good for only 5k? And see, I didn't even describe it in any other way, but chances are, everyone reading this knew exactly what truck I was referring to.
I guess the whole number thing is just a holdover from days long gone.

 

Thanks for the comments and trying to refocus the topic. the Duese and a half like I listed below I always thought was a 6500.