1/2, 3/4, 1 Ton Truck Information

I posted this on an RV forum several years ago, but thought it might be good to post here also as many potential owners are questioning what truck to get. I posted this in 2019 so the prices listed are now different, but should be relatively comparable. Some maximum GVWRs have changed, and not sure about the sizes, especially the heights, but I am too lazy to do all of the research over again when a copy and paste is much easier.

Many people post here that they want a ½ ton truck instead of a 3/4 or 1 ton truck because they use it for their daily commute. I thought I would post the differences here just to show that heavy duty trucks are not that much bigger or more expensive than ½ ton trucks.

Size:

All truck stats are Crew Cab (seems to be most popular) , short beds (6.5’ bed for the F150), 4x2s.

Wheel Base:
156.8”----F150 (6.5’ bed)
159.8-----F250/F350 SWR (6.75’ bed)

Length:
243.7”----F150 (6.5’ bed)
250.0”----F250/F350 (6.75’ bed)

Width:
79.9”-----F150 (excluding mirrors)
80.0”-----F250/F350 (excluding mirrors) SRW

Cab Ht:
75.7”-----F150
78.3”-----F250
78.2”-----F350

Summary: The SRW Super Duties are ~6” longer, .1” wider, and 1.5” taller. Ford even uses the same cab on the F150 and Super Duties. Not a big difference anywhere there. I can’t see any of those figures causing a problem, although the heavier weight of a Super Duty could cause a problem on bridges with a 4 ton rating.


Now on to price. I priced out the different trim levels on a not quite middle of the line Lariat (2 trims below, and 3 trims above). The prices are for Crew Cabs, short beds (6.5’ for the F150, 6.75’ for the Super Duties), 4x2s SRW


Price:
Estimated Net Price on a F150: $45,850




Estimated Net Price on a F250: $49,065




Estimated Net Price on a F350: $50,235



To get the Maximum Tow Package on the F150, you have to up the engine choice to the 3.5L vs the 2.7L, which is understandable. The Maximum Tow Package on the F150 includes the telescoping tow mirrors and the integrated trailer braking system which comes standard in the Super Duties (power telescoping on the more deluxe trims). To add those 2 items to the mix, the new Estimated Net Price is $49,170……………more than the Estimated Net Price of the Lariat F250 !!



Now for realistic Payload Capacities. The maximum capacities listed on the Ford website are probably for the XL trim, no options, 4x2, and a regular cab short bed. When someone goes to a higher trim level, Super or Crew Cab, 4x4, and add options, all of those things bring the cargo carrying capacity down.

These are "calculated guesses" after following the posts on this forum.

Again, using 2019 Lariats, no additional options, Crew Cabs, 4x2s, short beds (F150 6.5’ bed)

F150 ~1800 lbs
F250 ~2800 lbs
F350 ~4300 lbs

Adding the 6.7 Power Stroke to the Super Duties:

F250 ~2100 lbs
F350 ~3600 lbs (my nicely optioned F350 4x4 Crew Cab is listed as 3426 lbs)

A F250 diesel does not have much more payload than a F150, but the heavier frame and build would make a bid difference in towing stability. Many truck owners (me included) suggest that buyers considering the diesel in a ¾ ton truck should consider going to a 1 ton model to keep the cargo carrying capacity high. As noted above, the size stats are almost identical, and the cost is ~$1000 more for an extra 1500 lb of payload.

Some Notes:
1st of all, do not take the information given here as gospel. Do the research !!

Check the GVWR of the particular truck you are buying or ordering. On a F250, you can “derate” the GVWR to 9900 lbs from the standard 10,000 lb GVWR (for licensing purposes). On the F350, you can “derate” the GVWR all the way down to 10,000 lbs from the 11,300 to 11,500 lb standard GVWR. It is my understanding that the “derating” does nothing to the build of the truck, it just changes the GVWR on the title. In my case, I want both the tags and truck sticker to reflect the higher rating (mine is 11,500 lbs) just in some overzealous law enforcement officer raises a fuss, or in case I am in an accident and somebody sues saying my truck was carrying too much weight, or something to that effect.

The biggest differences in F150 and Super Duties with the standard engines will be fuel mileages. The 2.7L F150 will probably average around 20 mpg, and the Super Duty 6.2L will probably average around 16 mpg.

Again, remember the prices and stats are from 2019 so anyone considering a 2022 will have to do more research.

 

i know you said this is for a 2019 but anyone looking at 2020+ 250 and 350 with a 6.7 can have a higher GVWR, 10,800 for the 250 and 12,400 for the SRW 350 are possible if optioned correctly. this obviously helps those diesel payload numbers.

 

When I priced a very comparable F150 to an F250, which I included the 5.0 v8 to compare to a 6.2l v8, I came up with virtually no difference in price. That and the fact that I wanted a heavier truck for the more confident towing is why I went with an F250. Will probably never go back to a 1/2 ton truck again.