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Towing compacity of 1/2 vs 3/4 ton

i agree with tim, there are 2 different calipers for the 3/4 tons. you can get the 3/4 with the jb6 or jb7 brake system. the jb6 is on the lightduty 3/4 tons and the jb7 is on the heavy duty 3/4 ton.

my k20 and my k10 share the same caliper, same part number and everything, i looked it up at the parts store. i have the light duty 3/4.

i do know they are different calipers, but do not know the exact difference. the pistons size would make sence, cause it has to bolt up to the same bracket and go on the same rotor.
 
The pistons are really close in size. I can't remember the numbers exactly but it's 1/4" or less of difference.
 
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I guess I stand corrected

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No your Blingness, you are correct in thinking the three frames are different. I researched a bunch of this a while ago and thatk30guy helped out a lot, but here is it in a nutshell. The 1/2 and 3/4 ton frames are very similar but the 3/4 ton is a little thicker. The one tons are thicker still and 3 inches or so "taller." They aren't really taller though because the height increase is in the downward direction if that makes sense.
And if anyone just plain donsn't believe me there is a little blurb on ORD's site that hints at this being the truth:
The heavier duty trucks, ¾ ton and larger, have frames made of thicker material than the ½ tons and Blazers but this is not enough to prevent steering cracks.

I've had trucks of all three weight ratings and can attest that this is true.
 
Ok, but this is on the pre 88 c/k, and the pre 91 burbs-

What about the 88+ c/k? Last I looked the half ton and the 3/4 ton was significantly different, but the 3/4 wasnt that different from the 1 ton. Am I seeing things?
 
88-98 trucks, too, have a heavy and light duty 3/4 ton.

Light duty is the 6 lug, 7,200 lb GVWR that shares everything with a 1/2 ton except it has a 14 bolt semi floater in the back and maybe 1-2 more leaves in the springs.

Heavy duty 3/4 ton is the C6P option package and that truck will probably have an 8 lug semi floater in the back and an 8600 lb GVWR. A SRW 1 ton is 9,200 GVWR so this truck would be pretty comparabile to a 1 ton except not having a full floater and having slightly smaller rear brakes, and possibly a slightly lighter rear suspension.
 
I do a considerable amount of towing for my side business. I have a 78 K10 shortbed and a 80 K20 longbed. There was a big difference with towing between the two. The longbed was more stable and stopped better with stock components (without break controller activated) and towed much easier with lower gears with 3.42 (no that is not a typo) as compaired with the K10's 3.08's. Also for a moderate load and hills a typical stock 350 motor is being worked heavily. I have a 14 x 8 enclosed v-nose trailer (all aluminum) filled with lawncare equipment and the K10 loses speed on the highway if there is any grades. I find myself downshifting (auto) and watching both temp gauges rise (engine and tranny), not to mention my gas gauge go down QUICKLY. The K20 now has 1 ton running gear (MUCH better braking) with an automatic overdrive tranny, 4.56 gears, and HiPo SB which tows the trailer without grunting and even though it has lower gears actually gets better mileage while towing.

If you are towing heavy loads, I would suggest 3/4 ton or 1 ton with a BBC. Mileage while towing will be about the same or better than an SBC with much more grunt. I have a BBC that I'm swapping into the K20 and am currently looking for one for the K10.

If you are towing a very occasional load or towing considerably less weight a 3/4 ton with SBC should be fine.

Also look at the gearing, there is a big difference when you compare 3.08's with 3.73's or 4.10's. You would be surprised at what a difference gearing makes while towing.

Just my .02 /forums/images/graemlins/yikes.gif
 
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Wrong again Tim, they use the same part numbers. The difference is the D44 calipers & the 10 bolt calipers. The D44 calipers have a slightly larger piston.

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Open up a brake book if you do not believe me.

There are FOUR different part numbers for front calipers on these trucks. Two for D44s, and two for 10 bolts. There are two differently sized pistons for both axle.

Check your information before you run your mouth. You're pretty out of line trying to tell me something about auto parts unless it was blatently incorrect.

Brake system detirmines which calipers you get. The bigger calipers also use different brake pads.

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Well Mr. "Open your mouth too many times for nothing" I did check a Bendix-Midland brake parts book, and they DO only list TWO, as I said! So you ARE NOT CORRECT, as usual TIM!!!

And NO TIM, i'm NOT out of line!!! You are with your stupid wize crack answers all of the time!!!
 
Why dont you go take your brakes and !@#! it! /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif

Im just kidding. I just had to put a wise crack answer, and I didnt have anything better to say.

So.. is the 1 ton 92+ trucks have bigger brakes in the front than the 3/4 ton?
 
You are most certainly wrong, and I really don't care if you agree with me or not. If you want to get technical there are about 30 different castings for these calipers, but only four sets of specifications.
 
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88-98 trucks, too, have a heavy and light duty 3/4 ton.

Light duty is the 6 lug, 7,200 lb GVWR that shares everything with a 1/2 ton except it has a 14 bolt semi floater in the back and maybe 1-2 more leaves in the springs.

Heavy duty 3/4 ton is the C6P option package and that truck will probably have an 8 lug semi floater in the back and an 8600 lb GVWR. A SRW 1 ton is 9,200 GVWR so this truck would be pretty comparabile to a 1 ton except not having a full floater and having slightly smaller rear brakes, and possibly a slightly lighter rear suspension.

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Some of the 88+ 3/4 tons in the HD flavor came with the 14SF and some came with the 14FF. I have two friends with pretty similar trucks. One is a HD 3/4 with a 350(aroudn a 97) and has a 14SF.. The other has a 2000 3/4 HD with a BBC and has a 14FF.... They are both registered at the same weight and both have the option of stepping up to a 1 ton registration..
 
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88-98 trucks, too, have a heavy and light duty 3/4 ton.

Light duty is the 6 lug, 7,200 lb GVWR that shares everything with a 1/2 ton except it has a 14 bolt semi floater in the back and maybe 1-2 more leaves in the springs.

Heavy duty 3/4 ton is the C6P option package and that truck will probably have an 8 lug semi floater in the back and an 8600 lb GVWR. A SRW 1 ton is 9,200 GVWR so this truck would be pretty comparabile to a 1 ton except not having a full floater and having slightly smaller rear brakes, and possibly a slightly lighter rear suspension.

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Some of the 88+ 3/4 tons in the HD flavor came with the 14SF and some came with the 14FF. I have two friends with pretty similar trucks. One is a HD 3/4 with a 350(aroudn a 97) and has a 14SF.. The other has a 2000 3/4 HD with a BBC and has a 14FF.... They are both registered at the same weight and both have the option of stepping up to a 1 ton registration..

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BBC gets you a 14 FF whether it's a 1 ton or not, (the only two exceptions to this are the 454SS trucks and the 1/2 tons with 454s manufactured in the '70s) hence the word, "Probably."

Putting a 1 ton plate on it doesn't change the GVWR so it doesn't matter what the state will let you plate it for. If you're over 8,600 in that truck, you're still overloaded.
 
In the state of PA, you can register some 3/4 tons trucks as 1 tons and haul at the one ton limits. But anymore since the price of plates has gone up quite a bit, they are getting the 3/4 ton plates instead.
 
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In the state of PA, you can register some 3/4 tons trucks as 1 tons and haul at the one ton limits. But anymore since the price of plates has gone up quite a bit, they are getting the 3/4 ton plates instead.

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You can plate a truck for whatever you want. I could put class F plates on my truck and pull 30,000 lbs without breaking the law.

That doesn't make it safe or increase your GVWR. You're still overloaded no matter what your plate says.
 
If I could, I'd register my truck as a 1/4 ton. You know how much I pay for registration??? /forums/images/graemlins/screwy.gif

They go by the GVWR- If I had a choice, I'd title a 2 ton as a half ton if I could. I'd pay a whole hell of a lot less taxes, and I'd still safely be hauling. In NY, plates are all the same, so they wouldnt know if you titled it one way or another.

So if you are hauling 20k with your titled "half ton" (which is really 2 tons), nobody really haggles you.

That is.. unless you have commercial plates. Anything over 10k GVWR IIRC gets commercial plates.
 
Here in Illinois you can put commercial plates on your pinto if you want. You can go up in size no problem, but you cannot go down.

Anything 10k or more gets inspected. 8k plates (regular truck are $78 a year. 10k plates are close to $180 and it goes up from there.

How much weight do you want to spend?
 
I didn't say you weren't overloaded. Just stating that PA let's you do that..
 
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