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Supercharged111

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Thanks man for the reply.

Im not looking to make the truck tow more.

Just wanting to know the difference between my truck and the 454 and ff ones.

What made GM rate the bbc trucks more? A 4.10 full floater and a bbc? Just for my curiosity and knowledge.

Their logic was not logical in my 98 owner's manual. They rated a 1500 with a 4.10 to tow more than a 2500 with a 3.73 despite it's bigger suspension and brakes, same motor. Gears and power for you the numbers in the owner's manual, the axle wasn't a factor there. There is other, more detailed literature that breaks it down much much better. Delineates between regular and heavy half tons, light/heavy 2509, etc.
 

Arnes98

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As long as your frame is in good shape, and you don't overload the ball you should be fine. I wouldn't climb the Rockies or anything. Manufacturers tend to be a bit conservative with their ratings for legal reasons.

And I'd say 96 is when they started the HD package. But thats just a guess

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My 98 k2500 is a HD with 8 lug semi floating 410 axle with 5.7 4l80e and says max is 7500 also
 

mdnky

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Their logic was not logical in my 98 owner's manual. They rated a 1500 with a 4.10 to tow more than a 2500 with a 3.73 despite it's bigger suspension and brakes, same motor. Gears and power for you the numbers in the owner's manual, the axle wasn't a factor there. There is other, more detailed literature that breaks it down much much better. Delineates between regular and heavy half tons, light/heavy 2509, etc.
It's somewhat perfectly logical, albeit definitely frustrating. They rate the truck off a combined weight number, which you then subtract the truck's actual weight from to arrive at the 'legal' [remaining] towing capacity. The 3/4-ton weighed more due to those bigger brakes and axles, which resulted in a 'technical' lower overall towing capacity. Usually about 500 to 1000 pounds on average. The 3/4 and 1/2 tons of that era used the same frames, so that's probably what limited them.

Any significant towing on the GMT400 platform really needs a 3500. GM fell behind everyone for a bit in the mid-90s [towing wise], until the GMT800 HD line came out in 2001.
 

Supercharged111

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It's somewhat perfectly logical, albeit definitely frustrating. They rate the truck off a combined weight number, which you then subtract the truck's actual weight from to arrive at the 'legal' [remaining] towing capacity. The 3/4-ton weighed more due to those bigger brakes and axles, which resulted in a 'technical' lower overall towing capacity. Usually about 500 to 1000 pounds on average. The 3/4 and 1/2 tons of that era used the same frames, so that's probably what limited them.

Any significant towing on the GMT400 platform really needs a 3500. GM fell behind everyone for a bit in the mid-90s [towing wise], until the GMT800 HD line came out in 2001.

How in God's name does a truck with a thicker frame, beefier everything, stronger brakes, springs, etc NOT garner a higher GCWR? No, this does not make sense at all. You think a big rig should stick to the same GCWR as a pickup truck? On top of that, it doesn't account for variations like regular cab short bed vs crew cab long bed so no it's not just a GCWR thing. I stand by my statement, they had their heads firmly up their ***** when they printed the owner's manual.
 
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