Help me understand weight limits...

Link to what? You can look up the specs for US versus Australia it's not hard to find. Are you asking for a link comparing vehicle safety and emissions regulations between the 2 countries?

Give me a reason Ford's engineers would be responsible for the discrepancy. I guarantee you if ford could advertise 2700lbs payload for their US ranger that would be plastered on every billboard and TV commercial they could get their hands on.

 

Your owner's manual prefers you to haul in the bed rather than tow.

 

The diesel version would actually lower payload...you know that pesky weight thing...Torque has nothing to do with payload ratings...towing perhaps, but you will notice that most of the global platforms actually have a lower towing rating with higher payload...

 

Correct, I was thinking towing...

 

Ok found it on Fords AU website...

Other than engines, transmissions, wheels, tires, rear ends, brakes, cooling, etc, etc they are exactly the same ;-)

Sheesh!

Are you a lawyer? ;-)

This 3.2 diesel is pretty sweet! I can see it with a Four Wheel camper on the bed. Imagine walking into your local Ford dealer and ordering one! This is factory stock!

 

I'm not. I work in construction and I'm going back to school to hopefully get into architectural engineering.

My point is, the engineers make the engineering decisions. That's it.

What the ratings end up being is a BUSINESS decision, which has to account for engineering, design, marketing, regulatory and financial aspects.

Toyota COULD make the GVWR 7000lbs from an engineering standpoint, that's what I was getting at with the ranger comparison. Hell they could probably make it 10,000lbs!

But it's not. It's 5600lbs. Not because of engineering reasons, but because the people who make the decisions at Toyota know it would be a waste of money.

 

maybe things are different in the world of mechanical engineering, but as an electrical engineer in the automotive semiconductor industry the specs of our devices are driven by extensive characterization by the engineers.

 

Same at Allied Signal Aerospace, Sikorsky Aircraft, Pratt and Whitney, Hamilton Standard, and Honeywell....sounds like I can't hold a job ;-)

 

Awesome! I enrolled in the College of Engineering at Arizona State a bunch of years after HS and got hammered by the math requirements. I remember having to take a bunch of math classes (none for credit in the engineering major). It would be wise to brush up!
Good luck!

 

I’m under the impression that manufacturers pick a GVWR they want for the truck and build to that. There’s no one single component, usually, that makes it but rather the whole system. It’s the brakes, suspension, bearings, wheels, tires, differentials and driveline, cooling system, crash zones, frame strength, bed strength, and more. And, importantly, GVWR is the weight Toyota believes the truck can carry all the time without undue wear, at least through the end of the warranty.

If you’re over the 5600 pound limit on a Tacoma, you are legally overweight. Those of us who actually have pushed the weight limits on a stock truck can easily tell you three of the weak points: soft rear suspension, inadequate damping, marginal brakes. Once those are upgraded you’ll still legally be overweight but functionally ok until something bigger breaks.

 

This may be slightly different because it's commercial, but food for thought:

I used to drive big rigs, Peterbilt etc. Our gvwr was determined by how much the company wanted to pay for insurance. If they wanted a larger gvwr, all they had to do was pay more for insurance, and we would get all new stickers on the doors, no changes to the truck at all.

I assume that Toyota, or whatever vehicle manufacturer, also has to pay insurance for their product. As with everything, I'm sure a lot of thought has gone into profit/loss. Is an increased gvwr going to increase sales enough to offset higher costs, such as insurance etc.

What I'm trying to say is that everything is about money at the end of the day.

 

I think that falls under the purview of the Motor Carrier Act.

As an aside, some roads(usually residential) have a 6,000 lb GVWR limit, unless you have an exemption...

 

2700lbs?? LOL! my 2017 gmc sierra 2500 hd with the allison and duramax only has a payload of 2120. Ski

 

I know right? Most hiluxes have around that same payload.