How Heavy Is The Average Pickup Truck? Answered!
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When shopping for a new pickup truck, weight may be a concern for a potential owner. So, typically how heavy is a pickup truck? Pickup trucks can vary greatly in weight depending on their size, brand, and model. This may be important to know before making your vehicle purchase if you are concerned about fuel economy, max payload capacity, or if you live in an area that may have vehicle weight restrictions on roads and bridges.
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How heavy are pickup trucks?
When it comes to half-ton, three-quarter-ton, and one-ton pickup trucks, curb weights can range from as low as 4,500 pounds to as high as 9,900 pounds or sometimes more depending on the brand, model, and special features of the pickup truck.
So which brands have the heaviest pickup trucks and what are the differences between a half-ton, three-quarter-ton, and one-ton pickup truck? Also, how are features like max payload, towing capacity, and fuel economy different between these different classes of pickup trucks? These are the types of considerations that someone is going to need to make before they make such a large investment in a vehicle that ideally will last them a significant portion of time.
Let us take a closer look at the differences between these common pickup classes, the differences between some of the most popular pickups sold in the US, and identify some of the considerations a potential vehicle may have to make before making a purchase.
Differences between common pickup classes
The three most common classes of pickup classes sold to the average US consumer for non-commercial purposes are the half-ton, three-quarter-ton, and one-ton pickup.
These three classes distinguish different sizes of trucks that can all have different curb weights, max payloads, towing capacity, and fuel economy. What are the differences between these three classes in terms of weight, size, payload, towing capacity, and other features?
Half-ton pickup
Half-ton pickup trucks are typically the most common type of pickup sold to the average consumer in the US with such brands as the GMC Sierra 1500, Ram 1500, Ford F-150, and the Chevy Silverado 1500. Other popular brands in the half-ton pickup category include the Toyota Tundra and the Nissan Titan.
What defines a half-ton pickup?
A half-ton pickup is what is known typically as a Class 2a – Light Truck. Class 2a trucks typically can weigh anywhere from 4,500 to 7,500 pounds depending on the brand and model.
Examples of half-ton trucks and their features
- GMC Sierra 1500
- Weight: 4,430 to 4,760 pounds
- Payload: 2,100 to 2,240 pounds
- Towing Capacity: 8,800 to 13,100 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 16/20 mpg
- Ram 1500
- Weight: 6,900 pounds
- Payload: 1,500 pounds
- Towing Capacity: Up to 12,750 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 19/24 mpg
- Ford F-150
- Weight: 6,010 pounds
- Payload: 1,985 pounds
- Towing Capacity: Up to 9,100 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 19/24 mpg
- Chevy Silverado 1500
- Weight: 4,740 pounds
- Payload: 2,030 pounds
- Towing Capacity: Up to 9,500 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 19/22 mpg
- Toyota Tundra
- Weight: 5,095 pounds
- Payload: 1,940 pounds
- Towing Capacity: 12,000 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 18/23 mpg
- Nissan Titan
- Weight: 7,300 pounds
- Payload: 1,650 pounds
- Towing Capacity: 9,210 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 15/21 mpg
As you can see, pickup truck weights can vary greatly between brands and models. The heaviest half-ton pickup truck is the Nissan Titan coming in nearly 7,300 pounds.
The lightest half-ton pickup truck is the GMC Sierra 1500 at 4,030 pounds. When it comes to towing capacity, it is a toss-up between the RAM 1500 and the Ford F-150.
Three-quarter-ton pickup
Three-quarter-ton pickups are the next most popular selling class of pickup trucks purchased by US consumers. This class contains the next size up of many of the same brands that produce half-ton trucks. For example the GMC Sierra 2500, RAM 2500, Ford F-250, Chevy Silverado 2500, and the Nissan Titan XD would be some of the models within this classification.
What defines a three-quarter-ton pickup?
A three-quarter-ton pickup truck is what is known typically as a Class 2a – Light/Medium Truck. Class 2a – Light Medium trucks typically can weigh anywhere from 6,300 to 10,000 or more pounds depending on the brand and model.
Examples of half-ton trucks and their features
- GMC Sierra 2500
- Weight: 10,450 pounds
- Payload: 3,590 pounds
- Towing Capacity: 18,500 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 12/14 mpg
- Ram 2500
- Weight: 8,565 pounds
- Payload: 1,560 pounds
- Towing Capacity: Up to 12,750 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 15/19 mpg
- Ford F-250
- Weight: 9,900 pounds
- Payload: 3,450 pounds
- Towing Capacity: Up to 15,000 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 10/16 mpg
- Chevy Silverado 2500
- Weight: 10,250 pounds
- Payload: 3,794 pounds
- Towing Capacity: Up to 14,500 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 10/16 mpg
- Nissan Titan XD
- Weight: 8,800 pounds
- Payload: 2,250 pounds
- Towing Capacity:11,000 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 15/21 mpg
When it comes to the overall weight of these three-quarter-ton pickup trucks, you can see that the GMC Sierra and the Chevy Silverado 2500 are the heaviest weighings over 10,000 pounds.
What is a surprising statistic about these pickup trucks is that the Nissan Titan XD is able to increase its payload and towing capacity between its half-ton and three-quarter-ton models without sacrificing as much fuel economy as the other models.
One-ton pickup
One-ton pickup trucks, although are not as common as half-ton or three-quart-ton pickups, are still popular among US consumers who need the additional towing capacity. This could be small business owners like landscapers, independent contractors, and farmers who need to tow large trailers and farm equipment.
What defines a one-ton pickup?
A one-ton pickup is what is known typically as a Class 3 – Medium Truck. Class 3 Medium trucks typically can weigh anywhere from 10,000 to 16,000 pounds depending on the brand and model.
- GMC Sierra 3500 HD
- Weight: 14,000 pounds
- Payload: 7,442 pounds
- Towing Capacity: 20,000 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 11/16 mpg
- Ram 3500
- Curb weight: 10,700 pounds
- Payload: 3,830 pounds
- Towing Capacity: Up to 37,090 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 10/16 mpg
- Ford F-350 Super Duty
- Weight: 9,910 pounds
- Payload: 2,890 pounds
- Towing Capacity: Up to 20,000 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 10/16 mpg
- Chevy Silverado 3500
- Curb weight: 11,350 pounds
- Payload: 4,365 pounds
- Towing Capacity: Up to 20,000 pounds
- Fuel Economy: 11/16 mpg
When it comes to the vehicle weight of the most commonly purchase one-ton pickups, you can see that the monster on the road is the GMC Sierra 3500 HD which can weigh up to 14,000 pounds. One-ton pickup trucks are not as commonly seen on the road, and instead, you may more likely see them on the farm or job site.
One-ton pickup trucks make excellent farm vehicles because they can handle large payloads and tow heavy machinery.
Additionally, since the fuel economy on one-ton pickup trucks can be quite low, using the truck only for farming and other low mileage usages helps to preserve the overall life of the vehicle and helps to reduce the amount of fuel that is consumed.