Half-ton or three-quarter-ton: what the extra weight class buys
Enter the payload on the door label, the people and the cargo: the calculator shows what is left for a tongue or a pin, and the heaviest trailer that leaves you.
Payload left for the trailer tongue
1,225 lb
| Payload | 1,800 lb |
| People, cargo and hitch | 575 lb |
| Heaviest trailer at 10% tongue | 12,250 lb |
| At 12% tongue | 10,208 lb |
Compiled by Radif Partners · Sources and method · makers’ towing documents read October 20 to 21, 2026
A three-quarter-ton pickup is rated for much heavier trailers than its half-ton sibling: 22,000 lb against 13,500 lb for the Ford F-250 and F-150, 20,000 lb against 11,530 lb for the Ram 2500 and 1500, conventional hitch in both cases. The difference that matters most in practice is payload. Ram prints a payload for every build: the best 2500 reaches 4,580 lb, the best 1500 2,410 lb. A heavy travel trailer puts 10% or more of its weight on the hitch, and a fifth wheel 15 to 25%, all of it payload. On the Ram 1500 build that reaches the top rating, a tongue at 10% of that trailer leaves 717 lb for people and hitch; on the top Ram 2500 build, 1,990 lb. The half-ton is the easier daily truck; the three-quarter-ton is the one that keeps a margin once the trailer gets heavy.
Side by side
The table sets each half-ton against the heavier truck of the same maker for the latest model year read. "Highest GCWR" is the largest combined weight rating printed in that year's table. Payload and GVWR appear only where the maker prints them per configuration: Ram does, Ford gives the F-150 a single performance figure and no per-row payload for the F-250. Chevrolet's heavy duty Silverado is not covered yet, so it is left out, and Toyota sells no three-quarter-ton pickup: the Tundra is compared with the other half-tons on the pickup comparison page.
| Truck | Year | Best conventional | Highest GCWR | Highest payload printed | GVWR range printed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ford F-150 | 2026 | 13,500 lb | 19,400 lb | 2,440 lb | not printed |
| Ford F-250 Super Duty | 2026 | 22,000 lb | 31,000 lb | not printed per row | not printed |
| Ram 1500 | 2027 | 11,530 lb | 17,000 lb | 2,410 lb | 6,700 lb to 7,850 lb |
| Ram 2500 | 2027 | 20,000 lb | 28,110 lb | 4,580 lb | 8,565 lb to 11,040 lb |
The trailer rating gap
Ford's step from F-150 to F-250 adds 8,500 lb at the top of the conventional scale, and Ram's step from 1500 to 2500 adds 8,470 lb. The GCWR column explains most of it. The GCWR is the maker's limit for the whole rig, truck and trailer together, and the heavy duty truck is given a far larger one. The trailer rating is roughly what is left of the GCWR once the truck's own weight and the assumed occupants are taken out.
Both scales overlap less than the badges suggest. The weakest F-250 row is 13,800 lb, which is above the best F-150 row, and the weakest Ram 2500 row, 10,530 lb, sits near the top of the Ram 1500 range. Above 13,500 lb, there is no half-ton option at all among the trucks covered.
Payload, where the classes really part
Ram's chart notes say the payload and the trailer rating are mutually exclusive: the build with the most payload is not the one with the highest trailer rating (Ram notes). So compare them on the same row. The Ram 1500 build that reaches 11,530 lb prints a payload of 1,870 lb; a tongue at 10% of that trailer, 1,153 lb, leaves 717 lb. Ram's heavy duty notes say its ratings already count 300 lb of passengers and 100 lb of options in its rating, but the payload is what your door label says, and every person aboard comes out of it. The top Ram 2500 build, rated 20,000 lb with 3,990 lb of payload, keeps 1,990 lb after a 10% tongue.
For a trailer near the half-ton's ceiling, that difference decides whether the family fits in the cab. The payload page explains how to read your own figure.
Ram 2500: trailer the GCWR leaves (top 2027 build)
Heaviest trailer the GCWR allows
19,863 lb
| GCWR | 27,490 lb |
| Vehicle as loaded | 7,627 lb |
| Hitch hardware counted | 75 lb |
Bed hitches: fifth wheel and gooseneck
Above a certain size, travel trailers give way to fifth wheels, and the hitch moves into the bed. Ford prints separate ratings for the 2026 F-250: up to 22,300 lb on a fifth wheel and 23,000 lb on a gooseneck, while the receiver is rated 22,000 lb and 2,200 lb of tongue. The F-150 guide also has fifth-wheel tables, which this site has not transcribed, and Ford does not recommend fifth-wheel towing for the Raptor or the Lightning. What decides on a half-ton is again payload: the pin weight of 15 to 25% of the trailer lands on the bed, plus the hitch, which Ram counts at 250 lb for a fifth wheel. The fifth wheel and gooseneck page covers the choice between the two.
Which one for your trailer
If the loaded trailer is well inside the half-ton's rating and its tongue leaves room for your passengers, the lighter truck is enough and easier to live with. If either test is tight, or if you plan to move to a fifth wheel, the three-quarter-ton gives the margin. Run your own numbers in the checker with your door-label payload.