Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Recommendations needed for next truck

Diesel engines are sweet.

[bleep] Toyota, buy a damn Ford......grin

I have driven the three 1/2 tons of interest....Toyota, Dodge, and Ford. I would rank them Ford (never thought I'd say that), Toyota, and Dodge. I am going to drive the Dodge and Ford diesels this weekend.

I'd be all over the 1/2 ton Ford Ecoboost or the Toyota Tundra on drive and total weight alone but that 1500 pound tongue weight is concerning. Neither of them is rated to handle that kind of tongue weight.

Hey Redneck, would you mind elaborating on what you mean by a "properly ordered 1/2 ton?"

When you test drive the diesels, make sure you are pointing her straight when you tromp on the accelerator. You could swap ends otherwise! Love it when the turbo kicks in; torque and acceleration. And passing with a load behind you, you won't have to hold onto that crucifix anymore.

If you go to this link:

http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/specifications/

You'll see the range of towing specs for the various F-150 models. If you go to the tabs on the top line, you can select 'payload package selector' and note the models that have the heaviest payload factors.. Match that up with the tow chart and that will tell you how to set up the order to achieve what you want to carry/tow.. Note that the #11,300 max trailer tow (conventional) indicates the truck MUST be ordered with the 'max trailer tow package'..

You mention a 1500# tongue weight.. Is that on the hitch or on a gooseneck/5th wheel? Personally, I would not want to have a TT heavy enough to place 1500# on a receiver hitch for a F-150.. Too much weight - and IIRC the tag on the receiver hitch will mention a 600# tongue limit with a 6K max GTW - which can be enhanced IF you use a WD hitch...

Check the cost differential between the F-150 and F-250; you'll not see a huge price jump and you'll get a truck much better able to handle a load 8K++


Often I see half-ton trucks with 5ers on the back which cause quite a squat (even with 18-20' 5ers) and I wonder how long that truck's gonna last with that kind of load.. Tryin' to save a few bucks on too light a truck can cause real trouble...

I crawled underneath the F150 Ecoboost to look at the hitch sticker. It said 5000 lbs towing/500 hitch or 10500 towing/1050 hitch with weight distribution.

Sounds right to me... Now, IF that's the truck you obtain, ensure the hitch you buy is rated for at least that weight - or else you're courting further disaster.. Many of the hitches (for the receiver) in a lot of places have a 3K or 6K weight limit - with ball mounting holes of 3/4".. Not enough - unless the max you're gonna haul is 3K.. Curt Mfg (among others) makes several types of heavier hitches. The one I just obtained for my truck to haul the trailers I have on hand has a 7500 max tow weight and the ball (also Curt) is rated at 8K.. The heaviest trailer I use on the receiver is 7K - and I never, ever, overload a trailer.. One other hitch I have on hand is rated at 20K, but the ball is only 10K - only in the odd chance I have to tow a heavier unit; a rather slim chance but one never knows at times.. For the record, my truck is rated to tow a max (conventional) of 14K, and 21.7K on the 5th wheel.. I ordered this beast with the factory Reese 25K 5th wheel hitch right from the factory.

Most haulers recommend that anything over 5K that you utilize a WD hitch - good advice for a lighter truck with SRW..

It'll be interesting to know what truck you finally buy.. Let us know what you get.. What seems to be a shock to me is the price of these trucks nowadays - even the so-called half-tons.. A dressed-out F-150 can run to nearly 50 GRAND!! OUCH..

Remfak, Sell the trailer, buy the finest Davis Tent made with stove etc, drive your current rig. A fully furnished tent is very livable and about $50,000 cheaper in this case. Course I am a cheap rat bastid. Take the savings and do more hunts.

You gotta a point, moose. My problem is my wife likes that dang queen size bed in the trailer. Can hardly call it camping, but coming in from a wet day of hunting, drying stuff out ain't bad either.

I'll take a pickup that is 80% made in the US over one that is 60% made in the US, thank you!!

Check it out here

Yep. That's why I bought a low mileage used F250. Went for the infamous 6.0 Power Stroke. With it's reputation, you can get a deal, and all the problems with them are well documented with established workaround modifications. As long as you don't overpay for the truck and leave sufficient margin for prudent mods, you can pick up a nice diesel at a very substantial savings.

Not quite accurate.. That link shows the percentage of parts that come from USA, not necessarily where it's made.. Both vehicles are assembled in the USA..

Not true for all models of either make - but from what I could find - both Tundra and F-150 are American built..

Yes, both trucks are assembled in the US. It just bothers me that most of the 20% difference in the parts made in the US is because Ford chooses to buy so much stuff from Mexico. At least the engines and transmissions are made in the US, or were the last time I checked.

As I said earlier, I'm betting most trucks are bought from brand loyalty, not from test driving them all. I'm not saying that is necessarily bad, but it really doesn't give you a good real life comparison of them all.

I am also interested in what remfak winds up buying. He appears to be doing his homework very well. I applaud him for that.

Just get a diesel and stop screwing around. Tow whatever you want and hardly feel it. Drive one and everything else will seem like a gutless pig, you'll never want another gas truck.

I hear ya.. Keep in mind GM has plants to build cars in Canada AND Mexico.. Lot's of that is because the auto unions are driving business out of the country..



Absolutely.. I'll wait to hear what he obtains and the reasons why for the choice..

Part of any choice in the matter is the dealer too.. Have a crap dealer next to you and it sours the taste for their vehicles - no matter how good they may be..

Yes, I am a homework, research, and question kind of guy. Too bad I didn't do more "research" on the impact of 1500lbs of ATV being put on the front deck of this fuggin great deal of a trailer i got from my friend. It really is a great trailer at a smokin deal!

Spoke to the most prominent hitch dealer here in town today. He too kinda went "eak" when I told him of the 1500 lb. tongue weight. It's pretty clear at this point my only real "safe options" at his point (and give me future flexibility as well) would be to go 3/4 ton. I loved the Ecoboost but I've got too much tongue weight. A 1/2 ton, particularly newer ones, can certainly handle the trailer. They can't, however, safely handle 1500 lbs of tongue weight.

Off to the dealer to drive some 3/4 ton trucks.....

remfak, financially you would be better off doing something about the poorly designed trailer than to invest in a $35,000+ truck. If the trailer can be modified to better distribute the weight, it would be the way to go. IMHO 1500lb. tongue weight is excessive for a trailer that doesn't weigh 15000 lbs.

Mark

I just got a new Ford F-150 XLT 4x4. I love it!

Gotchya...I should have read further.

The 150/250's I've been looking at have 8-10K price seperation towards the F-250. That is sticker price though.

OrangeOkie,

Now that is a SHARP pickup!

Ed