Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Best 1/2 ton 4x4 truck on the market?

Opinions and thoughts welcome

having owned a f150 and now a dodge 1500, i'd go for the ford next time. i bought the dodge used and its kind of junky. maybe new ones are better. but my 05 has a lot of problems that my ford never did in 18 years.

Love my Tundra quad cab, 4x4, 5.7 TRD Off Road with tow package. Drives like a car, does well off road and mileage is great for my driving, about 16.5.

If you want the best in off road performance, break out your high limit credit card and buy a Ford Raptor. In the April 2014 edition of 4Wheeler, they say they jumped their original model over 20 times w/o damage. Great, but not cheap.
A cheaper way to go would probably be the Toyota Tacoma with the Baja Package. I understand Toyota is doing both the Tacoma and the Tundra in such a package late this year. Even with their Off Road packages, they are both highly rated.
4Wheeler says good things about the current Dodge 1500 w/ the right options and the Cheavy 1500. I'm not impressed. They also say good things about the Ford F150 with the right options and the Eco Boost V-6. I could do an F-150 if A Toy wouldn't do. E

I have an F150 4x4 with the Ecoboost. Frankly, I can't imagine a better truck - it really is awesome.

+1 for the Ford F150 with the Ecoboost. I bought a 2013 the first week of Dec. Supercrew, FX4 loaded with the 5'-6" bed. Great ride, the most comfortable truck I've had yet. I had a 2002 and a 2006 Supercrew and they get better each generation. I've had Chevy,GMC, Toyota and a Nissan but never tried the Dodge. Pretty much everyone builds a nice truck these days.

I will not own an ecoboost right now. I love driving them and I love the torque but I have a number of friends that are having all sorts of issues with them. If I were to go with a Ford I would probably go with the 5.0. Bums me out because the ecoboost is effortless with all that torque but reliability is crucial for me when I spend weeks on end south of the border in desolate areas

It depends upon what you consider important for it to be the "best". If you're talking overall quality, which would be my criteria, then it would be the Toyota Tundra.

I like both the Ford F150 and the Ram 1500. IMO, I think you get more bang for your buck with the Dodge. I'll be looking for a new truck eventually and I am leaning towards the Ram 1500 with either the Hemi or the diesel motor.

The Ram with the 8 sped transmission and the 5.7 Hemi gets better mileage and has more HP and torque than the Tundra. What is intriguing about the Tundra is the resale

Depends on how long you plan on keeping the truck. I always keep mine for at least 5 years. I'd have no issue owning a Toyota Tundra but they are a bit more money compared to a comparable model Ram 1500.

I had a 2011 F-150 w/5.0l v-8 and can't see why you'd need more than it offers. If I did need more, I'd get a 3/4 ton diesle. When I bought it the salesman told me to get the V8, said they have both but gas mileage was better on the 8, and it was proven, the eco-boost wasn't at the time, and truthfully, I don't think is yet.

I did have trouble with the rear doors. They rattled like crazy. It was the crew cab, not the super crew. I had it in 3 times and it was never fixed completely. No issues mechanically, but I only had it for 22k miles before I got the bid "D" and had to buy a house instead....

I did drive a Ram 1500 on saturday and liked it a lot. Plenty of power. But that was a test drive for 10 minutes. A weekend run would be better.

If I had to buy a new half-ton, it would be the Ford with the 5.0L. I've had very few problems with my 10 year old 2004 F150 (same bodystyle), my father still has his 2005 model as well as a 2013. All have been good 4x4 trucks so far.

I will admit, next time around, I will likely go with a Tacoma crew-cab, as I really don't need such a big truck and rarely pull anything larger than a small tractor or an ATV. I've got an old 4Runner for a hunting truck and would welcome a bit better mileage on a daily driver.

My last Ford was a 2002 with the 4.8 V8. It was way underpowered. I liked a lot about the truck, but traded as soon as I felt it economically feasible for a 2007 Tacoma. The Tacoma is 1500 lbs lighter and rated to tow virtually the same. The truck pulls the same loads much easier, has much better acceleration loaded or not and gets much better fuel mileage.

With that in mind, I'm a bit surprised to see so much praise for the new 3.5 V6 and 5.0 V8. I figure to keep my Tacoma for another 3-5 years but am keeping my eye on the new 1/2 tons for the future. If the new Fords will get close to the same fuel mileage, and have equal power I may consider going back up to a full size.

The 4.6 Triton motor was a turd, especially the 2v version. I never understood why someone would choose it over the 5.4 when they get virtually the same mileage. I like the new fords but would be awful tempted to give the new Ram with the eco diesel and 8 sp a drive.

4.6 2V was a turd indeed. Not much of a truck motor.

I'll be curious to see how next year's Fords perform when they've pulled 600lbs off the overall weight. I could maybe see buying a used one in a few years.

Having owned numerous Ford, GMC and Toyota 4x4's, I must say that Toyota quality is a giant step up.

Definitely the Toyota Tacoma. I am on my 2nd one at present. The 1st only had a 4 banger, but this 2004 has the 6. We have the extended cab, not a 4 door. With the Toyota Tacoma ,you give up the bed space of a full sized pickup. If you need that, then I'd jump, up to the Tundra.

The first I sold at 275 K miles on it and the kid who bought it is still running it 8 years later. The 2004 has right at 100K on it and except for tires, oil and a front end alignment I have had no repair. Plus the Toyota is rated at 3/4 t, not 1/2 1/2.

Looking at the Consumer Reports, the Toyota is the only truck that consistently gets high marks for reliability. It has high clearance for off road. The only thing bad about it is the axle width. It isn't wide enough to go down a two track usually used by standard size pick ups. One wheel will be in the rut, the other isn't. It isn't user friendly for oil/filter changes either ,but I can live with that.

For comparison go look at used trucks and used Toyota Tacoma. If you find a used Toyota, and like it, you'd best buy it right then because it won't be on the lot tomorrow. The other trucks will still be sitting there next week.

We use to have two trucks and a sedan. When it came time to upgrade to newer, my wife sold the sedan and older Toyota Tacoma and only wanted another Toyota. She won't drive a sedan. I don't get the Tacoma often and I drive the Dodge Cummins most of the time.

Guy I know owns a used car lot in Florida and buys cars for his clients and services them at the Dealership. He might be the best mechanic I have ever encountered. He bought a Raptor for a client in Denmark , it had to be used with mileage so the client would not pay a crazy import duty when shipped overseas.

He had a Raptor on the lot(very low mileage) shook his head and called it the most overrated truck he has ever encountered. He BTW likes just about any vehicle . 4x4 Tacomas,T100's,Tundras don't hang around in a used car lot or persons driveway very long where I live.

Personal opinion, but I would not buy a Dodge because I know too many people that have reliablilty problems with them, one big issue being front ends. I bought a new 2011 Tundra, and I think when all things are considered, ie, resale, lack of repair costs, etc, that the Toyota will not cost much more, if any to drive. The 5.7 pulls incredibly well, I have towed a lot, (26 foot camper with slide out, about 7000 loaded) from Montana to Alaska, and from Montana to southern California.
Test reports from magazines and/or comparing spec sheets are like ordering a mail order bride on the basis of here bust size!