Another "which truck should I buy" thread

[Dave Pelletier]

Any decent half ton will work; some better than others. The 3.5 Ecoboost has more power than any of the half ton V8's so it's a solid choice. ditto on the comments about the Coyote 5.0 vs. 5.4.

Look at wheelbase, trailer packages and rear end ratios. The longer the wheelbase the better so a truck with a 6' bed is better than one with a 5' bed (all other things equal). 3.92 gears are better for towing than 3.42's, etc.

One of the trucks in my fleet is a 2014 Ram 1500 CC shortbox 4x4 with the 5.7 Hemi and trailer package with 3.92's; I'd have no issue towing the size of trailer you are talking about with it. You do have to pay attention to payload even with a small trailer as it is rated at 1390lbs. If looking at a Hemi Ram, you would do well to find one equipped with the ZF8 transmission vs. earlier 6 spds......I believe it was optional starting in 2014

[Wellibe]

Originally Posted by MCCOHENS

Depends on your definition of hills. If you are climbing the Rockies or driving in the Adirondacks it will make a difference. And how fast do you want to go? In test drives, not pulling a trailer we found the V8 fords doggy, the dodges peppy but the trucks were always falling apart but the LS in a chevy was just right. Ours is a 4.8 and we slow down to 55 on grades over 6%. The 5.3 might be better but they had issues with the cams in the engines that deactivated cylinders under low load. And the 6.0 is a monster but gets poor mileage, but they all use a lot of gas when working.
Be prepared for all sorts of feedback, sooner or lated someone will tell you a 3/4 ton is the best choice. Happy reading!

I would consider slowing down on a 6% grade to be normal. I just don't want to have to run 4,000 rpms to maintain highway speed on little hills and in 15 mph headwinds, which is what I do now.

Oh, and a few posts back, someone already advised me to get a 3/4 ton with the 6.0.

[Wellibe]

Upon further digging, it looks like the 2010-2014 chevy 5.3 engines had oil consumption issues caused by the active fuel management system. Might have to cross GM off my list.

[mistercee]

Originally Posted by Wellibe

^^^ I'm seeing a couple of 2011 GM trucks showing up at a nearby dealer that have the 5.3 V8 and "heavy duty towing package" with the 3.42 rear end. From what I can find on line, it looks like those would be rated to tow somewhere between 9,000 and 10,000 lbs. Of course I won't be pulling but about half that much weight. Wondering if the 5.3 with 3.42 gears can pull 4,000-5,000 easily at highway speeds.

My friend towed his 23', 5500 lb loaded TT for many years with his Silverado 5.3 with a tow package. No issues at all on several trips from AZ back to MN as well as a lot of towing in the mountains here in AZ, CO and UT.

I towed my over 8K TT for several months with a 3.5 Ecoboost max tow F150. Don't think it ever went over 3000 RPMs even pulling grades. IMHO, that would be a great choice for a 7K and under (loaded) TT. If you can find one with a 36 gallon fuel tank, it is quite possible that it is equipped with the max tow package.

Finally...and I know you're not thinking of pulling that much weight, but it would be a good idea to forgot about any of those published truck tow capacity figures. Those caps were not calculated towing a tongue heavy large block (a travel trailer).

What's important to look at is the truck's cargo carrying capacity (payload). This figure is the truck's weight subtracted from GVWR, so it's unique to every vehicle. In most cases you will exceed the typical 1/2 ton payload cap (and thus it's GVWR) long before you hit its rated towing cap.

When shopping around, take a look at the yellow/white Tire and Loading sticker on driver's side door pillar for any truck you are interested in. This sticker will list that truck's specific CCC. It's worth paying attention to as depending on trim level, optioning, cab configuration etc., it's possible you could find an F150 sitting on the lot that doesn't have much more CCC than your Highlander!

For your kitchen table calculations add 13% of the trailer's GVWR for tongue weight, plus another 100 lbs for a hitch, plus the weight of every occupant, plus the weight of any other gear in the truck together. This figure needs to be below the truck's CCC. This will at least give you an idea of what to look for in a truck's carrying capacity.

[carybosse]

Originally Posted by Dave Pelletier

...

Look at wheelbase, trailer packages and rear end ratios. The longer the wheelbase the better so a truck with a 6' bed is better than one with a 5' bed (all other things equal). 3.92 gears are better for towing than 3.42's, etc.

....

Focusing on this. I can't speak to anyone but GM. The GM double cab come with a 6 foot bed while the crew cab comes with a 5 foot bed. However, they have the same wheelbase. Not sure why year this began and there are options with various cab configuration and bed length, but need to look at actual wheelbase. My son-in-law has a double cab and I have a crew cab with same wheelbase.

I don't know what the others do with their configurations. GM replaced the old extended cabs with the double cab at some point.

[F4Gary]

Originally Posted by Wellibe

Upon further digging, it looks like the 2010-2014 chevy 5.3 engines had oil consumption issues caused by the active fuel management system. Might have to cross GM off my list.

I have a 2014 Silverado with the 5.3 and 75k miles and I have had no problems with oil consumption or the AFM.


Chrysler/Ram also use a version of AFM with a similar design on the Hemi.

[kdauto]

Originally Posted by Wellibe

^^^ I'm seeing a couple of 2011 GM trucks showing up at a nearby dealer that have the 5.3 V8 and "heavy duty towing package" with the 3.42 rear end. From what I can find on line, it looks like those would be rated to tow somewhere between 9,000 and 10,000 lbs. Of course I won't be pulling but about half that much weight. Wondering if the 5.3 with 3.42 gears can pull 4,000-5,000 easily at highway speeds.

I have customers with the 5.3 and 3:42 gears. Those are OK highway (unloaded) gears but not great nor heavy duty for towing much. One customer hauls a 4000-5000-ish lb contractor trailer 70% of the time. He has gone through a rear end rebuild at 150 000km or so. He took very poor care of maintenance and stretched oil change intervals the 1st 100 000km. As such, he has oil consumption issues and had issues with the VLOM (variable displacement/cylinder deactivation) a few times. These truck need proper maintenance and quality oil.

I'm a GM guy, but I'd only buy a used one if I knew the maintenance was properly done. I'd also try to find 3:73 gearing if it was available instead of 3:42.

I'd try and find a truck that had at least 1600-1700lbs payload, but more would be even better. Many 1/2 tons barely have 1300-1400lbs, and that can make towing a 5k-6k trailer along with gear and passengers pretty challenging.

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by carybosse

Focusing on this. I can't speak to anyone but GM. The GM double cab come with a 6 foot bed while the crew cab comes with a 5 foot bed. However, they have the same wheelbase. Not sure why year this began and there are options with various cab configuration and bed length, but need to look at actual wheelbase. My son-in-law has a double cab and I have a crew cab with same wheelbase.

I don't know what the others do with their configurations. GM replaced the old extended cabs with the double cab at some point.

Yeah, that's why I added the "all other things equal" part. My one son has an F150 CC with the 5.5' box and the other has an F150 CC with the 6.5' box; the longer one is better for towing. Can you not get the GM CC with the 6' bed?

Here's the deal with the F150's: There are three cargo bed options for the 2022 Ford F-150 — a 5.5-foot bed, 6.5-foot bed, and 8-foot bed. The short bed is available exclusively with SuperCrew cab models, while the long bed is available with regular and SuperCab F-150 models. Every cab is available with a 6.5-foot bed.

Dave

On edit; looks like you can get the GM Crew Cab with two different length boxes: https://www.fairbankschevy.com/manuf...erra-bed-size/

[kdauto]

Originally Posted by Dave Pelletier

Yeah, that's why I added the "all other things equal" part. My one son has an F150 CC with the 5.5' box and the other has an F150 CC with the 6.5' box; the longer one is better for towing. Can you not get the GM CC with the 6' bed?

Here's the deal with the F150's: There are three cargo bed options for the 2022 Ford F-150 — a 5.5-foot bed, 6.5-foot bed, and 8-foot bed. The short bed is available exclusively with SuperCrew cab models, while the long bed is available with regular and SuperCab F-150 models. Every cab is available with a 6.5-foot bed.

Dave

While I didn't take a tape measure to the bed, I'm pretty sure all the GM 1/2 ton crewcabs I service have a 6' bed. A 5' bed belongs in a pseudo truck, like an El Camino or ranchero. 5' is useless as a pickup truck.

[F4Gary]

My Crew Cab LTZ has the short 5'8" bed.

[SailorSam]

I've towed my current 7000 lb trailer all over the country. I've used 3 different F-150's, all 3.5 EB SuperCrews. I had one long bed and 2 shorts (the shorts fit in my garage much better, the long gave me 2 inches of margin). To be honest, I noticed little difference towing switching to the shorter truck.
As others have noted, the 3.5 EB is been able to maintain speed under all conditions. There are two issues with the older EB engines. First was the direct injection issue that affects many such engines. You get a carbon buildup on the back side of the intake valves. As far as I know, there is not "treatment" to rectify and may require valve replacement. I think Ford modified the engine in 2016 adding an injector upstream of the valves. The additional fuel flow cleans the valves. Second is a cam synchronizer issue. The original synchronizers fail and need to be replaced which is a very expensive job. Ford is now using a new design which reportedly does not fail. One issue with the fix, Ford allowed some dealers to use up stock of the old synchronizer, which would then fail at a later date. If a used vehicle you buy has had them replaced, try to determine if the new version of the gear was used. There are u-tubes out there discussing this issue.

Final comment, I have gotten the platinum trim level that includes "active motion" front seats. The seats give a great massage which I find makes long drives much more tolerable. I activate the seats after about 150 miles to take out the kinks...

[bross]

Originally Posted by SailorSam

I've towed my current 7000 lb trailer all over the country. I've used 3 different F-150's, all 3.5 EB SuperCrews. I had one long bed and 2 shorts (the shorts fit in my garage much better, the long gave me 2 inches of margin). To be honest, I noticed little difference towing switching to the shorter truck.
As others have noted, the 3.5 EB is been able to maintain speed under all conditions. There are two issues with the older EB engines. First was the direct injection issue that affects many such engines. You get a carbon buildup on the back side of the intake valves. As far as I know, there is not "treatment" to rectify and may require valve replacement. I think Ford modified the engine in 2016 adding an injector upstream of the valves. The additional fuel flow cleans the valves. Second is a cam synchronizer issue. The original synchronizers fail and need to be replaced which is a very expensive job. Ford is now using a new design which reportedly does not fail. One issue with the fix, Ford allowed some dealers to use up stock of the old synchronizer, which would then fail at a later date. If a used vehicle you buy has had them replaced, try to determine if the new version of the gear was used. There are u-tubes out there discussing this issue.

Final comment, I have gotten the platinum trim level that includes "active motion" front seats. The seats give a great massage which I find makes long drives much more tolerable. I activate the seats after about 150 miles to take out the kinks...

2017 was the first year of dual injection, plus the 10spd. I solved or at least hope to mitigate the carbon issue on my 2016 by installing a catch can. Simple plug and play mod, easily undone back to stock and gives me peace of mind when I dump the gunk that would have been sprayed back into my intake.

[carybosse]

Originally Posted by kdauto

While I didn't take a tape measure to the bed, I'm pretty sure all the GM 1/2 ton crewcabs I service have a 6' bed. A 5' bed belongs in a pseudo truck, like an El Camino or ranchero. 5' is useless as a pickup truck.

I have a 69 inch bed on my CC but they can be had with a 79 inch bed. The double cab is can only be had with the 79 inch bed in the current generation. Regular cab only gets a 98 inchbed. This is in 1500 series. The 2500 and 3500 may have other options. Interesting how limited the options are today.

[Marine359]

Believe it or not, GM’s 3.6L gasser with 8 speed tranny is a very capable power train. 7500lb tow rating, but when it’s stuffed into a mid-size truck, payload suffers. Of course a half-ton with ecoboost is far better, but we do awright with our 6 banger towing a 5,000# GVWR 23ft TT. Maybe the biggest reason the rigs works so well is that our TT width is only 7ft. Reducing the TT front cross-section area has a HUGE effect on towability, more so than trailer weight IMO. We never lolligag on long steep uphills. Long steep downhills require more attention than a half ton would. Not much difference in towing fuel economy between a half ton and the mid-size 6 banger, but unhitched, the mid-size gets 23mpg on average. Sure, I’d be happier with an ecoboost, but the little gmc is so much more maneuverable, and I can get it, and the TT into some tight spaces.