1/2 ton with best tow ratings

[Case485Guy]

I have a Chevy 1/2 ton, v-6 extended cab no frills truck. I call it my wheelbarrow, drive it everywhere. I have been impressed with the suspension on it. I have loaded and hauled more than I will say...its pretty stout for a half ton. It sure rides good compared to my 1 tons.
What does anyone know about the Tundras?

 

[tcartwri]

What does anyone know about the Tundras?

They're friggin expensive used... lol.

 

[rockshaft]

I just traded in one of these POS's yesterday after 4 months and 1800 miles. It would squat when I put a 330 pound roll of seamless gutter coil in it. I don't think it could pull a sick prostitute off of a toilet. It was no truck. It was a grocery getter with a Hemi and 4 wheel drive. But in all fairness, I'm sure it was not configured like the 1500 that you cite.

Wow. Is Dmace gonna step in here to defend ram? Scathing review JJZ! You must've taken a bit of a $ hit with that sort of trade? What did you replace it with?

 

[crazyal]

Case485Guy: The answer to your question is - who knows?

Remember the SAE J2807 towing standards that SAE member manufacturers agreed to comply with, beginning with the 2013 model year? Well, they didn't (except for Toyota whose towing ratings complied beginning with the 2011 model year). For example see this article for background Truck Towing Standard SAE J2807 Update 2013 | RV 101® your education source for RV information

So, since the derivation of the various manufacturers' ratings not consistent, there is no way to make any honest comparison. All we really know is that Toyota's ratings would be higher by some amount if they didn't comply with SAE J2807, or that the other non-complying manufacturers' ratings would be lower by some amount if thy did comply. Well, maybe next year?

Good luck with your research.

I am pretty sure Ford also meets them. As for Toyota, they only lost 300# or so when they rectified the Tundra.

Chris

I have a Chevy 1/2 ton, v-6 extended cab no frills truck. I call it my wheelbarrow, drive it everywhere. I have been impressed with the suspension on it. I have loaded and hauled more than I will say...its pretty stout for a half ton. It sure rides good compared to my 1 tons.
What does anyone know about the Tundras?

I've got a 2000 Tundra and it's pretty much bullet proof. I've towed well beyond it's rated limits and after 130k miles it's just getting broke in. Back when I was racing I would pull a 26' enclosed 10k Haulmark trailer. Between it, the 3200 lb car, and the spare parts and tools I'm sure I was well over 8k. Once a week I would do a 200 mile trip to the track and back, a trip that would include several steep grades. Did that for 4 years, 20 times a year.

After that I decided to build my own house. Often I would load it down with supplies (like 20 sheets of 12' sheetrock) at night so I could bring it up to the house in the morning. Eventually I had to replace the rear springs but when you overload it you can't blame the truck. I rarely use it now but just yesterday I took it into town to pick up some windows for the garage, still impresses me with how well it drives for being 13 years old.

 

[jejeosborne]

I've got a 2000 Tundra and it's pretty much bullet proof. I've towed well beyond it's rated limits and after 130k miles it's just getting broke in. Back when I was racing I would pull a 26' enclosed 10k Haulmark trailer. Between it, the 3200 lb car, and the spare parts and tools I'm sure I was well over 8k. Once a week I would do a 200 mile trip to the track and back, a trip that would include several steep grades. Did that for 4 years, 20 times a year.

After that I decided to build my own house. Often I would load it down with supplies (like 20 sheets of 12' sheetrock) at night so I could bring it up to the house in the morning. Eventually I had to replace the rear springs but when you overload it you can't blame the truck. I rarely use it now but just yesterday I took it into town to pick up some windows for the garage, still impresses me with how well it drives for being 13 years old.

Just drove past your Toyota factory. On my way to Indianapolis. They don't currently build them here anymore though. .

 

[DarrylH20]

I have a Silverado 1500 vortec max with the ss 6.0 engine and its a 4 door rated at 10,800 tow. it has heavy duty everything. Love the thing.

 

[JJZ 109]

Wow. Is Dmace gonna step in here to defend ram? Scathing review JJZ! You must've taken a bit of a $ hit with that sort of trade? What did you replace it with?

I only know what I experienced and Derek or nobody else can defend that. Do notice that I placed a qualifier at the end of my comment that considers Monster5601's tow rating post. It was just a rushed, bad call on my part. I did take a little bit of a hit, but with rebates and some other stuff I didn't come out as bad as I could have. I went back to F150, which I should have never left in the first place because I've owned a dozen new ones since 1993.
I won't bore everyone here with all of the details, but let's just say we made a hasty move because the stepdaughter basically dumped a vehicle on us before she left for the service. My wife was cosigner. By the time we were able to get details and repo the car ourselves it was dangerously close to going to collection by the bank. We drove it immediately from the repo site to the Dodge dealer that it came from.
Just another of life's expensive little lessons that I paid for after specifically telling someone that the cosign was a bad idea.

 

[bironacad]

Dodge seems like they are going to extremes by having a 1/2 ton not sprung to haul anything in the bed and now they offer a version of the 3500 with a GCWR of 37600lbs. talk about a range ... they need to fix it so that the base 1500 can still be considered a truck... Not sure any one ton should be rated to that gross combined weight...

The reason for the difference is that if you want a real truck you have to go for their HD'S with the required price hike and it is substantial IMHO.

 

[slowzuki]

If you don't stuff a pile of horse power into your truck your tow ratings will fall off in the SAE testing. There is a pile of acceleration, hill climb, repeated hill starts etc that need big torque/hp numbers to pass.

I'm not sure about others but I'm not interested in being required to have 400 hp to tow 20,000 lbs occasionally. This is nuts, I can buy a single axle semi with hydraulic brakes and tow larger loads with 185 hp. Why am I forced to buy 400 hp in a pickup so someone in the mountains can climb a 10% grade at 50 mph or whatever the test is.

 

[doall]

I have a 2011 Tundra. 380 horses or so 400 ft lbs or torque. 4.30 gears. Brakes as big as a 3/4 ton. I love it. But I love just about all trucks.