Towing 10,000lbs with 1/2 ton, or upgrade?

[KeithInSpace]

...some of the things are just plain dumb.

Eeesh. Appreciate you sharing. Sounds like our very own east coast "Californew York". No fun.

As a sidebar, my brother did a pretty good job of convincing me I needed to get a 1-ton pickup for my next vehicle and not worry about this SUV nonsense I have my head wrapped around.

Apparently his DRW F350 Diesel pulls the heck out of his overloaded 24' bumperpull enclosed trailer over the windy plains of Iowa with narry a wander. His wife drove said rig (with $60,000 show car nestled inside) from Clovis, NM to Sacramento with a latte in her hand.

Meanwhile, I pass a big-rig with my Expedition with 20' travel trailer and it actually takes steering corrections to compensate. I'm fine driving it and it is absolutely 100% safe (~60% of capacity with WD hitch, sway link, and appropriate tongue load), but my wife would be in the tulips, me thinks.

I gots another few years to worry about it.

I reiterate to the OP, though...use up the F150, then get a bigger truck when appropriate. Your wife will let you know when that is...

 

[roadhawk]

... circumstances demand an SUV for me, so I need to wait until they come out with the small-displacement diesels for me to make any change...think 3/4 ton Diesel Suburban...

I'd buy one- it would be a perfect fit for me.

 

[ultrarunner]

I'd buy one- it would be a perfect fit for me.

I have a few thousand miles behind the wheel of a Ford Diesel Excursion with a 24 Bumper Pull and no complaints...

 

[wkpoor]

Unfortunately, circumstances demand an SUV for me, so I need to wait until they come out with the small-displacement diesels for me to make any change...think 3/4 ton Diesel Suburban...

Most overlooked under rated cheapest SUV ever still on the market is a VAN!
Now available with diesel and can be out fitted with 4WD before delivery with full warranty. Makes no sense to me why anyone would buy a PU and put a cap on it. I can seat 4 adults in captains chairs with way more room than any 4 door PU and still have 8' of cargo space behind the seat with more head room. I bought my 3500 Express for 18K out the door new. My neighbor finally realized it too and bought the same van with Duramax and put the older DRW 3500 out to the road for sale. He pulls a 24' enclosed cargo. I have 2 other friends who also after seeing what I do with mine jump on the same bandwagon. Unless you need to pull a GN why pay double and haul all your stuff unsecured and wet.

 

[Duffster]

What I have been told is in every other state, and I don't know not seeing any other states CDL, the licence will state something about air brakes qualified. I have seen job postings requirering an air brake endorcement in other states. Here in NY your licence won't say anything unless you don't qualify for air brakes, then it will say air brakes restricted. I could be wrong, but the language was different than the fed regs at the time I looked into it. Maybe someone from outside NY with a CDL can tell us if that is the case.

Like I said NY has changed rules and language every year for the past 5 or 6 years. It's very hard to keep up. DMV and DOT aren't any help, if you ask 5 DMV and 5 DOT people the same questions you are likely to get 6 -10 different answers. Each answer was probably correct at 1 time or another. I had a friend who was in trucking who when fuel spiked go out of it, due to it wasn't worth keeping up with all the rules and regs and in the end making just enough to pay the bills and keep the truck running. Now you may not ever be cited, but this person was very by the book and wanted to alway be on top of things. Part of me believes these changes are just for lawyers, so god forbid you have an accident your fault or not someone can sue.


Note: I must have miss read or had some old information, the fed regs do state it as being a restriction. Yet NC it lists air brakes under endorcements.

Air is a restriction here. I beleive the feds regulate that the states MUST license commercial drivers in a similiar manner as the federal regulations state.

Not sure if you meant North Carolina but here is a link to there handbook showing air as a restriction.

http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/driver_services/commercialtrucking/cdlhandbook/download/CDLmanual.pdf

 

[Hematite]

Most overlooked under rated cheapest SUV ever still on the market is a VAN!
Now available with diesel and can be out fitted with 4WD before delivery with full warranty. Makes no sense to me why anyone would buy a PU and put a cap on it. I can seat 4 adults in captains chairs with way more room than any 4 door PU and still have 8' of cargo space behind the seat with more head room. I bought my 3500 Express for 18K out the door new. My neighbor finally realized it too and bought the same van with Duramax and put the older DRW 3500 out to the road for sale. He pulls a 24' enclosed cargo. I have 2 other friends who also after seeing what I do with mine jump on the same bandwagon. Unless you need to pull a GN why pay double and haul all your stuff unsecured and wet.

Absolutely right! A standard size van is an excellent choice for many towing applications. I had more of a need for the PU but I did seriously consider a standard size van.

 

[KeithInSpace]

...a VAN!

TOTALLY agree. One of my favorite vehicles in the universe is a Quigley-equipped diesel E350. Absolutely perfect for so many things.

Unfortunately, my wife's opinion about vans makes the idea a non-starter. Saw a cool picture of one in a brochure yesterday and saw one at the beach over the summer. In both cases, she looked at me with some strange eyes when I said I liked it. She won't have any of it.

And I remembered this morning why I keep circling away from pickups and back to Suburbans...third row seats. Can't put the in-laws in the bed of the truck. Well, I can, I guess...as long as it isn't raining. But then they won't cook me dinner.