75% of truck owners tow 1/year or less?

[Too many Kubotas]

I agree, its completely moronic to say that. I love my short bed crew cab half ton. Does everything I need it to do and then some, its roomy, fun to drive and anything that I cant fit in the bed I have two different trailers to choose from. It also pulls like a freight train, best of all worlds for me. Anyone that makes those claims has never had a modern 1/2 ton truck.

Okay, maybe my '05 Chevy and '14 Ram 1500 weren't modern enough, but I'd like to think that the '21 Ram 1500 is.

 

[paulsharvey]

I agree with the "I don't remember it being slow part" but some quick Google shows those old 3500s/350s had 0-60 times unloaded, of like 14 seconds.

Yep, an old F350, 4.9L straight six would take 4 yards of dirt down the road, but often it was like 30 seconds to get upto top speed of maybe 55mph? 454/460 wasn't frankly that much better. Did it matter at the time? Probably not, but nobody would put up with that nowadays. Driven a handful of 5.8L F250s with service bodies, think early 90s make, and they were dogs getting onto the interstate, or even taking off at a red light.

Maybe the better question would be, why would you spend $50k on a medium sized passenger car or smallish SUV instead of a 1/2T truck, that has all the same comforts, speed, ride, and 19-21 mpg?

We have a 2019 Ram 1500 and a 2019 Charger RT. If it's going to be more than just wife and me, 90% of the time, we take the truck.

Now, have had a Dodge Durango, and that was capable of pulling, even with the small V6 (3.6L I think? 3.5?) and it did offer interior room when the 3rd row was folded down; but unless your hauling more than 5 people; it didn't offer anything above what a crew cab 1/2T does. Oh, maybe rear AC?

Dad did have an IH Scout (scout 2?) that was his general purpose work vehicle, for around the farm, and odd off the farm jobs, as well as for fur trapping, and it had an advantage of hiding stuff inside, that maybe you don't want in an open bed.

 

[paulsharvey]

So, the medium sized over seas trucks; like the Ram Rampage, all seem to have high payloads. Think the little baby ram has 2300# payload. Is that a different in ratings, a different in suspension, or what?

Not entirely what a Ford "Global" Ranger T6 is, bit it has over 3000# payload.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

So, the medium sized over seas trucks; like the Ram Rampage, all seem to have high payloads. Think the little baby ram has 2300# payload. Is that a different in ratings, a different in suspension, or what?

Not entirely what a Ford "Global" Ranger T6 is, bit it has over 3000# payload.

That's probably lawyer related here in the USA.

 

[kozal01]

Okay, maybe my '05 Chevy and '14 Ram 1500 weren't modern enough, but I'd like to think that the '21 Ram 1500 is.

Than you are just being disingenuous it seems because todays half tons are more capable than ever, with many having more payload and towing capacity than the 3/4" tons from not that long ago all while being more comfortable, more efficient and more powerful and for those of us that dont need an 8' bed the crew cab is far more useful than an extra 2' of bed space. My F-150 has larger brakes and more HP and TQ than the F-250 and F-350 7.3 power strokes from back in the late 90's and early 2000's. I can reach highways speeds with an 8,000 pound trailer on the back faster than many of those older trucks could manage empty and without a load my truck is very quick, sportier than any of the cars Ive ever had. If I had a trailer on the hitch 24/7 than sure, a 3/4 or 1 ton truck would suit that duty cycle better with heavier axles and such but for the vast majority of us a 1/2 ton is more than capable and is more practical than an SUV.

 

[IndyIan]

Most of the guys I know full time farming or in the trades, just use a 1/2 ton as a family vehicle or mobile office, not as a regular work vehicle, as they have a 1 ton and a couple much bigger trucks to do work with, or a big van for the trades.
For a family vehicle a crew cab 1/2 ton is pretty good really, if you don't have to drive too far regularly(or afford the gas), and can drive well enough to park it in a city.
We do all the half ton things with a car and trailer and some planning, but we only tow up to 3k lbs. I could borrow my Dad's half ton any time, but have only done so a couple times as he was closer to pickup stuff that fits in our trailer anyways... He doesn't have any scratches on it, so its a pain to actually do any work stuff with it, as you have to be so careful.
My trailer gets used as a sawhorse, anvil, manure spreader, and gravel truck... and the sides are low and easy to lift stuff over or drag out of...

 

[DK35vince]

My counterpoints to this, whether you consider them valid or not, are that 1500s are basically cars with tiny beds.

I still don't get this.
If you have a 1500 with an 8' bed or a 3500 with an 8' bed, how does a 1500 have a smaller bed ??

 

[oosik]

They should be the same - DK35vince. Doubt it - get out the tape measure.

 

[masscity]

My 2018 Chevy Silverado 4x4 extended cab gets some decent milage. Since I bought it my total milage is computer: 20.4,

which is 18.9 actual. You can have the mpg set for current 25, 50, 100 or 500. I have it set for current 25, coming back from

Wausau, WI the best I got a computer 30.7, actual is 29.2. On a trip it's always ranges 24-28. NE Wisconsin and western UP

of Michigan have a lot of hills and ravines, which is hard on milage. I always wanted to drive my 1997 Dodge 4x4 diesel 12

valve 3.54 rear end on a nice flat part of I-80 to see what kind of milage I could get. With my Dodge, driving north on I-75

north from Detroit to the Mackinaw Bridge at 78 mph I always averaged 19.8 mpg.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Than you are just being disingenuous it seems because todays half tons are more capable than ever, with many having more payload and towing capacity than the 3/4" tons from not that long ago all while being more comfortable, more efficient and more powerful and for those of us that dont need an 8' bed the crew cab is far more useful than an extra 2' of bed space. My F-150 has larger brakes and more HP and TQ than the F-250 and F-350 7.3 power strokes from back in the late 90's and early 2000's. I can reach highways speeds with an 8,000 pound trailer on the back faster than many of those older trucks could manage empty and without a load my truck is very quick, sportier than any of the cars Ive ever had. If I had a trailer on the hitch 24/7 than sure, a 3/4 or 1 ton truck would suit that duty cycle better with heavier axles and such but for the vast majority of us a 1/2 ton is more than capable and is more practical than an SUV.

Modern 1/2-tons have higher tow ratings, yes, but but that doesn't make me want to tow with mine. And a payload of 1,360 lbs. is nothing to brag about, especially if towing at max and 1,215 of those 1,360 is used up on tongue weight.

Of course, in real life that would require a WD hitch, so less effective tongue weight.

I have no need for a crew cab, but that was the only choice. Consequently, when buying a 10' piece of steel a while back I had to ask them to lop 2 feet off to fit 8' in the 5'6" bed, tailgate down of course.

Which was fine as 8' was what I needed for my box blade project, and that 1500 lends itself to the less than perfect road between here and the steel place. Reached 4,000 miles on the odo on that trip which tells how little it gets used.

Really bought that '21 as something street legal and somewhat fast 4x4 to use in case we got a really good snow storm - which naturally hasn't happened since.

Yes, it's relatively quick and is fun to drive, but not compared to my fun car. For a basic beater usable in snow I recently bought a used V6 Durango, as I prefer the "indoor storage". Even had a shell on the 1500 for a while for the same reason. Unfortunately the color didn't quite match so it went back to the dealer.