1/2 ton pickup opinions???

[dgl24087]

I've had Chevy trucks in the past, put 198500 miles on one, 98800 on the other. Had brake pad wear issues on the 2nd truck until I started putting premium pads on it. I traded the 2nd Chevy for a 2007 Ram 1500 4x4, 4.7L V8, AT, towed a 4600 lbs. (trailer and cargo) for a distance of 250 miles Sunday. No problems with power, got 12 mpg, I normally get 17-18 in 60% highway, 40% city driving.

 

[RayH]

If the heaviest load you look to haul is under 3,000 pounds plus the weight of the trailer (didn't you say your tractor only weighs 2600 pounds?) you might be OK with something smaller than a 1/2 T truck.

Actually Erik, Im tending to agree with you. Ive been doing a little shopping around and my favorite Ive seen so far is a 2005 Nissan Frontier. Im also talking to a guy about his 98 Mazda B4000. Years ago I had a Mazda and it was a good little truck.
Yes my tractor weighs around 2600 + a tandem trailer that will weigh around 1600 puts me around 4200lbs. I did mention that the max I would ever be towing with it would be 6000lbs but that was if I ever have an emergency occation to have to tow another vehicle. I dont plan on towing even 4000lbs on a regular basis.
So Ive opened my search up to smaller trucks. Im really liking the newer Nissans and of course, you cant go wrong with a Tacoma. I talked to a salesman about a Tacoma on his lot today. I'll talk further with him later. Its a 99 but only has 37000 miles and is in excellent condition. Its optioned almost exactly the way I want it. I like that it has low mileage but when mileage is that low ( less than 5000/yr) it always sends up a red flag for me. He says its never been wrecked and the mileage is correct. they want $14900 for it, which is way too much. Im thinking of offering around $12000.

 

[workinallthetime]

like a gm engineer said to me, just about any truck can pull way over its limit, the problem is it cant stop anything over its limit. your not limited my want you can tow your limited by what you can stop in a panic situation. I have been pushed through more than one intersection as im sure most of us have. This is the main reason i have such a problem with little trucks pulling big loads. brakes are far better than they used to be but when you have close to 11,000 pounds pushing a 5,000 pound truck how long is it going to take you to stop even with trailer brakes before you wipe out grandma doing 45 in a 60?
when i see a 1 ton or 3/4 ton pulling a cat backhoe i stay far away because i know he is over weight and is chancing everyone's life on the road including his.
shock loading breaks stuff and i dont want to be the one in the paper who killed the the family of 4 in the ford festiva.

 

[RayH]

like a gm engineer said to me, just about any truck can pull way over its limit, the problem is it cant stop anything over its limit. your not limited my want you can tow your limited by what you can stop in a panic situation. I have been pushed through more than one intersection as im sure most of us have. This is the main reason i have such a problem with little trucks pulling big loads. brakes are far better than they used to be but when you have close to 11,000 pounds pushing a 5,000 pound truck how long is it going to take you to stop even with trailer brakes before you wipe out grandma doing 45 in a 60?
when i see a 1 ton or 3/4 ton pulling a cat backhoe i stay far away because i know he is over weight and is chancing everyone's life on the road including his.
shock loading breaks stuff and i dont want to be the one in the paper who killed the the family of 4 in the ford festiva.

heres the thing about manufaturers tow limits, they mean practically nothing as far as safety is concerned. Safety is not the determining factor when a vehicle manufacturer puts a tow limit on their vehicle. Do some research, you will find that two identical trucks, the only difference being one is a stick shift, the other is an automatic. will have very different tow capacities. The same goes for two identical trucks with different engines. As far as safety goes, they might as well say Red trucks can tow twice as much as white ones.
Nissan. I was doing some research of Nissan Frontiers. This year they bumped there tow rating up to 6500 from 6100 but changed nothing on the truck. Why did they do it, because Toyota bumped theirs up. So last year it was only safe to tow 6100 but this year, same truck different model year, its safe with 6500????.
Another example, I'll use GM because you mentioned it. GM 1500 short beds have the same tow capacity as the identically equiped long bed trucks. We all know its safer to tow with a long wheelbase vehicle verses a short wheelbase vehicle but GM rates them the same. Why??? because safety is not factored in.
I dont mean to sound like I dont put importance on safety, Im just saying I dont depend on the truck manufacturer to tell me whats safe and whats not based on some arbitrary number they place on a vehicle. Whats safe is something I will determine for myself and the drivers around me will have to live or die with my decisions.
Anyway, it doesnt matter, thanks for your opinion.

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

Ray,
I've not had much experience with Toyotas since the 80's when they seemed to rust out almost as fast as they ran out of fuel -- but that's been corrected.
The Nissan Frontier series are great trucks from all I've seen - they were just a bit cramped for me.
I love the Rangers and Mazda B-series trucks - and that 4.0 is a serious workhorse.
Chevy S-10 and Colorado trucks felt even smaller than the Nissans.
But then, I'm 6'1" and well over 200 pounds, so shoulder and head room are important to me.

And of course, as I said before - if my Dakota had a bit more oomph, I wouldn't be shopping myself. (again, my fault - I coulda had a V8!)

I agree with you that $14k is too much for a 98, (Blue book on my 04 quad cab 4x4 is in <that> ball park!) keep looking and I'm sure you'll find the right tool for the job!

 

[2520tlh]

My experience:
2003 F-150, 4.2 V-6, 5 spd man tranny, longbed reg cab, 4x4. Truck has 110K miles on it. Probably 10% mileage with 1000 lbs in bed and 20% mileage pulling 6000 lbs. Had anti theft device crap out ($200), coil went bad ($500), and broke the steering wheel lock ($300, my fault). Gets 18 mixed city/hiway, 12-14 pulling trailer
2002 F-150, 5.4 V-8, auto tranny, ext cab short bed, 4x4. Has 80K miles. 10% with 1000 lbs in bed, 5% towing 6000 lbs. This truck struggles to pulls the 6000lb trailer worse than the 2003 v-6 truck(15 mpg empty, 10 pulling trailer). No problems with this truck so far.
1997 F-150, 4.2 V-6, 5 spd man, ext cab shortbed. Truck had 130K when traded in with no probs. Never hauled much of anything (15-20 mpg).
1989 F-250, 5.0 V-8, 5spd man, longbed reg cab. Had 150K when traded in. Had 30% with 1000 lbs in the bed. Ate 1-1.5 quarts per oil change. Was pig slow and warped rotors but I think the 5.0 would have lasted another 150K.
1974 Chevy 3/4 ton, 292 cubic inch I-6, three on the tree, reg cab long bed. Went 200+K before the odometer stopped working. No probs other than the entire truck rusted out. I mean everything rusted out. Rode like a log truck and gas milage sucked bad. But it would pull and lasted forever. Pulled camper and boat for most of its life. Dont know the weights.

I really dont know much about the new chevy and ford. Only driven a dodge once(mabe 2004). It seemed huge!

 

[workinallthetime]

heres the thing about manufaturers tow limits, they mean practically nothing as far as safety is concerned. Safety is not the determining factor when a vehicle manufacturer puts a tow limit on their vehicle. Do some research, you will find that two identical trucks, the only difference being one is a stick shift, the other is an automatic. will have very different tow capacities. The same goes for two identical trucks with different engines. As far as safety goes, they might as well say Red trucks can tow twice as much as white ones.
Nissan. I was doing some research of Nissan Frontiers. This year they bumped there tow rating up to 6500 from 6100 but changed nothing on the truck. Why did they do it, because Toyota bumped theirs up. So last year it was only safe to tow 6100 but this year, same truck different model year, its safe with 6500????.
Another example, I'll use GM because you mentioned it. GM 1500 short beds have the same tow capacity as the identically equiped long bed trucks. We all know its safer to tow with a long wheelbase vehicle verses a short wheelbase vehicle but GM rates them the same. Why??? because safety is not factored in.
I dont mean to sound like I dont put importance on safety, Im just saying I dont depend on the truck manufacturer to tell me whats safe and whats not based on some arbitrary number they place on a vehicle. Whats safe is something I will determine for myself and the drivers around me will have to live or die with my decisions.
Anyway, it doesnt matter, thanks for your opinion.

the thing i see most often that changes the amout a unit can tow is the weight of the unit. for instance the tow rating on a 3/4 ton is actually higher than that of a 1 ton in 99-2004, due to the added weight of duel rear wheels. gm has determined that a truck that weighs x amount can stop a load that ways y amount safely. long wheel base and duel rear wheels add stability buit not necessary better stopping distance.
the siminar i went to in 99 went into great detail about this and its been way to long since i was there, but the one thing they beat into our heads was that the ratings were based on what the truck could stop safely not pull.
my gm 2 cents

 

[RollingsFarms]

the thing i see most often that changes the amout a unit can tow is the weight of the unit. for instance the tow rating on a 3/4 ton is actually higher than that of a 1 ton in 99-2004, due to the added weight of duel rear wheels. gm has determined that a truck that weighs x amount can stop a load that ways y amount safely. long wheel base and duel rear wheels add stability buit not necessary better stopping distance.
the siminar i went to in 99 went into great detail about this and its been way to long since i was there, but the one thing they beat into our heads was that the ratings were based on what the truck could stop safely not pull.
my gm 2 cents

this reason alone would make me choose the F-150 over the new Tundra simply because of the standard trailer brake integration Ford offers.

 

[workinallthetime]

this reason alone would make me choose the F-150 over the new Tundra simply because of the standard trailer brake integration Ford offers.

you can have the same thing with the new gm 3/4 and 1 ton versions, im sure in 08 you can get it in 1/2 tons also

 

[RollingsFarms]

you can have the same thing with the new gm 3/4 and 1 ton versions, im sure in 08 you can get it in 1/2 tons also

oh i was giving praise to Ford. i'm a Chevy guy....it would take one helluva truck to make me switch. and even then, i would be cautious. i'm still loving my '04 Z71, don't see myself getting rid of it anytime soon, although i would love to have a new 1/2 ton (only if it had a 3.73 rear end), or if i could afford it a 3/4 but only if it had the duramax. thats cool GM decided to add this feature though. i also wish they would mimick the keyless entry that Ford has(where you type in the 4 digit code on the door).