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

[Too many Kubotas]

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 ??

Not sure what made you think my 1500 has an 8' foot bed. And the 3500 has a 9' bed, by the way.

Not that bed length really matters in either case. The 1500 has had bags of softener salt and cases of water in the back, and except for the aforementioned two pieces of steel that's all it has ever hauled.

Ironically, other than the auxiliary tank and the two spare tires that I always bring along, there has never been any load whatsoever on the 3500's bed. That's what the trailers are for.

Worked great for bringing the 1500 home from the dealer, but obviously the other way around wouldn't work at all since the trailer alone weighs more than what the 1500 supposedly can tow.

 

[dodge man]

My half ton has a payload of 1960 pounds as I recall and rated at 9500 pounds towing. I wish I got 20 mpg all the time with mine but 18 mpg is normal.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

I wish I got 20 mpg all the time with mine but 18 mpg is normal.

With the '14 V6 I usually managed mid 20s in the summer.

Even keeping it under 80 for the most part, 16 mpg is about as good as it gets with the V8.

 

[DarkBlack]

So did my ex's Chevy station wagon.

Well, you had to fold the rear seats to put sheets of plywood in it, but it was definitely a car. With a frame, and larger engine, transmission, and rear axle, than a Ram 1500.

Mine’s 4WD. Was the station wagon?

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Mine’s 4WD. Was the station wagon?

No, and living in SoCal I saw no reason to convert it.

Don't remember the numbers, but that wagon also (understandably) had a higher payload rating than a mid 2000's 1/2-ton GM pickup.

 

[paulsharvey]

The actual cost difference between 18 to 20, or 20 to 22 mpg really isn't much, unless you are doing a whole lot of driving. Going from 12 to 18; sure, you might be saving $300/month; But the small incremental gains are a lot less; 18mpg might be 83 gal/month vs 75 gal/month with 20 mpg, for a savings of $26/month. Sure, I'll take the savings; but that's not life altering. 12 mpg (what my old 6.0 got) would be 125 gal; so moving to 18 mpg, is $136/month. That's all with a pretty modest 1500 miles per month.

What always confuses me, the folks that will try to move from 30 to 40 mpg with the small and hybrid cars, are typically the folks that drive 500 miles/month. Why care, even if you got 15 mpg, is a small cost to in town drivers.

Work car, 2021 Ford Explorer gets 26-28; but it's a fleet vehicle, and when you compound that over the 4000 miles/month, and a dozen vehicles, then it matters

 

[Too many Kubotas]

The only time I really worried about mileage was when making a 1,000 mile drive every two weeks for a couple of years.

And the main reason for that was because I really wanted to get from A to B with only one stop for gas. That was with $4+ per gallon, by the way.

With a gasser Ram 2500 pulling an enclosed trailer that never quite worked out. I'm sure it could have had I driven slower, but those were long drives as it was.

 

[kozal01]

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.

The point you are missing is that not everyone can or wants to have several vehicles, hence the practicality I’ve mentioned already. Besides my company SUV, my truck is my only vehicle and it does everything. Is it as fast as a dedicated sports car? Of course not but with over 400 hp and 550 lb/ft of torque it’s plenty fast for me at just under 5 seconds 0-60 and it’s fun. With 1800 pounds of payload and just under 12k pounds of towing capacity it’s not a 3/4 ton but it does everything I need it to do which is more than most need and it does it while being a great family vehicle. I also can’t complain about the 22mpg unloaded mileage, the awesome 4x4 and auto 4x4 for the winter months or the occasional off road trip. Not to mention it still fits in my garage, no 3/4 ton and up would. You can argue all you want about your BS opinion but clearly with the f-150 being the best selling truck of all time you are very clearly in the minority with your claims. When I was a seasonal camper for several years it was fun to look at peoples tow rigs and the f-150 and other 1/2 tons absolutely dominated in numbers compared to everything else. You can like what you have all you want but to die on this mountain of 1/2 tons being overgrown cars makes you sound childish. Find me a car built today that compares. Good luck.

 

[Jstpssng]

consider them valid or not, are that 1500s are basically cars with tiny beds. If I want to drive a car, I'll drive one. If I need a pickup, I'll take it instead.

Blanket statements like worse mileage, higher insurance and registration, and repair costs, doesn't apply in my case

Oddly enough, your blanket statement above is just as invalid;

%YEAR% %MAKE% %MODEL% %EXTERIOR_COLOR% (With Photos) For Sale %STOCK_NUMBER% | %DEALER_NAME% | %VIN%

Get a phenomenal price on this %YEAR% %MAKE% %MODEL% %TRIM% for sale at %DEALER_NAME%. Check out our amazing lease deals as well. %VIN%

www.easthillschevroletoffreeport.com

 

[Too many Kubotas]

The point you are missing is that not everyone can or wants to have several vehicles, hence the practicality I’ve mentioned already. Besides my company SUV, my truck is my only vehicle and it does everything.

Thankfully, enough hard work (and not having kids surely helps) I've been able to buy if not the best but a very close tool for the job.

But despite having several vehicles, not a single one can do everything.