Moving from 1/2 ton truck to HD truck

[dodge man]

Sounds like you found a good one, post up some pictures when you get it.

 

[jb1390]

Have a very sweet Ram 1500 Hemi truck I got new (leased) last year.

Been thinking about moving up to a HD pickup to make towing my big enclosed trailer easier. Diesel HD trucks are insanely high in price. Even with 150k miles on them, you’re looking at $50k around here. So I opened my search up to gasoline HD trucks as well. I found a 2021 Chevy Silverado 2500HD with the new 6.6 gas engine. Sweet truck, extremely well cared for. Problem is, the 6.6 gas is a 400 HP engine. The axle is a 3.73. The trans is the old 6L90 that’s been around since 2006 and the ratios are really tall. So, I threw that combo into a spreadsheet along side the same info (power, trans ratios, axle ratio) from my Ram 1500. Looks like my Ram has significantly more pulling power in every gear, despite the 3.21 axle ratio. If my truck had the 3.92s it would be a bloodbath. But yeah, power/gearing advantage from 0 to 70 miles per hour. AND my truck is 1,500 lbs. lighter so that increases performance even more over the HD. I get that a HD truck is heavier and therefore in theory should handle/steer better with a trailer but I have a hard time justifying a move up to HD to get worse acceleration, fuel economy, and maneuverability. Sigh…

The Ford gas HD trucks can be had with 430 HP, 10 speed trans, and 4.30 gears which is a stellar combo but they are like finding a needle in a haystack. I can’t find one in my price range anywhere in this entire region.

The Ram HD gas trucks are nice but they seem to be abused on construction sites or work sites and by the time I find them on the used market they’re pretty rough.

"When going to HD trucks, go straight to 1 ton"? That’s what I was thinking too. But I looked up the tow chart from GM’s own website and it is surprising. The 2500 gas can tow more than the 3500 gas (only a couple hundred lbs., likely the difference in weight between the 11.5 and 12.0" axles). The payload gain on the 3500 is less than 500 lbs. If you go diesel then there’s a couple thousand lb. advantage for the 3500, but that’s not really a huge deal either. Surprising though that on the gas trucks the difference between “3/4 ton” and “1 ton” is almost zero on paper.

Lot more to towing than straight forward acceleration at full throttle. That is all your spreadsheet will show, and even then, you are assuming full HP at all times, which is not the case.

I believe one of the reasons towing with a diesel is so nice is that the torque curve is low. Even if the peak power isn't better than a gas truck, you don't need to drop several gears and rev it up to get your power. So on paper a gas and diesel will look close, in real life they feel nothing alike.

Whether an HD truck is right for you, who knows? But I would spend some time seat of the pants testing before coming to a conclusion.

 

[paulsharvey]

How about a Nissian Titan 5.0 Cummins? Very fast Google search shows 12000 lbs towing (gooseneck) and 555 ft/lbs of torque. I dont think the Nissians are going to be $40k for a 5 year old truck, probably more like $20k, and seems to tick your boxes.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

How about a Nissian Titan 5.0 Cummins? Very fast Google search shows 12000 lbs towing (gooseneck) and 555 ft/lbs of torque. I dont think the Nissians are going to be $40k for a 5 year old truck, probably more like $20k, and seems to tick your boxes.

He already bought a ford diesel.

 

[Blue Mule]

You picked a solid truck; that said, they do have their own gremlins and some are rather unique. If you've not checked out a Ford forum yet, consider Ford Truck Enthusiasts; I found it a great resource.

I've been on that forum since 2002. Good place for info.

 

[Hay Dude]

Lot more to towing than straight forward acceleration at full throttle. That is all your spreadsheet will show, and even then, you are assuming full HP at all times, which is not the case.

I believe one of the reasons towing with a diesel is so nice is that the torque curve is low. Even if the peak power isn't better than a gas truck, you don't need to drop several gears and rev it up to get your power. So on paper a gas and diesel will look close, in real life they feel nothing alike.

Whether an HD truck is right for you, who knows? But I would spend some time seat of the pants testing before coming to a conclusion.

Thats exactly what a diesel does better. It make more torque at lower RPM than gas. Thats also why they get better fuel economy. The torque curve is flatter, too.

My 6.7L Cummins pulls anything I want under 2600RPM. Even a 450HP big block gasser would need 5000RPM and still not pull as much.

I’ll take 350/850 over 450/600 7 days a week.

 

[paulsharvey]

In all honesty, we all overthink these specs. How much Hp/torque did a F350 with a straight 6 cylinder 300ci have? They certainly didn't win a interstate on ramp drag race, but people have been pulling trailers for more than the last 20 years.

Btw Congrats on the new truck.

 

[jb1390]

Thats exactly what a diesel does better. It make more torque at lower RPM than gas. Thats also why they get better fuel economy. The torque curve is flatter, too.

My 6.7L Cummins pulls anything I want under 2600RPM. Even a 450HP big block gasser would need 5000RPM and still not pull as much.

I’ll take 350/850 over 450/600 7 days a week.

We have a 2018 GMC Terrain Diesel, it's the only year they offered the vehicle with the 1.6. Horsepower is listed at 137 hp or something like that. It's anemic on paper. But real world driving, it feels more powerful than the 250 hp gas turbo model, and doesn't hunt gears near as much. If you are driving like a bat out of hell then the 2.0 turbo gas is faster, but that's not how most people drive most of the time.

Concur with your preference of 350/850.

 

[two_bit_score]

Have a very sweet Ram 1500 Hemi truck I got new (leased) last year.

Been thinking about moving up to a HD pickup to make towing my big enclosed trailer easier. Diesel HD trucks are insanely high in price. Even with 150k miles on them, you’re looking at $50k around here. So I opened my search up to gasoline HD trucks as well. I found a 2021 Chevy Silverado 2500HD with the new 6.6 gas engine. Sweet truck, extremely well cared for. Problem is, the 6.6 gas is a 400 HP engine. The axle is a 3.73. The trans is the old 6L90 that’s been around since 2006 and the ratios are really tall. So, I threw that combo into a spreadsheet along side the same info (power, trans ratios, axle ratio) from my Ram 1500. Looks like my Ram has significantly more pulling power in every gear, despite the 3.21 axle ratio. If my truck had the 3.92s it would be a bloodbath. But yeah, power/gearing advantage from 0 to 70 miles per hour. AND my truck is 1,500 lbs. lighter so that increases performance even more over the HD. I get that a HD truck is heavier and therefore in theory should handle/steer better with a trailer but I have a hard time justifying a move up to HD to get worse acceleration, fuel economy, and maneuverability. Sigh…

The Ford gas HD trucks can be had with 430 HP, 10 speed trans, and 4.30 gears which is a stellar combo but they are like finding a needle in a haystack. I can’t find one in my price range anywhere in this entire region.

The Ram HD gas trucks are nice but they seem to be abused on construction sites or work sites and by the time I find them on the used market they’re pretty rough.

"When going to HD trucks, go straight to 1 ton"? That’s what I was thinking too. But I looked up the tow chart from GM’s own website and it is surprising. The 2500 gas can tow more than the 3500 gas (only a couple hundred lbs., likely the difference in weight between the 11.5 and 12.0" axles). The payload gain on the 3500 is less than 500 lbs. If you go diesel then there’s a couple thousand lb. advantage for the 3500, but that’s not really a huge deal either. Surprising though that on the gas trucks the difference between “3/4 ton” and “1 ton” is almost zero on paper.

Then keep what you have and drive carefully. I would remind you that every day you drive a paid off truck you are making money.

 

[Hay Dude]

In all honesty, we all overthink these specs. How much Hp/torque did a F350 with a straight 6 cylinder 300ci have? They certainly didn't win a interstate on ramp drag race, but people have been pulling trailers for more than the last 20 years.

Btw Congrats on the new truck.

Maybe 180?
Those trucks were slow as dirt and might pull a 10K trailer downhill with a tailwind on a good day.

Guy I used to work for had late 80’s-early 90’s F-350 stake body with either a 351 or a 360 in it. Man what a freakin turd that thing was. It was the only truck I ever drove that had to be downshifted going uphill empty.