I am looking o purchase a new pickup truck so I can tow a trailer or fifth wheel that my Chevy Tahoe cannot. So I am looking at a Chevy Silverado 2500, with the 6.3 liter engine, or maybe even the diesel. I love the mountains, but live in Texas. I am seeking advice on all aspects of a new vehicle. Crew cab or double cab? Lengthy of box? Do I let the dealership install the mounting for a 5th wheel hitch, or an RV dealership? Those whom already own a pickup, what do you like, and what do you regret not having?
Purchasing new pickup truck
- Thread starter yosh53
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Think ahead. What do you see yourself towing in 3 or 5 years and buy a teuck to tow that. If your going to eventually buy a fiver get a 3500 now. Diesels are more expensive to buy and fuel price is more. But they tow better, get better fuel econony and have ammuch higher resale value. Long bed, short bed is a debate that will rage for eternitity. Short bed may be a bit easier to park, but the trade off is you loose 2 feet of useable storage space, and get a worse ride because of the shorter wheel base. Regular,extended,crew cab is up to personal preferences. I like the bigger cab for the extra storage space inside.
Gods Country
Well-known member
You have two choices. Purchase the trailer you want, then purchase the correct TV no matter the cost or inconvenience.
Or the TV you want and live with whatever limitations (if any) that entails.
As far as the TV goes, generally the more gadgets and comfort (extended cabs) the less payload you will have. If you are bent on a fifth wheel, be prepared for 20% of trailers max weight (not dry weight), as well as the hitch, cargo, passengers, and everything you place in the truck, being subtracted directly from the payload. The same with a conventional trailer, except the hitch weight will be about 12%.
Payload is unique to every vehicle, so published payloads are worthless. You need to know the payload of the specific vehicle you intend to purchase.
Or the TV you want and live with whatever limitations (if any) that entails.
As far as the TV goes, generally the more gadgets and comfort (extended cabs) the less payload you will have. If you are bent on a fifth wheel, be prepared for 20% of trailers max weight (not dry weight), as well as the hitch, cargo, passengers, and everything you place in the truck, being subtracted directly from the payload. The same with a conventional trailer, except the hitch weight will be about 12%.
Payload is unique to every vehicle, so published payloads are worthless. You need to know the payload of the specific vehicle you intend to purchase.
As you can see, your question is like "which beer" should I buy.
Beyond, Can it pull it and does it have enough cargo capacity for the family, gear and trailer? the remainder is personal opinion.
I love and extended cab, because it think the 4 doors are too big and look odd. But it is only me, my wife and dog when we travel. I like the low end torque of the E-Boost engine in my F-150. I do not like diesels because they cost more and stink, I do not want to give up my bed and truck cap for a fifth wheel. There are a host of other reasons why I choose what I choose but they are my biases.
If it can carry the weight and pull the load at a price you can afford the rest is up to you.
Remember you can never have too much tow vehicle; but you can have too much or too many tow vehicle expenses.
Good Luck
Beyond, Can it pull it and does it have enough cargo capacity for the family, gear and trailer? the remainder is personal opinion.
I love and extended cab, because it think the 4 doors are too big and look odd. But it is only me, my wife and dog when we travel. I like the low end torque of the E-Boost engine in my F-150. I do not like diesels because they cost more and stink, I do not want to give up my bed and truck cap for a fifth wheel. There are a host of other reasons why I choose what I choose but they are my biases.
If it can carry the weight and pull the load at a price you can afford the rest is up to you.
Remember you can never have too much tow vehicle; but you can have too much or too many tow vehicle expenses.
Good Luck
Derby6
Well-known member
Yea, answer to most all your questions are "it depends"....How big will your trailer be? Will it be a fiver or TT? How long do you plan to keep your truck? How often will you use it for pulling? Will it double as a daily driver? How many people and animals are you taking? list could go on.....
I love my SRW F350 long bed Crew cab diesel. Bought new Memorial day weekend in 2011; It has about 40K on it; obviously not a daily driver.
2 basic things I would recommend.
1- If you can get factory installed fiver mount and wiring, get it, but its not a show stopper. It it doesn't have it have it installed when/if you buy a fiver.
2- Seriously consider a 3500. 3/4 and 1 ton price is negligible I think and it gives you a little extra capacity. (No it doesn't need to be a dually)
I love my SRW F350 long bed Crew cab diesel. Bought new Memorial day weekend in 2011; It has about 40K on it; obviously not a daily driver.
2 basic things I would recommend.
1- If you can get factory installed fiver mount and wiring, get it, but its not a show stopper. It it doesn't have it have it installed when/if you buy a fiver.
2- Seriously consider a 3500. 3/4 and 1 ton price is negligible I think and it gives you a little extra capacity. (No it doesn't need to be a dually)
grashley
Well-known member
Donn and Country covered most everything.
If you think you will EVER want to pull a FW with the truck, go with the 3500. The increased cost for a 3500 SRW over a 2500 is less than $1000, and you add 1000# - 1400# of Payload. The two are almost exactly the same size in the same configuration.
Every vehicle built since 2009 has a yellow placard on the driver door latch post with the Payload for THAT vehicle as it left the factory.
The higher the trim level, the more options, the lower the payload. GVWR minus actual truck weight = Payload. The more options added, the less weight remaining for Payload.
Trim level is totally personal preference. Do you need power windows? Leather seats? Dual zone automatic climate control? Lane departure warning?
Body style is also personal preference, but a regular cab may not be available in higher trim lines.
DO NOT get a short bed (5 ? ft). Regular bed (6 ? ft) will handle a FW, as will a long bed (8 ft).
I have a Ford F350 Lariat SRW Long bed Diesel, Super (extended) cab 4WD. It takes half an acre to turn it around, but the 3500# Payload handles the 15,000# FW quite nicely. It came with a factory gooseneck ball and FW wiring in the bed. My Andersen Ultimate FW hitch was a DIY 15 minute install.
If you think you will EVER want to pull a FW with the truck, go with the 3500. The increased cost for a 3500 SRW over a 2500 is less than $1000, and you add 1000# - 1400# of Payload. The two are almost exactly the same size in the same configuration.
Every vehicle built since 2009 has a yellow placard on the driver door latch post with the Payload for THAT vehicle as it left the factory.
The higher the trim level, the more options, the lower the payload. GVWR minus actual truck weight = Payload. The more options added, the less weight remaining for Payload.
Trim level is totally personal preference. Do you need power windows? Leather seats? Dual zone automatic climate control? Lane departure warning?
Body style is also personal preference, but a regular cab may not be available in higher trim lines.
DO NOT get a short bed (5 ? ft). Regular bed (6 ? ft) will handle a FW, as will a long bed (8 ft).
I have a Ford F350 Lariat SRW Long bed Diesel, Super (extended) cab 4WD. It takes half an acre to turn it around, but the 3500# Payload handles the 15,000# FW quite nicely. It came with a factory gooseneck ball and FW wiring in the bed. My Andersen Ultimate FW hitch was a DIY 15 minute install.
Frank B
Well-known member
A lot of good answers here already. The only thing that I can add is that tow vehicle and trailer are often a leapfrog process. One buys a small truck, and end up upgrading to a trailer that maxes out the truck.. So then you get a truck bigger than what is needed for the trailer, and and then upgrade to a bigger trailer.
Just make sure that you always have more truck than trailer.
Just make sure that you always have more truck than trailer.
If you think you can get a FW in the future, you do not want t 2500 Chevy even in TX. I had one, 2014 2500 HD Chevy 6L, pulling a 13K FW, and when I went to hill country in TX even my wife figured out we needed a bigger truck. You know that when your wife recommends a bigger truck you should get one. We got a 3500 RAM
grashley
Well-known member
4WD is one of those things you never need ... until you NEED it! I have used mine several times in wet grass in my back yard, even without the camper. It is personal preference.
Gods Country
Well-known member
donn said:
That pretty much sums it up. You will save yourself a bit of weight with a 4x2 if your're counting every last pound. Straight manual lockouts shouldn't cost you any gas mileage when the hubs are not locked, and is more common with heavier trucks. If you have little need for 4WD then manual hubs are not a burden. They act like auto hubs when locked anyway. I have always preferred them.
Frank B
Well-known member
yosh53 said:
If you are pulling a lot of weight, 4WD is safer and allows more control on wet pavement, let alone snowy conditions.
When braking in any modern vehicle, front brakes will almost always lock up first. When in 4WD, most units today lock front and rear axles together through the transfer case. This effectively prevents the front wheels from locking up in heavy braking before the rear ones do, giving maximum braking.
Antilock brakes will mitigate this somewhat, but I always drive in 4WD on wet or slippery pavement on the highway, only releasing at lower speeds when making a tight turn to prevent binding.
The only time I could have used a four wheel drive while pulling a camper is when I was doing something that I shouldn't have been doing in the first place. But there again, other people have a different camping style, and 4wd is a must for them.
I'm on my second 3/4 Ton Diesel 4x4 and it does exactly what I expect it to do. With our topper, a 75 gallon auxiliary fuel tank, the truck loaded, ready to go and hooked to the TT, the GVWR of the truck is pretty well used up. That's the way I planned it and it does a marvelous job of towing. However, as others have said, there is no way it would have the capacity to pull a 5th wheel.
The Diesel is a wash financially. It's not necessarily the way you would want to go. I like the 3/4 Ton 4x4 because of the ride, especially when traveling on rough, poorly graded unpaved roads. I love the torque of the Diesel for towing and the engine brake for down hill grades. It makes towing almost car like with a trailer as light as ours. I also like to be able to regularly get 20 mpg when not pulling a trailer, which I think is pretty good for a vehicle that weighs over 8000 lbs.
The Diesel is a wash financially. It's not necessarily the way you would want to go. I like the 3/4 Ton 4x4 because of the ride, especially when traveling on rough, poorly graded unpaved roads. I love the torque of the Diesel for towing and the engine brake for down hill grades. It makes towing almost car like with a trailer as light as ours. I also like to be able to regularly get 20 mpg when not pulling a trailer, which I think is pretty good for a vehicle that weighs over 8000 lbs.
Derby6
Well-known member
Frank B said:
Thanks, I didn't know or ever think of that.. Interesting and makes a lot of sense.
Now that I read it on the internet, it's gotta be true. ;D
Might as well toss in my 2 cents......I bought a truck first and wanted one that would tow just about anything I wanted as far as a 5er. Ended up with a 2014 GMC HD3500 4WD SRW 6.6 turbo-diesel crew cab, 8 ft bed. Towing package with Allison Trans. I installed a Curt Q24 hitch myself...not a real big job. I bought a 40ft FW and it pulls like a dream. The nice part is that I now have a truck I can use for just about anything (I live where deep snow is the standard in winter) when I'm not pulling the trailer that gets around 22 mpg when not towing and around 12 when towing the trailer. The diesel is a must...enough torque to climb any hills I come across and a muffled exhaust brake for coming down the other side. Nobody will agree on the truck manufacturer, but the idea is the same....big diesel with long box and crew cab for the dog. Couldn't be happier.
I don't think I've ever heard anybody say "I wish I had less truck".
The difference between a 3/4 ton and 1 ton is almost non-existent price wise. I've even found some similarly equipped 1 tons priced less than 3/4 ton because of their popularity especially if you're looking at lightly used 1-2 year old trucks. Many 3/4 ton trucks today are really nothing more than slightly glorified 1/2 tons by the time they're decked out, especially when comparing to the heavy payload/max tow/whatever they're calling them 1/2 ton packages.
If you're looking at 5ers, there's no way I'd go less than a 1ton.
The difference between a 3/4 ton and 1 ton is almost non-existent price wise. I've even found some similarly equipped 1 tons priced less than 3/4 ton because of their popularity especially if you're looking at lightly used 1-2 year old trucks. Many 3/4 ton trucks today are really nothing more than slightly glorified 1/2 tons by the time they're decked out, especially when comparing to the heavy payload/max tow/whatever they're calling them 1/2 ton packages.
If you're looking at 5ers, there's no way I'd go less than a 1ton.
A friend with a 2wd helped me move. WOW was it easier loading his lower 2wd than my 4wd. I never even thought about it until you go to put something heavy in it and can tip it into a 2wd but have to lift it into a 4wd.
oh but a 4wd looks so much cooler.
. I guess everything is a compromise. I wouldn't want to be in the northeast snow in his 2wd.
oh but a 4wd looks so much cooler.
. I guess everything is a compromise. I wouldn't want to be in the northeast snow in his 2wd.
