Shopping for a new pickup

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1

Need some advice. I am starting to shop for a new pickup. I pull a 30’ travel trailer quite often. My present pick up is a 1997 Chevy C1500. I would like my next pickup to be able to pull the camper a bit easier. The old one pulls it fine but really has to work a little harder than I would like it to.

My question is what is the most important consideration? Horse power, torque, gear ratio or what.

I’m not much of a motor head so any advice would be appreciated. I don’t want this to turn into a For vs. Chevy vs. Dodge discussion. I will buy whichever brand best suits my needs.

Thanks.

Royce

2

Royce,
I drive a 2005 Chevy 2500 with the extended cab and full box, 6 liter V8. It pulls my father-in-laws 30ft trailor with no problems at all. It has been very dependable. My only complaints are with the 2 mile an hour bumpers. (they really do crumple easily) and the fact that I get 10 mpg. 10 mpg on the highway. 10 mpg in town. 10 mpg with a ton of bricks in the back. 10 mpg with the air on, with the air off. It gets 10 mpg.

Hope this is helpful.
Ed

3

If you can’t pull it with a bright red Sebring convertable (like mine) then sell it and get a smaller one.

4

Are you thinking diesel or gasoline? Pros and cons to both.

Regards Mike

5

If you plan on pulling that trailer ALOT I would personally spring for the diesel. In terms of brand, any of the “Big 3” are pretty comparable. The new Toyota Tundra’s show promise, and Toyota has a really dependable name, but I would never advise anybody to buy a vehicle from the first year or two after a major redesign like in the 2007 Tundra’s.

6

We just bought a 2007 (Classic Body Style) Chevy 1500, four door, short bed. This truck will run on gas or corn juice. We also got the tow package. It has a button on the shifter arm. Push the button in and a little trailer light comes on.
Haven’t tried our camping trailer, but we do haul the band trailer (rock and roll, bunch of speakers, amps, mixers, etc) that weighs quite a bit. I push that towing button in on it and that truck has sooooo, much power it is unbelievable. We are also getting 17 to 18 miles a gallon.
That big of trailer, you might wanna look at a 2500, plus they come with the longer beds. We just don’t need or want the longer bed.
Plus the engine weighs a lot less than the old ones:

7

A 3/4 ton with at least 300 (more is better) ponies, 4:10 or 4:11 locking rearend, towing package and if you go with a 4X4, get it with electric shift on the fly. The manual shift tends to be a little grumpy.

8

As a confessed motorhead, here is the lowdown on torque vs. horsepower: Torque is most important, since that actually represents the ability to turn the crankshaft against a load. Horsepower is more related to top end speed. For all of the trucks you are looking at, look at the torque rating and at what rpm it is rated. The higher torque with the lowest rpm is best. Rear end gearing is important, but most full size trucks will have low enough rear end ratios. Remember that as the rear end ratio goes lower (actually a higher number) your gas mileage will suffer. A previous poster is right, go with a diesel if your trailer is very heavy, they have the most torque.

9

Not sure what your price range is, and if you are looking for new or used…But the Toyota lines are looking better and better. I know a lot of guys are USA, and I used to agree, but I just can’t turn a blind eye to the continued advancements of Toyota dependability, re-sale (if you don’t keep if forever), and environmental impacts. Just a thought for you. Also, it is expected that Toyota exceed GM in world auto sales this coming year. The whole world can’t be wrong.

I also agree that torque will be your best guiding eye for getting the load going. Torque is an actual measurment of power. While horsepower is an answer to a mathematic equation. But pulling the load is only part of the battle. I would also look at braking and different traction helping systems in my searches. It isn’t fun when 30ft of metal and fibreglass sudenly wants to outrun its leader.

Good luck and keep us posted as your final decision approaches.

10

Also, weigh your truck and trailer on a CAT scale and make sure you get something that is rated to tow your trailer’s weight

I know Ford has a towing guide that lists all their vehicle specs, and I’d assume others do also.

I tow a 31’ travel trailer (8-9000#) from PA to MT and back every year with a Ford F250 4x4 Powerstroke Diesel, and although I’m within my total gross vehicle weight ratings, I can get one or the other of my truck axles a bit overweight at full load with all my toys on board.

However, I can also go most of the way across South Dakota on about 1 tank of gas, with the cruise control set at 65-67mph, in overdrive mostly, and get around 13mpg avg, so that’s OK for me.

John

11

Check out the new Toyota Tundra 380something horsepower 400+ ftlbs of torque 13" brake discs. I believe it has a 5 ton towing capacity and still gets almost 20 mpg.I am a little biased because my wife works for Toyota,but I drove this truck and it is everything they say it is.Check it out.

Good Luck

12

…but it always will! LOL

Joe

13

Horsepower = torque X RPM / 5252, Peak horsepower occurs from 3000 - 6000 rpm (depending on the kind of engine). You would not like to pull your trailer in second gear to get this kind of engine speed - so peak horsepower is a 0-60 thing and is meaningless for pulling a trailer in high gear. For pulling a trailer, you need torque at cruising speed in high gear. Otherwise the converter will declutch and the trans will shift down on every little 3% grade you go up on the interstate. For most engines, torque means displacement. The more cubes you have, the more torque you will make. Unfortunately, the bigger the engine, the more it will be throttled when you are not pulling your trailer. Therefore, the poorer your unloaded fuel economy will be. If you wand a quiet comfortable ride with you trailer and plenty of reserve power to get onto the freeway or up a hill, buy a big V-8 (over 400 cubes) and live with the poor fuel economy when you are not pulling. No complaining though, you made the choice. The global warming geeks will give you a lot of guff too. Into every life a little rain must fall.
Solution 2, Get a Sebring Conv. like JC and tow it behind your motorhome - best of both worlds and you don’t pay the fuel economy penalty when you are not towing. And you have a nice little convertable to tool around in most of the time.

14

With all the new Tech put into the brand new trucks, I don’t think you have to go that big. Diesel is a given, but still the gas engines are more capable. Aluminum so they don’t weigh as much and they don’t run as hot. A few add ons like the tow chip, air filter system, exhaust and I think you will be suprised.

15

You didn’t mention whether your old pickup was a 300 or 350 cid. GM makes a 5.3 (325), a 6.0 (368) and a 6.2 (380) gas and an awesome 6.6 (405) boosted diesel. If you had a 350 and didn’t like it go for the 6.2 GM or equiv in some other pickup. Otherwise - you might be happy with the 6.0 The only tradeoff is fuel economy which you can get a relative idea on the difference by the EPA rating even though yours may be slightly different (when not towing). It will probably not differ greatly when towing. Don’t bother with changing inlet or exhaust components. These may help high speed power but won’t affect peak torque appreciably. And won’t affect fuel economy at all.

The cooling of an engine is totally dependant on the cooling system - get HD if available. Towing capacity is rated on how heavy a load a vehicle can pull up a grade (like Baker Grade in Death Valley) without overheating. Pay attention to the manufactures rating if you are going to be in any high temp or mountain situations. If any of the parts (block, head,) are aluminum, they will fail in an overheat - period. Don’t ever buy an aluminum block for towing. Aluminum is only desirable because it is light weight. It has no other redeeming qualities. It will fail if overheated.

If you can afford the diesel - get it - it is awesome. 660 ft-lb of torque will pull almost anything if you don’t pull the earth out of orbit trying.

16

Dear Royce,

Personally, to tow a 30 foot travel trailer I would definitely look at a 3/4 ton or 1 ton pick-up over a 1/2 ton even if the 1/2 is capable of towing the load. All the driveline components like axles, springs, and brakes are beefed up on the larger trucks.

If you pull the trailer frequently don’t get anything smaller than the largest gas engine available in the brand of your choice. A smaller engine will be geared lower, higher numerical axle ratio, to handle the load and empty fuel economy will suffer as a result.

If you just need the truck to tow the trailer to and from a campground at the beginning and end of the season get the smallest engine that will tow the required load safely. There is no sense dumping extra fuel to run around empty.

Towing is hard duty, and I’d recommend you go with a diesel like some of the other people have suggested. You can’t beat a diesel for towing, once they get up to operating temperature nothing stops them, they won’t even downshift on a hill if you hit it with a head of steam.

Shop carefully, there are still plenty of brand new 2006 pick-ups out there and dealers are making crazy deals to get them off the lot. I saw a $ 32,000 truck advertised at $ 22,000 with no trade and a cash deal in the Sunday paper. I’d bet they would take a trade at that number too, it would just be a wholesale trade number.

If you are trading make sure you do your homework and know what your trade is worth both wholesale and retail. The dealer wants to take the trade at wholesale, or less, and you want to swap at retail regardless of purchase price. Don’t leave thousands of dollars on the table! I sold cars and I saw 8000 trade-ins get wholesaled with a phone call at $ 10,000 the next day, or cleaned and prepped and sold for $ 12,500 inside a week.

The dealer deserves to profit on your trade but you are responsible to minimize that amount, he won’t do it for you. :lol:

You can often do better by borrowing at your bank and taking advantage of all the available dealer rebates than you can if you let them keep the rebate and take their low financing.

Let us know how you make out.

Best Wishes,
Avalon :smiley:

17

Bob, I’m going to disagree with you on your aluminum block theory. If GM thought that, they probably wouldn’t have put it in their trucks. A 5.3L with a tow package is capable of towing a 7,000 lb. payload. The one we own has a dual electric fan cooling system instead of a clutch fan off the engine. Saves a little HP there. Also it won’t let you over heat. Wonderful things computers.
Also a good aftermarket exhaust system and a cold air intake system will improve your performance and gas mileage. Not by an amazing amount, but you will notice it. The engine breaths easier.
Most of this coming from my hubby, who’s been a tech for more years than he cares to admit.

18

It sounds to me like a Diesel truck is the only way to go when pulling a heavy load.
What are reasons NOT to buy a Diesel??
Thanks,
Doug

19

Dear Doug,

The reasons not to buy a diesel upfront are simple, $ 5000.00 to $ 6000.00 more in upfront cost and the fact that diesel costs 20 to 40 cents more per gallon than gasoline.

If you drive your truck till the wheels fall off at 400,000 miles like I plan to do with my diesel I’ll recover my upfront cost and the fuel mileage advantage will offset the price difference between gasoline and diesel.

You can thank General Motors for the bad perception of diesel engines in the United States. They ruined the diesel market with their abysmal 350 Chevy diesel conversion in the mid-80’s. People in America simply haven’t gotten over that awful engine.

In Europe, 40 to 60 percent of all vehicles sold are sold with diesel engines. They aren’t noisy, or smoky, or loud, or underpowered like that GM conversion and people accept them.

Best Wishes,
Avalon :smiley:

20

Thanks for the info. My x father inlaw has a Diesel Dodge truck he uses to tow a 5th wheel trailer. He likes his truck but I don’t like the noise. My feeling about machines is the quieter the better.
Isn’t it in the Bill Of Rights that you should be able to hear your radio when your driving? :lol:
Doug :smiley: P.S. When did CUMMINS contract with Dodge?