Towing with a full size

[ThomasC]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

All 1/2 ton trucks including my 2019 Ram 1500 are classified as “ Light Duty Trucks ”
You get into the truck classification with the 3/4 & 1 ton trucks
I realize this is an arbitrary standard / classification but I’ve owned / driven both light duty and actual trucks and the modern 1/2 ton trucks are closer to a luxury car than they are to a truck IMHO
Our Ram 1500 is sufficient to tow our Escape 21 as is the Chevy 1500 and Ford F150 but beyond that I have my doubts .

It depends on what you buy. My F-150 has a payload of 3049 pounds and will tow 12000 - 13000 pounds. An F-250 starts at about 3100 pounds of payload and the same tow capacity. That was with a large V8 and at least $5000 more.

I have been a little surprised at the cult of big trucks on this forum. I thought I was going overboard. Who knew.

[Cliff Hotchkiss]

Originally Posted by ThomasC

It depends on what you buy. My F-150 has a payload of 3049 pounds and will tow 12000 - 13000 pounds. An F-250 starts at about 3100 pounds of payload and the same tow capacity. That was with a large V8 and at least $5000 more.

I have been a little surprised at the cult of big trucks on this forum. I thought I was going overboard. Who knew.

I think if you looked hard you would find that the F150 is 1 of the more popular tow trucks on this forum. Not everyone thinks you need a sludge hammer to drive tacks or that if it ain’t a diesel it’s a toy 😎

[Jon in AZ]

I have a real truck. It's an 8-passenger crewcab with an 8' cargo bed and a 1T payload rating.

Did I mention it's articulated?

[C&G in FL]

Oh, damn. My “Chevy 1500” Tonka truck won’t tow even a single pound and it has zero payload capacity. As the song says, “What’s a poor boy to do?”

It does, however, rule the sandbox!

[thrifty bill]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

All 1/2 ton trucks including my 2019 Ram 1500 are classified as “ Light Duty Trucks ”
You get into the truck classification with the 3/4 & 1 ton trucks
I realize this is an arbitrary standard / classification but I’ve owned / driven both light duty and actual trucks and the modern 1/2 ton trucks are closer to a luxury car than they are to a truck IMHO
Our Ram 1500 is sufficient to tow our Escape 21 as is the Chevy 1500 and Ford F150 but beyond that I have my doubts .

Pretty much agree. In fact, its one thing I like about my F150. I call it the "Lincoln Town Car" of my generation. My father's generation bought the Town Car, the Buick Park Avenue and so on for their comfort. Now the F150 can be had with similar comfort, 2X the fuel economy, and some towing/hauling capability. We take the F150 on longer trips, regardless of whether we are towing the trailer. Comfort is king.

Once you get past a certain size RV, you are really into 3/4 ton or even 1 ton TV status. Most molded FG trailers don't require more TV, but some do. Certainly my F150 is overkill on towing my Trillium 1300.

[Ed Harris]

Originally Posted by thrifty bill

Pretty much agree. In fact, its one thing I like about my F150. I call it the "Lincoln Town Car" of my generation. My father's generation bought the Town Car, the Buick Park Avenue and so on for their comfort. Now the F150 can be had with similar comfort, 2X the fuel economy, and some towing/hauling capability. We take the F150 on longer trips, regardless of whether we are towing the trailer. Comfort is king.

Once you get past a certain size RV, you are really into 3/4 ton or even 1 ton TV status. Most molded FG trailers don't require more TV, but some do. Certainly my F150 is overkill on towing my Trillium 1300.

I always thought thats where the term "Cowboy Cadillac" came from?

Pretty much the entire point of this thread from the O.P. is that while his Taco does just fine with the Egg that a Full Size Pickup just does more fine.

Hard to argue that when sold as full size that a truck is full size?

[Cliff Hotchkiss]

Originally Posted by thrifty bill

Pretty much agree. In fact, its one thing I like about my F150. I call it the "Lincoln Town Car" of my generation. My father's generation bought the Town Car, the Buick Park Avenue and so on for their comfort. Now the F150 can be had with similar comfort, 2X the fuel economy, and some towing/hauling capability. We take the F150 on longer trips, regardless of whether we are towing the trailer. Comfort is king.

Once you get past a certain size RV, you are really into 3/4 ton or even 1 ton TV status. Most molded FG trailers don't require more TV, but some do. Certainly my F150 is overkill on towing my Trillium 1300.

A new properly spect out F150 can tow as much as 13200lbs or carry as much as 3230 lbs. 1/2 ton pickups have come a long way in the last 15 or 20 years. Are there any fiberglass trailers out there exceeding this?

[ZachO]

Ah this is fun.

It's a good point that some older, 80s 2wd Toyotas were 1 ton trucks.

Now there's a full size truck!

[Jon in AZ]

Trucks in all size and weight classes have gotten generally more competent as well as more comfortable and luxurious over time. They’re happy to take your money and give you all the bells and whistles you could possibly want. As has been noted many times, there’s a trade-off between luxury and payload.

Agree that there’s very little in the molded fiberglass universe a properly equipped half ton cannot tow. However, the quoted top-spec F-150 (max tow and max haul) is very hard to find and expensive. For the largest molded units, many people find a 3/4T an easier and overall more economical choice.

Categories are artificial constructs. It’s been a long time since “half ton” and “one ton” meant anything close to literal payload. With the proliferation of cab and bed configurations, even size is no longer a sure indicator. Width, perhaps, still differentiates “mid-sized” from “full-sized.” I know it when I see it, and the OP’s work truck is full-sized.

Government agencies classify by GVWR, but again, the categories are arbitrary. The EPA defines a light duty truck as one with a GVWR up to 8500#, while the DOT and many states set the cutoff at 10,000#. The F-150 tops out just under 8000#, keeping it in the light duty class for EPA. The F-250 tops out at 10.000#, allowing it to take advantage of looser emissions standards for EPA heavy duty trucks, but stay under the 10,000# cutoff for “real trucks,” which often means higher registration fees in many states. My Chevy Express 3500 camper has a GVWR of 9600#, just under 10,000#. Probably not a coincidence.

It’s a game we play.

[redbarron55]

If I can see over the hood of a new truck I don't think it is considered a "full sized" truck any more.

[Jon in AZ]

Or perhaps it’s as simple as if I fit, it’s full-sized...

[Barb and Alan]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Or perhaps it’s as simple as if I fit, it’s full-sized...

Jon, I like that definition. Glad my earlier post got some blood pressure testing done. That was completely tongue in cheek about real trucks and spark plugs, although I do choose a diesel for my towing needs.

I believe the term “full-size” as it applies to trucks started in the 60’s with the onset of importing Toyota and Datsun pichups. If it would fit a 4’ X 8’ sheet of plywood between the wheel wells and still be able to close the tailgate it was full size. Arbitrary? Probably just Madison Avenue’s way to differentiate between American iron and foreign made toy trucks.

Obviously with short beds, crew cabs, and larger entries from Toyota and Nissan the definition of full size blurs the lines, just like the full size Cadillac of today would have been a sub-compact in the 60’s. I believe the Tundra and Titan are considered full size now.

I miss my ‘65 Electra 225. I think it was longer than my Duramax.

[ZachO]

I think your joke was appreciated. Especially living where I do, I sometimes see the attitude your joking about.

There's a diesel Dodge truck here in town; at least a 6" lift, oversize tires, giant bulky aftermarket bumpers, roll bar, grill guard etc. License plate somehow spells out to be "coal burner". "Hey, I'm just living life as though my job is to say f-you to environmentalists".

I prefer to just live my life without it being a purposeful statement against anyone else, but to each their own, I guess.

[Ed Harris]

Well the Tundra and Titan are full size now which is why they are considered as such,there is no secret or implied mystery to this they are now full size trucks though the original Tundra was also clearly not full size and that was a selling feature when it was introduced just like the Dodge Dakota was,smaller than full size and bigger than mini which was the Frontier/Hardbody and Tacoma.Ranger and S10 of that time.

Now these days the Tundra and Titan are huge and the Tacoma and Frontier,Ranger and Colorado are almost the size of the original Tundra.

There really are no Mini sized trucks left as they were before.

These have changed in size plain and simple.

Full size is still Full size.
Bigger than not Full Size!

Originally Posted by Deadhead517

Jon, I like that definition. Glad my earlier post got some blood pressure testing done. That was completely tongue in cheek about real trucks and spark plugs, although I do choose a diesel for my towing needs.

I believe the term “full-size” as it applies to trucks started in the 60’s with the onset of importing Toyota and Datsun pichups. If it would fit a 4’ X 8’ sheet of plywood between the wheel wells and still be able to close the tailgate it was full size. Arbitrary? Probably just Madison Avenue’s way to differentiate between American iron and foreign made toy trucks.

Obviously with short beds, crew cabs, and larger entries from Toyota and Nissan the definition of full size blurs the lines, just like the full size Cadillac of today would have been a sub-compact in the 60’s. I believe the Tundra and Titan are considered full size now.

I miss my ‘65 Electra 225. I think it was longer than my Duramax.

[RogerDat]

Face it trucks got wimpy when they stopped making the dash out of steel and got rid of the clutch.


Funny thing about classifications. The original "real" hummer for civilian use had a big hunk of steel bolted behind the bumper. You see a passenger truck is required to have 5mph no damage bumper and the Hummer didn't. The addition of the extra weight moved it into a commercial weight class that isn't required to have those bumpers.


One thing tough to accept about towing vehicles is one with surplus power will often take much less of a fuel economy hit from towing the modest weight of a FGRV. Where a smaller engine working harder that loses overdrive may well take a larger hit from its normal mpg. So having it easy when towing is to take a fuel economy hit in daily driving. That is the tough part.


Scamp behind a V6 Escape has about 5 mpg hit and it hardly seems to effect performance. The 4 cylinder vehicles we have used that are able to tow the camper really have to work at it. Not sure my sisters F-250 would know it was there without checking the mirrors.

[Jon in AZ]

I was expecting you to say trucks got wimpy when they eliminated the solid front axle...

[floyd]

Originally Posted by RogerDat

Face it trucks got wimpy when they stopped making the dash out of steel and got rid of the clutch.


Funny thing about classifications. The original "real" hummer for civilian use had a big hunk of steel bolted behind the bumper. You see a passenger truck is required to have 5mph no damage bumper and the Hummer didn't. The addition of the extra weight moved it into a commercial weight class that isn't required to have those bumpers.


One thing tough to accept about towing vehicles is one with surplus power will often take much less of a fuel economy hit from towing the modest weight of a FGRV. Where a smaller engine working harder that loses overdrive may well take a larger hit from its normal mpg. So having it easy when towing is to take a fuel economy hit in daily driving. That is the tough part.


Scamp behind a V6 Escape has about 5 mpg hit and it hardly seems to effect performance. The 4 cylinder vehicles we have used that are able to tow the camper really have to work at it. Not sure my sisters F-250 would know it was there without checking the mirrors.

Big camper, big truck. Small camper, no need for a big truck.


Paradigms keep shifting...
The new Ranger (4CYL) is tow rated for 7500 pounds, no strain for about 95% of Fiberglass trailers, most of which are under half that.
My truck will do 0-60 in the 7 second range with my trailer attached and trip ready. It also consistently gets low to mid 20s MPG while towing.

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

I was expecting you to say trucks got wimpy when they eliminated the solid front axle...

Well yeah that too. But I didn't want to get all technical on folks


Had that type of axle in a flat nosed Dodge work van. Thing had posi traction rear end and was geared so it would barely hit 70 on the freeway if it could even do that. Powered by a 318 cu. V8


When I sold it the guy bought it because you could spin the tires through all three gears (yes it was a three on the tree) of course high torque gearing and no weight in the rear might have influenced that more than anything else but.. it did have a 4 barrel carb.


That there was a truck! I also had a Ford straight 6 300 cu. that couldn't do much over 75 mph but it did it with the bed full of crushed rock as easily as it did empty. Ride was a little smoother with the bed full of rock or landscape timbers. Acceleration was about the same.

[ZachO]

Both my work and personal trucks have a clutch...

[Ed Harris]

Originally Posted by ZachO

Both my work and personal trucks have a clutch...