1/2 ton trucks?

jerem0621 wrote:


Hmm, Your truck gets 24 MPG? My Minivan gets 26.5 MPG highway and still breaking in. 20 in town with my lead foot.

Its okay, I use to be Minivanphobic... No more.. such a useful and comfortable vehicle.

Can't compare a minivan to a half ton truck. Can only get 5-6 people in a truck... 7-8 can comfortably ride in a minivan. Flat floor, easy in and out, no climbing up and into the minivan.. drive for hours and hours, nearly 300 HP in a great handling chassis.

Fold the seats into the floor and you have a GREAT cargo hauler that puts your gear behind locked doors with dark tinted windows that makes your cargo out of sight and secure.

And, with some minor mods, makes an incredible tow vehicle.



OP...the Half Ton truck is a versatile vehicle that meets most peoples needs. Most people are not on RV.net and are blissfully towing a travel trailer. Especially if their WD Hitch is adjusted properly. I just traveled 650 miles and saw all kinds of half tons towing travel trailers. I only saw one camper broke down, it was a 3/4 ton truck with a blown out tire on his triple axle toy hauler fifth wheel.

TIFWIW...is rather have a half ton truck over a HD truck for 98% of my needs. For the other 2% that I would need a bigger truck if just use my half ton and drive slower and more cautiously. That's just me though.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

Note, I didn't diss or say anything about a minivan making anybody any less of a human, in fact minivans were some of the first vehicles I learned to drive on. But back in those days a Chevy Astro in the snow was probably the most fun and best teaching tool for driving in inclement weather. However, I noted my actual observations. I only pulled 24 mpg with the minivan on the highway portion of a drive(Dodge Caravan actually). Living in the PNW, the terrain tends to be a bit more rugged and have more hills and mountains compared to anywhere else in the country. I also encourage anybody to click on my truck in my sig. You can see what my city ratio is and how many MPG's I pull and I'm still breaking in. I've gone from high 17's to mid 18's and low 19's at 70 to 75% city driving cycle. I haven't had the opportunity to go all out on the freeway for a whole tank lately, however I have seen where my EVIC returns over 23mpg and a hair away from 24mpg over 200 miles of driving mostly highway. If you want a specific route, pick the route from Portland, OR down to Lincoln city on google maps. It will take you through a mountain pass as well. Then you can see that it's not flat and that there are mountains and hills on that drive. My EVIC is within 3% error for the most part. So I can trust the average for a leg of a journey. If you're not drunk on power and driving like a sane individual, diesels will return excellent fuel economy.

I owned a half-ton truck previous to my current HD. The economics are actually working far better for my HD than they did for the half-ton. I have the same fueling frequency and average about $20 to $50 less at the pump, including when diesel was 40 cents per gallon more than regular gas (diesel is now 10 cents less than regular in my parts). I have gained roughly 40% more fuel economy comparing my f-150 like for like (same equipment, similar equipment, same exact bed and cab configuration and 4x4 with max tow packages respective to each manufacture). And if you check out my fuelly page, I have far more analytics backing those numbers up from the excel sheet they came from (for my F-150 and my current RAM). Also, it just seems like there are far more incentives for HD vehicles than there are for half tons. I actually bought my diesel rig for 5k less than my half ton, however I have just about all the same options on my current rig that my half ton had. Actually a few more options and the only thing I miss from my F-150 are the memory seats and tow mirrors (I really love Ford's tow mirror setup).

One thing I did love about the Caravan loaner was how modular its interior is (but this was a double edged sword to me). The thing I find that I can't live with is that if you have 6 people, you don't have much room for cargo. In a truck, you can haul those 6 people plus a huge amount of other items. This is really handy when you're helping a friend move, or if you have friends helping you move. My crew cab also folds the seats out of the way, making room for even more items to carry in a sheltered part of the vehicle when needed. Also, I found that it was a pain to convert the interior of the van at the home improvement store just to fit some plant cages into the vehicle. In a truck, I would had tossed the items into the bed and been on my way. But I'm figuring this is more due to lack of familiarity with the vehicle because I don't live with it day in and day out so I don't know the most efficient way to fold the seats for a given cargo situation. I'm sure an owner would had easily schooled me in folding just the necessary seats to get the job done LOL.

But as noted, I certainly agree that getting in n' out is much easier in the van. Seating position is actually very good as well. But in the end, the vehicle must suite your lifestyle and needs. Everyone is different. I just found that I put too much weight in the bed and cab of the F-150 at times and it was happening a little more often than I liked. I could had probably lived with a 3/4 ton vehicle, but I wanted this to be a truck I keep for 15+ years, so I bought the biggest vehicle I would ever be comfortable driving so I could end the upgrade game that so many people seem to get tied up in. And I'm sure you see that quite often on the pages posted in this forum.

My 3/4 ton is my daily driver so it picks up whatever I need, or just hauls us around all the time. A good 1/2 ton is a fit for many family's needs so no big issue. Get what you need and can afford simple as that. If the 1/2 ton does it then great, I had one for a long time, never any issues and it hauled a lot more then just groceries.

jus2shy wrote:

LaunchnRetrieve wrote:
Yes, I have hauled groceries in my truck. Many times. It handled the job just right. I'm very happy with my truck's grocery hauling performance. I would much rather haul groceries in my truck than in a mini van. I don't really want to be seen in a mini van. Thank God for half tons!

Had a minivan as a loaner while having my truck serviced. Got the same fuel economy with my truck as that minivan for the most part. At its best, it only did 2 mpg better than my truck on the highway. In the city, my truck did better fuel economy wise. Yeah, I'd rather have the truck as well...

Hmm, Your truck gets 24 MPG? My Minivan gets 26.5 MPG highway and still breaking in. 20 in town with my lead foot.

Its okay, I use to be Minivanphobic... No more.. such a useful and comfortable vehicle.

Can't compare a minivan to a half ton truck. Can only get 5-6 people in a truck... 7-8 can comfortably ride in a minivan. Flat floor, easy in and out, no climbing up and into the minivan.. drive for hours and hours, nearly 300 HP in a great handling chassis.

Fold the seats into the floor and you have a GREAT cargo hauler that puts your gear behind locked doors with dark tinted windows that makes your cargo out of sight and secure.

And, with some minor mods, makes an incredible tow vehicle.



OP...the Half Ton truck is a versatile vehicle that meets most peoples needs. Most people are not on RV.net and are blissfully towing a travel trailer. Especially if their WD Hitch is adjusted properly. I just traveled 650 miles and saw all kinds of half tons towing travel trailers. I only saw one camper broke down, it was a 3/4 ton truck with a blown out tire on his triple axle toy hauler fifth wheel.

TIFWIW...is rather have a half ton truck over a HD truck for 98% of my needs. For the other 2% that I would need a bigger truck if just use my half ton and drive slower and more cautiously. That's just me though.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

I went and got groceries today in my 3/4 ton and some stuff from the auto parts store and dinner take out.

My 1/2 ton is much better than a grocery getter. In fact, I often chose it over the SUV to make a 2000+ mile trip from VA to LA twice a year - without the TT.

LaunchnRetrieve wrote:
Yes, I have hauled groceries in my truck. Many times. It handled the job just right. I'm very happy with my truck's grocery hauling performance. I would much rather haul groceries in my truck than in a mini van. I don't really want to be seen in a mini van. Thank God for half tons!

Had a minivan as a loaner while having my truck serviced. Got the same fuel economy with my truck as that minivan for the most part. At its best, it only did 2 mpg better than my truck on the highway. In the city, my truck did better fuel economy wise. Yeah, I'd rather have the truck as well...

Yes, I have hauled groceries in my truck. Many times. It handled the job just right. I'm very happy with my truck's grocery hauling performance. I would much rather haul groceries in my truck than in a mini van. I don't really want to be seen in a mini van. Thank God for half tons!

THen there are folks with class 6 trucks, and wonder why have a 1 ton, or the class 8 drivers why have a class 6? I'm in the why have a 1 ton dually catagory! the typical half or single wheel 25/35 series trucks are good, but the class 3 dually on up to class 5 rigs are the useless ones!

As some have said, depending upon what you do, ANY and ALL of the trucks out there, serve a purpose. Just because it does not server your purpose, does not mean it is a bad rig per say!

Marty

fj12ryder wrote:

Gebrown wrote:
So whats the point in 1/2 ton trucks? They can't haul much, are they the grocery getters of the truck world?

Yeah, pretty much. You want to haul something buy a real truck.

Opinions are like butt holes, everyone has one. i have a "REAL" truck and it does everything i need it to. :B

1/2 ton and x-lite 5er or 1 ton and what ever size you want. Cant see getting a 3/4 ton truck.