Best Gas Truck 4 Pulling

This site is very cool! I've been looking at the TT pictures and I have gone from page one to page 50 so far and still have at just another 250 pages to go! :) Lots of neat rigs!

I do have a question again though. So I completely understand the over weight thing and pulling however if I added over load springs to the truck or air bag on the Tundra would that help enough to make it safe to pull? What makes a 2500 better than a 1500 with over load springs or air bags?

We were in the same situation a year ago and ended up buying the Ram 2500 with the 6.4L.

We previously had a 2013 Silverado 1500, 5.3L, 3.42. I actually really liked that truck, except for the annoying suicide doors on the extended cab (it changed in 2014). I quickly realized we made a mistake with that cab configuration, having a young child in a car seat in the back. Having to always open the front door to open the back door was a pain. We should have foreseen that, but hey, we only had an eight-month-old when we bought it, so that was still all fairly new to us.

Anyway, we decided we wanted a different truck and I started doing a lot of research, deciding it made sense to step up to a 2500 or 3500. I read this forum and many others about the different brands and engines. We knew we didn't need or want a diesel, as we only tow a 7,500 pound trailer, and most of our unhitched driving is no more than 5-10 miles. We have a Honda Accord for running around and long trips without the trailer.

I did not like the interiors all that much on the F250, and I don't know if this is a complaint, but it seems like I see quite a few F250s towing trailers my size that seem to be sagging. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's noticeable and I don't see that on the GM or RAM trucks.

That left the GM 6.0 and the Ram 6.4, which, honestly, wasn't much of a decision. The 6.0 is a tried-and-true platform, but I think it is getting a bit long in the tooth. If they would put the 6.2 in the 2500/3500 trucks, we might have stayed with GM.

I don't have a single bad thing to say about this truck. The design and style, to me, is top-notch. With 3K of payload, we are able to put a rick of firewood in the bed and still tow the trailer through hills with no problem. I love the big cab, and they seem to have thought of everything. The little storage compartments under the rear floor mats? Those came in real handy when my truck was broken into and the idiots didn't know to look in those compartments. That kept my iBall backup camera, and some expensive knives and flashlights from being stolen.

We did get it stuck in the mud in April while camping, even with 4x4. This truck is heavy and it just sank, with mud halfway up all four tires. Fortunately, we were yanked out by a new 3500 Ram CTD, not a Chevy or Ford. ;)

With all of that said, I will still consider all of the Big Three when it comes time to buy our next truck. At this time, I think they all make excellent rigs with reliable powertrains.

Good luck in your search and congrats on the new trailer!

I was looking to trade in my F250 for a half-ton earlier this year because of the diesel prices. Newer model - low mileage Tundra were slightly over 30k. I ended up with a late model/low mileage F150, slightly under 30K. Both the half-ton and diesel towed my 30" TT fine.

Love my new 6.4 ram. Tows nice. Will never buy a Chevy. Was a die hard fan. Bought the wife a 96 chev blazer in 97. The vacuum module for the front end went out and destroyed the front end. Cost me 1400. They recalled the module 2 weeks later but wouldn't pay for the front end. Last chev I bought. 7 new vehicles since. All Mopar. Love my dodges.

If you do consider the Ram trucks I would go for the new 6.4l Hemi. More power is nice but it actually gets better mileage than the smaller, less powerful 5.7, because it has cylinder deactivation. It'll never happen while towing but will save you the rest of the time.

Something else to consider is the same truck with the 6.4 has much more payload than the 5.7. My crew cab Laramie is only 2300lbs while the same truck with a 6.4 is 3100lbs! I didn't realize this when I bought and even now nobody seems to know why the big difference.

CavemanCharlie wrote:
I have a 2005 Chevy Silverado. I have had it for 70000 miles. It is broken down so often that is cost me 500 dollars in repairs for every 10000 miles I drive it. This doesn't not include the usual things like tires and such.

Never buy a Chevy.

While I agree with your last sentence, one bad truck does not make the entire fleet worthless. Every manufacturer makes a bad vehicle at some point or another. When you sell a third of a million trucks every year, a couple of them are going to be duds.

That being said, I doubt if I would ever own a GM product...

I have a 2005 Chevy Silverado. I have had it for 70000 miles. It is broken down so often that is cost me 500 dollars in repairs for every 10000 miles I drive it. This doesn't not include the usual things like tires and such.

Never buy a Chevy.

Thanks man. If that were the case you would think the AISIN would be standard with the diesel.

Danattherock wrote:

The fact that Dodge is only manufacturer I know of that offers an upgraded transmission is concerning enough. But they only package, special orders for most part, with the diesel. Even then only on the 3500 series. Not holding my breath, but I was curious enough to ask.

The regular transmission was never intended to handle 850+ lbs/ft of torque that the new 6.7 CTD can put out. That is the only reason for the upgraded transmission. Without that much torque, you shouldn't have any problems with the older trans.

Call up you local trans shop and ask their opinion. They see this stuff day in and day out.