Ford or...?

That's what I"m doing here. I've been warned in the past not to believe dealers, salespeople, manuals... So I'm picking the brains of the people who own various vehicles. That's the best evidence.

Do your research and remember that marketing hype does not always tell the whole story...

Mike Up wrote:
I had a Nissan Titan, it was nothing but problems and Nissan wasn't very helpful at all.

I'm not a GM fan because of issues like Nissan, so never looked. Plus their 5.3L was a bit under powered and seen many coworkers upgrade after pulling a heavier TT with their 5.3L Silverado.

Looked at Rams but their payload was even worse than my 2008 Sport Trac 4WD payload. So technically they couldn't even tow as heavy as my Sport Trac without going over GVWR.

Looked at Ford and it had a good payload and good motor with low end torque. Then went to the 5.0L that put most to shame with it's low end torque, high end power, and good payload.

For me, if I went with Dodge, I'd need a 2500 5.4L to tow without going over GVWR. For me, if I went with Chevy, it would be a roll of the dice and I'd have to go with the 6.2L which is only on really heavy upper trim levels that reduce payload. Newer 2014 models have addressed the payload and lack of power for the 5.3L but it's still a GM with a roll of the dice.

Not a fan of Toyota as they seem to have a lot of the under built chassis issues I seen with my Titan as bed bouncing left to right over rough roads, along with low payload. Besides they seem very overpriced for what they are. If I was going to spend that type of cash, it would be on a 3/4 ton truck.

Wouldn't ever consider another Titan. Junk "in my opinion" and have worse gas milage than most 3/4 ton gassers.

Today if I had to replace my truck, it would be a 2500 Ram 6.4L or a Silverado 5.3L or 6.2L(as long as payload is adequate).

I wouldn't buy another F150 because for 2015 the F15Os have an aluminum body on a steel frame which scream dissimilar metal corrosion along with aluminum corrosion. I won't be the guinea pig on that truck. I may consider a F250/F350 though.

I agree with almost everything except your opinion on the 5.3 in the chevy. I have that motor in my 2011 and that replaced my 6.0 in the 2001 Sierra. The 5.3 creates tons of power, just feels sluggish through the 6 speed auto. If you drop a couple of gears, and are not afraid to rev it up to 5k (where it is designed to produce max HP) it purrs like a kitten and hauls two space shuttles LOL.

It was a difficult motor to get used to, but after I changed my driving habits while towing, I've been really happy with that motor. The 6.2 would have lowered my payload too much.

We had a 1996 Chev with 230,000 miles, started looking for a new truck, no reason the Chev was still running perfect. We wanted a 3/4 ton and looked at everything. And I do mean everything. We were looking at used and ended up with a 2009 Ford F250 Crew Cab. A nice truck. Is it any better then the Chev, nope, but for us it was the best value for the buck. And it really is a sweet truck.

fla-gypsy wrote:
All of the Big 3 make a truck capable of performing well if selected with the right options and equipment.

I agree, to me they're all about the same when it comes to getting the job done.
I don't tow a TT or 5er so I can't give an opinion.

However, I like the design and looks of the Ford trucks. Maybe it's as simple as that?

2012Coleman wrote:

MargaretB wrote:


And... half a ton is 1000# in the US. So a truck with a half-ton payload isn't worth much as a TV, is it?

Your asking about payload? That's wonderful! The Sequoia not cutting the mustard?

Have you considered a Tundra? Mine has almost 200000 miles on it.

The more optioned your chosen truck is, the heaiver it will be. I think you know your tounge weight, so go into it focused on payload instead of towing capacity. Hey, Im experienceing some Dejavu here...

Actually, the Sequoia is doing fine. But my husband is nervous about driving it at or near the top of its capacity, and the fact that while we intend this trailer to be our (first and) last, who knows what the future might bring? The first one we fell in love with was a 26' Jayco, but we didn't want to jump into our first towing experience with something that big. So we wound up with a nice 22', but he's looking toward the future - not having a sofa could turn out to be a liability for us. And having one would require another 2' of length, minimum. So he's thinking that perhaps we should rethink the TV while the Sequoia has relatively low mileage. Yes, we understand the payload issue - the Sequoia has 1230#, which is fine for the two of us and our bag of potato chips, but would be an issue with more people, even small ones (and their mom) - and that's why he's thinking ahead.

So stay tuned for more "trolling" as the research continues!

When I bought my truck last year, I looked at them all objectively (F,C,D) even though I had grown up with Ford's and sold them for 8 years. Dodge has come a long way quality wise in the last few years. I drove my wife's hand me down Chevy Monte Carlo and it seemed like it had a lot of interior plastic parts that would break, and it was always a lot of the small annoying stuff that needed to be fixed. It was a 2002, so I would hope things would have been improved since then.

I looked at them all objectively, sat in them and drove them all with an open mind. It got narrowed down to the Ford and Dodge. I was going to look at both of them, went to look at a used Ford first, it had almost everything I wanted so it is sitting in my driveway. If I had gone to look at the Dodge first, it might have been a different story.

The reason that the Chevy got ruled out was that it felt like it had less interior space, even though there wasn't a significant difference in the #'s.

Ford at one time usually was the leader when it came to new things..1st to have the crew cab F-150, power adj pedals, integrated trailer towing ant the all aluminum body for the 2015 model, but the Dodge appears to have a winner with the EcoDiesel.

HOWEVER, things might change when the new Nissan Titan comes out with the 5.0 Cummins diesel in a couple of years. If they build it right, it might take them from last place to becoming a serious contender. Ford dropped the ball when they didn't put a diesel in their 1/2 truck. They had a 4.5L V-6 diesel that they used in some of their LCF trucks, and should have probably explored putting it into the 1/2 T trucks.

Each individual's need is different so find what works best for you....but always look for payload capacity.

All of the Big 3 make a truck capable of performing well if selected with the right options and equipment. I choose Ford because it fits all of my needs and the last 5 Fords I have owned have performed extremely well and been perfect on reliability.

Margaret,

I don't think you are trolling at all but are asking a genuine question. Let me tell you our towing experiences. First tow vehicle was a 2005 Ford Explorer towing a Sunline 19 foot trailer. We towed one time with that combination and went out and bought a used 2006 Expedition which towed the Sunline perfectly.

Then the bigger trailer bug bit and we traded the Sunline on a North Trail which was 29 feet overall. Towing with the Expedition was okay but not great so an F150 replaced the Expedition. The F150 had the 5.4 engine and towed well on flat ground but was not cutting it in the mountains. Due to our standard poodles traveling with us, the crew cab is a necessity.

My husband always wanted a diesel truck so in 2013 a new F250 Lariat made its way to our driveway. It pulled the North Trail like it wasn't even there (LOL) so of course we had to get a bigger, heavier trailer and traded the North Trail on an Open Range that is 33.5 feet long with a GVWR of 9800 pounds. The diesel tows the new trailer with no issues, even through a bad rainstorm with high winds.

When we started this odyssey into RVing, we made all the classic newbie mistakes on not understanding payload and buying tow vehicles that just could not do the job as well as we expected. So three trailers and four tow vehicles later, we now have the perfect truck for our needs.

I have to agree with the folks here talking about payload and how it varies from truck to truck. Our crew cab has only 1950 pounds of payload due to the large cab and truck features but I would not trade them for anything. It is a comfortable truck to drive and gives us the room we need for us and the dogs. It will be getting airbags in the next couple of months due to a "squat" of about 1-2 inches from the tongue weight on the new trailer (1,000 pounds dry).

This truck is not a daily driver so spends most of its life waiting for camping trips but I have no problems taking it to the local shopping centers by myself and I do drive it while towing. It is a pleasure to tow with it. One issue is that these larger trucks will not usually fit into urban parking garages due to the height of the trucks. Before I retired, I could easily fit the Expedition and then the F150 into the garage where I parked but I never attempted to fit the F250 into that garage.

If you do look at trucks, pay particular attention to the yellow sticker showing payload and remember that most salespeople do not tow and do not understand what we who do need. So what we learned the hard (expensive) way is to do our homework and buy the truck that will do the job.

Diane

I bought a Ford simply because it Looks and rides better than any other truck I looked at The payload was good and the gross combined is as good as others. I live in MI. so anything other than a MI. built truck was out.
They look simple and tough.