Lot's of advice to consider - this has been very helpful. Since we won't be traveling until spring, we're going to take our time making this decision. We have never bought a new vehicle - we always buy used so that will give us time to find a good one. My husband says that if we get a 3/4 ton, we will get the electric running board that drops down lower than the other ones - thanks Me Again for that tip.
To those who suggested using the Tundra to tow - we looked up the towing capacity of our specific truck by VIN and it is 6800 so way too low for this rig. From what we have read, one should never tow more that 80% of the tow capacity of a vehicle for safety. So we would need at minimum a rating of 8750 and would prefer much more. We will also watch the payload as suggested if we decide on a 1/2 ton.
And a note to Lwiddis - I may not be the primary driver but I will drive it a lot and thankfully, my husband sees me as a partner in decisions such as this. And he is the voice behind me in this discussion.
