New Truck Buyer Needs Help

Diamond c wrote:
Go to a dealership and buy a used truck.

Not quite. Many car sales people don't know much at all about towing capacities, especially if it's a used truck that is not the dealership's brand. Case in point, a friend went to the local Ford dealer to get an F150 with the max tow rating. He drove away with a 4x4 F150 that had no OEM brake controller and a 5.0 V8. The 3.5L EcoBoost had the max tow rating that year but the sales person convinced him that "big V8 engine will tow anything".

This is not the first story on this forum about sales staff not knowing squat about tow ratings and packages.

KJ

Don't take anyone's word for max tow weight, tongue max weight or payload. Look at the sticker...take a picture of it. Study it alone...without a salesman. You'll need 900+ pounds of payload for that TT plus people and stuff in the truck IMO.

I believe all of the half ton truck makes offer a truck that can tow that under $37k. It may not be a 4wd with all the bells and whistles though.

OP, look at the window sticker or "monroney" label as they call it. Look for things like tow package or trailer tow package and make sure it has the proper axle rating, wiring, and receiver hitch for towing. If it has a N/A(naturally aspirated) V8 or a turbocharged 6 cylinder, then it will be able to tow what you have. I would not recommend a N/A V6 or turbocharged 4 cylinder for your trailer.

The more gearing the transmissions has, the less relevant the rear axle ratio. Turbocharged engines can also get away with taller gear ratios(lower number) than N/A. For example, the 3.55 on my old turbocharged 3.5L Ecoboost work truck pulled the same loads better and had a higher tow rating than the N/A 5.0L V8 with a 3.73 I had before. In my opinion, I would not go lower than a 3.55 on a turbocharged gaser and no lower than a 3.73 on a V8 within that price range.

Look for one that has a tow package allready. That should give you some upgrades you may need plus some wireing will allready be in place for the camper.

Keep it simple for starters.

Payload is always the determining factor with half-ton trucks.

Look for the GVWR of trailer, usually stamped on driver's side front of trailer. Take 12 - 15% of this weight as trailers tounge weight.

Now go to the door sticker on truck and find payload CCC.
Deduct the trailers tounge weight, all passengers weight and cargo that you plan to carry on truck from the trucks rated payload and see where you stand.

If you plan to upgrade trailer in future like so many do then it would be prudent to look at 2500 - 250 series trucks.

Diamond c wrote:
Go to a dealership and buy a used truck. They should be able to tell you everything about it, and you might get a little warranty to boot.

Are you serious? A dealer just just wants to make a sale, UNLESS a GOOD dealer actually knows something about towing. Years ago a local dealer tried to tell me a Ford Ranger w/ 4.10 gears will tow a house. What OP needs a truck w/a tow package and like 1st reply said, plug in the VIN to see how it's equipped from factory. Just because it may have a hitch on it does not mean it's set up for towing.

Go to a dealership and buy a used truck. They should be able to tell you everything about it, and you might get a little warranty to boot.

You can plug the truck's vin number in a decoder and get a lot of info on it, not sure about the axle ratio tho: Edmunds