Tow Vehicle Advice For Newbie

Welcome !

First, decide if you believe in the OEM's ratings or not

If not, then pure academic

If yes, then read up on how the ratings system works and know that the only person responsible for the setup is the driver. Us advisors here on these freebie forums have no skin in 'your' game

I'm conservative advising any newbie who has to ask for a reason...and personally like to have as much safety margin as I can get. I do keep my automobiles a looong time, so understand the wearing out faster due to higher stresses well...

Good luck and post back as your story goes


Comments embedded below in red

RVdreaming2020 wrote:
Hi All!

I've been browsing through the forums for awhile and decided to finally join up and post. I am hoping to get some feedback on two tow vehicles that I have my eye on. I am new to travel trailers and towing in general. We are a young family and are struggling with making the right decision on trucks. We don't have a specific trailer picked out yet but most of the bunkhouse ones that we've seen come in right around the 7,000 lb mark fully loaded.

Best to use the trailers GVWR and actual weight (load it up and weigh it)

Most newbies are surprised how much stuff they have loaded

I am bouncing between a pre-owned F150 and a pre-owned Tundra.


With the F150 I've been looking for a 2013 to 2017 V8 with less than 60k miles, max tow package 4x4 Crew cab with the 3.73 rear end. This is proving to be a very difficult thing to find. The V6 eco boosts are everywhere but I made the mistake of reading too much about them online and am now terrified of getting one and having reliability issues with the turbo in them. BUT the 2018 F150 V8s and newer seem to have bad issues with oil loss. So IDK.

Nothing is perfect and they all have issues

A lot depends on your mechanical abilities and/or how deep your pocket book is

A point not discussed much...enough...those who chose a TV just big enough will wear it out faster than someone who chose a higher class TV with more margin...it won't wear out as fast, IMHO

I like the 5.4 V8 tundra but the price is a lot higher and their payload is significantly less than the F150. On the plus side it has a 4.41 rear end.

I'm just so overwhelmed. I'd appreciate any advice. It's so confusing making sure you find something preowned with all of the accessories that you need to safely tow trailers. I don't want to buy something and realize that I've made a mistake. Been saving too long to mess it up now, hahaha