Tow Vehicle Reality Check Please

Grit dog wrote:

larry barnhart wrote:

Kbf213 wrote:
1/2 ton would work fine for that trailer, but if an upgrade is in the future you may want to look at a 3/4

This answer is what most of all understand to be what happens.

The tow is much more fun to have the correct truck not almost enough.

chevman

^What he said!
Few weekend warrior trips a year and 350 days of city commuting and parking garages, get the half ton. Opposite end of the use spectrum, get a diesel. Somewhere in the middle, get what works best for your situation including what you may currently own.

Yep, it's all about the right tool for your intended uses. We tow a 6k lb trailer with an F150 or 1500 Suburban. 5 or 6 weekend trips, maybe a longer week long trip a year. I commute in the truck the rest of the time. I also take the truck on 5-10 mountain biking, skiing and other unloaded trips each year, tow a smaller gear trailer on scout camp trips, drive clients around in it. Oh, and I also take it to the store to get groceries! Overall driving is about 18k miles a year, with 1-2k of those towing the travel trailer. We had a 2500 diesel, which obviously towed great, but wasn't ideal for some other duties.

When we were done with the diesel, we went to a properly equipped F150 (ecoboost). Worked just fine for the towing (actually, it towed a lot better than I was expecting it to after getting used to towing with a diesel), and was a bit better for the rest of the time (better mpg unloaded, easier to get into my parking garage at work, smoother ride, my wife is more comfortable driving it, etc).

If I were towing 15k miles a year, I would probably have stuck with a diesel. 2-3k miles a year, I'm very happy with the 1/2 ton.

Also, don't listen to these guys about the 1/2 ton not having enough for the mountains. Our 1/2 ton ecoboost performs great in the mountains here in Utah. We've had it up over 10k feet a few times, moves the trailer along just as well as I would like.