1/2 or 3/4 Ton? - Trying to decide.

[Gulfcoast]

Ready for a newer truck...

Jayco 25' travel trailer:

WEIGHTS
Unloaded Vehicle Weight: 5220#
Dry Hitch Weight: 545#
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating: 7000#
Cargo Carrying Capacity: 1780#

A 2500 Diesel sure would handle it easy, but could I "get by" with a half ton Chevy 5.4? I may cross the rocky mountains one day.

[PDX_Zs]

Tough one. We have a 1/2 ton and a 3/4 ton in the driveway now. Similar, but not exactly the same rig.

For the 90% of the around town driving we do, the little truck comes out. It just rides and drives so much nicer.

Hard to make a bad choice with any of the newer trucks though.

🙂

[ksss]

valhalla360 wrote:

Shal36 wrote:
To the OP...lots of folks here like to spend other people’s money...

The OP indicated he was buying a truck...if he's buying anyway 1/2 vs 3/4, cost difference is negligible.

I will say that the 6.0's that I had which were 2011 and a 2015 got 14- 15 mpg empty. My wife's 1500 with a 5.3 gets around 20 mpg empty (it has never towed more than jet ski). So the daily driver side of the equation would favor the 1500. If I had to chose one, I would still go with a HD. However the mpg difference isn't nonexistent.

[Grit_dog]

Lots of fun discussion about 40 year old transmissions, the ability to pul your camper up a 30% grade, these “nowadays” trucks with full floating axles and the obligatory 1/2 tons cant tow safely.
Of course a bigger truck will have a greater duty cycle for the same load and lower gears (effectively, not necessarily the rear axle) will pull more than higher gears apples to apples, but some of this is real comedic relief!

[RoyJ]

If you worry too much about trailer upgrades, might as well get an HDT as some have half-jokingly suggested. Even a dually eventually run out of payload / towing capacity.

Here's a different perspective - what if you find the trailer too big and wants to downgrade? Do you want to be stuck with the purchase and maintenance cost of a modern diesel HD?

I went from a bus conversion to a truck camper, and now I'm enjoying overland type of trips. Had I spent $70k on a Cummins Laramie...

[valhalla360]

Shal36 wrote:
To the OP...lots of folks here like to spend other people’s money...

The OP indicated he was buying a truck...if he's buying anyway 1/2 vs 3/4, cost difference is negligible.

[Curly2001]

3/4 ton is the only way to go. You will be trading off sooner than you want to with the tail wagging the dog if you get a 1/2 ton......
Curly

[MikeRP]

Hey Gulfcoast, have fun getting your new truck! Let us know what you purchased so we can all celebrate with you! Buying a new truck is freakin awesome! I’m sure whatever you buy will be awesome.

Right now my Ram is frozen to the driveway. Was babysitting my Grandkids the last couple of weeks while my boys were on a long trip. Just plugged it in when I got home tonight. Supposed to be -10 tonight. I think some of the differences here just reflects pride in what we bought.

I was noticing a Chevy 3500 maybe like 2003 with a snowplow on the front today at Loves. Looked like a little toy compared to the new models. If you get a 2013 plus, you are getting some of the most capable light trucks ever built.

I love my Ram, that Cummins just is a beast but I’m sure I’d be equally proud of a Ford or Chevy. Don’t compromise on the payload, my buddies Ford CC SB 2500 6.2L has a payload of 3400 pounds! Nice. Gives a lot of flexibility down the road.

[jake2250]

Gulfcoast, Great decision! Please keep us posted as to what you get,,, Remember,, Pictures,, we like pictures!

[Terryallan]

Gulfcoast wrote:
Ready for a newer truck...

Jayco 25' travel trailer:

WEIGHTS
Unloaded Vehicle Weight: 5220#
Dry Hitch Weight: 545#
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating: 7000#
Cargo Carrying Capacity: 1780#

A 2500 Diesel sure would handle it easy, but could I "get by" with a half ton Chevy 5.4? I may cross the rocky mountains one day.

Yes a 2500 would tow it better, but so then would a 450, or MTD. But for the trailer you described. A properly equipped 150, or 1500 is more than you need.

By properly equipped. I mean, either the 3.5 EcoBoost, or the 5.0 with the 3.73 rear gear, and of course the towing package. In a GM, the 5.3, and 3.73 and tow package. Either will do great.

[twodownzero]

blt2ski wrote:
3/4 tons have full floating axles?!?!? False! I have yet to own one with a full floater. A sw one ton yes. Not a gm 2500 any how.
The most recent might.....
Also, the 1500s I'm looking at, the overall low gearing, needed to pull a grade, is better than y 2500 with 4.10 axle gears. One needs to also look at trans gears, and tire Diam.
Everything else being equal, a rig with 3.42 gears and 28" diameter tires, will have same shift points etc as a rig with 3.73 gears and 30" tires, as a rig with 4.10 gears, and 32" tires.
A 3.42 geared rig with a Muncie 4 sp, has same pulling power, both low and high, as a rig with an NV 4500 and 4.10 gears. I'll take the latter, as I have 5 gears, club poo Ser shift points, vs the 4 sp combo.
Many way options, choose what is best for you.

Marty

All GM 2500HD trucks have full floating rear axles now. The gasoline powered ones have a 10.5" and the diesel models an 11.5" (some have an 11.8" ring gear, but I believe it's the same housing). Ram uses essentially the same rear axle. The 9.5" semi floating rear axle was discontinued years ago as far as I can tell.

There are no pickup trucks on the market with 28" tall tires so your discussion of tire height is moot. All GM trucks on the market today have tires of approximately 32.5" height. The 265mm width seems common. Aspect ratio is determined by the choice between 17, 18, and 20" wheels to keep the overall height consistent. This makes it easy to compare gear ratios since the tires are all approximately the same height.

No new trucks are available with "Muncie 4 speeds" nor NV4500s (nor any manual transmission of any kind), so that also adds nothing to the discussion. The transmissions available in the current generation of GM trucks have different numbers of gears (6 vs. 😎 but their highest gear ratios are similar, and so an apples to apples comparison of the axle ratio is possible. In the next few years, I suspect we will see 8 and 10 speed automatics available in all levels of the trucks and they'll be even more similar.

1/2 ton trucks make fine, occasional tow vehicles, but they do not have the same features that make 3/4 and 1 ton trucks effortless tow vehicles. Of course everything is a trade off, but the peace of mind is priceless for me.

[blt2ski]

3/4 tons have full floating axles?!?!? False! I have yet to own one with a full floater. A sw one ton yes. Not a gm 2500 any how.
The most recent might.....
Also, the 1500s I'm looking at, the overall low gearing, needed to pull a grade, is better than y 2500 with 4.10 axle gears. One needs to also look at trans gears, and tire Diam.
Everything else being equal, a rig with 3.42 gears and 28" diameter tires, will have same shift points etc as a rig with 3.73 gears and 30" tires, as a rig with 4.10 gears, and 32" tires.
A 3.42 geared rig with a Muncie 4 sp, has same pulling power, both low and high, as a rig with an NV 4500 and 4.10 gears. I'll take the latter, as I have 5 gears, club poo Ser shift points, vs the 4 sp combo.
Many way options, choose what is best for you.

Marty

[Gulfcoast]

Thanks for all the posts.... I am sticking with a 3/4 ton. I'm done.

[twodownzero]

I would never deliberately buy a 1/2 ton truck to tow a trailer of any size. A 1/2 ton will pull 7k pounds with no problem, however. There is a substantial safety margin gained by having a full floating rear axle.

Just out of curiosity, since you were talking about Chevrolet, I just went to their website and built the same truck in a 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton. Both 4 door, 4wd, with a 6.5' box, LT models. I didn't add any options to either one except the max trailering package to the 1/2 ton, which gets you the rear (so called) locking differential. The trailering package gets 3.73 gears. I configured it with the 5.3L engine. I built a 3/4 ton with the same cab and packages. Since it's an HD, the "max trailering" stuff didn't need to be added. The difference in price was $2,265. The 3/4 ton truck has 4.10 gears because they are the only option in a gasoline engine. In the 1/2 ton, you can get 3.08, 3.42, or 3.73. Obviously for towing, you'd want the 3.73; 3.42 isn't going to be enough even with the stock tires.

The 1/2 ton truck comes with C load range tires even in the highest GVWR package. Honestly, that speaks for itself. The 3/4 ton comes with E rated tires regardless of whether you go with 17, 18, or 20" wheels, all of which are options for you. It would cost you about half of the difference in price between the two models to replace the factory C load range tires on the 1/2 ton truck with proper E load range tires for towing. Interestingly, no matter what size you choose, you get P-metric tires on the 1/2 ton truck.

The difference in fuel mileage between these two trucks is bound to be minimal. The difference in peace of mind in having larger brakes, a stronger transmission, higher GVWR, and E rated tires, is absolutely worth the $2,265 to me every time I hitch up. The choice is yours; either will do the job. Both trucks will pull your trailer fast enough to get you in trouble and faster than you can stop it. I would pull your trailer with either one, provided that proper tires were installed on the 1/2 ton truck. But I probably would choose the 3/4 ton truck for the many reasons discussed above. Is it overkill? I don't think so at all.

[AlmostAnOldGuy]

To re-iterate what Marty said get the right tool for the job. A properly equipped 1/2 ton should handle the trailer you are describing without a problem. What is properly equipped 1/2 ton include?

For the trailer you are looking at you wrote it is 5220 lbs dry. With a couple of options and loaded to camp looking at 6,700 or so, let's round up to 7,000.
With 13% of that 7,000 on your hitch that is 910 lbs, if you run as much as 15% on the hitch you are at 1,050. Let's bias towards the high side and say 1,000.

Consider the weight of passengers and payload in the truck today and 5+ years from now. If, for example, that number is 800 lbs this plus your hitch weight is at 1,000 lbs. This means you will need a payload of 1,800+. So keep an eye on the payload sticker of the pickup. You will want a package that gives you the payload needed, LT tires, transmission cooler, integrated trailer brake controller and tow mirrors. So read the payload sticker and pay attention to the options.

If you are shopping for a 3/4 ton it should be easier because the LT tires, payload and transmission cooler are probably already included with the truck.

If you end up near capacity on a 1/2 ton there is not much you can do if you decide you want a bigger trailer. So if you think you might go bigger one day this can put you in a tight spot whereas the 3/4 ton would give you room.

You can tell by my signature what worked for me. I preferred the ride, height of the vehicle, mpg and engine option available at the time in the F150. I also knew that I would not go any bigger than my current trailer.

Take it easy,
Stu