Chevy or Ford

[digmed]

I'm sure this has been discussed plenty. But I'm hoping to get some opinions based on my set-up.

I'm hauling a 30' Jayco 5200 dry & 7600 GVWR. I'll be in the market soon for a new truck. I'll apologize in advance to all the Dodge lovers including my son who thinks I should get one. But I have my choices narrowed down to a 1/2 ton pick-up.

Chevy Siveraldo or Ford F-150? Why?

[TecheMan]

the_happiestcamper wrote:
Simple - get a Ford and put a Cummins and Allison in it.

That would be the ultimate truck.Techeman

[the_happiestcam]

Simple - get a Ford and put a Cummins and Allison in it.

[Lowsuv]

Aat wrote:
I pulled a 9200lb trailer from California to Virginia with a 2011 Ecoboost. That engine will pull all day, but has no compression braking. Coming down the Rockies and the Smokies made for some white knuckle drives and very hot brakepads. Based on those experiences, I bit the bullet and traded for a Duramax. Pulling isn't everything...

Considering the length and weight of your trailer I would definitely go with a 2500 pickup . I have had a string of 8 lug pickups 6 GM and 2 Fords .
that being said I would rather own a cummins than an ecoboost.
same money. Cummins 2500 like the ford f250 and gmc/hd2500 has humungous disc brakes , stronger drivetrain , and 160% of the payload of the overhyped f150 .
a longer trailer needs heavier tongue weight to mitigate sway .
the f150 runs out of usable payload to properly do this once you have passengers , firewood, propane/bbq , Quik-Shade , and the other stuff we take camping .
Duramax/Allison has been the class of the field but the initial cost is more .
Cummins is the cheapest way to get into a real tow rig .
at the minimum an f250 or hd2500 gasser will be better than an f150.

[TecheMan]

I don't like to take sides so I will try to stay unbias. I think with all the brands out there you get what you pay for. I have a buddy who has been die hard Chevy fan all his life. Just recently got a camper smaller than yours. And with in a month he traded it in on a GMC the Chevy Silverado had only 29000 miles on it. He stayed with GM but now claims they make a better product. You going to pay more but I guess you will get more. Kind of like Ford your going to pay more but you will get more. Sorry I tried to stay unbias but My choice would be the Ford and get all the bells and whistles for towing. It is much more expensive to ad later. Now you could skimp on Ford and get what you pay for also.
I guess what I am trying to say is you will sacrifice something for every dollar you save. So know where you sacrificing and make sure it is not where you are concerned the most.
TecheMan

[SGardiner]

digmed wrote:
I'm sure this has been discussed plenty. But I'm hoping to get some opinions based on my set-up.

I'm hauling a 30' Jayco 5200 dry & 7600 GVWR. I'll be in the market soon for a new truck. I'll apologize in advance to all the Dodge lovers including my son who thinks I should get one. But I have my choices narrowed down to a 1/2 ton pick-up.

Chevy Siveraldo or Ford F-150? Why?

Drive them both. Pick what feels the best, meets your needs and your budget. I choose the Ford based on the good luck I have had with Ford in the past and the relationship with my dealer. I have also driven several GM products with no issues. IMO both make a quality product.

[Stclairm]

Don't disagree with what ya'll have said, just posted what I thought was pertinent to the OP. Would I rather have a 2500, yes. Could I afford one or justify it for towing our TT about 10 times a year, no. I wish I could have found a HD payload F150, but once I set out to buy one that Saturday a little over two weeks ago, it was happening that day. I was just ready to be done looking at trucks and move on. I see people all the time thinking because they have a SUV rated to tow 5k, thinking they can tow a 5k trailer. RV salesman tend to sell people whatever they want to buy, just like car salespeople.

[TomG2]

Like the fat salesman down at Cheap Kampers says, "It is half towable and she'll be steady as a rock. Don't let nobody tell you no different."

Yes, there are some F-150's and 1500's that would get the job done. All F-250's and 2500's will. I chose the latter. Others won't. I believed that salesman, once.

[Taz_23]

certified106 wrote:

You hit the nail right on the head.:B I am sure the O P has given up by now and is out shopping for a one ton dually diesel crew cab with a full 8 ft box. Come on guys, why cant someone ask a question with out it degrading to a my truck is better than your truck war. That camper is towable by a properly equiped half ton. you may not want to do it but that does not make it wrong. Now I will go back to watching the side show.:p

[krobbe]

With a 7600 GVWR and 1000# tongue wt, your in 3/4 ton territory.

[Aat]

I pulled a 9200lb trailer from California to Virginia with a 2011 Ecoboost. That engine will pull all day, but has no compression braking. Coming down the Rockies and the Smokies made for some white knuckle drives and very hot brakepads. Based on those experiences, I bit the bullet and traded for a Duramax. Pulling isn't everything...

[keithinspace]

Stclairm wrote:
^ I only said what I did because I worked as a service advisor at Ford through the 6.0 nightmares and was told that hadn't gotten much better...the recreation TT guys.

I agree with every word. The 6.0 was the PINNACLE of crap. It's going to take a while for Ford to live that one down. The 6.7 is absolutely 100% unrelated to that engine. And is built like a brick poo-house.

I guess I need to qualify my choice in trucks. I also have a 20' 10k# dovetail that I slog around. I tow for about 20% of the mileage on my truck.

And I'm a Civil Engineer who is always wandering around undeveloped property, so a 4x4 truck is required for my job. Having the F250 only adds to my "Street Cred" with the contractors.

I'll make this statement: If I didn't want/need a diesel, I'd get the best 1/2 ton I could. Probably between the EcoBoost or the Tundra. I've looked at those Tundra's and they're pretty amazing trucks.

If I didn't tow in the mountains, I'd probably be OK with a gas truck...hence a 1/2 ton.

Towing in the mountains taught me a lesson or two, though. Mountains + 7k# trailer requires a diesel IN THE LONG TERM, IMHO.

By "IN THE LONG TERM", I mean that I was very disappointed that my truck crapped out at 8 years and 135k miles. The TRUCK was still in fine shape. The drivetrain was WORN OUT and I attribute 100% of that to my towing duties.

My goal with my new truck was to fix the things that broke on my old truck...the engine and transmission. The only way to get the engine (diesel) and transmission (heavy duty) I wanted was to get it wrapped in an F250. I wanted a 10 year (or more) truck, and this was it.

So...my points: If no diesel, 1/2 ton. If mountains, diesel. If mountains and gas, don't get too bummed when you're on tranny #2 and have no low-end torque on engine #1 before you hit 150k miles. They can only take so much.

[BigDaddyHfx]

Ford F150 with an EcoBoost engine with 3.73 (?)gearbox. 11,300 lbs of towing power.

[TomG2]

"This person is misinformed."

Misinformed? Go through the parking lot of any Ford dealer. You will find the F-150's to have a median payload of around 1,500 pounds. There are some with more, like yours, and some with less. Not everyone knows to order the HD MaxTow models, or that they even exist. They "look" like all the others. The more capable models are available, but let us know how many F-150's with the HD option your local dealer stocks. Mine? Zero. Besides, I included them in my recommendation of a pickup with a payload of 2,000 pounds to tow a 7,500 pound trailer. You may be happier with less.

[Stclairm]

^ I only said what I did because I worked as a service advisor at Ford through the 6.0 nightmares and was told that hadn't gotten much better. I'm sure yours is the better tow vehicle, as it should be, but these newest 1500's are doing more than a capable job for the recreation TT guys. I spent next to no time researching this truck as I was tired of looking at used junk. I looked at the Dodge online, ruled it out when every truck around had 3.55 gears. There were no Chevy's with the 6.X engines. My friend who has been a Ford service advisor since 1996 at the same huge dealer said he felt the 13 Ecoboost had the bugs worked out, so I bought one after driving a Nissan Titan that the dealer wouldn't offer me numbers on neither my trade nor their truck....... 🙂

[keithinspace]

Marsland wrote:
...the OP was not asking about...

I would not have offered a thought other than the fact that I'd JUST been through the EXACT same process of truck selection not even 2 months ago after a 2 year deliberation period.

Apologies for opinions. Just trying to offer perspective.

I'll take my 800 ft-lbs of torque and go down the road.

A word about the 6.7L engine, though. It is, hands down, the most incredible engine put in a Ford truck in forever. Probably ever. All other Ford diesels were produced by Navistar. The 6.7L "Scorpion" engine is a completely different animal.