After driving to up and down the east coast from Maine to Alabama a couple of times, I've decided that my wife and I don't need a bathroom nearly as often as our truck needs gas. Our TV's gas tank is only 20 gallons. It's a 2019 Nissan Frontier SV Crew Cab 4WD with a 4 liter engine and 5 speed automatic. We pull the smallest, lightest Grand Design trailer they've made: an 18RBE Imagine XLS that weighs, fully loaded with fresh water for dry camping and all our stuff, 5,700 pounds, while the Frontier is rated to tow 6,100. Since there is only a generator, fuel, my wife, me and the dog in the TV, the truck carries only 930 pounds, well under its 1,360 payload capacity. We are safe, but we often get down to about 1/8 of a tank at around 150 miles. I am lucky if the rig gets 10 MPG, sometimes its only 7 - 9.
Obviously I could get a half ton truck with a bigger tank. I've looked at the Ford F-150, the Ram 1500, and the Toyota Tundra. The Nissan Titan and Titan XD have small tanks and lousy mileage. I don't trust Ford's turbos. I have been watching a mechanic friend working on one that's got 110,000 miles. He's skeptical of high mileage reliability and engine parts are expensive. He says for most reliability, stick with a Tundra, an F-150 5.0 gasser (or 3.0 diesel). He also likes the new Ram 1500 3.0 Ecodiesel and the mighty 5.7 Chrysler hemi.
Much to my annoyance, it seems that to get the maximum tow capacity from a half ton, I have to order it. I have not been able to find either a new or low mileage truck that has the special axle ratio for maximum towing linked up to either a diesel or a V-8 gaser with a 30+ gal tank. Special ordering one that I like is a minimum of $42,000, plus untold taxes, fees and whathaveyou...
The other option? Swap out the Frontier's 21 gallon tank for a 38 gallon tank. This would cost $2,300 (delivered from California and installed here). Yikes!
The way I see it:
Pros of New Tank/keep the Frontier:
- Frontier has 35,000 miles, lots of life left.
- Frontier is as reliable as a wood stove
- Frontier keeps up with traffic even on the steepest highways. It only revs up to 5,500 (redline is about 6,500). Even using cruise control.
- Frontier is big enough but not intimidating to wife and family when they drive it.
- I don't have to buy $1,000 of new snow tires.
- $2,000 is a lot less than a new or even a used truck.
- 38 gallons of gas means range of 260 (@7 MPG) to 380 (@10 MPG) miles.
- Frontier is safely towing the trailer now. Why get a new truck?
- I figure that my modified Frontier will get slightly better range than any of the V-8s, even with their larger optional tanks. The best V-8 is the Ram at about 350, the Frontier would be 380.
Points for buying a half ton:
- The Ford and Ram diesels, even with their smaller 26 gallon tanks get better range than the Frontier, especially the Ram diesel.
-- Non towing mileage would be much better with either diesel, especially the Ram, and this is about 60% of the time.
- More comfortable ride, torque and power. The Frontier has to rev up to 5,500 to keep up on the steeps. To say its loud is an understatement.
- A bigger tank in the Frontier adds +130 pounds towards the back of the truck, and I don't know how it would affect performance. (note the spare tire is not relocated.)
- Adding 18 gallons of gas and heavier steel tank weight to Frontier would cut the margin for safety for both tow and payload by at least 100 pounds.
- The half tons can tow and carry about a third more than the Frontier can, increasing the safety margin.
So there you have it... get a bigger truck or bigger gas tank in the current one?
Doug & Patti & Puppy Leo
From Upstate New York
