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I have had several trucks with lift kits and 35" tires. And that really hurts your towing power and mpg. If it's a truck to tow your camper stay as close to stock tire size as you can. I miss my lifted trucks they were fun but when it comes to pulling trailers I love my stock truck. I will say that Chevrolet looks good but I would keep looking.

 

That is really helpful information!  Thanks for all the suggestions/links... I'm going to pass those along to him!!

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Watch the EGR Delete, In my opinion the type of driver that deletes is also the kinda driver that tends to work/ride the truck hard. (otherwise why delete to gain power?)

 

I'm sure Tom will talk to you about this more, when we see you all in a couple of weeks  :P

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Watch the EGR Delete, In my opinion the type of driver that deletes is also the kinda driver that tends to work/ride the truck hard. (otherwise why delete to gain power?)

I believe there was issues with the 6.0 motor related to the EGR cooler plugging up. So, some felt it was preventative maintenance. 

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I would stay away from lifted trucks. The more you raise the center of gravity the more instability you introduce. For towing stability is the highest priority so I would stay with stock suspensions.

 

As far as bed length goes it all boils down to cargo capacity. If you can get by with a 6 ft bed I see no reason to get something longer except for a 5th wheel which you say is not in your future. Having had a 6 ft bed on my truck of 14 years I can say it handles most anything I need to haul. 99.44% of the time it is good for hauling landscape supplies, firewood and standard 8 ft lumber but lacks when you need to haul 10 ft or longer wood. I will likely go with a 6 1/2 foot bed in our next TV just because that is what comes with the extended cab and will help with some of the items I haul that are exactly 6 ft long.

 

At the moment we are looking at the Ford F-150 with a 3.5L EcoBoost engine and all the towing packages. This gives a max tow of around 12K lbs which is more than enough for what we plan for our next trailer. The fuel economy is about the same as my smaller B3000 and Explorer when not towing so I won't go broke using it as a daily driver.

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I have bumper pulled a lot of boats with 350-550 trucks in the coast guard.  Off road tires SUCK for towing. They make the truck squishy and do not have the traction that highway tires have.

 

But you really have to think about how you are going to use the truck. Is it going to sit between camping trips? Then get a Class C.

 

The wife and I have commuter cars and a minivan for the family run about. After experiencing the joy of the kids being able to climb into the van quickly and get into their seats, plus with the power sliding doors. There is no way I am using a truck/suv as the family run about. My brother is complaining all the time about his lifted F150 (2"level + tires), his 4 year old can't climb in or out.

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We ordered our 2005 F350 in a 2wd drive as I was only going to use it for towing the camper, I did the egr delete and a turbo cleaning but not the head bolts. We do not tow the rv anymore with it except to back it in the driveway, the youngest son mostly hauls the dirt bike in it. Should really sell it just hate to part with it plus it is not even broken in yet at only 80,000 miles on it. The 2wd offers a larger tow capacity also.

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I have bumper pulled a lot of boats with 350-550 trucks in the coast guard.  Off road tires SUCK for towing. They make the truck squishy and do not have the traction that highway tires have.

 

But you really have to think about how you are going to use the truck. Is it going to sit between camping trips? Then get a Class C.

 

The wife and I have commuter cars and a minivan for the family run about. After experiencing the joy of the kids being able to climb into the van quickly and get into their seats, plus with the power sliding doors. There is no way I am using a truck/suv as the family run about. My brother is complaining all the time about his lifted F150 (2"level + tires), his 4 year old can't climb in or out.

My little girl has been able to climb in and out of my 4x4 f350 with no problems since she turned 4. No need for a van. She is almost 6 and loves her Daddys big truck.

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Having driven a tractor trailer for a while, we knew we didn't want a tow-behind.  And once I walked in the first 5th wheel, we knew we wanted one!  What ever you get, it's usually only a small difference (relatively) in the price between a 3/4 or 1 ton.  Go with the 1 ton 'cause you never know down the road what you might fall in love with to pull with that new truck!  Plus the brakes (at least on the 350's) are a bit better than those on the 3/4 ton trucks.  It's not always about what you can pull with a certain truck, but more importantly what you can STOP with a certain truck!

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Just a general comment on the subject. It is very unusual to hear "my truck is too big" but common to hear "I wish my truck was a little bigger".

What about "I wish my truck had a diesel". That is the boat I am in. The hemi pulls it fine but mountains are a little slow going. Next truck will probably be a Ram 3500 with a diesel (and that new ugly tailgate).

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What about "I wish my truck had a diesel". That is the boat I am in. The hemi pulls it fine but mountains are a little slow going. Next truck will probably be a Ram 3500 with a diesel (and that new ugly tailgate).

 

Ugly tailgate?

See link....

http://www.tfltruck.com/2015/02/updated-2016-ram-hd-laramie-limited-is-introduced-in-chicago-gallery/

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey everyone this is NaCole's husband Tom. I sneaked in and posted under her. I appreciate all of the feedback on the trucks. I don't plan to buy one all jacked up. I am leaning heavy to buying a diesel now after our experience going up an incline in the GA Mtns and man did it stink. I have reviewed numerous models etc but curious as to what everyone has and gas mileage around town and gas mileage pulling. I don't think I can get much worse towing than our Armada (9 mpg towing) but I am going to have to give up my Altima and I drive a lot around town for work. Due to the research I have done on Torque and HP on each of the trucks here is what I am looking at all diesels:

 

Ram 2500 2011 and newer

GMC/Chevy 2500 2007 and newer

Ford F250 08 and newer

 

However due to price I probably won't go too much newer. 

 

Thanks,

Tom

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Hi Tom,

 

I really don't have anything to say about Ford or Ram/Dodge as I'm a GM person, but I would only consider 2011 or newer GM twins.  Can't give you advice on which is the best diesel either as I'm also not a fit for diesels because I make multiple short trips daily and I need the payload capacity on my 2500 for my 5th wheel  For example, I have a 2015 Silverado LT 4x4 Crew Cab w/6.0 gasser and 4.10 rear end.  My payload is stickered at 2,831lbs.  A friend just bought a 2015 Silverado LT 4x4 Crew Cab w/6.6 Duramax and 3.73 rear end.  His payload is stickered at 2,367lbs.  That's 464lbs less due to the diesel.  His and mine are optioned identically with the exception of the towing mirrors since mine was the pre-August build it has the old style towing mirrors and I lack wi-fi.

 

Now, back to why I recommend only 2011 and higher.

 


As of 2011 the GMC and Chevrolet heavy Duty's have being upgraded with a new fully boxed high strength steel frame from front to rear improving stiffness by 92% with bigger rear springs, larger engine and transmission mounts and new hydraulic body mounts to improve the ride.The front suspension incorporates new upper and lower control arms and new torsion bars tailored to one of five different gross axle weight ratings. Upper control arms are constructed from forged steel that is both stronger and lighter than the previous arms, while the new lower arms are cast iron to maximize load capacity. Using a unique torsion bar for each gross weight rating allows for better control over vehicle height, resulting in improved handling and better alignment for reduced tire wear. These improvements allow for up to a 6,000 pound front axle weight rating, allowing all 4wd trucks to accommodate a snow plow. Additional front suspension enhancements come from new urethane bump stops, two per side. The upper shock mount has been changed from a single stem mount to a two-bolt design to eliminate the possibility of squeaks and thumps. The rear suspension design uses asymmetrical leaf springs that are wider and capable of greater load handling. The design features 3-inch wide leaves, with front and rear spring sections of different lengths to reduce the twisting that can result in axle hop and loss of traction. The 2500HD use a two-stage design with a rating of 6,200 lbs, and 3500HD models have a three-stage design with 7,050 lb and 9,375 lb ratings on single and dual-wheel models respectively

.

Bob

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Hey everyone this is NaCole's husband Tom. I sneaked in and posted under her. I appreciate all of the feedback on the trucks. I don't plan to buy one all jacked up. I am leaning heavy to buying a diesel now after our experience going up an incline in the GA Mtns and man did it stink. I have reviewed numerous models etc but curious as to what everyone has and gas mileage around town and gas mileage pulling. I don't think I can get much worse towing than our Armada (9 mpg towing) but I am going to have to give up my Altima and I drive a lot around town for work. Due to the research I have done on Torque and HP on each of the trucks here is what I am looking at all diesels:

 

Ram 2500 2011 and newer

GMC/Chevy 2500 2007 and newer

Ford F250 08 and newer

 

However due to price I probably won't go too much newer. 

 

Thanks,

Tom

Ok I will try to make this short. 08 - 10 ford diesels are fuel hogs if you are going ford get a 11 or newer. They have less problems and better mpg. I have a 12 and around town I get 14 to 15 on the highway going 75 I get 18 can get 20 at 65 mph . Towing if I was to go 60 to 65 I would be between 10 to 12 mpg. But I go 70 or sometimes a little more which has put me in the 8 to 10 mpg. Lower towing numbers are in hills higher are on flat land. If you go with ram and want mpg you need to get a 13 or newer. Starting in mid 2007 they started adding diesel particulate filters to the exhaust system to meet new EPA guidelines. Which killed mpg for all diesel trucks I don't think it hurt GM quite as bad as ford and dodge. Now they are also using diesel exaust fluid which has brought there mpg back up. Ford and GM added it in 11 and ram did in 13. I will say when towing diesel is amazing with my ford I can actually pass people going up hill pulling 10,000lbs.
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With kids, make sure you check out the back seat of the crew cabs. When we bought our '12, the GM products felt downright cramped compared to the Ford and Ram. And my wife felt the Ford was too "work truck" feeling.

So, my vote is the Ram.

Just avoid something about the 6.0 Ford. I don't know what that means or if it applies; but the internet is filled with grave rumors about them. :)

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