Advice buying a truck

[adamsredlines]

I know, I'm just playing devils advocate. Tongue weight of the hitch is pretty low, but total capacity is for sure 3600#.

Thats an unsung advantage of a diesel...the engines are HEAVY and you dont have to be quite as picky loading it as you do a gasser. Hauling a half ton truck with my 2500 you could just pull it on the trailer and go...it never got light on the front. Hauling the same truck with the same trailer with my buddies half ton truck, you had to be more particular about where the load was.

(Hauling my buddies 870rwhp Procharged 426 stroker Daytona Ram to Minneapolis for a 4L80 swap)

 

[dennishoddy]

Here is a calculator to figure out exactly what your vehicle can safely and legally pull.
http://changingears.com/rv-sec-calc-trailer-weight-tt.shtml

 

[Parks 788]

I'll opine. First off, decent to real nice used 3/4 and 1 ton truck are really holding their value these days. I would call it a sellers market. If you are looking to purchase a newer used truck you may want to just go ahead and shop for quotes on new trucks.

With the loads you will tow and being used as a daily driver you may want to look at one of the newer gassers. Ford make a nice truck and the 6.2 gets good marks from all that i have read. However, you will probably pay far more for an equivalent Ford than you would a Ram of the same trim level.

The Ram has the best bang for your buck. If you want used look for a 2014 2500 or newer with the 6.4 Hemi. It is about the best gasser engine in a HD truck you can get. On the diesels, if you really feel you need one, I would look at the Ram 2500 with the 5.9L Cummins in about the 2006 or so model years. Or, any model year Ram diesel would be fine but i would be real skeptical to purchase any of the Ford 6.0 and 6.4 diesels.

Since the OP mentioned it, i really want to know what a solid budget he is looking at. I know he said it is not a worry but 99% of people have a car/truck buying budget.

 

[inactive]

I'll opine. First off, decent to real nice used 3/4 and 1 ton truck are really holding their value these days. I would call it a sellers market. If you are looking to purchase a newer used truck you may want to just go ahead and shop for quotes on new trucks.

With the loads you will tow and being used as a daily driver you may want to look at one of the newer gassers. Ford make a nice truck and the 6.2 gets good marks from all that i have read. However, you will probably pay far more for an equivalent Ford than you would a Ram of the same trim level.

The Ram has the best bang for your buck. If you want used look for a 2014 2500 or newer with the 6.4 Hemi. It is about the best gasser engine in a HD truck you can get. On the diesels, if you really feel you need one, I would look at the Ram 2500 with the 5.9L Cummins in about the 2006 or so model years. Or, any model year Ram diesel would be fine but i would be real skeptical to purchase any of the Ford 6.0 and 6.4 diesels.

Since the OP mentioned it, i really want to know what a solid budget he is looking at. I know he said it is not a worry but 99% of people have a car/truck buying budget.

That dodge gasser still has the 8 speed ZF transmission right? Those drive really well even in the littl v6 trucks.

I think a dodge 2500 gasoline with the 8 speed would be a great solution for OP. And I'm normally more a ford or Toyota guy. But the dodges are really well equipped for the money.

 

[Parks 788]

I know, I'm just playing devils advocate. Tongue weight of the hitch is pretty low, but total capacity is for sure 3600#.

Thats an unsung advantage of a diesel...the engines are HEAVY and you dont have to be quite as picky loading it as you do a gasser. Hauling a half ton truck with my 2500 you could just pull it on the trailer and go...it never got light on the front. Hauling the same truck with the same trailer with my buddies half ton truck, you had to be more particular about where the load was.

(Hauling my buddies 870rwhp Procharged 426 stroker Daytona Ram to Minneapolis for a 4L80 swap)

View attachment 107529

Ha! Either way you slice it that trailer is poorly loaded. Of course a half ton pulling that setup could be dangerous. Just because your 2500 weighs about 2200 lbs more than the 1500 doesn't mean its a good idea to do a piss poor job of loading and then towing a trailer like that.

 

[Parks 788]

That dodge gasser still has the 8 speed ZF transmission right? Those drive really well even in the littl v6 trucks.

I think a dodge 2500 gasoline with the 8 speed would be a great solution for OP. And I'm normally more a ford or Toyota guy. But the dodges are really well equipped for the money.

The current Ram 2500 6.4 Hemis comes with the 6 speed 66RFE Trans. No 8 speed just yet unless Ram takes the 8 speed from the 1500 and beefs it up a bit and sticks it in behind the big gasser 2500s. It would be sweet but probably not until they have the new major redesign for 2019.

 

[adamsredlines]

The 8sp in the new gas Rams is a dream for towing (and racing!). I wish I could afford them.

 

[rc508pir]

If you're only looking at 3/4 ton or 1 tons, well yeah...
I dont know what criteria you're using but there's TONS of gas trucks for sale out there. And for the price of a used diesel truck you could get a much newer gas truck.

A two horse trailer is about 3500 to 4500lbs. Our horses are both about 950 (they both big boys) so heaviest would be 6400 to 7000lbs. I don't think many 1/2 ton trucks will tow that. Since someone brought up a travel trailer, I will add that as a possibility.

In anycase, my question is, at what point do you look at a trucks mileage and say it has too much.

 

[Okie4570]

A two horse trailer is about 3500 to 4500lbs. Our horses are both about 950 (they both big boys) so heaviest would be 6400 to 7000lbs. I don't think many 1/2 ton trucks will tow that. Since someone brought up a travel trailer, I will add that as a possibility.

In anycase, my question is, at what point do you look at a trucks mileage and say it has too much.

-Depends on gas or diesel, who the previous owner was and what it was used for. I'm hesitant in buying a used truck from a dealer, because it near impossible to answer
-The only Dodge I would ever consider would have to have the Aisin transmission. I have zero farm friends who use Dodge anymore, they simply do not hold up. Both mechanically as far as drive train and suspension.
-Keep in mind that while a half ton may pull it forward, how well will it do stopping it, although 7k lbs is that heavy of a load.

We pull this across the country multiple times a year with our 12' 6.7l. It had 56k miles on it when we bought it for less than half the original sticker price. Set cruise on 70mph and enjoy,

 

[doctorjj]

Compared to the Dodge, I bog down rather badly under a real load. If pulling a 32 foot trailer with round bales my Fords, both of them would rather take a break and eat a pizza than get up and go. By partners dodges just are much stronger. I am a Ford guy for my farm trucks though, they run great and last forever. But for real pulling power I think there are better options than Ford HD series. Carting around a round bale to feed horses or cattle, the Fords work GREAT, but for long hauls with loads like hauling hay to Texas, The Dodges are my go to.

What heat truck? I have driven a lot of different years of Ford with various torqshifts and they all worked great. All my buddies who have chipped their Dodges and run them hard say their transmissions suck and have had to have them overhauled or replaced.