Need suggestion on tow vehicle

magnet

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The V10 is a joke. Have one at work. The thing empty is gutless, loaded it is WOT to even get it to move. Granted it's a F550 but not much weight in the box, a f350 with a trailer will be just as bad. If you pull heavy often you won't be happy. I absolutely cannot stand driving it.

Diesels hold their value so well. That $8k or whatever option it is, you will MORE then get back when you sell it.

All depends what your needs are. But that kind of trailer if I was pulling it often it wouldn't be behind a 1500.

I don't even tow/haul often and I got a 3500 dually. I use it as my grocery getter around town. Who cares, maintaince is cheap on diesels unless it's a new DPF one. Good on fuel, etc.

On a deserted road turn off your brake controler, see how well those half ton brakes stop that load. It might make you want to rethink you decision, compared to how fast a one ton will stop it. I've had brakes fail once with a one ton and 12,000lbs, it's not fun. If it's a half ton, you will take literly MILES to stop.

quick question for you cyle. look at the new f150's then look at the 250's or chev or dodges 3/4 tones. then explain to us the difference in the brakes. they are all the same now. same caliper same size rotors and pads. so your statement about stopping is bs. unless you know stfu. just sayin. you talk like you know everything but still have alot to learn i think.
 

Taminator

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We bought our trailer based on the towing cap. of our half ton GMC. We're pulling a 24' approx 6200lbs. It tows well, but with the quad and bike in the back we are close to overloaded and notice it on the hills. We can't do a deck with two quads or we're over. One thing to consider also is tongue weight. Our trailer has a front kitchen so a high tongue weight, we are close to max on our tongue weight. Basically, we are maxed when we take it all with us...and are looking at an upgrade next year to a 3/4...probably diesel. We are legal and within the manufacturers weight limits, but it's pulling hard on the truck and we can't pull the big hills without losing some ground. Our buddy in his 3/4 diesel and 31ft trailer can pass us on the hills...but we just catch up to him again on the staights LOL. We're in a situation where we don't really need to go bigger, but don't have quite enough with what we have.
 

ZRrrr

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Why does this even become a discussion. On another forum I spend time on people are always trying to push the limits of their tow vehicles. 1000, 2000, 3000Lbs over. Bottom line is it's NOT SAFE!

TOW WITHIN THE SET LIMITS OF YOUR TOW VEHICLE OR STAY HOME.....I want my family to feel safe while we are out on summer vacation.
 

Summitric

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quick question for you cyle. Look at the new f150's then look at the 250's or chev or dodges 3/4 tones. Then explain to us the difference in the brakes. They are all the same now. Same caliper same size rotors and pads. So your statement about stopping is bs. Unless you know stfu. Just sayin. You talk like you know everything but still have alot to learn i think.

whooooaaaaaaa, there cowboy. 1/2 tons are totally different than 3/4 or 1 ton brakes. Some 3/4 ton and 1 ton brakes can be the same, but otherwise, totally different........ Masters, calipers, pads, rotors..... I can send you the napa part #'s if ya want. Jus' sayin'
 

Summitric

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quick question for you cyle. Look at the new f150's then look at the 250's or chev or dodges 3/4 tones. Then explain to us the difference in the brakes. They are all the same now. Same caliper same size rotors and pads. So your statement about stopping is bs. Unless you know stfu. Just sayin. You talk like you know everything but still have alot to learn i think.

whooooaaaaaaa, there cowboy. 1/2 tons are totally different than 3/4 or 1 ton brakes. Some 3/4 ton and 1 ton brakes are similar, or the same, but they are totally different than any 1/2 ton out there......no interchangeable parts for any of them........ Masters, calipers, pads, rotors..... I can send you the napa part #'s if ya want. Jus' sayin'.........3/4 and 1 ton brakes are heavier, no question about it!!!!!!!!
 

magnet

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whooooaaaaaaa, there cowboy. 1/2 tons are totally different than 3/4 or 1 ton brakes. Some 3/4 ton and 1 ton brakes are similar, or the same, but they are totally different than any 1/2 ton out there......no interchangeable parts for any of them........ Masters, calipers, pads, rotors..... I can send you the napa part #'s if ya want. Jus' sayin'.........3/4 and 1 ton brakes are heavier, no question about it!!!!!!!!

looked at it before i bought Rick they are the same size. with the tow package that is though may be diff. with just a standard halfer though. 1 tons have a bigger caliper but i know the 3/4s i looked at where the same. rotor size caliper size etc. and i know for a fact this 1/2 tows way better pulling and stopping than my 3/4 did. granted my 3/4 was a 97 with drums in the rear. but way happier with the half ton all around. what would be the difference in rotors besides bolt circle if the od and thickness are the same?
 

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Its not the guy thats overloaded doing 40mph thats going to hurt someone. Its the idiots doing 130mph and that dont know how to drive. Been sitting here in a campground for two weeks watchin people pull in everyday and let me tell you 8 out of ten should not have licenses let alone be pulling trailers.
 

08summit

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If a 1/2 ton pickup was capable of towing,handling and stopping safely the same loaded weight as a 3/4 or 1 ton truck then nobody would own anything but a 1/2 ton...especially when they drive alot better and cost alot less. Diesels will definitely pull better then a gas job but aren't necessary if you aren't doing alot of towing and as stated by others just know what your truck is capable of and use it within those limits.
 

magnet

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just looked it up here are the numbers i found from gm and ford.
2010 f150 max gvwr is 7200lbs
max gcwr is 17100 lbs
max towing is 11500
tare weight is 5624 4x4 lariet edition. super crew with 5.5 box.

2010 gm 2500hd max gvwr is 9200 both gas and diesel
max towing is 12300 gas and 13000 diesel
tare weight is 5960 gas and 6670 diesle
that leaves a payload of 1576 on the f150 and 2530 on the diesel gm and 3240 on the gaser.
not sure on the gcwr as i could not find it on the gm website but found this on a couple forumns. guys are sayin 18000 for the gasser and 18500 for the diesel.

what i am trying to state in my posts is that unless hauling alot of the time and lots ion your truck itself not worth the extra money for a 3/4 ton. you only get 100lbs-1500 lbs more overall weight and your truck weighs over 1000lbs more in the diesel. check the numbers and a 1/2 ton to a 3/4 isn't much overall difference. yes you can carry alot more on the truck but unless hauling 2 qauds or sleds on a deck it is not worth the money imo.
 

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Man, I cant wait until they start regulating the RV industry like the commercial vehicles...

Debates like this will come to an end, and nobody will be towing with a 1/2 ton. And as I have been reading, and cant understand where the misconception comes from but... there are major differences in the brakes between a half, 3/4 and 1 ton. Cant really believe I read that here...

Here is a pic of what a 1-ton is capable of, while still staying within commercial vehicle regulations. What blows me away is many of you are debating what you can haul, and are considering trailers in the 6000-8000 pound range, we laugh at that cause our 'empty' trailers weigh that before we load them up...

Pic Below:
Trailer: 7400#
Load: 14,000#

At this point I was legal for another 1200# on my front axle and another 650# on my rear. If I would have loaded the Atco closer to the back I could have made this even better, but we 'dragged' this on and needed to fold the ramps on the trailer.
 

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magnet

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so explain where the issue comes from in towing with the 1/2 tions i gave you the numbers above rigth off the manufacturers websites. let me know where the problem is. with the larger wheels and tires of today they are installing larger brakes as well. so not sure what the issue is here.:confused:
 

riffrraffing

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looked at it before i bought Rick they are the same size. with the tow package that is though may be diff. with just a standard halfer though. 1 tons have a bigger caliper but i know the 3/4s i looked at where the same. rotor size caliper size etc. and i know for a fact this 1/2 tows way better pulling and stopping than my 3/4 did. granted my 3/4 was a 97 with drums in the rear. but way happier with the half ton all around. what would be the difference in rotors besides bolt circle if the od and thickness are the same?


The brake system on a 150 is much different than the Super Duty Brakes. The weight of the Superduty helps anchor trailer giving truck much more towing authority to allow for better handling. It is not just the breaking system that is stronger, it is also the ability to maintain control through suspension control that you will appreciate when towing.
 

Longhorn

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The problem 'in my opinion' is that with a half ton you (I dont mean you Magnet, just in general) are pushing it to its maximum limits every trip. Overworking the engine, tranny which is just hard on it, but maxxing out the brakes and suspension with every single trip. What gets me, is every post in this thread is quoting manufacturer specs and weight capacities as deemed by the manufacturer. Not one single post about tires....As a commercial vehicle, you are licensed and regulated by your tires NOT GVW of the vehicle. So when you say you want to pull an 8000# trailer with a half ton, tell us what the truck weighs with fuel, gear and people, then the trailer, and give us the weight ratings on the combined tires and I bet in almost every single case you could not pull through the scales legally!! This only covers tires, now you need to be able to pull it and stop it effectively and safely. Even if brakes are in new condition, you are still trying to stop a 8000# trailer with a 4000# truck...not much math needed to see this doesnt make sense.

Again guys, these are only MY opinions, and yes a bunch of it comes from the commercial side which private vehicles dont have to follow to be legal, but wow, look at the RV accident stats compared to commercial vehicle stats and its staggering....This is why there is so much talk about new rules for pulling RVs and even driver licensing for certain weights. MB has already done some of this, in MB to drive a 1 ton dually and a trailer rated over 16k, you need a class 3 drivers license.
 

08summit

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I tow an enclosed trailer and my boat with a 1 ton Dodge but I also have a new 1/2 ton that I tow both of these with on occasion when I'm not going to far from the city and I can tell you the 1/2 ton is more then capable of TOWING both units and has no shortage of power but when it comes time to stop there is definitely a difference or whenever you start to get the trailer wobbling or catch a cross wind the 1/2 ton is just to light to handle the load.There is a big difference in being able to PULL a load(which most 1/2 tons today are plenty capable of) and being able to stop and handle a heavy load...end of rant.
 

magnet

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yes i agree with you with the tire thing. should of stated that as well. cause for those specs from manufacturer you need 8 or 10 ply tires not the chitty car tires they give you when you buy the truck so that you get the good mileage and smooth ride. tare weights are pretty close 3/4 to half gassers within 300lbs so the stopping power based on weight is negligable. with the 18" or 20" wheels on the halfers nowadays rotors and calipers are the same size as well. i agree differentials are different if you have a 3/4 with floating axles. but not many guys out there actually do. for towing your rv of reasonable size i believe the newer half tons are more than capable to do the job. but if doing a serious amount of towing i believe a person should have a 1 ton at least. imo unless using a sled deck to haul your sleds or qauds a 3/4 ton is useless. your higher gcwr is lost in the incresed weight of the diesel truck.


kinda like hauling non permited loads with a 16 wheeler, does not make any sense. you can actually haul a larger load with a tri axle than the wheeler as your trailer weighs so much less. been there done that one. as long as the piece of machinery is positioned correctly as well.
 

arff

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Here is my :twocents:

I had a 2007 Dodge Power Wagon.5.7 engine

Last week traded it off for a 2008 Dodge 3500 Diesel.

My toyhauler weights about 13000 lbs.

Last weekend was the first trip with the 3500 truck.

It made a world of difference in towing. Sway down the highway,power up hills and slowing down and stopping.
I won't be going back to a 2500 or 1500 truck..
 

Cyle

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You were comparing a old 3/4 ton, 13 years ago, to a new half ton, I bet stopping power would be about the same. And those 20" rims kill stopping power on a half ton. But a new 3/4 or 1 ton to half ton brakes you will see a big difference for sure.

It really does depend how often you tow. But a gasser 3/4 ton over 1/2 ton isn't much money or less of MPG IMO if it gets used much. My 3500 dually diesel still gets pretty dang good mileage and doesn't cost much to maintain.

Plus it's sure nice to be able to haul pretty much anything that can fit in the box. Haven't weighted the truck yet, but got about 5000lbs of payload capacity :d
 

Transporter

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A trailer should be slowed down by its own brakes. Not too worried about the stopping power of my trucks brakes. People are pulling simple little rv's not stock trailers with 35 head of steers in them. You think the manufactures are running these trucks to the max with what they put on the door stickers or do they have a huge safety factor in there. Sounds like alot of people on here that got beat up at recess when they were kids. If your trucks says it can pull 11 000 pounds get a 11 000 pound trailer and forget about it. Sure a kenworth might pull it alot better but you probably dont want to drive a kenworth the other 350 days of the year you arent pulling.
 

magnet

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can somewhat agree with what transporter says. however if those trailer brakes fail look out. if you are maxed right out. same with the trailer antisway control on our 09 150. its reallly cool but if it failed when you were depending on it scary. kinda freaky when it kicks in though. only happened once but you loose complete control of the unit and the truck takes over for a brief second to get you all corrected and such.
 
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