½-ton or ¾-ton for towing duty (and daily driving)

[joshd1971bronco]

I’m in the market for a new pickup. This pickup will be used as a somewhat daily driver around town (when I’m not driving the bronco locally) as well as the tow vehicle for my bronco up to the Colorado Rockies (from Oklahoma) one or two times per year.

My dilemma – ½ ton gas burner or ¾ ton turbodiesel?

Obviously the ¾ ton turbo diesel will pull my 5000lb (?) bronco on a 1500lb (?) trailer with an additional 1000lbs of gear and people the best, fastest, and easiest. BUTTTT, as I’m sure you know, ¾ ton turbodiesels cost MUCH more than a ½ ton and you sacrifice ride quality (when unloaded), maintenance expense, fuel expense, and on and on.

Question – will today’s ½ ton crew cab 4x4 pickups with a large v8 gas burner (think Ram 1500 or F-150) tow a bronco on a trailer sufficiently up to the mountains? Most max trailer weights for a ½ ton truck like this are in the 7500lb – 9000lb range and I’d be right at it I think. Am I asking for trouble (blown transmissions, engines, etc) or am I just going to be a little slower up and down the hills with a 1/2 ton? Should I upgrade to the 3/4 ton and live with the sacrifices when not towing?

Again, I’ll only be towing a heavy loaded trailer like this a couple times a year and the rest of the time I’ll be driving back and forth to work and the grocery store. I’d be interested to hear anyone’s opinion on towing with a ½ ton vs ¾ ton and living with the same pickup the rest of the year.

 

[Explorer]

1/2 ton will do it, but it is hard on them. You can still get a 3/4 ton with heavier duty tranny without making the jump all the way to a diesel.

 

[zeeman1]

i've been asking myself the same question for some time, and I think I'm ending up in the middle. 3/4-ton F250 with a 351w in it. Should do both jobs decently, but not great.

 

[Jakedog]

I've towed with both gas and diesel, and the diesel would be my choice hands down. I had an 05 F250 4x4 crew cab diesel, and besides the obvious torque difference, braking was much better with the diesel. The truck would hold a low gear on a steep grade with the tow/haul feature engaged.
As far as ride comfort goes, I liked the way my 05 handled around town. The rear end was a little stiff unloaded, but still a nice ride for such a heavy duty truck.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I know the newer Ford Superdutys ride MUCH MUCH MUCH better than they did in the past.

I have a 2001 F250 diesel with the leaf spring front end = horrible

I have ridden in several newer ones with the coil spring front ends = heaven , compared to the leaf fronts.

I'm in the same spot as you , only really tow a few times a year , but there are other reasons I bought the big Superduty.

1. Diesel gets better mileage than the gassers , at least they used to. My 7.3L PSD gets 21 mpg hwy , all the time. the new Ford 6.7L is supposed to get great mileage.

2. Solid front axle - cant really say why I wanted that , I just did , so that put me in the Ford or Dodge 3/4 or 1 ton class.

3. Interior room - I'm just a little dude , but , sit in a 1/2 ton for five minutes then get in a superduty , they damn near echo. The Chebby 3/4 and 1 tons are not roomy either , so again , Ford or Dodge.

4. Reliability - I have known a few guys over the years that are not really brand loyal , till they owned a Dodge truck , now they are anything but Dodge fans. The Cummins motor was great but the rest of the truck would loosen up and go to shit in a few years.
so , advantage Ford.

Having said all of that , I'd give it a few years before I bought a new Ford diesel , the 6.0 and 6.4 were turds , the 6.7 just came out a few weeks back.

How about a gas 3/4 ton ? The biggest advantage I feel when towing my Bronco is that my tow rig is so substantial that the trailer is damn near an after thought.(As mentioned in post above)
All the power in the world ain't worth a damn if you are uncomfortable because you don't feel in control.

 

[Larry B]

I have a 01 350 ford Power stroke I bought new to pull a 5 th wheel TR 10.000 lbs. It pulls good and rides great with the tr or emepty. It has 155,000 miles on it now. Runs 11 miles per gal pulling and 16+ emepty. Got about 18 when new
On the other side of the coin, Transmitions cost 2500$ to have rebuilt. Been 2 of them and should have been one. The rear rear end spit the pinion shims out and ford wanted 1900 to fix that. I fixed it my self for peanuts. It needs a football field to turn it around, not fun in town and the parking spaces are small.
My friends in the TR group that we travel with are having about the same luck as I with there Dodges.
If you are not logging a lot of miles I would check the gas rigs as they are getting better milage and running farther by far than they use too.
I think the 1/2 ton will cost about the same when every thing is added together but would get around town better. For me I would still buy the larger truck

 

[bigmuddy]

I hate to admit it, but I have become a big fan of the dodge hemi 1/2 and 3/4 ton rigs. We use them for work and the engines are running 300K plus and we use the hell out of them, on site and on the highway. I drive a 3/4 ton crew cab dodge with the Hemi and it is low on power but I don't think I will ever kill it. Mileage is around 15 on the highway but I get free gas so I don't pay much attention. Towing it gets down around 11 mpg.
If you are only towing a few times a year, its pretty hard to justify a new diesel IMO.

Ben

 

[Krawln68]

Diesels are nice, but for towing once or twice a year, no way. I tow with an 06 Expedition XLT, no problems. The wife drives it daily, and loves it. With 4 wheel independent air suspension it rides a like a car. Hell, TJK74 tows his with an 08' Tacoma, no problems.

 

[broncnaz]

For any towing I'd go with the 3/4 ton truck. By the time you add on all the required items to get the towing capacity on a 1/2 ton ride quality will be the same as the larger truck anyways. Sure you can just tow whatever with a F150 but is it safe? I'd say borderline. You relying on a 6000 lb truck to tow 8,000 lbs worth of bronco and gear in the rockies. Your call there. I dont see much of a ride differance they are all trucks but usually the bigger vehicles will have E or higher rated tires which will change the ride quality a bit as well.
As for engines well thats up to you. I'd rather have the diesel(turbo will help once in the mountains) but if your only going to tow 1-2 times a year then a gas engine will probably be the way to go 5.4L would be my choice. but I would try and get at least the 3.73 gearing. That will help on the hills.

As for brands well I'm Ford through and through next would be the dodges and lastly the GM's Few guys at work have new GM's say they ride great but dont tow for nothing. They would rather have there old truck back.

 

[ken75ranger]

New F150's ride much nicer than new Super Duties. If your only towing a few times a year you would be much happier the with the F150 the other 360 days a year.

 

[Broncobowsher]

It is a real toss up. The 50 weeks a year you run solo The half ton wins hands down. But a 3/4 ton is built heavier and should last a lot longer.

Running loaded, a properly equiped half ton will live, but not be happy about it. Pushing every cooling system to the limit. New, not a problem. But a few years later, a thick layer of bugs in the radiator, it will not be the happiest. Now you must leave that half ton completely stock. Don't do any lift or even think of anything like a billit grill.

Now the 3/4 ton won't be as stressed out. You can run hills without pushing the thermal limit on every fluid in the truck.

If pratical, the 3/4 ton will live a wonderful life and never cary about that trailer. A bit of over capacity is always a good thing. My background on this is only 7 or so years of trailer towing for a large auto manufacturer to test the cooling capacity. When you are at the limit there are a bunch of little odd things that happen. The cooling capacity for component A is the limiting factor. Component B is only prevented from going critical because A hits its limit first and logic keeps things in check. There is no logic for component B as none is needed. But change something so B is slightly more stressed or A is now cooler. Now B can go critical without the logic of A to save it. Oh what a tangled web that is woven when at the limit.

I would highly recomend not going over 75-80% of the towing capacity just to keep enough buffer for when you have a load of bugs in the radiator. Now can you find a half ton that will do that? Don't forget that the load in the truck itself counts just like the trailer. 500 pounds of weight in the bed is the same load on the combined rig as if that weight is in the trailer. Just the distribution is a little different. I also find that a big heavy diesel engine is great for anchoring the front axle to the ground. Lot less need for load distributing bars. Pretty much mandatory with a heavy trailer on a light truck, but the front axle unloading you get from adding a bumper pull trailer to a diesel is such a minor percent change that it doesn't care.

 

[Bronco69Sport]

Duramax and don't look back. I picked up an 08 crewcab last year and LOVE IT. I will not go back to gas. First diesel and the power is unreal. 9000lb and still gets 20 MPG. Safe fast and good gas mileage.my buddy has the v10 f350 with about 2 grand in performance parts and I will blow by him with my eb in tow... he gets pissed. Maybe because he is towing a Heep...
I also tow a handful of times per year. But for the extra power safety and fuel economy its worth it. Plus they are wicked quiet now

 

[Hank_]

I use a 2005 f150 fx4. It has been a great truck. I just pulled the bronco I purchased 2 weeks ago from New York to Michigan. Even in the hilly state of Pennsylvania the truck did great. Since I only tow my stuff 3 or 4 times a year the 1/2 ton truck works well for me.

Henry

 

[Justafordguy]

I have driven SD F-250s sense 1999 and wouldn't drive anything else. I have an 05 crew cab with a powerstroke now and it's awesome. It will pull anything, has tons of room, and rides great. The only problem I have with it as a DD is parking in small spaces but you get used to it. If you go with a F-250 you won't regret it.

 

[7elk]

I like a F250 V10. Never had any trouble and rides good around town. I drive it daily and get 10.5 to 11.00 mpg, and don't see much difference when it is loaded. I can haul a 10ft offheard camper and tow a trailer with 2 4wheekers and still have power on hills and to pass. Oh, and mine is a 4x4.

 

[Jakedog]

I like a F250 V10. Never had any trouble and rides good around town. I drive it daily and get 10.5 to 11.00 mpg, and don't see much difference when it is loaded. I can haul a 10ft offheard camper and tow a trailer with 2 4wheekers and still have power on hills and to pass. Oh, and mine is a 4x4.

What's a offheard camper? Is that something you sleep in when you tow 4wheekers? ;D

 

[Michael Homan]

hauler

3/4 ton anything is better in my opinion.

Ford 3/4 ton Diesel is what I'am after when I get a new job!!

 

[Tito]

I went from a half ton Yukon w/5.3 to an Excursion w/7.3 Diesel. I dont know how I ever survived with the Yukon for all those years, absolutely LOVE using the Excursion, even daily. I have plenty of power and get 17-19mpg with a fully loaded trailer on the hiway.
The wife does not enjoy driving the Excursion as much but then again her daily driver is a mini cooper :-X ;D

 

[Nightstick]

I had an '09 Chevy 1/2ton 2wd. Chevy does a great job with their trucks as far as comfort goes as do most of the others (now that dodge has the 2010 model) but they're just not meant for towing IMO. Without looking it up I thunk the engine I had was a 5.6 liter or close to that, it was the bigger of the two. Ran great around town and on the highway but couldn't tow for @$%+! I needed a truck with 4wd anyway so I traded the chevy in on a used '07 Ram (3500 6.7L cummins 4wd crew cab short wheel base) Needless to say there's a huge difference between the two. I've towed about 15,000lbs with it and got only slightly less mpgs than towing no load as opposed to the 1/2 ton where I'd get 8-10 mpg towing 5000lbs the dodge gives me 17-20... And it'll tow a friggin house!!!

I need the truck for more than just towing the bronco around though... I don't think I'll ever own another non-diesel truck again. If I were you I'd seriously consider buyin a used 3/4 or 1 Ton diesel. Mine had 30,000miles on it (barely broken in) and I paid $15,000 less than i coulda bought a new one for. I wouldn't buy a powerjoke though, if it's a diesel go with cummins and a 6spd tranny if you don't drive in city traffic a lot.

 

[ep67bro]

Well if money is a factor go with the F150 with the 5.4. They are great trucks and their capacity is what a 3/4 ton was 20 years ago. Will it be perfect no but if you are only doing it a few time a year the price differance is hard to justify.
I have an 04 Super duty 4x4 with the 6.0 diesel and I love it I have 4" of lift with 35" tire and tow my bronco to PA a few time a year like nothing. But it is big around town and turns like a bus. It also does ride hard. If money is no problem or you tow every day go 3/4 or 1 ton diesel, tight budget only tow a few times a year go 1/2 ton.
Just my two cents!