I have an overnighter and need to buy a truck to haul it as I have to borrow my father's now. I am looking at the Tundra 4 door 4x4 (small family). We currently haul it with a 2500 Silverado (6.0L) but the fuel mileage is outragous, power is no problem. Do you think the Tundra would get better mileage? What other trucks would you suggest. This truck will also be my daily driver ~40 miles a day.
what truck to buy?
- Thread starter jdobyns
- Start date
depends on how long your tow is. if you going down the highways 1/2 truck f150 or tundra should do fine. But if you are a short distance to the ramps and smaller toyota or jeep or ford ranger can haul it fine. I would recommend working trailer brakes. I tow mine with a jeep cherokee. it does fine but I am only 4 miles from my ramp. If I take it on the highway I use my brothers dodge ram pu.
I would check out the Nissan Titan. It has a 5.7L V8 and tows awesome! You won't average much more than what you are getting in your Silverado.
You will loose more MPG on towing a big boat behind a 1500 vs a 2500. Gaining 1-2 mpg in your DD is almost never worth the price of a new truck. That is unless you are just looking for a reason to buy a new truck. :hmm
Looks like Chevrolet Silverado 2500 — Gas V8 Mileage = ~13-14mpg
http://www.fuelly.com/car/chevrolet/sil ... 0/gas%20v8
Looks like Nissan Titan — Gas V8 Mileage = ~14mpg
http://www.fuelly.com/car/nissan/titan/gas%20v8
Looks like Toyota Tundra — Gas V8 Mileage = ~17mpg
http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/tundra/gas%20v8
Looks like Chevrolet Silverado 2500 — Gas V8 Mileage = ~13-14mpg
http://www.fuelly.com/car/chevrolet/sil ... 0/gas%20v8
Looks like Nissan Titan — Gas V8 Mileage = ~14mpg
http://www.fuelly.com/car/nissan/titan/gas%20v8
Looks like Toyota Tundra — Gas V8 Mileage = ~17mpg
http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/tundra/gas%20v8
I agree, it depends on how far you tow. I pulled my 208 with a Honda Ridgeline and it pulled it fine but got 8-9 mpg, with a 6 cyl. Now I use a Suburban and get 10-11. Not a heck of a difference. Most any truck with a decent engine that is rated for 5000 lbs will work.
Check out the Ford F150 4x4 Ecoboost. I just bought one to trailer my Grady, it's a wonderful truck, great fit and finish with LOTS of power!
The ecoboost 150 will get the best MPG towing, but as someone else stated, the increase in mpg over what you already have is an investment that will likely never good make financial sense.
Thank you all for your input. I tow the boat all over the place, max one way trip about an hour. Closest is about 6 miles. I have been wanting a pickup for a while anyway. I found a 2004 Tundra Limited 4x4 4 door with 89K miles for $3300, sounds too good to be true. Left a message with the owner and I am waiting on a response. If they do only want $3300 I am going to snap it up. I am trying to figure out the weight of my Grady. Its an overnighter with the Aluminum super structure, 150 yamaha on a bracket. I am guessing about 5,000 lb fully dressed?
If you're towing that far/often, I'd get a cheap 2500/250 for towing and get something with better mileage for the commuting. Any 1/2 ton truck no matter what gizmo name they put after it will peak at 20 MPG highway and be thirsty around town. You can't change the physics of moving a 5000 pound brick. The reason I say go for the 3/4 ton truck is sooner or later you're going to have a Oh___ moment and want the extra truck to control things. While 1/2 ton trucks can tow up to 10K pounds they are going to age prematurely when constantly pulling 5K around.
enfish
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jdobyns said:
5000 lbs +/- a few hundred pounds is pretty close. For my rig, I figured the following in round numbers:
2700 hull
450 motor
550 full fuel
100 full water
1200 trailer
300 misc junk on board.
= 5300 total
I tow it with an F150 SuperCrew with the base 3.7L V6 which is also my daily commuter. It performs well... it's a nice little motor. Towing is a much nicer experience than with the old Chevy Tahoe with a 350. Though, it's pushing up against the GCVR if I have the truck loaded up. I rarely tow the boat more than 10 miles and I'm not a speed demon, so it's all I need. The problem is that if I ever upgrade the boat, I'll have to upgrade the truck...
I pull my '85 Seafarer 227 with 350 I/O with a 2011 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 with V6 & tow package. It's about at the limit of its towing capacity. I can feel the strain sometimes. I only go about 5-10 miles. Trailer has brakes that helps. I get about 18-20 mph city driving w/o the load.
pardon the rant here but i dont understand why people buy fullsize halfton gas trucks.
they have low towing/hauling capabilities, are large and awkward and have crappy MPGs.
almost any diesel will be better in all aspects. i have a 2005 cummins shortbed crew cab and i get 20 on the freeway, 16 in town and 15 towing my Overnighter. and i can tow my 5th wheel with it and haul wood etc. and it has really good turn radius.
given this comparison i dont see where a market exists for a fullsize half ton.
they have low towing/hauling capabilities, are large and awkward and have crappy MPGs.
almost any diesel will be better in all aspects. i have a 2005 cummins shortbed crew cab and i get 20 on the freeway, 16 in town and 15 towing my Overnighter. and i can tow my 5th wheel with it and haul wood etc. and it has really good turn radius.
given this comparison i dont see where a market exists for a fullsize half ton.
I would love to get a 90-98 2500 4x4 12 valve Cummins rig. I have driven a few and they are awesome trucks. The transmission are crap through. If I got one I would replace the trans with a billet. The chevy duramax and allison trans are top of the line. So are their resale prices. Ford/IH diesels are ok, not as much power as the duramax or the cummins.
Clockwork said:
Well, you may not see it, but the market DOES exist; isn't the F150 the best-selling vehicle in America for decades? Not trying to be a smartXXX, just my own rant! :sorry
Also, a 5.7L Tundra (I'm a Toyota guy) gets very nearly the same mileage as what you quote (except probably towing), and 10,000-lb tow rating (double what he needs for an Overnighter), and certainly isn't any more "large and awkward" than anything with a diesel. Plenty of other full-size gassers are at or near these specs as well.
In addition, my last friend with a diesel sold for these reasons: sick of having to turn it off at every bank or fast food drive-through due to the noise, couldn't stand the smell of fuel on his clothes each time he fueled, VERY few stations near him that even carried diesel and a couple of them didn't have "pay at the pump" for diesel, and very high maintenance costs. Not to mention they initially cost THOUSANDS more.
I actually towed my Chase a few times with a F350 diesel dually, and liked it alot. It was a towing maching, but I wouldn't want to live with that thing as a daily driver at all.
The new diesels are not like the old diesels. If I could get a diesel in my Suburban I'd get one in a heartbeat and it wouldn't have to be the 6.6, they were toying with smaller motors. Better towing, better economy, at little more up front cost and not as many stations but over-all it's a winner.
For diesels:
The Dodge auto's are horrible, better off with a stick
Ford's 6.0 PowerJoke, RUN AWAY (7.3's are awesome, don't know much about the current generation)
With a Chevy you almost have to get the auto, they used to detune the motor for sticks
For diesels:
The Dodge auto's are horrible, better off with a stick
Ford's 6.0 PowerJoke, RUN AWAY (7.3's are awesome, don't know much about the current generation)
With a Chevy you almost have to get the auto, they used to detune the motor for sticks
Man I'm 0-for-2. I re-powered with an E-Tec and was told that's the worst decision ever (see the THT-like other post) and I have a Dodge diesel truck.
I like the E-Tec and love the truck. Curious as to why everyone rants against the trans? While I agree it's no Allison I have yet to have a problem with my '06. And, I get 17mpg around town and 20+mpg on the highway - which only drops to 18.5mpg when pulling the Seafarer.
I like the E-Tec and love the truck. Curious as to why everyone rants against the trans? While I agree it's no Allison I have yet to have a problem with my '06. And, I get 17mpg around town and 20+mpg on the highway - which only drops to 18.5mpg when pulling the Seafarer.
I drag a 228 all over with my 01' Tundra. At 156,000 miles and 11 years old, I can honestly say I have no desire to buy a new truck. The thing still hauls and drives like new. The ONLY issues I've had has been a couple of check engine lights and 02 sensors which do irritate me a bit. But that's it. But in all honesty, it doesn't get good gas mileage at 17 mpg. Hauling the 228 over 1000 miles from Maryland to Florida got me a special thanks from the fuel industry and lifetime gratitude award for purchasing excellence. 
Clockwork said:
I'll tell you why - because I want a 4X4 that hauls the entire family and can fit my fishing hunting equipment!
Not everyone is a towing guru - I have never had a ball attached to my factory hitch.
Love my Ford F150 Ecoboost V6 twin turbo! Getting 20.5 MPG since the truck was new - 20k on her now. Oh by the way, she could tow if I wanted!
This truck yields BETTER fuel economy than my old Extended Cab Ranger 4x4, more interior room, better riding - to me the question is why would anyone buy a small truck with the bigger ones are better in every way? Oh wait - ford stopped making the ranger - guess they got it!
Tim