He says I need a dually??

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

there should be some basic calculator we can plug in our numbers and out comes TV's that fall within those acceptable limits....plug and chug

Ha ! .....well, there is, in sort of a back handed way. That is essentially how the heavy trucking industry works. You buy a tractor, and a trailer, and you're good to go, for up to 80,000 lbs ! If the load you are hauling today means you are only at 60,000 lbs....you could say you have "plenty of margin" left over. You could also say that you are not being very efficient.......

[perryg114]

You don't have to keep the same tow vehicle forever you know. As you accumulate more stuff you can always get a bigger truck. You could start out with a Tundra or F150 and get a bigger tow vehicle as your family grows.

Perry

[PharmGeek]

I kinda thought the numbers I posted above already seemed to exceed payload for tundra? Not sure about f150..need to go see what payload it offers...?

[PharmGeek]

that was an interesting analysis of gas vs. diesel...

if it is purely about torque and towing capacity then I can just choose it only if I need the capacity...otherwise I could escape the 5-7K dollar increase in price...that would be nice.

[richinny]

i'm not well versed in diesel but from my neighbors comments i've heard that having a diesel sit between your trips is not a good thing. i seem to recall that you said the truck will just be used for towing, you should research that aspect of use.

[Snedwid]

True a dually may well be overkill, but remember: it's not what you do, but how you look when your doin' it. Nothing says cool hand like a Big Ole Ford Super Duty, F-350, diesel dually, long bed, four wheel drive, crew cab, King Ranch, with extra large mud flaps, side pipes, locomotive horn and a welded on brush guard. A truck like that just drips testosterone and is guaranteed to put lead in you pencil and a smile on your face.

[Silverflames]

Pharmgeek,


As you might have noticed the used F150 and f250s are running pretty close to the same price range right now. I have a 2006 f150 and it pulls my 29' ambassador fine. But it weighs less than 5k. I guess is that the new 28-30' trailers are weighing close to 8k? So for $5,000 more I would go with the f250. I don't know if the fuel savings are worth going diesel, will this also be your ride to work?

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by Snedwid

True a dually may well be overkill, but remember: it's not what you do, but how you look when your doin' it. Nothing says cool hand like a Big Ole Ford Super Duty, F-350, diesel dually, long bed, four wheel drive, crew cab, King Ranch, with extra large mud flaps, side pipes, locomotive horn and a welded on brush guard. A truck like that just drips testosterone and is guaranteed to put lead in you pencil and a smile on your face.

Ha ! testosterone nuthin'..... around here we call it the Kowgirl Kadillac. ....and believe me, most of these sweet little cowgirls can not only kick yer butt....but they DO LOOK GOOD doing it !!!!

[PharmGeek]

Originally Posted by Silverflames

Pharmgeek,


As you might have noticed the used F150 and f250s are running pretty close to the same price range right now. I have a 2006 f150 and it pulls my 29' ambassador fine. But it weighs less than 5k. I guess is that the new 28-30' trailers are weighing close to 8k? So for $5,000 more I would go with the f250. I don't know if the fuel savings are worth going diesel, will this also be your ride to work?

Exactly, its baffling...the F250's are not more expensive really used than F150 ecoboost...

Another layer - I looked at new GMC gasser 2500HD tonight, they price around 32,000 if I recall, 0% financing...this starts to inch as close to 25-27K with 3-4% interest

Ram new gasser 2500 - 36,000 (not sure if good financing deals there)

New F250 gasser - 35,000

Tundra 5.7L V8 (all of these are crew 4x4 standard box btw) - ~32,000

F150 ecoboost, tow package, with 8' box (only other was the short 5' it seemed) was right below 30,000


I have not yet looked at 3/4 ton gasser used models yet....only the diesels so far...

I think looking at the numbers, and how I use my TV (ONLY for towing and for boat, almost never to get around) gas will be better for me and save me alot of money up front...

Im off now to look at used gasser 3/4 tons.

[PharmGeek]

wife and I are pretty sure the 28 flying cloud will be it for us...POSSIBLY the 30 - but we think we would rather pocket that 10k and suffer the slight loss of space, some storage, and save on the weight and length a tad...

we will be going to spend some more time in them at the dealer next month and make a final determination...if we love the inside of the 30 better, then perhaps we will go that route...

The 28 is 7600 GVWR, the 30' 1200 lbs more than that at 8800 lbs....

also the 30 has 54 gallon fresh water tank, vs. 39 for the 28.....that sounds nice for boondocking, but I imagine *most* of our camping may not be boondocking, but when we do, we can load up extra water no biggie. The 30' also offers more carrying capacity 1600 vs. 2400

Oddly the 28 hitch weight is 976, the 30's is 880

If I go the 3/4 ton route, these both would pull almost identical I would think....we shall see...

[TouringDan]

PG

I think you are coming around to what makes good sense for a TV for you and your family- a late model 6 (or more) speed gasser. Look at all of them and then buy the one you like the best.

Dan

[PharmGeek]

MAN I wish carmax offered "NOT" filters

[PharmGeek]

2008 Ford F250 Lariat in Nashville, TN- 9298620 at carmax.com

2006 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 LT in Baton Rouge, LA- 9406476 at carmax.com

2006 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 LT in Buena Park, CA- 9361482 at carmax.com

The sierras and the ram 2500 gassers offered no earlier models...mostly gently used only....

THink there are some great deals on f250 gassers out there too...

kinda narrowing in now I think.

Love the look of the ram 2500's....

Any big differences in these gassers?

Mostly for the purposes of this TV, I want this to be nice and peppy and easy to pull with...im sure they all fit that bill...just looking for reasons to choose one over the other.....Im going to test drive them all monday and tuesday.

Que brand war - no seriously though - if there are substantive differences in these models, let me know.....mostly my test drive will dictate perhaps...

I need a breakdown of the specs in these three models and carefully review

[PharmGeek]

silly thing about these used 3/4 ton gassers though is that most of these I selected are around 25-28K....warranties appear to be up on them (5 year right?)...which would mean I would purchase about a 2K carmax warranty....new for some are right at 30-33K....which includes 5 year 100K warranty from manufacturer...which makes a 2008 model end up costing me about the same as a 2013 model....

need to find a used one for 22K or less if it is to truly save me much.

New is sounding nicer and nicer

That hemi 2500 sure looks good brand new in dark blue - contrast well with that aluminum, 0% financing

[m.hony]

I have not driven a Ram, but among Chevy/GMC, Ford, Nissan, and Toyota you already know what I am gonna say. Go test drive them all and see if you don't agree.

[PharmGeek]

i love toyota but cannot get comfortable with respect to stated limits regarding payload

Btw, your 30' classic tongue weight is 776 lbs, the 28' flying cloud's is 976.

That is a 200lb difference.

I know you are cool with your truck with respect to payload...im not sure how much your's tends to weigh...but it obviously works for you. I suspect that my payload needs may unfortunately be different going forward...which sucks because I do really like them yotas

[Skater]

As a diesel owner (the infamous Ford 6.0) I'll say that I'm going to think long and hard before I buy another diesel. As mentioned, fuel is more expensive, oil changes are more expensive, fuel filters are expensive, etc. On the other hand, there are upsides, some of which have also been mentioned - it's REALLY nice to put your foot down and have the truck move like the trailer isn't there. I've caught myself doing 65-70 mph climbing the mountains on the PA Turnpike, several times. And filling up at truck diesel pumps is nice, too - they have larger nozzles, and the credit card limits are much higher, so it's faster, and easier to get in and out of, too. You get better fuel mileage, although with diesel prices being higher than gas now, I'm not sure you're actually saving much money with this. Yeah, I'm torn - hence the "think long and hard" part.

[perryg114]

Now you know why I bought a used V10 Ford Excursion for $7000. I don't have $40k+ to spend on a pickup. The running gear is the same as an F250/F350. An E250 or E350 van is not a bad tow vehicle and you have plenty of room. The big problem with those is finding one with seats in it that is not a cargo van. I grew up with vans and you could put just about anything in one. I use to carry my motorcycle around in the back of one when I was in grad school. The Excursion is ok but it is nice to have a van and you can put a bike in the back without taking the wheels off it. Your stuff is also out of the rain and locked up.

Perry

[PharmGeek]

hmmm...havent given the van route much thought...i figure a topper on the truck will keep stuff secure and covered for the most part and fill that gap...

I went through a similar but different debate 4 years ago when I bought my first truck.

I needed to pull a small bass boat, wanted 4x4 though for primative landings (heck, even putting in where there is no landing at some ponds) - I went through looking at new and new/used...finally I was like "screw this" - and I bought an old toyota pickup - my current 1997 T100...runs kinda doggy, but its really reliable even at 179K miles.

I almost bought a new truck off of lots a couple times though before that...just could not find a price that I was happy with for a tacoma or a fronteir, or silverado 1/2 ton...too much for that limited of use.

It is quite tempting to find a more used one....Im not that adverse to it...but given that this will be for family use, for possibly some longer trips, and long term use in general....and the fact the wife has agreed...im likely to splurge and keep this truck around for a long while....we shall see...I may troll around and consider more used...given I will drive the darn think <5K miles per year....I will be thinking indeed on this "long and hard" as Skater said.

The cost of the diesels plus the nuggets of skepticism that I have gleaned are making it easy for me...if I lieved out west though and planned on a ton of mountain driving, that would be more difficult...I know that a 3/4 ton gasser can do what I need it to do, including the less frequent mountain type terrain with the AS...perhaps just not as peppy and powerful as the diesels...I can accept that compromise.

[perryg114]

Truck toppers have real crappy locks on them and most can be jerked open pretty easily with no tools so don't get a false sense of security there. Any street person can pop one open with no tools.

Perry