Full timing: Tundra vs F250

[timmaah]

Originally Posted by SuperTrouper

Timmaah,

Congratulations and good luck on your adventure! Be sure to visit the weaselmouth website for a neat play by play of full timing since last year. They have links to other full time blogs as well.

Best,
Brad

Thanks Brad..

My Google Reader account has 30 blogs of mostly younger folks fulltiming in the U.S. (Including Shawn who posted above) They have been great inspiration for the past year. Our blog is just about ready, just need to find time to pt up a few posts.

[Not Done]

Friday is correct. The Tundra Crewmax has a huge 60/40 reclining back seat. Much larger than the Ford model year 2012.

[c_lewis77]

Originally Posted by timmaah

Thanks everyone that chimed in with advice and their experiences. Obviously we decided on the Tundra. I'm betting that we will be happy with it. I willing to pack light and stay within the numbers and willing to eat my words and deal with the consequences if it was the wrong choice.

The truck needs tires badly, which I'm looking at as a good thing. No brainer to spend the cash on E rated ones. Looking into airbags, sway bar and a cap as well.

Life is about to get a little crazy around here. Month and a half until the house goes on the market. Huge todo list for that, plus we are only halfway through the Airstream make over.

Years ago in my VW Bus, I went 14,000 miles in 4 months. Left coast to right coast and back. I feel like I barely saw a quarter of the US.

Not that I believe half of what I read, but it has been reported many times over the last few weeks that gas could very well get towards $5 a gallon this summer.

Check out the bed covers from roll-n-lock. I had one on my last truck. It is essentially a vinyl covered aluminum rollup tonneau. It is lockable, protects from weather, and easily rolls up out of the way to allow full access to the bed of the truck for big items like refrigerators and such. I found mine extremely useful.
http://www.rollnlock.com/
Your new truck looks sharp! Ultimately it is what you are towing with it that counts! Aluminum is always the best accessory!

[casa3805]

" Thanks everyone that chimed in with advice and their experiences. Obviously we decided on the Tundra. I'm betting that we will be happy with it. ....."

I don't think you could have gone wrong with either choice based on everything in this thread. Enjoy the journey!!

[TouringDan]

Tim

Congrats on your new Tundra. Hopefully you will not have to eat your words and go to a 3/4 ton and significantly more expensive TV.

I have a Lear Cap. I like the design of the cap, but it does not fit as well as it should, expecially at the rear corner where it sits on the truck. I would look seriously at another brand like ARE (?).

Dan

[perryg114]

Let us know how it does on your travels. Congradulations on your new tow vehicle.

Perry

[azflycaster]

My Tundra has been a great TV with around 30K of towing miles (4K in 2012). I have an ARE cap on mine and could not be more pleased with the fit, finish and functionality of the cap.

[Phoenix]

Hope the Tundra works out as well for you as ours has for us -- 2008, CrewMax, TRD, 5.7L V8, 2WD, 35k miles, with absolutely no problems; have only changed oil and purchased gas (oh, and new tires, recently).

[Hibby]

Beautiful truck! You might check Tire Rack - Your performance experts for tires and wheels as a resource to help you research tires. I have not purchased through tirerack.com so I can't speak to their service, but did extensive research for tires for my wife's Honda Pilot and my Ford F250. In both cases we replaced stock tires with different brand/model based on reviews and ratings, and we think the tires have been great choices.

[timmaah]

Originally Posted by Hibby

Beautiful truck! You might check Tire Rack - Your performance experts for tires and wheels as a resource to help you research tires. I have not purchased through tirerack.com so I can't speak to their service, but did extensive research for tires for my wife's Honda Pilot and my Ford F250. In both cases we replaced stock tires with different brand/model based on reviews and ratings, and we think the tires have been great choices.

Yup.. ordered some Michelin LTX A/T2 from them today. The current ones on there are too smooth for my liking.

[tpi]

One thing you'll want to check before mounting and inflating the E rated tires to 80 PSI is the PSI rating of the wheels.

I'm sure someone here will explain how to determine that, because I don't know.

I'd post a new thread regarding the tires, and see what you find out. On my F250 w/ E tires I never ran them over 60 PSI. I've read there is little or no benefit for the tougher tire unless you use the PSI they're capable of taking. Perhaps you would be better served by incrementally increasing the tire capacity but going to a D or something less than E.

Nice truck, I love mine and it pulls my 25 Safari very nicely and effortlessly.

[starcraft]

It's type of vehicle you could drive forever and be happy. Even with 200k it still will be pretty cool truck. Sorry america does not offer such a truck maybe Cummins. I liked 2 tacomas I owned and now purchased Nissan it's more comfortable and nice product but Yota is the one.

[timmaah]

Originally Posted by tpi

One thing you'll want to check before mounting and inflating the E rated tires to 80 PSI is the PSI rating of the wheels.

I'm sure someone here will explain how to determine that, because I don't know.

I'd post a new thread regarding the tires, and see what you find out. On my F250 w/ E tires I never ran them over 60 PSI. I've read there is little or no benefit for the tougher tire unless you use the PSI they're capable of taking. Perhaps you would be better served by incrementally increasing the tire capacity but going to a D or something less than E.

Nice truck, I love mine and it pulls my 25 Safari very nicely and effortlessly.

A post last summer from Gene mentions 45 psi. ( http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...ml#post1008468 ) and that falls in line with what I have read on Tundra forums. Most people seem to keep the load E tires between 40-50 psi. Adding a few pounds when towing.

[jsutro]

Nice truck, you'll be happy with it.

Never did hear for sure, what are your plans regarding "Full Timing?" How long will you be staying vs. how far will you travel between staying put for awhile?

There are ever so many threads available on this forum - we are fortunate to have so many experienced ASers share their knowledge.

Best of luck, we look forward to seeing you down the road. We'll travel from SF Bay area to St Louis and back in April, early May. Expect to stay near to ex Route 66 part of the way, then back roads in the Interstate 70 regions for another several days. jim

[Gene]

Congratulations Tin'. Which model did you get and what year is it?

Contrary to a previous post, we have only gotten below 10 mpg when towing in bad traffic with much uphill and a headwind. Normally we get around 10.5-11 but with a good tailwind it can go up to 12. We mostly drive 65 maximum if we can. We have 70,000 miles on the truck and are looking forward to the transmission blowing up at 100,000 miles, but are somewhat skeptical about that. I think I would have heard about Toyota trucks having transmission problems like that.

We bought the same Michelins 52,000 miles ago and they have plenty of tread left. The pressure for the tires was decided by calling Michelin a couple of times. The guys that answered the phone gave me different numbers and the one that seemed most knowledgeable was the one I believed. I have been running them at the same pressures (45 rear, 42 front not towing; 48 and 45 towing) ever since and check the tread regularly with a tread gauge. They are wearing evenly. I don't know the wheel ratings, but the OEM tires were rated at 45 psi at maximum inflation, so I assume the wheels are at least 45.

Looks like you are not getting much snow either this year. I think last year it would have been up to the windows.

Gene

[timmaah]

Originally Posted by jsutro

Never did hear for sure, what are your plans regarding "Full Timing?" How long will you be staying vs. how far will you travel between staying put for awhile?

We don't know the answer to either of those just yet. We will find a pace that works for us and who knows for how long. I imagine we will move onwards every few days. We are a mid 30's couple who just want to get out and explore a bit. I will still be working full time.. (Web developer) Trying to find someway for my wife to make a bit of $$ online as well. This is her start: Thinly Sliced Cucumber We will put up a blog soon. The next month or so is polishing up the house and getting it ready for sale.

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Congratulations Tim'. Which model did you get and what year is it?

2008 double cab with 74k. The SR5 package I think. It has the tow package, 4wd and the center console.

I appreciate the first hand knowledge. I'm new to towing. Its a lot to take in.

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Looks like you are not getting much snow either this year. I think last year it would have been up to the windows

Odd winter for sure. We live higher than the village of a ski area. Last year the pile in that spot was at least as high as the airstream (didn't have it then). Almost too much for the snowblower. We are ready to leave winter behind for a while. It takes too long for spring to reach us up here.

[Gene]

Moat SR5's have cloth seats, although leather was an option. The Limiteds all have leather, compass, heating and cooling controls with electronic readouts.

The weather is always odd. Much more snow than average in Denver, pretty dry here 250 miles west.

Gene

[casa3805]

Think carefully as you pick a cover for your bed. You may want to carry something up high... This is ours, but a couple of days ago I saw a truck with a hard cover on the bed, low like the tonnaue (sp) covers. But it had a rack mounted directly to the cover so I imagine the whole thing came up at once. That would be nice.... These mount to the bed rail inside the bed and would preclude a cover...

[BeBop]

If you are only 2...
F-250, Turbo Diesel (hopefully 7.3), Single Cab
Not too long, massive towing capacity, no gas weakness at altitude.
I only have a crew cab because of the number of folks in the trailer.
Ford diesels run forever.
A high top, sloped bed cap cuts the wind and improves fuel economy on the journey.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by casa3805

Think carefully as you pick a cover for your bed. You may want to carry something up high... This is ours, but a couple of days ago I saw a truck with a hard cover on the bed, low like the tonnaue (sp) covers. But it had a rack mounted directly to the cover so I imagine the whole thing came up at once. That would be nice.... These mount to the bed rail inside the bed and would preclude a cover...

A year or two ago I saw a cover that looked like a tonneau closed, but raised straight up so you could put big things under it. I believe it went higher than the cab roof. It was on a Ford. I asked the guy about it and he said he didn't know if it were made anymore. It was quite expensive. This was in a Montrose, Colo., Home Depot parking lot and the guy was a contractor and thought the cover to be great for his business needs. When elevated he said it was strong and wind caused no problems. I suppose if you were to drive hundreds of miles with it up your gas mileage would suffer.

Gene