Who's Making The Best Half Ton Truck???

[CaseyForrest]

Ooohh! That's gotta hurt!

Oh, it does especially since I prefer Jap vehicles. My only saving grace is Isuzu played a major role in designing the motor in my truck. Other than it being a tad rough at idle, it performs flawlessly and has plenty of ommph for what I need.

 

[Peacock]

Oh, it does especially since I prefer Jap vehicles. My only saving grace is Isuzu played a major role in designing the motor in my truck. Other than it being a tad rough at idle, it performs flawlessly and has plenty of ommph for what I need.

The Atlas engines in the GMT 355 and 360 trucks are excellent. Engines have normally been a strong point for the general anyhow. The Gen. III/IV gas V8's are easily the best gas truck engines on the market.

I still laugh at the new Tundra. Like I already said, in many ways it is the least capable of the current 1/2 tons. Only certain cab configurations give you the max. towing or payload. Thank the c-channel frame for that.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Pic?

Of the truck? Or the generator? Or the generator in the truck?


The generator is one of these:




The data plate on it lists it as 800 pounds. I don't have a picture of it in the truck. In the pic above (snagged from a surplus store website) it's sitting in a ton and a half truck.

 

[hornett22]

i never had trouble hauling with a toyota.

sure,it may not haul as much but it keeps going.

as for the c channel frame,everyone has and still uses it.i see the old style tundra working hard around here and not slowing down.

as for recalls,at least toyota does it while the problem exists and not after everyone has paid to fix the problem out of their own pockets.
i used to be a toyota mechanic and i replaced motors with over 200k with a new block from the manufacturer.when have you seen the big three do that?their last recall i know of was on ball joints and you got an allignment included.they did the headgasket recall for 10 years.where was ford on the 3.8 headgasket recall? i think it lasted 10 minutes.my buddies F-350 just lost the tranny at 31k,and all he tows is a pontoon boat on weekends.pretty lame.

i used to be a chevy and dodge mechanic as well.no way i'd ever buy a dodge.fit and finish sucks.

i'll always liked chevies and always will but that 2nd reverse clutch hub problem they scammed everyone on was BS.

nissan is owned by the french now so they are out of the question.

i still miss solid front axle trucks.i'll keep my 85 toyota.i'd love to buy american but they need to get a handle on quality control soon.

 

[NovaMan]

nissan is owned by the french now so they are out of the question.

Just don't like the French, or would you care to elaborate?

 

[a_lopa]

V8 diesel landcruiser IMO

 

[Pcoz88]

chevy

chevy:jawdrop:

 

[Tzed250]

I love my '06 Nissan Titan KC 4x4 SE...:spam:

 

[2000ssm6]

I love my '06 Nissan Titan KC 4x4 SE...:spam:

They don't have too many problems. The most I hear are, "hey, I'm only getting 12 miles to the gallon, can you fix that?"

Then I say, yeah keep your foot out of the gas all the time.:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Stihl4life]

Chevy, but i do think that anything diesel Dodge owns. The cummins is hands down the best.

 

[clearance]

1/2 tons are for women, said it here before, saying it again, get real truck, not some weak junk with a cars rear axle (and suspension).

 

[rb_in_va]

I love my '06 Nissan Titan KC 4x4 SE...:spam:

Just curious, what does it look like when you haul 4X8 sheets of plywood?

 

[NYH1]

1/2 tons are for women, said it here before, saying it again, get real truck, not some weak junk with a cars rear axle (and suspension).

I lease a 2007 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT Quad Cab 4x4 pick up. It has the Hemi, auto tranny, 3:92 gears with limited slip rear end, and is pretty much loaded. The sticker price on my truck was $36,475. I put $2000 down and it cost $284 a month. A 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 SLT Quad Cab 4x4 pick up with the same basic equipment (excluding 3/4 ton axles, transfer case, brakes, drive shafts ect. basically the things I don't need) stickers for $38,165. With $2000 down it would cost $428 a month.

I use this truck for general transportation 99% of the time. I got 4x4 because I live in Central New York and we average 120 inches of snow a year, twice that a half hour north of me (Tug Hill Plateau) where I hunt on occasion. Plus the road to our hunting camp (where I regularly hunt) is seasonal and not maintained. I tow a four place ATV trailer which weighs about 4500 pounds fully loaded, my truck can tow 7400 pounds, I lose 1100 pounds of towing capacity because it has 20 inch wheels, no biggy. I'll probably never put more then 1000 pounds in the box which is rated at 1300 pounds. Why would I want give up the half ton ride, pay $144 more a month or $3888 over the life of the lease for something I'll never need. The monthly price difference is almost what I pay in gas in a month. I'll keep the half ton!

 

[rahtreelimbs]

1/2 tons are for women, said it here before, saying it again, get real truck, not some weak junk with a cars rear axle (and suspension).

Why pay for more than you need???

 

[bytehoven]

When I bought my Ram '06 2500 QC in January, the deals offered were very close to the 1500.

Test driving both the 1500 and 2500, I did not notice a ride quality advantage with the 1500, as it seemed just as firm and loose over washboard road surfaces.

I upgraded the shocks on the 2500 to Bilstein series 5100 and what a difference. I'm sure the Bilstein shocks would help out a 1500 just as much.

I prefer the solid front axle on the 2500 to the IFS on the 1500. The 2500 rides a little higher and fit larger tires without any mods. I anticipate the larger brakes on the 2500 will last a little longer, and the other HD drive train components might also fair better in the long run.

I figure the 2500 might also have better resale down the road, despite being very close in price to the 1500.

If I had better/more/cheaper diesel fuel sellers in my area, I might have gone with the Cummins. However, I don't put a lot of mileage on my vehicles, only 2300 miles on the 2500 since January. I was afraid I would not be running the diesel enough to keep it clean.

The 2500 does everything I need and the fuel economy has been getting better since I pushed past 1500 miles. I figure I'll switch over to Mobil 1 at 5K, and I will do even better.

 

[NYH1]

bytehoven, when I got my truck at the end of March of this year the prices were as I listed. I'm talking SLT models similarly equipped. I looked at both and had them run the numbers on both. I wanted a truck but didn't/don't need a 3/4 ton. To me the 2500's have a noticeably stiffer ride then the 1500's. I doubt the brakes on a 2500 will last much longer, if any longer at all then on a 1500. The 2500 is heavier to begin with. That's going to cause more brake wear, but they will cost more to replace!

If someone needs or wants a 3/4 or 1 ton truck then by all means get a 3/4 or 1 ton truck. It doesn't make any sense to knock someone who buys a 1/2 ton truck when they don't need a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

What engine do you have and what are you getting for mileage? My truck has about 1800 miles on it. I'm getting 11.5 MPG in the city, which is almost as much stop as it is go. And 18 MPH on the highway. I set the cruse at 70 MPH. I put a tonneau cover it today. That might help a little.

 

[rb_in_va]

I lease a 2007 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT Quad Cab 4x4 pick up. It has the Hemi, auto tranny, 3:92 gears with limited slip rear end, and is pretty much loaded. The sticker price on my truck was $36,475. I put $2000 down and it cost $284 a month. A 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 SLT Quad Cab 4x4 pick up with the same basic equipment (excluding 3/4 ton axles, transfer case, brakes, drive shafts ect. basically the things I don't need) stickers for $38,165. With $2000 down it would cost $428 a month.

I use this truck for general transportation 99% of the time. I got 4x4 because I live in Central New York and we average 120 inches of snow a year, twice that a half hour north of me (Tug Hill Plateau) where I hunt on occasion. Plus the road to our hunting camp (where I regularly hunt) is seasonal and not maintained. I tow a four place ATV trailer which weighs about 4500 pounds fully loaded, my truck can tow 7400 pounds, I lose 1100 pounds of towing capacity because it has 20 inch wheels, no biggy. I'll probably never put more then 1000 pounds in the box which is rated at 1300 pounds. Why would I want give up the half ton ride, pay $144 more a month or $3888 over the life of the lease for something I'll never need. The monthly price difference is almost what I pay in gas in a month. I'll keep the half ton!

Why pay for more than you need???

Agree 100%. I like having a truck for the occasion when I actually haul something. Like this past weekend when I went to HD to get 4 pieces of 8' baseboard molding. I am sure I would have looked more manly hauling that load in a 3/4 ton, but the 1/2 is adequate for me.

 

[bytehoven]

It doesn't make any sense to knock someone who buys a 1/2 ton truck when they don't need a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.

Hey, I'm not knocking the 1500 or 1/2 ton trucks. My only real gripe with the 1500 is the IFS, which is a little less off-road friendly than a solid axle up front.

I have the Hemi with everything factory but a muffler upgrade to the Super Turbo. On BP 87 octane, I'm getting between 10-11 mpg in the city, and I too am pushing 18 mpg on the hywy with no bed cover. If I can get around to choosing between a cap or a hard cover, I'm sure that and the switch to synthetic will get me some additional hywy mpg. I have 3.73 rear, so your 3.92 and lighter weight helps ya get better city economy.

It might been unfair to compare prices of the leftover '06 1500 & 2500 models, which were both getting mega discounts. In general, the 1500 gets much better factory/dealer incentives because the heavier trucks have strong sales to commercial buyers.

Perhaps my test drive observation of the 1500 and 2500 was flawed, but they seemed nearly identical to me.

Again... I'm not knock your choice of the 1500 or anyone else's choice. Hey, I might have bought a 1500 if I could have found agreat deal on a used one with low mileage.

 

[chowdozer]

I love my '06 Nissan Titan KC 4x4 SE...:spam:

A friend of mine has a '04 2wd. It's going in next week for a free front brake job because of all the front brake problems it's had. I think he's got around 40K on it. It's already had new rotors and pads. Today he told me the front springs are sacked and it's sitting on the bumpstops.

 

[rb_in_va]

A friend of mine has a '04 2wd. It's going in next week for a free front brake job because of all the front brake problems it's had. I think he's got around 40K on it. It's already had new rotors and pads. Today he told me the front springs are sacked and it's sitting on the bumpstops.

My dad had brake problems on his 02 F-250 a few years ago. He was driving down the highway and the brakes were sort of half engaged. He had nothing but problems with the brakes on that truck. Wasn't 04 the first year for the Titan? Sounds like Nissan is trying to make it right though. Funny I used to think the Titan was a nice looking truck. Then I got my F-150!