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Old 07-24-2009, 05:51 AM   #1
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Question New RVer, need truck advice

Hi(first post), hopefully I picked the right forum

We're kind of doing it backwards, but we purchased an '04 25' Wildwood yesterday, however we don't have a vehicle to tow it with yet. We plan to buy a truck in the next few weeks, and just happened to stumble across a deal on the TT this week.

Military family, currently stationed in Alaska, expecting to tow the camper from Alaska to Florida next year (to give an idea of the "stress" we expect to put on the truck, will likely take about 2 weeks to make the trip, with a few stops along the way of course)

The truck we are most interested in is the 09/10 Tundra Double Cab with either a standard or long bed. We will get the towing package on it to tow 10,300, but in my reading about towing and weights tonight, I seem to understand that weight isn't exactly as it seems.

I do not have a manual on the Wildwood, according to the registration, it's 5200lbs, the GVWR on the TT plate says 7515. I do not have the capability to take it and put it on a scale until I buy a truck, so any advice is welcome.

I'm looking for information about whether the Tundra is going to be too stressed pulling this camper, whether I need to consider other trucks (we did look at the GMC 2500HD today, I still prefer the Tundra). I do need the truck to be able to handle any type of towing conditions (steep grades, wind, etc)

I read the thread regarding the 2008 Tundra, and I think we'll be ok, but I'd like some advice and thoughts from you experienced folks rather than trusting what a salesman tells us.

Thanks for any advice!
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Old 07-24-2009, 07:18 AM   #2
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Tow vehicle

Just my 2 cents,
the Tundra would probably work. I have heard a lot of good things about it. I have a rockwood Signature Ultralight 8319SS - loaded with all of our stuff (I mean stuff too) I'm probably around 7400 gross weight. I had a 2001 Ford Supercrew that would pull it (salesman said it would) and it did but I was not really comfortable with it. I would not have undertaken the kind of trip you are about to embark on. Anyway, I had the chance to upgrade to a Ford 2009 F250 Crewcab Powerstroke Diesel. Difference as night and day. Much better satisfied. Mileage is pretty good (nothing spectacular but no truck pulling will give great gas mileage) Good luck in your choice.

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Old 07-24-2009, 08:49 AM   #3
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The Tundra should work fine.

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Old 07-24-2009, 09:07 AM   #4
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Even though you are making one long trip, what are you going to be doing the rest of the time? That would help me determine the truck. If you are towing a lot, got to be a diesel. If you tow occasionally, a gas truck will work. The diesel would be best for your trip, but not if you aren't going to tow after that. Those that tow regularly won't have anything but a diesel, but they're not the best short commuter truck. I'm a Ford person, and I would want at 3/4 ton diesel, 2500 series for your trip. Too much truck for a 10 mile commute. If it's only one long tow, the Toyota should work. It's only once and you can live with a few shortcomings, and expect some maintenance when you get through, tranny flush. Then you have a nice truck to ride around in. If you're going to tow a lot, then look at a different truck. If they're short tows, in Florida, the GM 2500 gas will work. All of this said, I'm assuming you'll need the truck for regular driving. Get a truck your comfortable with for what you'll be doing the most with it. Can't drive a school bus just to take the church group to camp once a year. Last thought, rent a heavy duty truck to tow your camper across country. Could use the money saved by not buying a diesel to rent a 2500 series truck. Put the wife and children in the Toyota. Good luck with your search.
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Old 07-24-2009, 09:51 AM   #5
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I agree with windrider- RENT a heavy duty truck for the pull. I would NOT want to pull anything close to 10,000 lbs. with a 1/2 ton truck of ANY manufacturer! Also, as previously stated, a gas engine will probably work, BUT a diesel is made for pulling and has plenty of torque to do the job properly, with MUCH less strain on your vehicle, and a heavier duty transmission. My rig as you see what I have, I really feel that I need a 2500 diesel for this, and it's only 7575 lbs. (dry and empty) I have a 3:46 rear that should have been steeper- say a 3:92 or so. Then it would pull okay, but I still get stiffness issues- not stiff enough suspension. I have added extra leaf springs, and I now haveBilstein shocks on order, that will hopefully help my situation. I would definitely NOT want to pull my camper in any mountains- I don't think this Dodge would be able to handle it! Ask the "Toy" dealer if you can "test pull" your camper before you purchase their truck, and look at some Tundra forums on towing, to see how others are doing- I've heard the rear ends are a weak link on these- but RESEARCH yourself first. If it was me I'd AT LEAST go with a USA built 2500- diesel or gas... if you must. GOOD LUCK on your decision, as I bought truck first, then camper, and I really need more truck! Randy
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Old 07-24-2009, 09:59 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by windrider View Post
Even though you are making one long trip, what are you going to be doing the rest of the time? That would help me determine the truck. If you are towing a lot, got to be a diesel. If you tow occasionally, a gas truck will work. The diesel would be best for your trip, but not if you aren't going to tow after that. Those that tow regularly won't have anything but a diesel, but they're not the best short commuter truck. I'm a Ford person, and I would want at 3/4 ton diesel, 2500 series for your trip. Too much truck for a 10 mile commute. If it's only one long tow, the Toyota should work. It's only once and you can live with a few shortcomings, and expect some maintenance when you get through, tranny flush. Then you have a nice truck to ride around in. If you're going to tow a lot, then look at a different truck. If they're short tows, in Florida, the GM 2500 gas will work. All of this said, I'm assuming you'll need the truck for regular driving. Get a truck your comfortable with for what you'll be doing the most with it. Can't drive a school bus just to take the church group to camp once a year. Last thought, rent a heavy duty truck to tow your camper across country. Could use the money saved by not buying a diesel to rent a 2500 series truck. Put the wife and children in the Toyota. Good luck with your search.
(I'm the wife, and while I'm thrilled to finally be buying another truck, I am absolutely in love with my 6 yr old Chevy minivan for hauling around 4 kids, 5 cats, a large parrot, two smaller birds, and sometimes a dog)

Hubby is not a fan of diesel, I prefer it for longevity and towing capacity. I'm a redneck, he's a city clicker who barely sees a need for 4WD. I'd live on the side of a mountain if I could. Compromise has to come into play with the truck for many reasons.

My top priority, above all, is that my children are safe, so I require great crash ratings, and any extra features, standard or available, to achieve that, are a priority for me. ESC is standard on the Tundra, that's a big draw, the price of the Tundra is impressive, and I just generally like the truck after looking at all the major brands for the past 5 months. (We started looking when hubby came home on R&R, he returned from deployment last week, so we're in the final stages of ready to buy)

We retire in less than 3 years from active duty, the economy being what it is, and trying to enter the civilian job market at 45 is a large concern for us, and we're definitely taking the price of the vehicle into mind due to that. That said, price is only one of the things that's important with this purchase.

As for towing, I can't answer it yet. Currently we have a popup camper, we've owned it 5 years, and the first 2 years we owned it, we used it a great deal, 4-8 times per summer, and regularly towed it around Alaska on 700-900 mile round trips. After that, my van began overheating when we were towing, so we just started staying in hotels so as not to tax her. I don't know whether we will become avid RVers once we are back in the lower 48 or not, there's only so many times we're interested in heading to the same campgrounds in Alaska, though. We do enjoy traveling, and will be more apt to do so with a camper, I'm sure.

In the long term, I would say the camper would mostly travel between Florida and Colorado, in the short term, I know it will go Alaska to Florida and then on to our next duty station, wherever that may be.

Renting a vehicle to tow the camper would totally defeat the purpose of buying a truck at all, and we may as well just buy another minivan and pay to have the camper shipped or just sell the camper. The camper will be used to live in for periods of weeks to months when we move to a new duty station, and for traveling to visit relatives, of course.

We do have to take into account the time of year we have to travel the Alaska highway, and the scarcity of gas and particularly diesel along the route (possibly it has improved in the 5 years since we last drove it, but at that time, gas stations were few and far between and many had already closed for the season, several times we barely made it to a station before running out of gas, and of those times, at least a couple of the stations didn't offer diesel at all). Diesel is not necessarily eliminated as an option, but both the price of a diesel truck and the trouble with access make it fairly undesireable for us if there is a gas alternative that will be sufficient.

Of the trucks we've looked at, we will not consider a Dodge, and we are largely unimpressed with the Fords. The Titan doesn't appeal for many reasons. I do like GM (and I'm a sucker for the sappy OnStar commercials!) but I have concerns about the longterm vs. the Tundra. I plan to drive this truck for the next 20+ years. This truck is the first new vehicle we have ever purchased (usually buy used or lease vehicles), and likely be the last new vehicle we ever buy. Hubby isn't much interested in buying a used truck, concern over the 4WD, and just the fact of having to travel the Alaska Highway and the time of year we will be traveling, he prefers something new this time.

I apologize for the length, hopefully that will give you some idea of what will best suit our needs. I am biased toward the Tundra, as it is the truck I want, but if it isn't going to work for the camper long term, then we need to look at other options.
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Old 07-24-2009, 01:11 PM   #7
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Toyota?

Based on what you said, you're heart is set on the Toyota, and you'll be hard to convince otherwise, regardless of towing numbers, of mileage, or anything else. If you are going to live in the camper, i.e it's your house, you''re not going to camp. Nobody takes their house out for week-end. You may move it once a year to travel to Colorado, 3000 miles from Florida. Do the math at 50 miles per hour, that's over 60 hours driving one way. 120 hours round trip at 10 hour per day equals 10 days travel, with kids, dogs, birds, etc. 2 weeks off work, impossible for a new employee, and that leaves only 2 days to visit. Besides you can't put everybody in the truck to travel. You can't make over 10 hours per day because you have to set-up and tear down every day. Now if you still want to pull it to Colorado, how about a nice 2500 series van? Replace the minivan you have now. Not many tow with a van, but they are capable. More homework, sorry. I'm just trying to see the whole picture and help you out. Like you said, last new vehicle for 20 years.
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Old 07-24-2009, 01:47 PM   #8
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Hi Wind,

I appreciate your patience with me, and honestly, I am paying attention. In the past few hours, I've gotten quite an eduction and I think I'm down to the point with weights that I see the Toyota isn't going to be viable.

We aren't going to live in the camper....but we will have to for a few short periods. We're military, in the past we have had to live in hotel rooms (with the kids, cats, dog) for 40 and 47 days. That's while waiting for our house to be available, and then leaving out of a post, we're in a hotel room for a week or two, plus while traveling to the new duty station.

Those are the times we would live in the camper...otherwise, it would be used as a typical camper, taken to campgrounds for weekend trips, plopping it on a relative's property for a week visit, etc. I'm not sure what you mean about not being able to put everyone into the truck to travel? (And when we travel for fun (ie. not moving from one duty station to another) we only take the kids, we hire people to care for the pets at home) In addition, one kid is 16, and another is 17, so by the time we move from Alaska, after that trip is made, it would just be hubby and I, and a couple 13-ish kids.

I've spent most of the morning on the phone with Forest River trying to get specific weights for the camper (5185 dry, 7515 GVWR, 515 tongue) and weights for the Tundra (GCWR 16,000; Payload 1640/1465, Curb Weight 5460/5660, GVWR 7100/7200)

I believe the GVWR for the Tundra is off a bit, in the numbers above it's standard bed/long bed for the Super cab (not Crew), but I can get that out of the brochure when I go to the dealer this afternoon. The GCWR was hell to come up with, but now that I'm slowly starting to comprehend what all the weights mean, I see Payload is where we are going to run into the problem.

Yesterday, I thought the Tundra towing 10,200 was sufficient for a camper weighing 7515...today I understand it's not that simple. I promise I AM reading what you are saying, not getting a Tundra won't break my heart, but if something else is going to break my budget, I may have to sell this camper and either skip the RV idea at this point in our lives, or find a much lighter one.

Buying a truck is a definite, and that's really about the only definite right now. Buying a truck that suits what we want (longevity, safety, price, etc) is the biggest priority, and my goal is for that to fit the camper. If it doesn't, or can't, then the camper will either have to be eliminated or have to get lighter. Yesterday, I was thrilled with the Tundra, I thought it met my needs. Today I see it probably isn't going to, so I need to see if I can find another truck that does.

Anyway, I'm rambling, I DO appreciate your help, advice, and even a kick in the pants if that's what I need to see reason, I promise I'm trying to learn fast though
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Old 07-24-2009, 02:55 PM   #9
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Quote:
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I've spent most of the morning on the phone with Forest River trying to get specific weights for the camper (5185 dry, 7515 GVWR, 515 tongue) and weights for the Tundra (GCWR 16,000; Payload 1640/1465, Curb Weight 5460/5660, GVWR 7100/7200)

I believe the GVWR for the Tundra is off a bit, in the numbers above it's standard bed/long bed for the Super cab (not Crew), but I can get that out of the brochure when I go to the dealer this afternoon. The GCWR was hell to come up with, but now that I'm slowly starting to comprehend what all the weights mean, I see Payload is where we are going to run into the problem.
You are correct about the payload might be a concern. Your trailer and mine are similar, as I have a 7559 GVWR, and am pulling about 5500 lbs. ready for camping.

Beware of the 515 tongue weight....that will probably grow as you add camping gear. The brochure on SV 263 states 559 lbs., but I have ~800 lbs. on the tongue ready to camp. Most of that weight is now added to my payload, although I do put about 200 lbs. back on my trailer axles with the WDH. But with 2 people, a dog, generator, canoe, bikes, firewood, and other stuff, I am approaching my 7200 lb. GVWR rating.

Don't be afraid of a gasser. I have a 2006 Ford F150, 4x4, 5.4L engine, and 3.73 gears. I pulls our trailer great. The new Tundras have it all over the older Fords like mine, with a bigger engine and more gears in the tranny.

1 thing that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is wheelbase. You are trying to decide between a short and long bed pickup, and usually (depending on the cab setup) the long beds have longer wheelbases. Check out the stats on the different combinations of cabs and beds. I have a 145" wheelbase, and according to some charts I am pulling pretty close to the max with my (total length) 28.5' trailer.
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Old 07-24-2009, 04:58 PM   #10
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Know what to do

Looking at 4 children and 2 adults, that's 6 in the truck. My 4 door super crew only has 5 seat belts, so that is the max number of people I can put in. It's not how many will fit, it's how many seat belts do you have. Besides, 3 on the front bench can be a crowd, especially when towing. Assuming you are going to loose some children, now you know what to do. The Toyota is out, so research the Chevy next. Then pick out a Ford, and so on. Eliminate them from being able to tow what you want, if that is most important. Once you get 2 or 3 that fit the towing requirement, then eliminate them by safety concerns, creature comforts, etc. If you can't get the towing requirements in a 1/2 ton, you may have to look at a 3/4 ton. You've already eliminated a diesel. Go and see what is out there, enjoy shopping. Put your salesperson to work. State your towing requirements up front, and ask them what they have. Then make them pull the brochures and specs and prove it to you. In the end you will be a very informed consumer, and very familiar with the specs on whatever vehicle you buy. Good luck.
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Old 07-25-2009, 01:06 AM   #11
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Ahhh, you've got the bucket seats, we'll only buy the 6 seater bench. And yes, not overly impressed with the middle front seat int he Ford, but it is a truck, I don't expect a miracle (and I never looked at the Tundra center seat in the up position, I may dislike it as well)

We've removed the Tundra from consideration for the moment, we'd really like to keep the camper.

Wind...can you sell me a diesel? New, they are likely out of our price range, and I don't have a lot of dealerships to shop at, but I'd like your PoV on why diesel. Ford salesman told me there's no difference in the V10 and the diesel, they perform the same and have the same expected life...I want to throw the BS flag on that, even with my limited knowledge, I knew diesel was better to tow with (Daddy's a redneck die-hard Ford diesel guy)...the problem is I don't know WHY it's better.

I'm also confused on the rear axle thing...been reading here quite a bit and was under the impression a 4.10 was better than a 3.73 (my number might be wrong there) but I'm not finding a diesel with a 4.10 in Chevy/GMC or Ford. The '10 250/350 book shows it's available, dealer didn't have it on the lot, and salesguy didn't seem to understand what I was talking about. Is that 4.10 when dealing with gas only? (he knew what the number was, I couldn't articulate why i was looking for the 4.10)

We'll be hitting the Chevy/GMC dealers tomorrow, Chevy's lot is pretty bare in our price range, but GMC has a few we can maybe dicker into, again, though, gas.

Dodge is definitely out of the picture, though, the dealer here is terrible, and we have some long term resentment due to tranny issues over and over with a Grand Caravan back in the '90s. I have no choice about dealer service for the next year-ish, next closest dealers are about 350 miles away, so it's Ford, Chevy, and GMC we're deciding between.

I'm so tired, I think I'm making no sense. I guess my main question at this point is why diesel....is a 3/4 ton gas going to be ok if I can't swing diesel?

At this point, the trucks we're considering seem to be the F250 or 350 or the GMC or Chevy 2500HD. Pretty much decided on crew cab over extended cab today, undecided on standard 6' bed vs a long bed. Read a little about the wheelbase, I think we'd be ok with either bed length with the 3/4 ton, I think that will boil down to what a dealer has available once we pick the brand. (Major issues getting vehicles up here right now according to both the Toyota and Ford dealers I talked to today) All the trucks meet the payload, GCWR, GVWR we need for the camper.

We will go with a WDH on whatever we buy, unsure about the air bags and such at this point, and I'm sure I'll be looking for advice on that in the future.
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Old 07-25-2009, 05:29 AM   #12
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HI there, congrats on the camper. I have a couple of thoughts here. First, I agree on the Dodge Caravan and the trans problems that have plagued them, 90's caravans trans where good for 70k if lucky.

Alright as far as a tow vehicle...and I'm biased here...What about a Surbuban or YukonXL in the 2500 (3/4 ton chassis)? They will tow as good as a truck and have more room, I too have 4 kids and could'nt imagine packing them/us into a pick-up truck, 3 and 3. Also, the gmc/chevys have air shocks so you will not need to install airbags ever. They have hydo-boosted brakes and a floating HD rear end. Those are in the 2500 though not the 1500.

Sidenote, I work at a car dealership (saturn) and I can tell you that most likely your typical salesman won't know jack about towing other than the numbers the manufacturer provide. They WILL tell you whatever you want to hear to make a sell. You are doing the right thing reserching.

P.S. You don't need a diesel to tow that camper.
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Old 07-25-2009, 07:35 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by TheDiGs View Post


At this point, the trucks we're considering seem to be the F250 or 350 or the GMC or Chevy 2500HD. Pretty much decided on crew cab over extended cab today, undecided on standard 6' bed vs a long bed. Read a little about the wheelbase, I think we'd be ok with either bed length with the 3/4 ton,
Remember that a crew cab (the largest cab) plus a long bed increases the length of the truck (the wheelbase.) This, in turn, increases the turning radius. The longer turning radius decreases maneuverability, an important factor when trying to park, and especially when trying to back into campsites in campground with limited maneuvering space or navigating through many gas stations.

On the plus side, the longer wheelbase will often have significantly greater gas capacity (check this out with your dealer,) increasing your mileage between gas stops. Also, it will ride a bit more smoothly. Think of a limo vs a compact.

BTW - The 4.10 rear end (4.10 turns of the engine per rotation of the rear wheels) will decrease your gas mileage a bit but will give you more power at the rear wheels. I find this desirable when towing as it allows you to better accelerate to pass or merge, or to start from a dead stop.
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Old 07-25-2009, 08:06 AM   #14
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Tow vehicle

We were in same dilemma this spring. Almost bought a new GMC deisel but dealer screwed us around. Then we decided on a 6l Chev 3/4 ton but again dealer messed up.
We then found a 2009 Ford F250 V10 crew 4x4(410's buckets, short bed, stock suspension) and could not be happier with decision. Pulls our 12,000# 5th wheel as it is not even there. Revs high going uphill and engine breaking on steep downhills is amazing. Don.t even have to touch the brakes. Mileage around 9-10 pulling and 12-14 without load. I hear the new deisels are not much better. Very nice truck to live with as we use it as daily driver for short trips as well. I would think if you put over 15,000- 20,000 miles per year a deisel may pay off.
I have yet to read or find any negative comments on this engine
Good luck in your search
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Old 07-25-2009, 08:58 AM   #15
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Diesel

Hello again, and be proud of yourself for doing your homework. Interesting about a Suburban. I had forgot about them and the Ford Expedition. Come in 3/4 series, with large enough engines. Don't worry about a diesel unless you are towing 50% of the time. That's when they really pay off, or if towing very heavy, over 12,000 pounds. You have to drive it a lot to make it pay. Towing mileage will be much better, and it will pull better. This only comes in to play while towing. Unloaded mileage isn't better, and diesel cost more, and may be harder to find. Maintenance is more due to oil capacity, cost of filters, etc. I wouldn't worry a lot about a 4.10 rear end. That number refers to how many times the drive shaft must spin to make the tire spin one time. The bigger the number, 4.10, the better the truck pulls, but engine rpm will be higher and mileage will suffer. For normal towing a 3.73 in a 3/4 ton truck will work, especially in flat country like Florida. Hope this continues to help. Look at a Suburban or and Expedition. These also are tagged as cars here in North Carolina, much cheaper than Truck tags. They also may have more of the safety features you are looking for.
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Old 07-25-2009, 11:23 AM   #16
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Guys, you are a Godsend, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

About the SUV option, if it was 5 years ago in our lives, that would have been the preference, a 'Burban has been my dream car since I was about 12. Drooled for a good 20 minutes yesterday over an '05 Excursion (not an Expy fan). Where we are now, though, with the kids getting older, and planning this vehicle for 20 years (hopefully that isn't a pipe dream), a truck just fits us better.

We have 4 kids, but likely will make the AK-FL trip with only 2 or 3, the oldest is already in FL helping care for a family member with Alzheimer's. When the time comes closer for the trip, he'll decide if he wants to fly back to AK to make the trip with us. May or may not let the 2nd oldest stay up here with friends to finish high school....so that's a bit up in the air as to whether we'll actually have to use the 6th seat in the truck, but we'll have it if it is necessary. It will be uncomfortable for such a long trip and perhaps make things somewhat awkward, but overall a truck will allow us to travel in more comfort than we have on our cross country trips in the past. (Imagine the Lampoons on vacation, and that's what we looked like crammed in our minivans.)

I'm allergic to our cats, so being able to put them in the bed of the truck will help a great deal (we're getting a topper for the trip) and not having to have our luggage in our foot space will be a major upgrade from the past cross country trips we've taken.

Long term, though, we'll use the truck for hauling compost, dirt, etc after we retire, and will just have more utility for us than an SUV. We'll sacrifice some of the comfort for that for the short term of moving out of Alaska when the time comes.

I find myself leaning toward the GM trucks, I do drive a Chevy minivan, but not because of any brand loyalty, I simply liked the seating configuration better than the others at the time we purchased it. We're definitely a "foreign" car family by choice, but in actuality, as a family, we've owned Dodge, Chevy, Mercury (Nissan twin with Nissan engine though), and Buick. I do seem to have some preference for a GM vehicle over a Ford, I'm not sure why though.

But, payload-wise (I now think that's the most likely reason we experienced overheating with our minivan and the PuP) the 350 appeals a great deal.

Now, my question for the day...is a WDH something a dealer can put on? Should I be dickering that into the deal when i do start crunching numbers?

*Edited to add...Wind, FL isn't our final destination, it's just where family is and where we will go for "vacation" en route to the next duty station, it will have been 3 years since we last saw them by the time we leave here, and none of them are getting any younger. We have no idea where we will be stationed next, it could just as easily be Washington state, New York, Texas, Kentucky/Tennessee, or even Japan or Germany. We do plan to retire in southern Alabama, but that's just a dream at this point, as we will, of course, have to live where we can find the best job. FL and CO are the two places we will visit the most as that's where family is, but the starting location for those trips remains unknown. We don't, however, at this point, put 15k miles a year on a vehicle, that could change depending on where we end up next tho, we have put that many on in the past at other posts.*
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Old 07-25-2009, 12:25 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by TheDiGs View Post
Now, my question for the day...is a WDH something a dealer can put on? Should I be dickering that into the deal when i do start crunching numbers?
The weight distrubuting system is added to the trailer, not the tow vehicle. Make sure the tow vehicle has a heavy duty towing package, then it should come with a 2" reciever for the WDH shank to slip into.

A heavy duty towing package should also include an auxillary transmission cooler, a trailer wiring harness with a 7 pin connector (and maybe a 4 pin also), and maybe a bigger radiator and alternator, depending on the make and model.
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Old 07-25-2009, 01:06 PM   #18
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Digs. Well, you are getting there. Must be a truck, not a dodge, not a Nissan, and not a Toyota at the moment. Now you have 2 left, Ford and GM/Chevy. As was said, make sure it has a tow package. Let a camper dealer set up your hitch, not a car dealer. Get a copy of the directions and check it after they're through. Not all tech's know how to set up a hitch properly. I tow 6500 pounds with a Reese Dual Cam for sway control, and am happy since I got it set right. You mentioned adding a bed topper. Didn't say low or high, but regardless, be careful with animals in the back. Can get very hot, very fast, especially down in the south. Stop often to water them. Don't let out of sight equal out of mind. Hang in there. One last thing, if you are allergic to your cats, how do you plan to live in a camper with them for 30 days if need be?
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Old 07-26-2009, 12:14 AM   #19
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Just to update...

Yesterday we drove the F250 Super cab and the 350 Crew cab, they ride like trucks, seats were a bit uncomfortable. Of the two, the F350 gets my vote on payload and just the size of the cab.

Today we drove an extended cab GMC 2500HD, night and day. Now, I rented a Silverado 4WD about 6 months ago for a day while traveling, and it impressed me so much with the handling, I came home and immediately emailed my husband to (jokingly) ask if I could go buy one. He drove it today, and was equally impressed.

Due to my unhappiness with the seatbelts for the center front seat, we decided today one of the older kids will just have to not make the trip with us, and we opened ourselves up to looking at the 5 seaters, as well. (The Tundra has a shoulder belt in that position, the Fords and GMs have lapbelts, remember my whole safety issue)

All things considered, we will likely make an offer on the GMC Tuesday...and very likely the dealer will turn it down. For an everyday vehicle (which is may or may not be...most likely my van will be used for most of the driving as I rarely go anywhere and just the gas savings makes more sense to hubby to take my van to and from work and leave the truck home. The two or three times a month I actually go shopping or whatever, I can drive the truck or he can take it to work and leave my van home) though, the GMC is just a hell of a lot more comfortable vehicle.

I think my first choice would be the F350 right now, simply because of the crew cab and the payload. Hubby's first choice would be the GMC we drove today, though he is the one who was really wanting a crew cab for the kids to have more space, and I was the one saying they'd be fine in the extended cabs. What was said about the GM rear end never needing air bags, though, certainly tips the scale toward the GMC a bit.

Bottom line, we're still undecided, I suspect that we will end up with a Chevy from a lot about 350 miles away just to bring the price down to where we would prefer it be, because I fully expect the Ford and GMC dealers to turn down the offer I'm willing to make on the F350 and the 2500. We're making the trip south at the end of the week, and if we haven't bought something locally by then, I fully expect to buy down there, because the selection is much better.

The Tundra still remains our first choice for a truck, but I suspect after my husband drives it, he will lean toward the GMC overall, because we've heard it does ride like a truck. (Which would mean, if we bought the Tundra, we would sell this camper and start keeping an eye out for a much lighter one)

On the upside, our camper already has a WDH, I'd seen the "hitch" part of it in the storage area, but I thought the guy we bought it from was telling me it went on the rear bumper of the camper to hold a storage shelf. Once I read what mtnguy said about the WDH though, I realized that was likely what it was because of the brackets I'd seen on the tongue. Ran over this morning to check the fridge to see if it was part of the recall (it is) and discovered it does indeed already have the WDH, so that was good news.

We are absolutely trying to make a 3/4 ton work for us, our little ones are in love with the camper (we are too!), so our top choice is to get a truck that will pull it down to a price we are comfortable with.

Thank you to all who have been answering my posts, and thank you to the site in general. You've definitely kept us from a potentially costly mistake with buying not enough truck, and we likely wouldn't have known about the Dometic fridge recall if I hadn't read a post on it here.

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Old 07-26-2009, 09:27 AM   #20
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Funny you mentioned the seats. My wife absolutely refused to let me buy the GM trucks because she thought the seats were uncomfortable(I could not tell the difference). When she drove the Ford she much prefered their seats so that is what we bought.
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