Half Ton Tow Vehicle Suggestions

[Bramic71]

Hello gentlemen and ladies. I know a lot of you have probably ly had multiple campers along with different tow vehicles over the years. Soon we are going to purchase another half ton, crew cab, 4x4 for what we hope will soon be our new camper.
Our camper will more than likely be a Grey Wolf 19RR or 22RR. Both with a dry weight that I believe is shy of 5000lbs.
That being said, we are looking at the Ram 1500, Ford F150, and the Chevy Silverado 1500. All of them with V-8's. The Ram would for sure have 3.92 gears, but not sure about the others. What are your thoughts about the stability, tow abilities, and dependability of these three in your first hand usage.
Thank you for any input as I have always only owned Rams.

[Kimber45]

I'm a ram guy. at that weight any ram with a 5.7 would be more then fine. Be on the look out for folks towing pop ups with duallys who will tell you you need a 3/4 ton truck.

[Bramic71]

I hear you. I've ran into that in the past. I got rid of my 2016 Ram because I was offered what I paid for it, and it had 3.21's. I wanted something a little more capable with a lower gear because we tend to travel a lot in higher elevations when we vacation. Other than that, my Ram didn't have too many issues. Thank you for the input.

[dsjohns71]

Definitely a RAM.. why look at the others? Lol

[NavyLCDR]

Dodge Durango!

[Bramic71]

So far Ram/Dodge for the win. Lol

[BigH]

First off...forget the dry weight of the camper being under 5k. Both of those campers are toy haulers with GVWR over 7,500lbs. Still plenty doable with a properly equipped half ton. The key word is 'properly'.

One can't be sure until they load their trailer but your tongue weight on either trailer will likely be over 800lbs (I would want a higher tongue weight than that for stability if it was me). After adding that with the weight of people and cargo in the truck you could run out of payload pretty quick if you choose your truck poorly.

I'm not brand loyal to anything. My last truck was a Chevy and before that a Ford but I really like that 8 speed in the Ram paired with the 3.92 gears.

Good luck.

[flyflotrtim]

When I purchased in 2019 the F150 had the most torque and payload. The higher level Rams had the nicest interiors. You can see from my signature what I liked the best. Be sure to test drive and see what meets your needs the best. Super happy with my choice, tows great and a very comfortable pleasant daily driver.

[ARhappycamper]

Originally Posted by Bramic71

Hello gentlemen and ladies. I know a lot of you have probably ly had multiple campers along with different tow vehicles over the years. Soon we are going to purchase another half ton, crew cab, 4x4 for what we hope will soon be our new camper.
Our camper will more than likely be a Grey Wolf 19RR or 22RR. Both with a dry weight that I believe is shy of 5000lbs.
That being said, we are looking at the Ram 1500, Ford F150, and the Chevy Silverado 1500. All of them with V-8's. The Ram would for sure have 3.92 gears, but not sure about the others. What are your thoughts about the stability, tow abilities, and dependability of these three in your first hand usage.
Thank you for any input as I have always only owned Rams.

Forget the dry weight ! Ficticious number ! What is the gross weight rating ?

[Bramic71]

2800lbs and 3400lbs on the CCC. The 19RR is the one with the most CCC. The good thing is, there will ne no toys in the back. We want a toyhauler simply for the open space in the back. If we could find one that is lighter but still give us good open space, I'd be willing to take a look as well. We will have tons of capacity left over when fully loaded, as it's just the wife and I. The good thing is, most everything can travel in the camper.

[acadianbob]

Nothing pulls better than a 3.5 Ecoboost.

[njfishing]

2X on the F150 with the 3.5 Ecoboost. Get the Max Tow with the 3.55 gears and 35 gallon fuel tank. The engine loves to pull and with all the torque coming on in lower RPM bands, it keeps the engine from downshifting and screaming up grades . The 35 gallon tank comes in handy on long trips. @ 10 miles per gallon you won’t need to stop as much.

I’m towing an 8500 pound travel trailer with mine. I’m more impressed every time I tow with it and it’s an impressive, responsive and fuel efficient daily driver.

[llr]

Another vote for the F150 with 3.5 Ecoboost. With the 10 speed trans the gear ratios are not nearly as important as they used to be.

I don't have a lot of high altitude experience but a boosted engine should do much better then a NA engine.

Not hauling toys the tongue weight will probably be much higher then expected, this is required so it is reasonable with the toys.

[Bramic71]

I have heard the same about the 3.5 Ecoboost. The only thing keeping me away from them is the repair cost if you lose the turbos.

[Bramic71]

I really appreciate all the replies from you guys.

[ppine]

I have been driving a 7.3 liter diesel for 20 years, but I was just looking at the Ford F-150 hybrid with the 3.5 Ecoboost and small electric motor with 2.4 kw battery. It is rated around 12,000 pounds.

[IvoryHemi]

I agree that Ram has the best overall 1/2 ton package for towing.

- cast iron engine block
- largest F/R brakes (14.9”/14.8”)
- optional load leveling air suspension
- F/R GAWR of 3,900 lbs/4,100 lbs
- ZF transmission towing temps only ~170 F
- GCWR of 17,000 lbs is plenty capable
- 3.92 gears & 33-gallon gas tank are must have

[bshort]

Had a 2019 GMC 1500 with the 6.2. Towed great. Wouldn't touch a Ram.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Bramic71

I have heard the same about the 3.5 Ecoboost. The only thing keeping me away from them is the repair cost if you lose the turbos.

"losing" a turbo isn't a given. If one pays attention to the normal conventions for turbo equipped engines they can last a long time trouble free.

Regular oil changes using the specified oil and giving the engine some idle time before shutting down can go a long way to fending off turbo problems.

I had an early Ford Mustang with turbo. Owner's manual was specific on the "idle time" to let the turbo housing/bearings to cool. I was careful and did so. My ex-wife used to come charging into the driveway like a Domino's Pizza Driver and as soon as the wheels stopped she shut the engine off and ran for the house. Sometimes before the rear shocks had allowed the suspension to settle.
(just ONE of the many reasons she earned the title of "ex)

Eventually she cooked the turbo. Bearings froze up due to coked oil in them.

Today's turbo designs are a lot better with cooling for the center section as well as modern synthetic oils resisting coking far better than the 1980's vintages.

Just like any engine of any make, a turbocharged Ford Ecoboost will last a long time and be trouble free if one just takes care of it.

[AlaskaErik]

You're looking at a GVWR of almost 7600 and 7700 lbs for those two trailers. If you're determined to stay with a half ton, I'd go with the Silverado LTZ 1500 with the 6.2L engine and max trailering package. That way you also get the advanced trailering system, which makes hooking up much easier and also has trailer tire pressure and temperature monitoring that displays on the infotainment screen, just to name a few of the features. The Ram tends to have a very low payload capacity, which means you can easily exceed it with a trailer that heavy. For that reason alone, I'd eliminate the Ram up front. My 2019 Silverado (stats down below) has a payload capacity of 1910 lbs, max hitch weight of 1200 lbs and a theoretical 12,000 lb tow capacity, although I'd never tow that much. Right now I believe the Silverado/Sierra simply have the best technology for towing.