3/4 Ton Truck

That's always my argument when people say keep a domestic until the warranty runs out. You still may have to deal with the hassle of warranty repairs - assuming they don't say "working as intended".

At least most of the car dealerships near me are essentially on my way to work, though I bought my Tundra from one across town.

 

Engine power and torque is just a part of it and simply having higher engine ratings doesn't mean the truck is doing better or worse. What exactly are you expecting when you use a pickup to tow 10,000+ pounds up a steep grade? Do you think that 1000 ft-lb of torque from a diesel is necessary in a pickup? The Detroit Diesel in the 2012 Cascadia Freightliner I drove at my trucking school had that output. Most of the medium duty trucks and buses that I have driven have about half the engine output numbers of the "HD" light truck pickup diesel engines and perform just fine. The 2016 F-750 I drove had the closest output numbers to the current pickup diesels (compared to most of the trucks I've driven) and performed no better than the other trucks I've driven and was worse than some of them (Hino 268A, Kenworth T-270/370, Blue Bird Vision/All-American, a 20 year old bus powered by an 8.1L CNG engine). There's so much more to a truck that performs well than maximum engine output and I would greatly prefer to slow down some than drive a pickup with an engine it really doesn't need. I'd rather have my truck eat less parts, cost less initially, and consume less fuel than have higher engine output numbers.

OK sure, extra power is nice. What's not nice is a truck eating tires, the initial cost of the truck, an extra 1000 pounds on the front end, blown turbos, and after-treatment systems. If I had an expense account and didn't have to worry about the cost of the truck sure, 1000 ft-lb from a pickup would be cool to own. But it wouldn't really be the most practical, durable, or longest lasting solution. Anyone worried about towing over 10,000 pounds on a regular basis should probably get a Class A license first before worrying about what truck to buy anyway.

There are many instances that a gas engine makes sense, especially in a light truck.

Power is just one part; the engine isn't "struggling" necessarily. There's nothing wrong with slowing down while you head up a steep mountain grade. You're way more like to destroy drivetrain and front-end parts with a diesel motor than a gas motor.

 

All I can say is I have owned two duramaxes my self and between me and my family we have owned 10 other duramax Trucks and I can honestly none of them have ever give any significant trouble. We have also owned a few Cummins and power strokes and I can’t say the same about those trucks. If I was buying a 3/4 ton truck I wouldn’t even waste my time looking at the gas engines. I would go and get myself another duramax. Two of my buddies just bought new Denali duramax trucks and they are bad ass but $80k for a pickup is too rich for my blood.

 

Whatever you do OP; 1/2, 3/4 or 1 ton take it slow and easy, same for if its a gas or diesel. Drive slow, drive to arrive.

Nothing bothers me more than ignorant drivers towing a load, going unsafe speeds and on the darn fast lane!

 

@computeruser6 I don't know where you get the unreliability from diesels from, but other than emissions crap they're damn near bulletproof now. A Ford gas engine found in the half tons and the 6.7 PSD with emissions are pretty much equal in terms of durability. I used to work where we had a fleet of F350's with the PSD and would do 30-50k kms a year, with idle hours being half the engine hours, and other than the odd DEF code being thrown we had zero issues with the engine or the driveline. Sure we had suspension issues the odd time, but driving down very rough oilfield roads even broke Raptors. If we're comparing the Tundra 5.7 to a diesel, of course the 5.7 is more reliable - but comparing a 6.7 to the 5.0 Coyote I feel more comfortable in backing the PSD over the Coyote.

 

No fast lane for me, doing the speed limit in the right lane. I wish cars did a better job merging while I’m in that right lane, already had a couple sketchy situations.

 

I get it from being a commercial driver of Class 7 and 8 trucks and buses; they are sure as hell not bulletproof and there are plenty of more issues than just after-treatment systems.

 

Very wrong on many accounts.

Ram's DEF-fill is actually in the fuel door. I believe GM was moving theirs to the same spot as well, but am unsure there.

GM actually did move the DEF tank. But really, how many of you are going to high center a full size truck and puncture a DEF tank?

My view of the whole situation was that Ram's interior was #1, without a second thought, on their 2019+ trucks. They were the only 3/4 ton truck to have adaptive cruise control and collision avoidance, making my decision an easy one. They won my business purely on that alone.

The other big benefits that make towing very nice and easy and daily life comfortable is the factory air suspension. No other 2500 class truck has that feature from the factory and it is a godsend allowing the truck to be soft and comfortable unloaded and firm up to maintain a level setup even at 6,000 lbs on the rear axle (it's rated limit).

It feels slow when it's unloaded compared to other diesels (even my dad's 2006 Duramax) but when loaded at nearly 26,000 lbs (CDL limits), it performs better and holds its speed better on climbs. We had the overall load at 26,000 putting the total trailer load at 18,000 and it handled it admirably. It's hard to explain why but it feels just as slow only pulling a 7,500 lb trailer.

The biggest downsides I've had are that the 6-speed transmission doesn't always behave well and at these loads I like to lock it out of 6th gear at 55 and under, and then manually pre-shift when rolling into a hill to get it into the power band ahead of time if I'm going over 55 on a larger highway.

The only other issues I've had were a handful of recalls and a few emissions related errors that came up when I shut it off accidentally during a regen. Overall though DEF is an annoyance but cheap and not really that bad. The truck handles great with the rear suspension and definitely handles a big load better than other 2500s and rides just as plush unloaded as a 1500.

With all that being said, I'm probably going GMC next time around for the Duramax because I love how those feel unloaded. They feel speedy and powerful like a 1500 gas engine and that's way more lively and fun than a Cummins. Once they have adaptive cruise control I'll be very happy to go with them again.

 

The GM HDs should be getting adaptive cruise for 2021.

 

Cool story, bro.
If you read my post you will see that I've included personal experience for my reasonings, and that I have fun little caveats in there like "unless the moved the DEF tank" and the last words were "I think" which would imply a lack of certainty.

FYI you wouldn't have to high center the truck to tear a hole in the DEF behind a tire. Check out what kind of damage blown tires or road debris can do.

 

this is true , my opinion is that yes they all have issues however when buying a domestic truck you are more likely to have a lemon or multiple problems than you are if you were to buy a Toyota product .

 

Previously to owning my 2019 tundra , I owned a 2015 GMC sierra , The engine couldnt be sealed , so many oil leaks , Oil pan , rear main seal , timing cover , oil cooler lines / trans cooler lines, then had the oil pump replaced 3 times , when I asked GM if they had a solution for this well known issue , they straight out said NO . Then I came back with " so this is going to keep happening to me" They straight out said yes ! The next day I went and traded it in at my local toyota dealer .
I was also very unhappy with GM wax coated frames . 1 Yr of Canadian winter and the frame is rusting . I will never buy another gm product .

I will never own a FCA Product either , I know too many people who have owned Rams in the past 10 years that have wasted their hard earned money on those piles of junk.

I have been eyeing the new for Ford 7.3 Gasser however !

Im still very happy with my tundra , not a single problem what so ever , Just wish I could get a little more payload .

 

Yep! Just got done towing my 8.5x22ft trailer across the country. The Tundra did a pretty good job but I was thinking about the new 7.3 Ford pretty much the whole time. My GCW was about 13,800 lbs but my GVW was right at the max 7,200 lbs

 

Bump. Maybe a few more votes and feedback, probably two months out from upsizing.

 

Just upsized to a 2020 6.7 HO Ram 3500 DRW from a 14 Tundra double cab. It is great to not have to worry about being over GCVW. The Ram drives and towes like a dream. Whish I would have went this way a long time ago. I have owned Toyota trucks for the last 25 years. Great trucks but if your towing anything bigger then a 24 foot trailer look at a bigger truck. 3/4 tons seems like a waste of time as the 1 tons are not that much more and towing capacities are much larger.

 

Congrats. Hope you'll stick around and keep us up to date on your experience.

 

Congrats , Nice truck ! .. hope you got extended warranty on the emission system !

 

I second this!

 

Thanks. I can’t go any bigger than a 3/4 ton for my company vehicle allowance. How is the ride quality without a load? Any issues so far or things you don’t like?

 

I hear ride quality questions alot about 3/4 - 1 ton trucks. What has this world come to!? Does
Everything need to be kind, gentle, soft and forgiving?

ofcourse itll be rougher than a Tundra but
Not so rough like a bull gosh guys. I can’t everything in life is a compromise. We own a 2500 05 duramax even tho its a ifs ride is fine but i prefer an solid axle.

 

Ride quality without any cargo is great with my rear tires at 60lbs. With a tongue weight of around 800-1000lbs without the weight distribution hitch it felt really good also sag was about 3/4 to 1 inch. I did set it up with my weight distribution hitch for my first tow and I didn't even notice I had a trailer behind me averaging about 11-12 MPG fully loaded up. Transmission temps never rose above 165 going from PHX to Flag. My Tundra would hit 240-250 at times on this route getting about 8 MPG. Trailer is a 17 Forest River Sonoma 240RKS. This trailer was just a little much for my Tundra and I had 1480lbs of available cargo. I was tired of not being able to bring everything I wanted or worried about filling my water tank and well it felt like that Tundra was going to explode at times. Truck drives great comfortable and nimble for being 8 foot wide in the back. The best thing is the exhaust brake feature game changer in my opinion for long down grades. I do plan on getting a much bigger trailer that's why I went 3500 DRW 3500lb + pin weight is in this trucks future. As far as emission go they are not required where I am registered so once the warranty is up the delete will happen. I have always have been a loyal Toyota owner but they just can not touch what this truck can do not even close.

 

It will be my daily driver and I drive 20k+ miles a year. Unloaded ride quality is an important factor, especially if one brand is significant better than another.

 

keep an eye on where you get diesel and keep receipts. Cummins thought It. would be a good idea to swap to that stupid cp4 fuel pump. They’re already seeing failures out of it on the Cummins boards. It’s the same fuel pump duramax moved away from. Ford is tied up in a class action lawsuit because of it. When the pump goes is shoots metal shards through the fuel system. They make a disaster kit which catches the metal shards or fleece performance has a retro fit kit out that replaces it with a cp3.

unless things have changed and I doubt they have, the extended warranty wouldn’t cover emissions on the rams. They consider it a wear and tear item. Only covered under the 3yr/36,000 mile warranty. I lost the dpf differential pressure sensor at 41k and they wouldn’t cover it

 

Its sad unless i was a light duty trucker, the only 3/4 ton engine option i would be choosing is the gas power. Coming from a pre DEF ownership i wont and cant deal with all the emissions emotions crap.

 

I was thinking the same after dealing with diesel trucks at work for a few years - then I got stuck driving a 6.2 gasser at work, I would go diesel in a heartbeat and roll the dice with the emission stuff. Throw 2 sleds on a trailer behind it and 1000 lbs in the bed and it struggles to get up 8% hills at 90 km/h. Maybe the new 7.3 or the 6.6 from GM are much better, but the power you get from the new diesels is well worth dealing with the emission stuff. It's either half ton or diesel HD for me from now on.

 

It's also legal to do emissions deletes here, as far as I know. (At least, that's the first thing my coworker did when he got his new Powerstroke.)

 

We just don't have smog checks - so don't know if it's legal per se, they just don't check for it unless you give them a reason to check. I'd personally do the 3 year bumper to bumper warranty then delete since it is pricey. I'd look at older diesels but even 2013's with reasonable mileage are over half the price of a brand new one. If I could pay cash up front sure I'd look at ones that old, but I'm not even close to the point of having $40k just sitting there I could drop on a vehicle.

 

We just picked up a 2020 ram 2500 gasser for a light service truck, I’ll be able to directly compare the gas vs diesel. First impression is the gasser feels strong but isn’t nearly as smooth as the diesel in our 19 ram 3500. The new 6.4 is definitely night and day compared to past hd gas motors. For a personal truck I’d still pick the diesel but just because I prefer not because of lack of power with the gas. (Side note. Whoever thought the little dash knob gear selector was a good idea should be hung)

 

I vote the Ford 7.3L. It really is a beast and unless you are consistently towing >15000 lbs I think it fills a huge hole there was in the market between 1/2 ton gassers and HD diesels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HiR9dxvGLY&ab_channel=TheFastLaneTruck

The GM 6.6 Gasser seemed a little disappointing. Not sure on the Ram 6.4L with the 8 speed, but it was a total dog with the previous 6 speed.