Debating trading my baby cause towing mileage makes me :mad:

Im just putting some opinions and my own experiences out there. I've owned an 06 Taco DCSB, my uncle has a TRD TXpro, and I've driven countless Tacoma second gens. I cant speak for your new Ram work truck but my dads 05 2500HD CCSB drives just as smooth as any Tacoma I've driven. Turning circle is worse than a compact truck, that's a given but I've never had trouble driving anywhere in the country including downtown LA, even with a trailer hooked up. Sitting on 275-70-17 tires it was an absolute breeze to drive from Seattle to Provo in literally one sitting (minus fuel stops). No mule kicking at all, I felt great after ~900 miles. The truck is daily driven by my parents (50+ years old) in Seattle with ease. Maybe your Ram drives like crap, but that doesn't mean all 3/4 and 1 tons do.

The new Ram and Ford HDs are much bigger than the older GM HD's though, its crazy. The hoods are like 6 feet off the ground, you need a 4 foot ladder just to check the oil.


But its been a great rig for us. Used GMs and Rams are holding their value well because they're sought after and good trucks. But if you're into a new rig that's cool and good luck.

 

No worries, I see your point. However my Fiance hates the drive of my Ram. That coupled with the water in the transmission issues of the mid to late 2000's sierra would scare me off ever buying a GM 3/4 ton for family use. I work with farmers daily and you never see a truck with an Alison on the farm for more than 5 years. I don't know if they've fixed it in the new ones, but the old ones used to get very glitchy once they had been wet (ie large irrigation puddles). Once the ghosts come they never leave that tranny, which GM claims came out of an M1 tank .

Like I said my plan now is to wait to see a few 2015 F150's out on the road, test drive one, and if I like it buy one for the future wife. If I don't like it I'll see how the two people I know with Ecodiesels are doing with there trucks than consider ordering one of those.

 

Since I've been looking at trailers to live in, the thought of a bigger truck occurred to me. So I visited a few dealers just to get a feel for a bigger truck. Everywhere I went, the salespeople were absolutely drooling over the prospect of getting my Tacoma. It felt like I had just walked into a den of lions with a steak tied around my neck. The dealers all seemed like they are falling all over themselves to get rid of their big trucks. When they offer to knock nearly 10k off the NADA just to "get you into it" it rings alarm bells to me. I'll keep my truck and add a tranny cooler and scangauge. I'll actually see returns on that versus spending thousands on something new and unproven for me.

 

I'd rather push the trailer than buy a dodge to tow it I've owned about 5, have Another 10 or so from immediate friends. We all agree the brand sucks and won't see any more money from us. The only thing positive about the trucks was the Cummins. 300k mile engine sitting in a 50k mile truck. Still it was amazingly cheap to own. You never spend a dollar on fuel for months at a time while you're waiting for parts money to get it back on the road.

 

Why not Tundra? Sorry if it's been mentioned already in this thread, I skipped page 2

 

My father-in-law gets 7 MPG towing a 5,000-pound fifth wheel camper with his Dodge Ram 1500 with the Hemi.

 

I got 17.4 mpg towing a pop up weighing in at 2300lbs dry and roughly 3000-3500lbs wet this summer. I was pleasantly surprised. I do have an ultra gauge and pay close attention to the instant mpg. The 17.4 was calculated using miles and gallons, not the ultra gauge. My truck is bone stock and pulls great. It was mostly highway and we were keeping it between 60-65mph. We are now upgrading to a 3900 pound airstream and I am expecting our mileage to drop to the 14mpg range. We will see in two weeks when I pick it up.

 

You will almost certainly see a bigger drop than that, likely to somewhere in the 12-13 mpg range. My complaints are with a S/C on my motor. I have way better power (I can rapidly pass even with 5000 lbs load) but my mpg's suck. My gas costs $6/us gallon too.

I have a Hemi in my 2014 3/4 ton. Fuel economy is terrible on Dodge trucks, they lie worst than any other manufacturer about mpg's. That being said I have two friends/customers at work who own Ecodiesels and are getting 25 mpg's without load, and 17 mpg's with 26 ft trailers. That's the only reason I'm looking at a dodge. If my fiance uses it, then it'll only get maybe 5-6k put on it a year. So I'm not as worried about breaking it as I would be if it saw more thorough use.

If Tundra had the Cummins in it right now, it'd be between an F150 and the Tundra. The Tundra is a new dress with an old motor, Ford has them with there pants down. Just like how Ford has everyone else when it comes to gas job 1/2 tons. When they release the 2015 F150 I expect to see them multiply like rabbits on the farms around here.

Anyways my point would be that the Tundra should of come with a new powertrain. Right now it gets bad MPG and is not making as much power per lbs or dollar of gas as a Ford. So I'm not interested in paying the $6-10K price difference for a Tundra that is no better, but is arguably a worse truck for the purpose, than the Ford F150.