Hi i come over Ls1Tech

I'm on the market for a daily driver and tower for my camaro...

I have 3 options

Ram 1500 SLT 4x2 QuadCab
Chevy 1500 LT 4x2 Extended Cab
F150 XL SuperCab 4x2

Is anyone of the 3 going to change styling in the near future? I know the Ram and the Chevy have been facelifted this year. The F150 has some time around on the same design...

Any input from real owners?

 

The Silverado will be changing in the near future. Go test drive all three and find out which one you like best.

 

What he said..

The GM truck will be out in late 06 (Septemberish) as an 07 model. There are several disguised next gen trucks floating around on the net. Ill see if I can find some. The new GM truck will still have a LSx variant in it.

 

Found some.











There are a bunch of them but you get the basic idea about the lines of the truck.

 

I love gm. But for what you are asking I would not put the 4x2 1500 silverado with 5.3l as my first option. For a 1/2 ton 5.xl motor 2 wheel drive ford would be my choice. UNLESS you are willing to buy gm and put a 4.10 gear in the rear end. Alot of the 2x4's have 3.42's which are HORRIBLE for pulling. Im in now way brand bashing. And dont think I hate chevy/gmc either. But in stock form their are better options IMO. I own 2 fords and 1 chevy and 1 titan. I have 3500lbs with every vehicle. One ford (f150) extendec cab v6 standard and then a navigator with 32 valve 5.4l. The navi pulled the better of the two.

But to be honest none pulled like the titan. And its even nice to drive around town. But about 2-3 less mpg.

 

Ive towed lots, (large u-haul trailers, open car trailers, several boats) with my RCSB 4.8 and 3.42's and never thought it was under powered/geared. I have 4.10's now and they do tend to do a bit better.

 

I dont doubt you.

But I have taken 3500lbs off of my rcsb 5.3l with 3.42's and hooked it up to my v6 ford 2x4 with 3.55's (I think) and it would actually pull the trailer better. But it wasnt as comfortable(being standard).

IM not saying either pull it horable.

If I were to buy 1 truck for my DD and towed with it on a regular basis it would probably be the vortec max(I know it wasnt an option). But have you considered it?

 

Don't forget to try Nissan

Are you buying a- stripper model, motor options, cab configurations.

Titan-5.6 engine, excab, in the very base model!!!

 

The Titan is a nice truck, but I;ve done some reading and there seems to be several repeat rear-end failures in them-not good for a tow rig. And if he's looking for a base model, he may be able to get a GM, Ford or Dodge just south of $20k with what he wants, theres no way you could do that price for a titan. As others have said, 3.73:1 gears at a minimum are a must IMO. I haven't towed anything substancial in mine, but with the bed loaded down, it still felt stable (and actually rode nice!) still had good power and most important, braking didn't feel too taxed. I drove a older (2000 or 2001) Dodge with a full bed and the degradation of braking with a load was downright scary, FWIW.

 

Dodge - Likes to smoke transmissions - They may have gotten that sorted out by now tho, I don't know

Chevy - Crappy gears for towing. Other than that, not bad, but not great either

Ford - Good gears for towing, but good luck seeing over the *** end of it and looking at your loaded trailer as even the 4x2's *** sits 8ft in the air. Not a bad choice, but once again, not a great one either

Nissan - Good gears, better build quality (imo) than the other three, if you can just get past the looks of the damn thing, lol. I beileve they've got the rearend problem sorted, and the brake problem was an 04 deal only if I recall right. I'd say if you can get ahold of a stripper model, that would be my choice.