what truck is best for me?

[contourbs]

i have a 03 explorer now and its a gas hog, im looking for a new truck that needs to be a 4 door model because of atv trips we make on the weekends. it needs to pull my 6x12 trailer and looking to get good gas mileage. so what truck is it and why?

[kc2006]

Diesel!

I have a ford with 241,000 miles on it and it gets 18mpg and i'm not a slow poke when i drive (just too much fun). It will pull anything you want and get the milage. Of course if this is out of the question a crew cab 1/2 ton would work. I'm a firm believer that if your doing alot of work with the truck you should really get at least a 3/4 ton.

[Smalltimer1]

Sounds like you're a candidate for a F-250 Power Stroke with the Torqshift automatic. The one I drove last week was a pure hoss, didn't even know my trailer was back there.

[blafleur]

I've always been a Cummins fan, but from what I've heard, the newest Fords have finally worked the 6.0 bugs out and are supposed to be pretty good. Still love my Cummins though.

Bryan

[UNISCAPER]

I would not buy another Ford until a few sseasons are on thier transsmission and owners report back. Got stuck once, never again. Talk from dealers and Ford Engineers is cheap. i want to hear after the heavy snows come, of from the people who pull through the mountains with them. Since they droped the C-6, Ford transmissions are right next to Dodge, the worst in the indistry.

[hosejockey2002]

It's hard to have your cake and eat it too. It takes fuel to move weight. You will get much better mileage with diesel, although IMO those guys who claim they "get 18-20 mpg towing 10,000 lbs. at 80 mph" are either bad at math or good at telling fish stories. Ford, Dodge and GM all make good trucks, and they can all have their problems. Buy the one that YOU like.

[Smalltimer1]

Originally Posted by UNISCAPER

I would not buy another Ford until a few sseasons are on thier transsmission and owners report back. Got stuck once, never again. Talk from dealers and Ford Engineers is cheap. i want to hear after the heavy snows come, of from the people who pull through the mountains with them. Since they droped the C-6, Ford transmissions are right next to Dodge, the worst in the indistry.

The Ford Torqshift has been out for 2 years now. There have not been any massive issues with it either. It doesn't have the solenoid problems the Allisons have. (I've done my research, as well as taken apart those that came out of the truck on the farm). The ideal set-up would be to have a Eaton-Fuller/Road Ranger auto, but I don't think they have a small enough unit to fit in a pickup truck. I may have to further investigate that.

[GreenTime]

I have used several types of trucks over the years, from a little mazda pickup (gutless- just destroyed it pulling trailers) to a ford f-550 flatbed dump. Currently we have ten trucks on the road and each have a purpose. I have used (in landscape maintenance) an f-150 and 250 (gas) and a 350 and 550 (powerstroke) and have also used a couple of Isuzu/GMC cabforward trucks. the fords work fine, but I prefer the Cabforwards. I have used several combinations of body and engine and the best I have ever used is a 1 ton GMC with an Isuzu diesel and a hydrolic dump flatbed w/pocket sides. Great visability, tight turning radius, very reliable, low maintenance and lots of room for tools.