Truck Purchase GM vs Toyota

Do you do a lot of miles off-road while towing? I'm asking because towing 5k with a midsize is fine on asphalt but when I do it in the bush, you can really feel the weight.

It takes longer to get up to speed, the brakes are getting worked really hard on the truck (already had to replace the rear brakes with 50K kms, 30K miles), gotta take more speed to go trough certain obstacles, it pushes you around more and I have to be in 4x4 low more often to not overheat the engine. That's with a utility trailer and not an enclosed trailer on a truck rated for 7500lbs of towing.
 
TheDo114 said:
Do you do a lot of miles off-road while towing? I'm asking because towing 5k with a midsize is fine on asphalt but when I do it in the bush, you can really feel the weight.

It takes longer to get up to speed, the brakes are getting worked really hard on the truck (already had to replace the rear brakes with 50K kms, 30K miles), gotta take more speed to go trough certain obstacles, it pushes you around more and I have to be in 4x4 low more often to not overheat the engine. That's with a utility trailer and not an enclosed trailer on a truck rated for 7500lbs of towing.
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Get up to speed? lol...yeah, the max speed on the one-way fire road is only about 10-15, without a trailer. And we generally don't use the brakes much. We crawl along, too rough not to. A couple steep little hills over rock ledges make it tricky. Always the worst in winter. but we convoy in and out. My cousin pulls a 22' enclosed trailer but he has a F350 Tremor.
 
Dusdaddy said:
Get up to speed? lol...yeah, the max speed on the one-way fire road is only about 10-15, without a trailer. And we generally don't use the brakes much. We crawl along, too rough not to. A couple steep little hills over rock ledges make it tricky. Always the worst in winter. but we convoy in and out. My cousin pulls a 22' enclosed trailer but he has a F350 Tremor.
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By up to speed, it's going from 1 to 15-20 for that little patch that is ok and then braking again because of another obstacle lol. We average around 5 miles per hour for the whole trip, taking us 12 hours total.

If you're going pretty slow the whole time then a mid-size truck should be good. stick it in 4 low and crawl all the way there.
 
TheDo114 said:
By up to speed, it's going from 1 to 15-20 for that little patch that is ok and then braking again because of another obstacle lol. We average around 5 miles per hour for the whole trip, taking us 12 hours total.

If you're going pretty slow the whole time then a mid-size truck should be good. stick it in 4 low and crawl all the way there.
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Agreed, I wasn't worried about that. It's the same conclusion I came to when I downsized the trailer. Like I said, my only concern is quality and volume of cargo space.
 
Dusdaddy said:
Agreed, I wasn't worried about that. It's the same conclusion I came to when I downsized the trailer. Like I said, my only concern is quality and volume of cargo space.
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That was another big push for me besides interior space, cargo space. I ran a Softopper on my tacoma because I couldn't fit anything under a tonneau cover. Any cooler of size was too tall. The extra depth of the full size bed is great. When camping my generator, bikes and all of my equipment fit in under the hard cover. It's great.
 
Anything tall goes in the trailer. I tend to stick to DiamondBack covers. They are the most weather tight and tough models I have ever seen. But I do like those fancy inflatable toppers. It would be nice to have them just to use for the long trips then easily store the rest of the time.
 
Fightnfire said:
That was another big push for me besides interior space, cargo space. I ran a Softopper on my tacoma because I couldn't fit anything under a tonneau cover. Any cooler of size was too tall. The extra depth of the full size bed is great. When camping my generator, bikes and all of my equipment fit in under the hard cover. It's great.
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My Ranger is actually great in that regards, bed depth is a little over 21 inches so most coolers fit under a cover. Tacoma got better with this gen and the worst is the frontier with a little over 16 inches of depth.
 
The plot thickens. I weighted everything I usually bring with me on a hunting trip, including the trailer tongue weight. I knew it was over 1000lbs but I was thinking more around 1100lbs to 1200lbs. It's actually 1600lbs. That puts me in the upper range of payload for any half-ton and eliminates the Tundra as I have not seen one with more than 1400lbs of payload in the real world. Looks like I might need an HD truck.
 
TheDo114 said:
The plot thickens. I weighted everything I usually bring with me on a hunting trip, including the trailer tongue weight. I knew it was over 1000lbs but I was thinking more around 1100lbs to 1200lbs. It's actually 1600lbs. That puts me in the upper range of payload for any half-ton and eliminates the Tundra as I have not seen one with more than 1400lbs of payload in the real world. Looks like I might need an HD truck.
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Man that's a lot of gear for hunting! Granted I go by my house and not camping like you do.
 
TheDo114 said:
The plot thickens. I weighted everything I usually bring with me on a hunting trip, including the trailer tongue weight. I knew it was over 1000lbs but I was thinking more around 1100lbs to 1200lbs. It's actually 1600lbs. That puts me in the upper range of payload for any half-ton and eliminates the Tundra as I have not seen one with more than 1400lbs of payload in the real world. Looks like I might need an HD truck.
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Good excuse as any...lol

I doubt I carry that much. Granted, water jugs and fuel cans are most of the weight, 250#s right there. Food and clothes would be another 100#s. Guns and gear, 50#s. Misc tools/tire chains, another 100#s. So, I'm closer to 500#s. If I get a midsize, I'll just transfer the water/gas to the trailer to ease up on the bed space and payload. Plus, I can walk up the trailer ramp and not try to lift the water jugs over the bedside.

Before my next trip, I'll have to weigh everything as I load just to see how accurate I am.
 
I was very surprised by the total, but I am loaded up for two guys going away for 10 days very far from civilization.

Here's the breakdown:
  1. People: 500lbs.
  2. Trailer Tongue Weight: 450lbs.
  3. Gasoline: 4-6 x 6 Gallons container: 150-220lbs.
  4. Generator with case and extension fuel tank: 120lbs.
  5. Drinking water: 100lbs.
  6. Cooler: 100lbs.
  7. Tools: 100lbs.
  8. Guns: 75lbs.
  9. Clothes: 50lbs.
Total: 1645-1715lbs. I am between 200 and 300lbs over the payload of my current truck,
 
TheDo114 said:
I was very surprised by the total, but I am loaded up for two guys going away for 10 days very far from civilization.

Here's the breakdown:
  1. People: 500lbs.
  2. Trailer Tongue Weight: 450lbs.
  3. Gasoline: 4-6 x 6 Gallons container: 150-220lbs.
  4. Generator with case and extension fuel tank: 120lbs.
  5. Drinking water: 100lbs.
  6. Cooler: 100lbs.
  7. Tools: 100lbs.
  8. Guns: 75lbs.
  9. Clothes: 50lbs.
Total: 1645-1715lbs. I am between 200 and 300lbs over the payload of my current truck,
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Good on you for actually taking the time to figure that out. There's way too many good ole boys that just load it up until it rides on the bump stops.
 
TheDo114 said:
I was very surprised by the total, but I am loaded up for two guys going away for 10 days very far from civilization.

Here's the breakdown:
  1. People: 500lbs.
  2. Trailer Tongue Weight: 450lbs.
  3. Gasoline: 4-6 x 6 Gallons container: 150-220lbs.
  4. Generator with case and extension fuel tank: 120lbs.
  5. Drinking water: 100lbs.
  6. Cooler: 100lbs.
  7. Tools: 100lbs.
  8. Guns: 75lbs.
  9. Clothes: 50lbs.
Total: 1645-1715lbs. I am between 200 and 300lbs over the payload of my current truck,
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Buy a bigger trailer?... Or change the setup so you can move the majority of that weight to the trailer.
 
Fightnfire said:
Buy a bigger trailer?... Or change the setup so you can move the majority of that weight to the trailer.
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I wish I could, but anything that goes into the trailer gets destroyed by the time I get there and even in the truck it's bad. I can give you a couple of recent examples of how bad it gets.

First one happened to me, I had a 6 pack of 500ml plastic Pepsi bottles in my truck to bring with me for the hunt. By the time I got to the camp, the plastic bottles rubbed so much together that the plastic ruptured on all of the bottles except one and was all over the back of the cab.

Second one also happened to me, I bring a shovel with me going there and the metal shovel rubbed my bed so much that it completely removed the bed liner and started using the metal of the bed. That was after one trip.

Third happened to my dad. He bought a brand new 7 x 16 aluminum trailer for his side by side. After the first trip, the trailer frame had cracked in 4 different places and the weld had come undone on most of the walls. This is the second time somebody in the hunting group had nought an aluminum trailer and always the same result. One guy even tried an enclosed trailer and he didn't make it halfway before the walls came apart.

I have to wrap the eggs in multiple layers of towels for them to get a chance at getting there. We stop every 5-10km (3-6mi) to check the straps and tighten them. I broke a cooler because I put it in my trailer once to come back. The interior trim on the inside of the rear door of my truck has rubbed off because of a plastic bin I put in the cab. I probably have enough foam and towels to baby proof a whole school hahaha.
 
testerdahl said:
Good on you for actually taking the time to figure that out. There's way too many good ole boys that just load it up until it rides on the bump stops.
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What's crazy is that the Ranger is not on the bump stop, it's close but I still have 2 inches to spare. The bulk of the weight is before the rear wheel so I guess it helps.
 
TheDo114 said:
I was very surprised by the total, but I am loaded up for two guys going away for 10 days very far from civilization.

Here's the breakdown:
  1. People: 500lbs.
  2. Trailer Tongue Weight: 450lbs.
  3. Gasoline: 4-6 x 6 Gallons container: 150-220lbs.
  4. Generator with case and extension fuel tank: 120lbs.
  5. Drinking water: 100lbs.
  6. Cooler: 100lbs.
  7. Tools: 100lbs.
  8. Guns: 75lbs.
  9. Clothes: 50lbs.
Total: 1645-1715lbs. I am between 200 and 300lbs over the payload of my current truck,
Click to expand...

I didn't add my tongue weight but it's about the same as yours, somewhere between 450-500#s. My total cargo is estimated at 1000#s and my fat ass is another 230#s. A total of 1230#s and my max payload is...1264#s!! (You obviously bring more than two guns for that weight...lol.) I have 500 miles of travel with just the last 6 of it being unmaintained forest road. You must be traveling a lot farther on rough roads to get that kinda wear.
 
Beninbeta said:
BTW if you are interested in figuring out how much you are bringing with and how much payload is left I created this tool. You can make a copy of it and I believe Coda still has a free tier.

coda.io

Public Overlanding Checklist and Payload

Coda doc by Ben Hommerding
coda.io coda.io
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Nice job Ben! A pretty thorough checklist and a great way to keep track of weight easily allowing you to remove stuff to keep the weight below a max. For overlanding and self-supported camping that's a great tool to use. Ever do all that then drive on a scale to check accuracy?

Mine is a little simpler and just kept on my phone. Since my truck/trailer is just used to haul to a destination, then completely unloaded, I just go by containers. Large Rubbermaid totes get filled then weighed. Easier to tally that. I only have room for so many totes/coolers/jugs.
 
Thanks, I have not gone to any scales after the calculations and loading up, but this is at least a great ball park tool and better than just loading everything in the vehicle and not caring at all. I have weighed some of the parts I have installed on my truck to see what they weigh and some of the containers too, but again, just trying to be close.
 
We have a local scale at a gravel yard that I have used before. Took my truck down there with the standard load: full of gas, me, normal spare tools, bedcover and had it weighed. Then I just use that as a baseline.
 
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