THIS is How to Choose An RV TOW VEHICLE - Full Time RVing
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- Опубліковано 4 лип 2024
- The truck you choose to tow your travel trailer or fifth wheel with can make or break your RV vacations! DON'T CHOOSE WRONG!
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The most important thing is payload & tow capacity of your truck. Know your numbers.
Everything else is just personal preference.
Having a tow package on truck is important. Transmission cooler, lower rear end gears.
Hills, ever hear of manually downshifting ?
Some 4x4 trucks actually have less payload capacity Than 4x2 due to added weight of all the running gear.
Towing is all about the numbers.
A half ton can tow a 6,000 lb trailer just fine, if properly equipped.
No its what can you afford to fix
I have a 2001 Dodge 2500 Diesel 4 by 4 with 540,000 miles on it. We have been all over South America, Mexico, Canada, and three times to Alaska. It has never left us stranded. We pull a 42-foot Raptor Toy Hauler with a Smart Car and a Harley in the back. The transmission has been replaced once but it was my fault for forgetting to take it out of the over-drive in the mountains, however, it would still run highway speeds with the over-drive not working. The truck has a twin-turbo setup that was put on at 99,000 miles. The engine is all original and the valves have only been adjusted three times. We change the oil every 7500 miles. I don't see any reason that the engine won't make it to a million miles. The truck still looks new and people are shocked when I proudly show them the milage.
We tow a 6000 lbs with a 95 Ram 1500 ...She burns 🔥 way more gas ⛽️ and oils 🛢 but handled last season like a 🏆 champion
Having RV'd for 40+ years and having numerous setups; I would have issues with some of the points you made about the diesel being a better option. Yes there are some valid ones. Having had both I would summarize that there is a case for diesel if you are towing heavy (over 12k #) or a lot of long highway miles all year long (like hot shotting). The average person does not. If $$$ are not a concern or you just want one and can afford it; then great, go diesel. But for the $10k difference I can buy a lot of gas for the couple of mpg's difference. In my experiences; under 12k#'s braking and power for hills is not a concern. Living in the PNW we go up a lot of them. My last 3 (2004, 2015, 2021) gas have not had any issues with trailers up or down long hills. Lower gears hold the hills up & down with little braking or breaking. Maintenance & repair costs are considerable more for a diesel. Average RV-r will more than likely never see 100k miles on a rig. I've had no issues getting there. Pretty sure your buddy Thomas spent a fair amount more repairing his diesel than gas. Newer ones plagued with emission problems. Deleting is not option to stay legal. Your small trailer behind my 21' F350 7.3L gas I would make most of the same comments you did about the advantage you see with a diesel. All this said as a civil reply.
dont you know 20 year olds on you tube know everything lol
They do live in their trailer and drive a lot. For that year truck, the gas engine might not suffice. It’s a smaller and lighter trailer, but they also have the ability to upgrade now. It’s definitely more truck than they currently need, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
We agree with Herb here. We've had several of them all. All types. We will never probably buy a diesel again unless we are towing extremely heavy or for commercial purposes. Like he said...if you've got money to just blow. Fine. But when we are ready to replace ours we will be using the Ford 7.3 gas from here out.
Really comes down to what you can afford to fix if you can't fix it yourself. Thats the real smart way to pick a vehicle. People think oh ill get a diesel until they figure out how expensive they are to fix. Like his. The cab has to come off if it needs a new turbo and right there you're over 20hrs worth of just labor
Hi there. You should look into kodiak truck in north Prarie Wisconsin. They can put factory fit form and function 4x4 in your pickup. The cost is actualy very reasonable. In this day and age it would be alot more economical to have 4x4 installed rather than finding a 4x4 diesel these days.
Thank you for the video. Blessings to you.
super helpful, thanks! i'm considering going from a van to a tiny trailer like a casita. never towed anything or owned a diesel before, wasn't sure about all the considerations, and you laid them out quite well. what was ~super~ helpful is the info that a diesel truck pulling an rv up a mountain is easy peasy, and so is going down. i love love love my old chevy van, but it really struggles at high elevation getting up mountains, and is heavy enough that going down steep roads can be a little trecherous too.
i notice you never even mentioned using a car to pull a trailer. i see a lot of tiny trailer sellers boasting that they can be easily towed with any mid-sized suv, and so i started out thinking that would be a great option for my envisioned tiny trailer. my crusty old mechanic, however, looked at the floor, shook his head, and about spat when i mentioned this to him. he said that cars ~can~ tow, but they are not BUILT to tow, and so they suck at it and will get trashed from doing it regularly.
Go David you the man!
Hey you 2. So good to see yall are still living the dream. Just to give you an update here with me and I just became a Paw Paw. My Granddaughter couldn't wait to meet me so she was born early. A few weeks early so she will be in the hospital a couple more of weeks. I'm going in for home time on December 30th so hopefully she will be home when I get there 🙏.
Great info. Happy holidays
When you are requiring tires, load range is very important as well. Great video!!
As always, very instructive video even if personally I do not see a future for diesel engines such as the ones you mentioned, too much polluters !
For such a trailer a 4x4 1/2 ton gasoline truck well equipped will do just fine, just my opinion of course.
Something you didn't say, the truck cap you have can also help a lot deflecting the air flow at the front of the trailer 👍
Thanks for the super-useful information on trucks!
Merry Christmas guys🎄🤗
I went backwards from what you guys did. I bought my camper to fit my tow rig.
A Rockwood A122S A frame to tow with my '15 JK Unlimited Rubicon.
It's just me and Zatoichi (Ichi) and the places we go in Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, and NW Utah, this fit for us.
I know you both gave great consideration on tow vehicle along with what rv to buy traveling almost at 5 years. I am glad you are sharing your journey with your viewers thanks for that.As always stay safe and take care. 😃 🙏
gotcha! I personally went through quite a bit of agony when deciding our truck. The agony starts when you know which one you want or need but whether or not you can afford it or find it are the issues. It turned out a 2003 Ram 3500 diesel 4wd worked for our rv and Lance truck camper. I knew I wanted to be overpowered and I knew I needed a truck that wasn't too complicated for me to fix. And a quad cab was necessary as with the truck camper, we knew we'd have lots of storage needs. Its been the right decision thus far!
I love my pre-emmisions 2004.5 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins 4x4 to tow our 32' 5th wheel. I was in the same boat, wanting to not worry about Def or other filters. Great video.
This video is great David, came in time too . My grandson just bought his very 1st RV, a 27 foot 5th wheel, to start learning how to tow. Now he can learn how to pick out the right kind of truck he will need. AFTER of course I share this Video with him. Been loving the time I have been subscribed, following and watching every video since 2018. That's when I decided and upgrade from car and tent To a Motorhome will work better for me. Great to see you and the Fur babies. See ya later friends 😉 😜
Enjoyed the video today. Especially nice to see and hear Roe. We tow a 5000 pound 24 foot trailer with a Jeep Grand Cherokee 4 WD with the 5.7l hemi. The set up works well for us. Pulling the mountains in the west is a bit slow going but we are rarely alone going up slowly. When we bought the Jeep I looked into their Diesel engine but found tons of sad reliability issues while the 5.7 appears fundamentally bulletproof.
Your recommendations are well founded. I wonder how the new emission systems on pick ups is doing.
Keep up the good work
A longer wheelbase on your pulling vehicle is more important than going to a diesel imo.
Hello Roe!
We Love Roe, We Love Roe!
Thank you for all you share, it helps us all so much.
:-)
I have a 2010 F250 Super Duty 4x4 I have the tow package with the engine brake it slows the truck down a lot with the brakes on my trailer and on my truck I just touch them slightly and have no problem stopping no smoking hot brakes either my trailer is a 2020 222 Jayco toy hauler I have inside my Harley Davidson Road King along with a fuel station my motor of the truck is a 54 9 miles to the gallon always enjoy watching your videos Merry Christmas
I've stayed subscribed all along and haven't seen that many videos from you as I had before. Have you guys been working PT during the winter?
I have a 2001 Chevy 2500 crew cab, short bed, diesel 4x4, with all terrain tires. The bed has a shell. Pulling a jayco jayflight 26 foot trailer. 1200 watts of solar , 400 Ah of lithium batteries. Mini split ac/heater. 3500 watt magnum inverter. It's taken a while to create this setup. But it is so worth it. Right now I'm boondocking in outside temperatures of low of 5 to 20 degrees f. And I'm snug as a bug in a rug. Very happy...
And I'm very happy to see you guys doing this for everyone out there.
niiiiice!
@@nonyabizness.original I've been watching your videos for 1 1/2 now you two work hard to put out some great content. I like to meet you sometime and shake you hand, and talk some shop. Take care
@@leeetmiller i'm just a subscriber like you watching their great content! i do admire your setup, looks like a really nice system. i'm fulltime in my old chevy conversion van, with 200w solar, 200ah lithium batts, 1500w inverter, and either shore power electric heat or my standby lil buddy heater (which i hate). my main strategy for staying warm is to take myself to warm places 😋. we got ice on the dog water dish the last few mornings, but 60s during the day here in the desert.
5 degrees? ARGHHH ❗️ 😮
Hey Lee, tell me about your canopy. I have a 2002 Silverado 2500HD Duramax xtended cab standard bed with low miles bought from my father in law. Looking at canopies
@@SuperAudionut I just received your email this morning. I have to go to work in a bit ( I'm a camp host here at Flaming gorge) . I bought the truck second hand. It's a short bed. And the top is one that's a hard shell topper. Soon we are getting a fithwheel so bye bye topper shell.
I think you made a wise choice with your truck. The older models "especially
with the diesels" are soooo much better than all the epa mandated garbage
that is being installed on new, newer trucks. Not to mention all the electronics!
We got sort of the same truck. 2021 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD. Wish we could of had more options however truck availability is horrible right now.
So incredibly helpful. I plan on starting full time by this Spring 2022 and I have been stuck on a few choices with my tow vehicle. You really helped solve that for me. Thanks for the detail. I am still torn between travel trailer and Class C motorhome. I am a single older female. What has your experience been with towing. Do you wish you weren't towing and just had one vehicle or are you satisfied with your choice of towing. It would help so much to have your thoughts on this. Thanks so much.
Pulling a travel trailer, your video was very informative & comprehensive. But if you go up to the larger fifth wheel, there is an option that some find better. HDT or heavy duty truck. There is a growing number of them our there. Most will remove the original fifth wheel & mount a proper fifth wheel for campers at the back between the frame rails. Pluses: you'll never max out your towing capacity & you can add a ramp or lift system to carry a smart car on the back of the tractor. Minuses: overall length and weight. You'll be limited in going into parks. I recently saw a video of a rally for HDT's, I think in September. There was a couple of hundred there.
Trailer first, then truck
Just can’t agree on a diesel, at least anymore. The emissions equipment on modern diesels are simply making them much less reliable. The new modern gas engines have excellent torque are more reliable and last PLENTY long. Generally the unleaded is cheaper and more readily available. Also the weight of diesel trucks take away from the payload.
And yes - never, ever, ever buy a 2wd pickup - ever. Pulling boats out of the water teaches you that too.
Long bed an gas. 2004 Chevy Dully 8.1 . 37 ft Solitude . We live in parked on a acre in a half. Now we pulled a 2000 Flite 239 5er one slide. Yes 4x4 is nice. Def Boondock 99.9 percent of the time.
I had a 2003 8.1 4x4 GMC 2500 hd pulling a 16 ft cargo trailer full of my tools and materials. That thing sucked gas like crazy. One time I was pulling up a hill and the dash readout was 3mpg, it averaged around 8mpg. I filled that beast up every week with 26 gallons. Bought a 2007 Chevrolet 2500hd duramax 4wd I got 15 mpg, doubled my mpg with the diesel. Thankfully I'm retired now.
Love your channel and your content.
Ever thought about a winch for your truck?
Kisses to Sweetie
In new video come soon
I'm shopping for a used F250 4x4 Crewcab for mostly boondocking with a 30ft 5th wheel. I am on a tight budget. I will have 3 black labs with me. I don't know if I should get a standard bed or long bed, flex fuel or diesel. My budget is $25k maximum. I realize I am looking for a needle in a haystack. I will be fulltiming. After watching this vlog, I am pretty sure it will be diesel.
i have an 06 ram i figuerd it mine would to yalls rv as far as the waite is concerned and its 4 wheel drive 4 door
Well the first mistake was that the pickup not truck it is not a ford. 😉
Don't believe the rv salesman on what can tow what. Tow capacity and payload capacity are different things. I love our short bed goose neck toy hauler. We have a manual trans in our diesel and it picks up speed downhill. The roads can be crap everywhere get the 4wd. Rhino liner because in the middle of rust belt. Look at your camper suspension and make sure you have real leaf springs and shocks. If a frame maker can't put those things on a camper frame don't buy it. Leaf spring fatigue is a real thing. Wonder why your tires are blowing or camper is swaying at lower and lower speeds. I took farmers advice get the goose neck because 5th wheel frames seem to fail. Having all the weight over the axle is better on truck. Ground clearance is a pain on toy hauler.
I tow a bigfoot 25rq trailer all over with an F150 XLT supercab 3.5 ecoboost dual turbo Fx4 (4 wheel drive) with a 6.5 ft bed and a "camper shell" snugtop. With Fords Max trailer tow package. The ford has a very quiet and comfortable cab - one of the reasons it won. i would have liked more cargo capacity - the bigfoot runs 1000-1100 lbs on the tongue.
I can easliy take this combo up the i70 through the 11k Eisenhower tunnel and go as fast as I would like.
This is a great combo and fits in my garage - the full crew cab would not. The shorter length is also good on offroad.and in general.
The 4 wheel drive is in my opinion a requirement. Even in campgrounds I could tow the trailer up the grade in 4wd on gravel. Its saved me in mud and snow a couple times.
Its gasoline - not diesel. I dont think that diesel is required. If I had a much bigger trailer I might go with diesel but with the ford setup I have I see no need.
Im hoping that the Ford goes 200k at least. Thus far, no issues with 60K miles logged.
Good advise, you bought a good truck, didn't you, it sucks for pulling.
I am wondering about alternator options on trucks. Get the greatest capacity and two of them? For downhill, don't trucks have the ability to adjust the trailer brakes? All trucks? I am looking at a 1 ton crew cab long bed SRW, vs. a 3/4 ton because of wanting to put a 10' raft over the bed and a moped on a front mounted hitch rack - the truck's GVWR is more the concern for all that carrying capacity. A 30' Airstream wouldn't be a concern either way for the tongue weight. Overall length is a bit of an undesirable, but necessary. An F250 crew cab long bed diesel has a carrying capacity of 2,200 lbs and an F350 crew cab long bed diesel has a carrying capacity of 3,500 lbs, which are 200 lbs more (F250) or the same as (F350) with the 7.3L gas engine. And the last question is could the dual alternator option be used to charge the batteries in an electric moped while on the front hitch rack, and the batteries for an electric 10 hp outboard in the bed, while driving? Yes, we'll be driving around boondocking to float rivers, or motor out into estuaries, to fly fish. 😁
I'm been thing. No one has discussed; should you match the trailer tires with the truck tires. Same type of tire.
Start with the sticker insiode the driver's door. It says "Payload". That's the total of people and gear. Let's say my half ton says 1500#. 500# for two people and a dog. 1000# for the trailer tongue. I'm done! No payload left for that topper, barbecue, or tools. It's really hard to make a half ton work with a average camper.
My 2020 F150 (w/max tow & HD payload pkgs) door sticker says 2400 lb payload. Works for me.
For Fords avoid 6.0 and 6.4 liter engines. Manufactured by International for Ford both had major issues. 2011 Ford introduced the 6.7 which they designed and built, they are bulletproof engines with great power. for 2022 they will outpull The Cummins and the Duramax. However for engine breaking power the Cummins dominates.
As for 4x4 vs 2x4 for driveline I sold my last two wheel drive truck 25 years ago. To be fair we do live in Canada so escaping winter is not an option. yet. I go with the idea of I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
I would like to add something in here regarding your tow vehicle - and that is, don't take what the sales people say as the gospel truth on payload ratings. You can go onto every manufacturer's website and see what the rated payload is for a vehicle, and never go lighter. Also, when you are doing that math, don't just take the decal on your trailer as 100% accurate either - they have been proven too many times to be way, way off.
you are correct. A lot of sales people don't have a clue. My trailer tongue weight was a lot more than the sticker indicated as well as after we loaded it. On the tow vehicle; the website is a good place to start but the sticker on the door will be the most accurate to determine tow and load capacity. It will vary by the options on the tow vehicle. Learning to read and calc the numbers is really your best tool.
WHERE IS Roe?
She was in the video
@@FateUnbound say 👋
She was the girl with the purple hair.
At 11:00!
At $5.15 per gallon here in California for regular, more for diesel driving your recreational vehicle is a challenge if not doing what you do. My 30' motorhome is parked at $530/mo for a semi covered secure parking spot just for RVs. Orange County CA does not allow any RV to be parked on the streets. The way you have yours parked now would be OK (on private property), however not on any public streets or commercial places like our Walmarts (in Orange County CA). Los Angeles is totally different which is why they have so many squatters in motorhomes. NOTE: CALIFORNIA wants to OUTLAW diesel trucks and DIESEL MOTORHOMES they are also outlawing gas operated yard blowers, trimmers and Lawn mowers. My boys were raised here in SOCAL and we encouraged them to move out of State. One in AZ and the other in VA. I ALMOST FORGOT: NO MORE RV GENERATORS - BUILT-IN OR OUTSIDE.
They want to make diesel illegal? What the heck?!
Hmm... down here in San Diego diesel is cheaper than gas. Yesterday I saw diesel for $4.60 gal. Gas was a little bit more.
I have visited California many times in my life mostly Northern California on my motorcycle. We also have taken our RV from LA to the Oregon coast in 2018. But since then with all the fires and crazy laws we have decided to never visit again. Now reading your post above we have a few more reasons to stay away. Thanks for sharing
outlaw diesel trucks and motorhomes? no, not really. they are banning commercial fleet trucks that weigh more than 26,000 pounds from using cali roads by 2045 if they are still burning fossil fuels by then. not motorhomes or personal trucks.
cali does also have an executive order in place banning the ~SALE~ of all gas and diesel vehicles in california by 2035. is that what you're talking about? because there is nothing to say you can't ~drive~ them in cali.
so california is not "outlawing" your diesel pickup or motorhome.
every state has a ton of regulations on vehicles operating on their roads and, obviously, way more regulation of commercial vehicles. basic state rights in action.
point is, what you said is inflammatory and exaggerated, and inaccurate.
@@nonyabizness.original just more California hate. Nobody will actually check the facts themselves. If it agrees with their preconceived perception, they will repost it without confirming the information.
Why isn’t the wife part of the videos, is she on strike?
Hey Dave, I’ve noticed that during a couple of your videos, I see that you’ve hung a white piece of fabric from your sleeping area ceiling. Was this done to reduce heat loss through the skylights?
Also, here is a non related question. Because you do so much boobdocking, have you noticed any broken or severely stressed welds under the rig? While “retro-ing” my Aljo trailer, I had three broken welds!
Have to disagree on several points. Going downhill.....use your transmission to gear down. Don't need diesel to do it safely. Toyota engines are rated at 300K miles. With a diesel before 300K you're probably have injectors, glow plugs go bad. Most diesel engine brands have particular major problems in several certain years of production.
Be stranded on the sided of the road in 5 degree weather with a diesel that's frozen.....unless you know what you're doing plan on a several hundred dollar service call.......gas trucks will be passing you by.
You're used truck comparison cost is totally bogus....you don't add 8K or 10K for a used diesel.....that's the price difference in new trucks.
If you're looking at Truck Campers....don't get a bed liner....you'll be ripping it out.
I can't believe Diesel is not the most popular engine option in trucks & SUVs. It's common sense, but common sense isn't common.
I would respectfully disagree with your statement regarding diesel. I have had numerous pickups over the last 48 years. Have had both. I have towed an RV for about 40+ of those years. Currently towing a 30' tt, ~7200#'s. I will not own a diesel unless I went to something over 12k pounds. Not only do they cost ~$10k more but the maintenance is more as well. Not real easy to work as well. The couple of MPG's alone are not enough to justify. I can buy a lot of gas for the difference in MPG's. I just took delivery of a new F350, 7.3 gas. I could have very easily checked the other box but didn't for the above reasons. Diesels are great for very heavy loads and / or going up and down the freeway for high miles. The average guy won't put that many miles in that type of scenario. A majority of the diesels I see are guys driving them 5-10 miles and empty most of the time. I'm not even going to mention the problems they are having with emission controls.
@@herb7877 I've had the opposite experience with Diesels. The oil changes are slightly more expensive, but I'm saving thousands every year on fuel. I just ordered a Diesel Jeep Gladiator and it gets 2x better MPG than the gasoline version. It gets over 30 MPG in real life. The EPA numbers are a lie. I always get way higher MPG than advertised with Diesel cars and way lower than advertised with gasoline cars. There's a reason why over half of the cars in Europe are Diesel.
@@djp1234 which american companies build a good diesel? Or is the Jeep diesel built in Europe?
@@djp1234 can’t speak to a Gladiator but I had a 2015 f150 Eco that got 17 in town and 24 on the freeway. The diesel got a few better but at about $6k more purchase price. I can buy a lot of gas for the difference in mpg. My good friend camping buddy has a 1ton pickup and trailer fairly similar to mine. Towing he does have more low end torque but I have no problem keeping up with him up or down hills. He gets about 1.5 to 2 mpgs better. Again I can buy a lot of gas for the $10k difference in that kind of mpg. He takes 12 or 16 quarts of oil at a higher cost per qt than my 8. His filters run more than double. I got back from Iceland 2 months ago and most cars are diesels. They do get better mpgs. Again cost more. They are extremely small and Very expensive. We had a gas car and getting much higher mpgs compared to here but they have no emissions control or as many safety items. They are very light as well. Brazil has switched to alcohol. Not arguing better mpgs but cost analysis and need.
@@j.g.9655 The Jeep Diesel is made by an Italian company called VM Motori. They're on the 3rd generation engine right now and it seems to be a good engine so far. I don't think there are any good light duty American Diesel engines. GM just came out with one but they designed it with an achilles heel so that you have to take it to the dealership to get it repaired after 100k miles. It has an oil pump belt that requires taking off the transmission to replace.
In new video come soon