What a Joke

[wkpoor]

If you watch TV you know the Toyota Tundra is marketed to be able to tow 10,000lb trailer even though I've never seen it done with anything but a boat. I found out that the 2008 Chevy 3500 van with the Duramax is rated the same. GIVE ME A BREAK! Either one is way over stated or one is way understated. My 3500 Express routinely pulls 10,000+ and does it well. I don't think I've ever seen a Toyota pulling a real load like a skidsteer ect. What am I missing here?

 

[Diamondpilot]

Pulling as you know has a lot less to do with HP but with running gear. Suspension and brakes are probably more important than the engine. We used to pull loads of 10,000# with a 5.4L 300HP F-150. It was no comparison to my Powerstroke Diesel but would do it.

Chris

 

[wkpoor]

Yeh, My impression is just because it can do it on a 60sec commercial doesn't mean I would take out on a 500mi. trip with it. It seems the SUV and light truck markets are battling it out for who's toughest. Even though the reality is no 1/2ton should be towing the weight they say they will.
Another anomaly is my 1ton van has a hitch with a sticker rating of 500/5000. I've seen Trail Blazers that say 600/6000 on the hitch. Again....GO FIGURE!

 

[Builder]

If you watch TV you know the Toyota Tundra is marketed to be able to tow 10,000lb trailer even though I've never seen it done with anything but a boat. I found out that the 2008 Chevy 3500 van with the Duramax is rated the same. GIVE ME A BREAK! Either one is way over stated or one is way understated. My 3500 Express routinely pulls 10,000+ and does it well. I don't think I've ever seen a Toyota pulling a real load like a skidsteer ect. What am I missing here?

GM does and always has rated their truck's towing capacities VERY conservatively.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I don't think I've ever seen a Toyota pulling a real load like a skidsteer ect. What am I missing here?

Toyota released a commercial showing their truck picking a guy up on a construction site with a shiny new truck then cuts out. when it cuts back in the truck is covered in mud and hooked to a trailer hauling a skid steer and they are picking another guy up at the same spot (this is suppose to be 3 minutes after the first guy was picked up). The first guy was now a believer and so on.

What I liked about this commercial is that when Toyota first released it you could see the skid steer move on the trailer because it was not chained down. I am assuming Toyota caught flak over this as they revised the commercial to cut out right at the moment the skid steer was to rock forward on the trailer when the truck stopped.

 

[john_bud]

I thought the Toyota claim of 10,000 pound load included the truck.

jb

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have driven every 1/2 ton except the new Toyota while towing and not. I have driven a 2005 1/2 ton Toyota. I have also owned a 3/4 ton Hemi Dodge, 3500 Duramax, and 3 F-250/F-350 Powerstrokes, and by far the best towing GAS truck of them all was the Nissan Titan. I was amazed at how it out performed my F-150 and I am a die hard Ford guy. One thing that was weird was the way they had the drive train set up. The only rear end gears they offered were a 2.94 and a 3.35. The 2.94 was equal to a 3.73 in other trucks and the 3.35 was equal to a 4.10.

Last May I was in the market for a new 1/2 ton truck for the wife. Wanted 4 doors, leather, sat radio, 4 wheel drive, sun roof, you get the picture. She drove them all from GM, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, and Dodge. She narrowed it down to Ford, Nissan, and Toyota. I did the dealing and the Ford dealer won by a good margin. Nissan and Toyota was way proud of the offerings they had. I can't wait for them to get into the Diesel market.

Chris

 

[JerryG]

Just got back from town buying some groceries. While there I saw a Toyota Tundra with the 5.7 fender badges. The guy had a trailer with 8 round bales of hay which looked to be 4x5s. The rear bumper was almost on the ground. I kept thinking that something was going to pop at anytime. It was way over loaded. I don't understand people trying to do things with a pickup that they clearly wasn't designed for. Maybe the guy believed the commercial.

 

[MikeD74T]

Yeh, My impression is just because it can do it on a 60sec commercial doesn't mean I would take out on a 500mi. trip with it. It seems the SUV and light truck markets are battling it out for who's toughest. Even though the reality is no 1/2ton should be towing the weight they say they will.
Another anomaly is my 1ton van has a hitch with a sticker rating of 500/5000. I've seen Trail Blazers that say 600/6000 on the hitch. Again....GO FIGURE!

I don't know about that. I once saw a large camper trailer & a S10 Blazer all wheels up in a median. The hitch seemed quite capable of keeping them togeather ! Oddly enough both the trailer & Blazer had 20 day plates -brand new !!! MikeD74T

 

[Diamondpilot]

Just got back from town buying some groceries. While there I saw a Toyota Tundra with the 5.7 fender badges. The guy had a trailer with 8 round bales of hay which looked to be 4x5s. The rear bumper was almost on the ground. I kept thinking that something was going to pop at anytime. It was way over loaded. I don't understand people trying to do things with a pickup that they clearly wasn't designed for. Maybe the guy believed the commercial.

That has less to do with the truck but more with the trailer, weight dist., and the loading technique. It would put any truck on the ground if loaded improperly. The guy I sold my last boat to had his 3/4 ton Suburban on the ground the same way. He headed out on a 100 mile trip home. He said he would never do that again in a follow up call. He could not figure it out, he said he pulled way more than that with that truck before. When I asked him what he had been pulling he said a backhoe on trailer. The difference was he could put the backhoe where he wanted on the trailer. With the boat you are stuck with whats there for the most part.

Chris

 

[RobJ]

It'll pull it...doesn't say how well.

 

[Bird]

Oddly enough both the trailer & Blazer had 20 day plates -brand new !!!

Being a long time RVer, that's not a bit odd to me. In the first place the Blazer is too short a wheelbase to handle a heavy trailer very well. But over the years, I've lost count of the owners of new rigs that I talked to after they wrecked the new rig, and only after the accident did they learn what a sway control was. It always seemed to me that it should be illegal for a dealer to sell a trailer without at least explaining sway controls to the buyer, and anyone who doesn't use a sway control on a travel trailer can expect to wreck it.

 

[wkpoor]

I towed this load 600mi. Van did OK. I would have loved to pull into a Toyota dealership and say if you have a truck that can tow this better than the Express I'll buy it. They probably don't have a truck that can even hold it up off the pavement let alone tow it!

 

[Builder]

That has less to do with the truck but more with the trailer, weight dist., and the loading technique. It would put any truck on the ground if loaded improperly. The guy I sold my last boat to had his 3/4 ton Suburban on the ground the same way. He headed out on a 100 mile trip home. He said he would never do that again in a follow up call. He could not figure it out, he said he pulled way more than that with that truck before. When I asked him what he had been pulling he said a backhoe on trailer. The difference was he could put the backhoe where he wanted on the trailer. With the boat you are stuck with whats there for the most part.

Chris

I had an F-250 like that. Used to squat like a female dog even with a properly loaded 10K trailer in tow, then it broke a sway bar.

Built Ford tough....'til it breaks.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

I towed this load 600mi. Van did OK. I would have loved to pull into a Toyota dealership and say if you have a truck that can tow this better than the Express I'll buy it. They probably don't have a truck that can even hold it up off the pavement let alone tow it!

Heck, if the van broke, you could always put it on the trailer and tow it with the Mopar.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I towed this load 600mi. Van did OK. I would have loved to pull into a Toyota dealership and say if you have a truck that can tow this better than the Express I'll buy it. They probably don't have a truck that can even hold it up off the pavement let alone tow it!

You are comparing your 1 ton Van to a 1/2 ton truck. As stated once before suspension and brakes are more a factor when towing than HP.

Chris

 

[Builder]

I towed this load 600mi. Van did OK. I would have loved to pull into a Toyota dealership and say if you have a truck that can tow this better than the Express I'll buy it. They probably don't have a truck that can even hold it up off the pavement let alone tow it!

I think he does mean suspension (among other things). He's saying the Toyota's suspension won't hold up as good as his van.

Tell you what, that skid steer is putting a LOT tongue weight on the back of his van, and it's not squatting all that much.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I agree totally. I am just saying its a 1 ton versus a 1/2 ton. I was not a big fan of the Japanese trucks till I tried them. I wish they would get into the 3/4 and 1 ton market with a top notch diesel. It would be interesting. The major hurdle is to get people to change the mind set of these trucks. They are American made now days, more than some of the Big 3. They put lost of people to work here in Indiana with Honda, Toyota, Subaru, and others having plants within 2 hours of my home. Not to mention all the support that these plants need like hotels, restaurants, ect. All the Ford, GM, and Dodge plants are closing the doors and running over seas.

Chris

 

[Builder]

I agree totally. I am just saying its a 1 ton versus a 1/2 ton. I was not a big fan of the Japanese trucks till I tried them. I wish they would get into the 3/4 and 1 ton market with a top notch diesel. It would be interesting. The major hurdle is to get people to change the mind set of these trucks. They are American made now days, more than some of the Big 3. They put lost of people to work here in Indiana with Honda, Toyota, Subaru, and others having plants within 2 hours of my home. Not to mention all the support that these plants need like hotels, restaurants, ect. All the Ford, GM, and Dodge plants are closing the doors and running over seas.

Chris

I'd have to disagree there. They do assemble the trucks here, but the bulk of the parts are still shipped here in crates from overseas. Most of the domestic trucks have parts and most assembly here in the USA.

Last time I checked, GM & Ford were in the mid-80 percentages for American content, Toyota, Nissan & the ilk hadn't come close.

I ain't buyin that "Toyota-made in America" crap. That's just marketing to get Americans who care about buying American over the guilt of buying a foreign truck.

The big reason American companies are "closing the doors and running over seas" as you put it is because our corporate income tax structure, the 2nd highest among industrialized nations, drives American companies off-shore. However, foreign companies that decide to locate here are not subject to the same corp tax structure since their headquartered overseas.

Next time you think American corporations are moving overseas because of greed, blame the US government for all but forcing them overseas for our failed corp income tax structure. IMO, it's a wonder they can compete at all.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I read a few months back on content and man hours used to build 1/2 ton trucks. In the 1/2 ton market the Ford F-150 and Toyota had the highest percentage. The Dodge had the lowest, I believe it is assembled in Mexico. The Fords and Toyota's being assembled in the US is what gave them a high percentage. I am not sure but I believe the GM trucks are assembled in Canada.


I agree it is the government running our companies out of town. The company my dad is vise president of did the same thing but are now thinking of coming home. The grass was not greener on the other side.

Chris