Who makes the best 1/2 ton pickup truck???

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Nissan has a badass motor, but a truck that is a bit underbuilt...rear ends that won't stand up to heavy abuse, etc.

I don't think I'd even bother with a half ton. Just go with at least a 3/4. If I can get away with less than a HD, I don't need a pickup.
 
Originally posted by 427Z06:
New, or particular years? [/ New. Gas mileage means nothing, as I live 2 miles from work, and the truck wouldent see a whole lot of miles. I think the toyota might be the most reliable. Just want something to put a dirtbike or 2 or a atv in the bed. I like the nissans V8 engine, but I cant see myself gunning it with power toys in the bed.
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Work trucks? Fords, hands down. "Cushy" trucks...GM. Maybe because I'm on the old school train of thought, but to me, Japan has no business in the truck market. They just jumped on the band wagon when truck sells started soaring. Almost exactly like what Honda is doing.
 
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/LongTerm/articleId=101898

Long-Term Test: 2004 Nissan Titan

True Market Value at service end: $26,392
What it sold for: N/A Yet
Depreciation: $4,972 or 16% of original paid price
Final Odometer Reading: 22,396
Best Fuel Economy: 15.7 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 10.7 mpg
Average Fuel Economy: 13.4 mpg
Total Body Repair Costs: $750
Total Routine Maintenance Costs (over [12] months): $150.98
Additional Maintenance Costs: $95
Warranty Repairs: 3
Non-Warranty Repairs: 2
Scheduled Dealer Visits: 3
Unscheduled Dealer Visits: 3
Days Out of Service: 9 (four due to unscheduled maintenance, five due to body damage)
Breakdowns Stranding Driver: None
 
Nissan seems to get very good marks for providing a full size 1/2 ton with top of class performance in it's first offering, brakes, rattles, optimistic towing, no 5th wheels, etc., aside. Toyota isn't often considered full size, reliability aside. I was surprised at how much people are paying for a half ton, with $35k mentioned for some of the Nissans. I helped a friend locate a Dodge 3500 long bed HO Cummins 4x4 quad cab, with an auto and the high end 'Laramie' package, for $36k. A lot of people don't like diesels, but he gets 18mpg to 19mpg on the highway, and could get more if he slowed down.
 
Spoke with a guy driving a Titan the other day. Said that he can't keep rubber on the front end and the dealer says that it is a common problem. The guy said that he was not told what the problem was, however...

John.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Reg# 43897:
Spoke with a guy driving a Titan the other day. Said that he can't keep rubber on the front end and the dealer says that it is a common problem. The guy said that he was not told what the problem was, however...

John.
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I own a Titan and do not have this problem.

Nor have I seen it mentioned on TitanTalk.com or ClubTitan.com
 
I'm not a GM guy but I see many Pre-96 Chevy pickups with the original 350 go well over 200K.

2 of my customers come to mind. One is a lady that last time I saw the Suburban it had 410K on it with the original engine!

Another guy has 427K on his original engine last time I saw it and he pulls a trailer often with it.

Both of these trucks run as good as new!

The post-96 trucks are dying from the Dexcool coolant leaking into the engine and ruining the bearings.
 
I love the '87 GMC/Chevy. Last of the old "Looks like a truck" square bodies, combined with the first year for TBI. I have a buddy with well over 100k on his. If I ever buy a truck, that will be the year and make.
 
What's the definition of a "half ton" pick-up over there ?

Most utes down here are rated to 1 tonne, including the hilux, navara, rodeo, commodore (read GTO), falcon.
 
Shannow: A half-ton up here is the smallest of the full sized pick-up trucks that can carry a 4x8 piece of plywood flat in the back (150 Ford, 1500 Chevy, 1500 Dodge?). They definately take more than 1/2 of a ton but that's what they are called. A 5 ton truck is good for way more than 5 ton too. 3/4 tons are work trucks and are more likely to have single beam front axles. 1 tons will have dual rear wheels.

Steve
 
The '1/2 ton', 3/4 ton', etc rating is left over from ye olden days, but it sticks as 1/2 ton trucks are commonly F150 (Ford) or 1500 (GM, Dodge) models, 3/4 ton are F250 or 2500, and 1 ton are F350 or 3500. My Dodge 3/4 ton quad cab short bed is rated for 2300 lbs payload and about 12k lbs towing, a friends Dodge 1 ton single rear wheel is rated for 2900 lbs payload an about 16k lbs towing, and the Dodge dual rear wheel 1 ton is rated for about 5000 lbs payload and about 16k lbs towing. An overlooked item on towing is that the payload comes into play, as the pin weight on the hitch or whatever may max out before the trailer weight does.

The chassis and axles seem to be primary factor for load capability, and then you subtract vehicle weight from the maximum gross vehicel weight rating to see what your payload is; so a regular cab gas engine will have a bigger paylaod than a crew cab diesel.
 
quote:
Originally posted by williar:
If you're talking about full-size trucks, that leaves only Ford, GM, and Dodge. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, etc. are midsize vehicles. For a half-ton fullsize, I'd say Ford is best.
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Toyota, Nissan mid size? Have you bumped your head. The Nissan Titan and Toyota Tundra are FULL SIZE 1/2 ton vehicles. The Nissan Frontier, Toyota Tacoma and Honda Ridgeline are indeed midsize vehicles.

Another example of brainwashed response instead of an intelligent response.
 
quote:
Originally posted by williar:
If you're talking about full-size trucks, that leaves only Ford, GM, and Dodge. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, etc. are midsize vehicles. For a half-ton fullsize, I'd say Ford is best.
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The Nissan Titan is the class leader in interior size! I will agree with you on the Toyota and Honda, but the Titan does not fall into that group of being "not big enough" or "not really full size". I assure you, it's big!
 
My Dad liked Chevys and I liked Fords. I don't think I was just trying to be different-I just liked Fords more. I know of guys who used to get into Chevy vesus Ford arguments.

Today, if I was going to buy a pickup truck, I think I would buy the Nissan. Toyota is great also but the local Toyota dealership-well, I won't go into it.

I am all for buying American products but I am sorry-I would buy the Nissan.
 
My opinion is that a truck shouldn't be flashy and fancy. You use it to haul stuff and work with. I have a base model 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 with the 3.9 Six cyl. and NV-3500 five speed manual tranny. Vinyl floor mat, no electric windows, etc. Gas mileage is avg. 19. Only option is A/C. I figure that's less stuff to break. Problems fixed under warranty were the crappy Mopar battery and steering column intermediate shaft. No repairs out of my pocket. I gotta say that the Dodge is the most dependable truck I have owned so far and would recommend it. We had a Ford F-150 at work that had 230,000 miles on it before wrecked and no major problems with it either. They beat that truck pretty hard too and it still held up.
cheers.gif
 
I think what I used to like most about pickup trucks was that you could drive one forever and it really did not matter what it looked like. Somehow it was okay to tool around in a battered old pickup truck and not so okay to drive around in a junky old car. And a pickup truck is just really useful-you need to haul stuff you can haul it. You don't mind driving it down a dusty old road. Even a two wheel drive pickup will go through the snow with a thousand pounds of sandbags in the box and chains on the wheels. Somehow, an old pickup, even battered, is timeless more so then an old car. Somehow, the mor beaten up it looks, the more attached to it you get.
 
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