"Downgrading" trucks

[LIKE2BUILD]

I'd like to hear comments from anyone that has previously owned an HD truck (2500 and higher) then stepped back down to a 1500 series.

The long of the story is our two boys are several activities and with those busy schedules we just don't have time for camping 😞 Rather than having valuable assets setting unused we're in the process of selling our "extras" while they still have good value.

If I no longer have a 5th wheel I can't see a good reason to keep my diesel HD truck. Pretty much any 1500 truck on the market will pull the other things I'm going to keep. My thought is to get max value out of the Ram now, step down to a 1500 for my daily driver and pulling duties, and then if we get back into camping in 6 or 7 years get a new HD truck. If I keep the Ram it will be 11 or 12 years old by the time we get another 5th wheel. Not necessarily a dinosaur but I'm sure I'll have well over 200,000 miles on the clock by that point.

Here's the kicker....the truck is paid off so I'm not in a situation where I HAVE to get rid of it. I'm just trying to think what makes the most sense. So, I'd love to hear from anyone that did this. Did it work out or did you regret it and jump back to an HD truck? :h

KJ

[Cummins12V98]

LIKE2BUILD wrote:
We made a deal to sell our 5er and I've been thinking more about the truck. I've decided just to keep it and put the miles on the beater car. After shopping around and considering other trailers I tow on occasion it just made sense to keep the Ram. It's paid off and gives me the option to tow anything at any time. Thanks for all the input and suggestions.

KJ

Good call! Nice to have a RAM in the stable.

[ppine]

Keep the HD. No such thing as too much truck.

[LIKE2BUILD]

We made a deal to sell our 5er and I've been thinking more about the truck. I've decided just to keep it and put the miles on the beater car. After shopping around and considering other trailers I tow on occasion it just made sense to keep the Ram. It's paid off and gives me the option to tow anything at any time. Thanks for all the input and suggestions.

KJ

[twodownzero]

Groover wrote:
What some people are missing is that the towing capacity of all pickup truck size ranges is increasing. For instance, in 1991 I special ordered the highest tow rated pickup available and it was rated for 10,000lbs on the bumper and 12,500lbs on a gooseneck. Now you can get nearly three times that much in a one ton and people brag about that but when it is suggested that half ton trucks have grown in capacity too some people just refuse to believe that.

1/2 ton trucks are literally running the same rear axle units they were 30+ years ago. They have more horsepower and bigger brakes than ever, so everyone thinks they have somehow become tow vehicles because they are so much more maneuverable in traffic. Given that I was towing with trucks that are now 30 years old, I wouldn't go back to that, but make no mistake, these trucks are only made to carry marginally more weight than those older trucks. There is nothing to "refuse" to believe--people just don't weigh their trucks and realize that they are overloaded long before they get near GCWR. Just look around this forum when people come here and say they want to pull a trailer with their 1/2 tons only to learn that their "tow rating" is constrained by payload/GVWR every time.

Yes there are exceptions (2wd trucks with max tow packages, regular cab trucks) but in the configuration most are buying (4wd, 4 door, with a good option package), using all of the GCWR is a pipe dream.

[Groover]

What some people are missing is that the towing capacity of all pickup truck size ranges is increasing. For instance, in 1991 I special ordered the highest tow rated pickup available and it was rated for 10,000lbs on the bumper and 12,500lbs on a gooseneck. Now you can get nearly three times that much in a one ton and people brag about that but when it is suggested that half ton trucks have grown in capacity too some people just refuse to believe that.

So to the op's question, I find that my 2016 half ton will pull better than my '91 3/4 ton did, has a much better ride and gives much better fuel economy. I don't have any regrets.

[Grit_dog]

Well ya do whatever seems right.

[Grit_dog]

kellem wrote:
Hmmm I was in the market for a new HD truck but now looking at used Fiats. Lol

Kinda the same thing if you're shopping for a Ram!

[kellem]

Hmmm I was in the market for a new HD truck but now looking at used Fiats. Lol

[JRscooby]

Super_Dave wrote:
My 3500 is 13 years old and only gets driven a few thousand miles a year. I have other vehicles for daily use. I could not afford to replace that truck now or probably more so in a few years.

My 1500 is 14, and driven every Tuesday, or to pull the camper. It replaced a 20 YO 150, that was well maintained, but over loaded about 2/3 of it's 250,000 miles. The "new" truck occasionally over GCVWR, (3-4 times so far) but has never been over GVWR, and hasn't hit 100,000 yet. Should last the rest of my life.

[Super_Dave]

My 3500 is 13 years old and only gets driven a few thousand miles a year. I have other vehicles for daily use. I could not afford to replace that truck now or probably more so in a few years.

[LIKE2BUILD]

Grit dog wrote:
Pencil it out first....unless you can be Suuuper saavy with the beater and fix it yourself.....one vehicle, even racking up miles on it wins over 2 vehicles.
Of course there's other things to consider, especially living in the rust belt.

I kind of have that covered. I have a Saab Wagon that was my son's college car. It had to be repaired while he was at school which cost more than I would have liked, but at the time we could afford repairs and not a completely different car. We've since upgraded his car and I have the Saab at home where I can do all the repairs so the maintenance costs will be much cheaper.

I previously tried to sell the Saab and got no hits. My thought now is if I can't sell it, drive the thing until it just absolutely croaks and try to get my repair money back by keeping miles off the truck. When I tried to sell it I used Craigslist only. Since then we've put a few other things on FB marketplace and they sold super fast so I maybe I need to try again to sell the Saab there and see what happens.

Obviously my thoughts are all over the place. Maybe it's a midlife thing or maybe it's just realizing we're a few years away from having multiple kids in college and we need to make sure the financial ship is solidly afloat :H I guess age plays a part too because I'm in the latter half of my working life and I've started paying attention to this stuff a lot more.

[badercubed]

^ love my Canyon and I went from a F-250

[Humpty]

When we parked our 5th wheel on the coast, I sold the 3500 DRW. The Canyon I have now is plenty of truck for me and MUCH better for daily driving duty. I have no regrets.

To be honest, a decent size SUV would handle most of my hauling needs.

[Grit_dog]

^I need to look elsewhere for a truck....
Around here, those trucks are priced at $32-33k at the dealers.