MrTruck.net presents: The Truth about Trucks Series!

A Guide for Women and Men to buy the Right Truck!

Instant Special Report #1.0

"Which Truck Do You Need"?

1.   Priorities, do you need a ½ or 1 ton, long or short bed?
2.   Do you need a diesel or gas engine and what’s the mileage, and break in period?
3.   What do you need to know about diesel fuel, winter, maintenance, and emissions?
4.   Which transmission will work best for you? Warning about overdrive.
5.   Duals or Single Rear Wheels?
6.   Which axle ratio do I need, limited slip axle or not?
7.   Will this truck pull my trailer?
8.   Bed liners, resale and safety.
9.   My engine recommendations.
10. New or used, truck and auto dealer.
11. First year blues.

#1 Do you need a ½ ton, ¾ ton or 1 ton pickup, with a short or long bed?

The size of the truck you need depends of course on your needs. ½ tons and light duty ¾ tons are for light duty work, loaded part-time. Heavy-duty ¾ tons, 1 tons and above are designed to be loaded all of the time. They have twice as many tapered bearings in the rear axle. It’s called a full floating axle, similar to semi-truck eighteen-wheelers. While ½ ton pickups have a semi-floating axle similar to a car, with just 2 bearings. ½ tons and light duty ¾ tons will have a flush axle housing matching the wheel. With the heavy duty ¾ ton, 1 ton trucks and larger, the rear axle housing will actually stick out past the wheel and have an additional 8 bolts on the end of the hub holding the axle into the differential.

This Full floating axle provides a more even weight distribution over the axle than a semi-floating axle. By removing a rear axle hubcap, you can determine if the truck is a ½ ton, light duty, ¾ ton or a heavy-duty ¾ ton, 1 ton. On the 1rst two pages of my web site, I show pictures of the different axles at http://www.mrtruck.net . Heavy-duty ¾ tons, 1 tons and larger will have heavier springs, shocks and in some cases thicker, stronger frames. In recent years pickup truck manufactures have designed a different look between the ½ ton and ¾ ton. The majority of the time, if you compare a ½ ton to a ¾ ton pickup with the same gas engine option, the price is very close. And the ¾ tons will usually have more rear axle ratio and tow package options. Because of the value of a ¾ ton verses the price of a ½ ton, I usually recommend a heavy-duty ¾ ton. But keep in mined because of a slight weight difference and the higher axle ratio in a ½ ton pickup, that a ½ ton can have better gas mileage. The EPA doesn’t test fuel mileage on most ¾ ton trucks if they are over 8500# GVWR, (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating,) so you won’t find a fuel mileage rating on ¾ ton and higher trucks.

Here is the break down of manufacture models.

·½ tons, Ford (F100, F150,) GM, (Chevy, GMC) ½ tons, (C or K10, 15, 1500, HD 1500) Dodge, (D100, 150, Ram 1500.) Toyota, (T100, Tundra,)

·¾ tons, Ford (Light Duty F250, Heavy Duty, Super Duty, F250,) GM, (Chevy, GMC) (C or K 20, 25, 2500, HD 2500) Dodge, (D200, 250, Ram 2500.)

·1 tons, Ford (F350,) GM, (C or K 30, 35, 3500, HD 3500) Dodge, (D300, 350, Ram 3500.)

·1 ½ tons, Ford (Super Duty, F450, F550,) GM, (Heavy Duty Series 3500 Cab and Chassis, C4500 and C5500,) Dodge, (3500 Cab and Chassis.)

If you are pulling a fifth wheel or gooseneck trailer, I recommend a long bed. Sometimes in some RV parks or in a corral you will need to “jack knife” your trailer. (Your truck and trailer at 90 degrees.) Your trailer should generally be attached to your truck 2 to 4 inches in front of your rear axle, ( I prefer 5 inches); this is where I recommend for proper steering weight and a level load. If you have a short box and you “jack-knife,” your trailer may kiss your cab! Full sheets of plywood or sheet rock fit into a long box with the tailgate closed. Short boxes are popular today with the mini- garages and those famous drive-up windows. If you end up with a short bed, there are “sliding hitches,” you can buy to move you trailer hitch forward or backward to give you more room between the cab and the neck of the trailer for “jack-knifing.” See http://www.pullrite.com, or http://www.ultimatetrucksolutions.com

I have pulled a lot of different trailers and remember how glad I was when I could afford to go from a bumper pull type trailer to a gooseneck. Fifth wheel or gooseneck trailers pull so straight with very little “whip” if loaded correctly compared to bumper types. And talk about backing a trailer. Bumper type trailers seem to react twice as fast as an easy going slow reacting “anybody could back-it,” gooseneck trailer.

#2 Do you need a diesel or gas engine in your pickup?

The right diesel can dramatically out pull a gas engine. Ever see a gas powered semi-truck? Diesels will generally last longer and get better fuel economy. At the present time they have better resale value. On fuel mileage, the diesel can at times, double the mileage of a gas engine. But they cost more than $4000 new over a gas engine. It generally takes 80,000 miles of fuel savings to pay for a diesel verses a gas engine. So if you keep a truck a long time, after 80,000 miles the rest is gravy. If you trade often and don’t pull a trailer a lot, you should consider a gas engine. If you keep them a long time, or pull trailers constantly, the cost of the diesel option will be minimized.

You know diesels are louder than gas engines. Diesel explodes inside your engine, while gas ignites. You really don’t notice this flying down the road. But if you live in town, you’ll notice the guy down the street who starts his diesel at 4 am and warms it up for an hour and the people at the drive up windows seem to notice you in a diesel. If you buy a diesel with a manual transmission, it will require more skill to shift. The compression is twice that of a gas engine, which means you have to shift faster and time the R.P.M.’s a little closer for a smooth shift.

#3 What do you need to know about diesel fuel, winter, maintenance, and emissions?

Diesels need the heat from glow plugs or manifold heaters to aid in warming up the cylinders for starting. In very cold conditions, (-10 F) you will need to plug in block heaters and be sure you are using blended fuel, #2 and #1. Normally diesels run on #2 diesel. #2 has lubricating qualities that make it oily, smelly and stays on your hands for a few days. #1 diesel is like kerosene or jet fuel and less oily. The lubricating properties in #2 are what gels when extremely cold. This is why a blend of #2 and #1 50/50 is used in the winter by most service stations in states that get cold. But if you go to a warm state, (California, Arizona, Florida, etc,) in the winter and buy fuel there before coming home, you may want to use a diesel additive. If you are out of your area, buy your diesel at a truck stop. They should know what you need.

If you have never experienced gelling up a diesel in the winter, be happy. I have had this experience on my farm tractors. I had to use a hair dryer to liquidify the fuel in the injector pump and then “crack” the fuel lines to bleed the fuel through the pump and injectors. Most states don’t get cold enough to plug in the block heater on your diesel. But if you are in the colder areas and need to plug in your diesel, I like to use a timer you can buy from Wal-Mart for $12 to $15. You only need to set the timer to turn on for a couple of hours before you’re ready to use your truck.

Oil changes can cost two to three times as much or more than gas trucks. In area’s where you are required to have an emission test on trucks, the diesel emission test costs more and sometimes is required more often. In Colorado you get 2 years emission exemption when the truck is new and after that you are required to be tested every year in certain Front Range counties. Today the break in period on new engines is generally 500 miles. During that time you don’t want to use your cruise control. You need to vary the R.P.M.’s so the valves and rings can seat properly through the whole R.P.M range. On a diesel it generally takes 5000 miles to adjust itself. After the 5000 miles, diesels tend to start faster and the fuel mileage is as good as it gets from the factory.

Diesel is safer to handle than gas as far as fire. With the new turbo diesels, smoke is not the problem it use to be before turbo’s. Because diesel has to explode to combust, the engine components are built heavier than gas engines. But the diesel mechanic rate per hour is higher than for gas engines.

Most of these diesel engines have a bleeder valve on or near your fuel filter to drain off water from the fuel; diesel engines are prone to condensation in the fuel tanks. Semi-tractor trailer rigs have dual large fuel filters and air filters. If you pay close attention to servicing your fuel filter, air filter, oil, oil filter, and radiator service at the right intervals you should expect to join the 300,000-mile club with your diesel pickup truck. For more information on oil and filters Click

#4 Which transmission will work best for you? Warning about overdrive.

Pickup truck transmissions have come a long way since the 80’s. With the invention of the lock up torque converter in automatic transmissions, the better-made transmissions today can stand up to the torque put out by diesel engines and help slow you down. Practically all of the buses and more medium duty big trucks are going to automatic transmissions. Folks who drive mostly in the mountains like the engine braking they get with manual transmissions and the extra gears. Manufactures generally will give you around 3000 pounds more towing warranty on the automatic tranny on ½ ton pickups and smaller. This is because of the automatic transmission lock up torque converter, which locks up mechanically like a clutch and pressure plate, the absence of asbestos, (heat resistant,) from clutch discs, the torque converter doubling the torque coming from the engine flywheel, and the manufactures having more faith in the computer knowing when to shift verses us human types.

Diesels are generally harder to shift with a manual transmission than are gas-powered trucks. Because of the power and compression of a diesel, (usually twice the compression of a gas engine,) this compression, when you let off the gas pedal and engage the clutch pedal, causes the truck to decelerate quicker than the same process in a gas powered truck. So you have to shift a diesel quicker to avoid the jerk between gears. An automatic transmission on the other hand requires no such skill. I work in the city, with all of those stop signs and traffic lights; you know I drive an automatic. If I pulled a heavy trailer, (at the limits of the trucks capacity,) in the mountains, I would opt for a manual transmission. That compression in the diesel mentioned earlier helps slow you down. Each gear you shift too will hold you there. And I like all the gears I can find, when I’m going down a mountain with a heavy trailer chasing me! Especially in the Dodge with the in-line 6 cylinder Cummins diesel that has basically 1000rpm’s less in the power band than a V-8 diesel found in Ford and GM. The extra gears will give you more top speed and staying power. Dodge also increases the torque by 45 pounds and the horsepower by 10 in the 6-speed manual transmission over their automatic transmission.

In the newer 3/4 ton and larger trucks, all three makes use the same basic 6-speed manual tranny. With Ford and GM, they rate the auto and manual transmission close or the same depending on which month or year they were built. The Ford 4R100 automatic transmission in the F250 and above diesel or gas engine, will lockup its torque converter in third gear. Which is where you would want the transmission to lockup when pulling a load most of the time. The new Allison 1000 automatic transmission behind GM’s new Duramax diesel or the new 8.1L gas engine will lock up the torque converter in each gear. This would be an advantage for the novice driver coming down the mountain loaded. Even an experienced driver can get a little nervous if they miss a gear on a manual using the fast side of the mountain. The Allison also has a downshifting feature just like the medium duty two-ton trucks that downshifts a gear when you let off the gas pedal and tap the brake pedal in tow mode.

But again in the mountains the more gears the better and you can leave it each gear longer when you are down shifting a manual transmission. The rest of the time diesels are a pain to shift all day if you are using it as a car. If you are only going to pull a 10,000 #’ gooseneck or fifth wheel trailer, a ¾-ton, (F250, C-K 20, 2500) will do. If you were in the future planning on hauling larger loads, then the 1-ton, (F350, C-K 30, 3500) or larger would be better. Generally the factory dually or cab and chassis dually have larger brakes and axles. The brakes on the newer Ford, Dodge, Chevy and GMC will be 4 wheel disc brakes, which are great at getting rid of the extra heat generated braking hard and cost less to replace.

Warning about overdrive in automatic transmissions.

Automatic transmissions overdrive saves you fuel. And on fairly flat roads with the right engine combinations you can use overdrive with a load. Generally overdrive has very little engine braking ability. I’m near the mountains and here you don’t use the overdrive on an auto tranny when you are loaded. Coming down the mountain loaded in overdrive can be freewheeling life threatening experience. Overdrive as I said earlier is designed to save fuel not slow you down. The transmissions will also generally run cooler under a heavy load if you shift down one gear out of overdrive. I’m glad to see the improvements that have come to pickup truck automatics, the only problem is this means they can pull bigger trailers oh my.

#5 Duals or Single Rear Wheels?

I get asked about the need for dual wheels on pickups quite often. Dual wheels will carry more weight. Most of the weight limits manufactures put on their trucks are conservative to avoid breakdowns in drive trains, axles and frames. On my farm-ranch I was loaded above the weight limits most of the time. My trucks had to pay for themselves. But today in the cities with so many lanes side by side and in the mountains I stay a lot closer to the proper load limits in heavy traffic. It’s just not worth the risk of breaking an axle or burning a clutch and endangering other folks. I’ve seen universal joints break and watched drive shafts bounced off the pavement and swing around coming close to hitting the fuel tanks. Now I find other ways to get my thrills!

The reason I eventually went with a dually is dirt roads. Dirt roads test everything, the ruts in them remind you to that if the truck and trailer track the same, they pull better. The newer trailers are wider and track better behind the dual wheels. Dirt roads also eat the magnets, which activate the trailer brakes in the hubs of the trailer axle. Because of that, I never relied on the trailer brakes. It would surprise you have much better dual wheels will brake. Generally going from a 1-ton single rear wheel, (Ford F350, Dodge, GM 30,3500) to a 1-ton dually will give you one size larger axles and brakes, (Dana axles in Ford and Dodge, Eaton in GM.) Duallies also give better stability for the bigger overhead slide in campers.

Of course the disadvantages are worse mileage from the extra weight and drag, the cost of the extra tires, they are 8 feet wide and scrape drive up windows. On the farm when I wasn’t pulling a trailer and needed to get around in the snow and mud better, I pulled the outside duals off. If the dually is not a cab- and-chassis type, but a regular bed with fender extensions for the outside wheel, the inside dual will track behind the front tire. With duals you will need to carry a hammer around to check for flats by pounding on the face of the tire just like the big rigs do. You can’t see if one of the tires is flat by glancing at it. If one of the duals is flat for a long drive, the vibration can cause the wheels to loosen up the lug nuts. Make sure you have wide enough mirrors and the spotter mirrors to see past the duals to monitor which trailer tire is trying to go flat.

I have pulled a 32’and 33' flatbed goosenecks for years behind a ¾ ton and later a 1 ton dually on the plains. I went to a dually just for the braking advantage. My trailers were triple axles with electric brakes and I usually pulled on dirt roads that ate up the brakes and the magnets that activated them. With duals on the truck I could count on stopping where as I couldn’t depend on the trailer brakes.

Later in my trailer adventures I did go to a 2-ton truck, (a C65 Chevy) which I pulled my trailer daily with. Especially in the mountains, I would want all the gears I could find. Most of the 2-ton trucks will have 6 to 10 gears and look at the size of the brake drums on those puppies, along with a larger clutch. They are made to be loaded all the time. My 2-ton gave me the least amount of trouble hauling loads and pulling trailers. I bought a 2-ton freight truck with a van box that we cut off and made a 20’ flat bed out of. Then with that long of a box I was able to put the gooseneck ball closer to the end so I had a cargo area and could pull a trailer. Nothing beats a gooseneck or 5th wheel trailer for pulling; they track better and back up better. It’s also nice to have a heavy truck pulling the trailer. It gives you more control when you brake going down hill keeps the trailer behind you instead of trying to pass you. For heavy campers I like a dually the best. They are a pain because they are 8 ft. wide. But extra tires make me feel safer. The new Heavy Duty truck models, have longer springs to improve the ride. But this also allows more spring travel. Campers are notorious for side wind. In these newer trucks, they move too much side to side with a camper. I recommend air bags on the rear axle. This should stabilize it. This is true whether a single or dual rear wheel.

#6 Which axle ratio do I need, limited slip axle or not?

I personally like lower gears. Dodge is the truck you want to choose axle ratios wisely. When I was an AAA Auto Club broker, I sold Dodge, Ford and GM. If the client was using the Dodge truck for a car, I recommend the 3.54 rear axle ratio to give them more speed on the top end do to the narrow R.P.M. band of the in-line 6 cylinder Cummins diesel. If my customer was planning to pull trailers in the mountains, I recommended the 4.10 ratio. The lower axle ration, 4.10 also helped the truck run cooler under a load. I have had several customers come to me after they spent the $40,000 to buy the wrong truck and now they can’t pull their new $70,000 R.V. trailer in the mountains without overheating. This is the were the financial term Up-Side-Down came from. It’s a retirement nightmare. On newer Ford and GM, the diesels usually only come with one rear axle ratio. On Ford you get a 4.10 on a 1-ton dually. Axle ratios vary across the country on lighter duty trucks, ½ tons, because of elevation. The new truck computers will adjust for elevation with constant adjustments to air volume, injection pressure and timing.

Limited slip differentials.

Generally in a limited slip rear end a clutch engages when the right wheel, which is the driver, spin’s, allowing both rear wheels to give you traction. It’s usually beneficial to have it unless you are pulling heavy loads most of the time and on dirt or mud wearing the clutch in the differential. I like them myself, they will get you rolling without the 4x4 a lot of the time. I have friends who pull trailers constantly in mud and snow in Eastern Colorado who won’t buy a limited slip axle because they are spinning their tires a lot and wear out the clutch in the differential on the limited slip axle.

#7 Will this truck pull my trailer?

The first question is which transmission do you have? In the heavy-duty ¾ ton and larger it will not be as important as far a manufactures warranty, because you are at their warranty limits and usually they will list the same trailer weights for both manual and automatic transmissions. On lighter trucks,(1/2 ton,150 1500, or the mini trucks, Tacoma, Ranger, S10, Frontier, etc,) usually the automatic transmissions are rated to pull 3000#’s or more than a manual transmission. The reason being, the Asbestos is gone from the clutch, which improved the friction qualities, also the auto trannies have a lockup torque converter that locks up mechanically like a clutch and pressure plate behind a manual transmission. And the torque converter doubles the torque coming from the flywheel with an auto and the computers now determine when the auto shift’s instead of a human making that decision. Knowing when to shift is important for pulling a trailer, getting better fuel mileage and getting longer life from your engine. When your truck is new the warranty will cover your auto transmission but it will not replace your clutch with a manual transmission. If I was driving in the mountains pulling a large trailer most of the time, I would use a manual transmission with a diesel. I like having all the gears I can find when coming down the mountain. On the other hand if you were not experienced at down shifting a manual tranny on the fast side of the mountain, the automatic should be your choice. Match your trailers GVWR, (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating,) with the GVWR of your truck as limited by the manufacture, to come up with the total GCWR, (Gross Combination Weight Rating.) This is the total weight you can be loaded. You also need to know your GAWR, (Gross Axle Weight Rating,) and tongue weight of the trailer. Before you make a decision on the truck that will pull your trailer, test drive a diesel and a large displacement gas engine. Hopefully you can drive them loaded.

Always read your owner’s manual about your particular trucks weight limits, pulling limits, and gross vehicle weight rating!

#8 Bed liners, resale and safety.

I was surprised when I moved to Denver to sell trucks and saw used five year old pickups with beds that looked new. My trucks on my farm-ranch, it had to pay for itself. After I dropped the first salt block and 1500# big round bale in the bed, it just didn’t look the same. But that’s where bed liners come in. They can keep the dents from lowering your resale value. If you don’t haul a fuel tank or fuel containers in your truck bed, the cheaper plastic bed liners will work. If you haul fuel cells or fuel containers you are better with a sprayed in bed liner or nothing at all.

With slide in plastic bed liners you want to be careful with fuel containers. There is a gap between the bed liner and the pickup sheet metal floor, sometimes building up static electricity. Gasoline fires suspected of being started by a spark of static electricity during fuel transfer are rare. Almost none of the documented incidents involve direct fueling of a truck because both vehicles and dispensers are designed to dissipate static electricity to the ground. Instead, they involve fueling situations where the gasoline receptacle could be insulated from ground-portable containers and equipment being transported on a truck or trailer.

Gasoline has a low electrical conductivity; it does not conduct electricity very well. As a result, a charge of static electricity builds up on gasoline as it flows through a pipe or hose and this charge takes several seconds to several minutes to dissipate after the gasoline has reached a tank or container. If this charge discharges as a spark from a tank or container to the grounded metal nozzle of the gasoline dispenser hose, it may ignite the gasoline. Ignition requires that the spark occur near the tank opening where the gasoline vapor is in the flammable range.1 A spark discharge directly from the surface of the gasoline to the grounded nozzle also is possible. Normally, this will not result in ignition because the concentration of gasoline vapor near the liquid is above the flammable limit.

Theory and experience suggest that the condition most likely to lead to a spark discharge is filling a metal container or tank that is insulated from ground, i.e., one that is ungrounded. This is the situation that exists when a metal container is placed on a plastic bed liner.

Fires initiated by sparks can be prevented if static electricity is not allowed to build up, particularly on conductors. One defense is to dissipate electrical charge by creating paths that allow it to flow to ground. Placing a container on the ground makes it easier for electrical charge to escape. Cement or dirt is a better conductor of electricity than asphalt and, therefore, better grounding surfaces. While vehicles that are driven to a service station may not appear to be grounded, they are. Tires are good enough conductors to allow electrical charge to escape to ground.

Keeping the dispenser nozzle in contact with the container at the inlet or with the fuel tank fill tube creates another path by which electrical charge can escape. This is because the dispenser is grounded and the nozzle is bonded to the dispenser through the dispenser hose.

When a vehicle or other equipment can’t be placed on the ground, a second defense is to fuel more slowly. The slower gasoline flows, the less static electricity is generated.

#9 My engine recommendations.

Fuel injection greatly improved these gas engines. The best diesels have direct injection, turbo’s, and intercoolers.

·My favorite Ford engines: 4.9L (300 cu) 6 cylinder, 7.5L (460 cu) 8 cylinder, older engines. 5.4L (330) 8 cylinder, 7.3L (444 cu) 8 cylinder diesel turbo 1994.5 Navistar Power Strokes and newer.

·My favorite Dodge engines: 5.2L (318 cu) 8 cylinder, 5.9L (360 cu) 8 cylinder, 5.9L (360 cu) 6 cylinder Cummins turbo diesel any year.

·My favorite GM engines: 4.3L (262 cu) 6 cylinder, 5.7L (350 cu) 8 cylinder, 7.4L (454 cu) 8 cylinder. Vortec series are the best.

In the medium duty two-ton trucks the GM 6.0L 366 cu gas engine and the Navistar 466 cu diesel are my favorites.

#10 New or used, truck and auto dealer.

NEW verses USED Revised

We all know how nothing stays the same. Markets change, economies change, my weight changes. With the recession of 2001 and that darn 0% financing on new trucks that seemed great at the time, we now have too many used trucks. This year, 2002 we can hardly sell any new trucks. Free money, 0% interest, took folks way into the future out of the market by buying early. And you can only go so low on a new truck and then you have one of  those bankruptcy sales. Used trucks get churned over and over at the dealer auction when things get slow and finely some dealers gets great bargains. One year old trucks are still too close to a new truck but 2 years old  and older trucks are way down there. Now of course you know what I say about used 4x4's, they need a great extended warranty Click Be sure to check or have checked a used truck over carefully. I'll be coming out with a list of what to look for soon.

We have all heard how much you loose when you drive a new car off the lot. The people you hear this saying the most from are the USED CAR SALESMAN. They make more money on used than new. Cars drop like a rock no matter whether they were used or new. You don’t have an invoice on used vehicles and you have no way of knowing exactly how much they traded it in for. Very few people pay full retail for new vehicles and then there are those rebates. It would surprise you how close the actual sales price of a new vehicle and a one-year-old one are. And you know the ne