new truck shopping

[taxreliever]

Nice truck Ian....I love the color. Most cars coming from the factory seem to be black these days and while I think black looks the best when clean, it's the most difficult to keep clean....we ended up having our vehicles ceramic coated....was expensive, but much easier to maintain and should give us decent shine for many more years than if not.

I know how you feel not being a Ford. I needed a new car I looked at every Ford they make. Ended up with a 2020 Subaru crosstrek. But at least I still have my F150.

I was so disappointed when I went looking for a new company truck last year. I tried every one of Ford's top of the line F150's and none of them were as comfortable as the Ram Rebel I ended up with. It's been about a year now and I LOVE my RAM.....I think the RAM boxes on the bed have made me a customer for life unless another Make comes out with a similar option.

Does yours have the 110 AC plug in the bed? Not sure if that's an option or standard.

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They have this option in the RAM boxes. Pretty cool.

It does, although I haven't yet figured out what I could use it for...I think it's 100W going down the road and 400W when parked. Don't think it's enough juice to run a circular saw, which was the first use that came to my mind for a plug in that location.


Definitely glad I bought when I did...a friend is supposed to be picking up a new Tacoma today (maybe), and from talking to him the supply chain has almost totally dried up...nevermind getting a good deal on what you want, it's getting hard to find a Tacoma to buy at all...local dealer shows one in stock. They had at least 6-8 when I bought...and still had to go 200 miles for the one I wanted.

And another friend sent a pic- he found my old Ranger on a local used car lot, with what appears to be a good polish and a tiny bit of paintwork. Without putting too fine a point on it, if I thought it was worth anywhere close to what they're asking I'd still be driving it. Hope any potential buyer crawls underneath or brings it to a mechanic...

We don't have a local Toyota dealer and honestly I'm not sure why I didn't consider them when looking. For me it was either Ford or RAM.

 

[john112deere]

Thread on the topic coming elsewhere, but I bought a toy the other day, and dragged it home with the Tacoma...~4300 lbs for the loaded trailer, and I pulled it about 250 miles Monday night.

Truck did...OK. Rented a trailer I had to pickup about halfway to where I was going; gassed up just before I got it, and averaged 17.6 mpg for that tank- about half loaded and half empty, pulling across the rolling terrain of western Maine.

Gassed up just before I hit the mountains of NH, and that tank was still 16 mpg, all loaded and steeper terrain...truck struggled a little more here- obviously it was slower on the steep stuff, but it was getting dark and I was getting tired, so I probably wasn't anticipating the grades as well as I could have either...not bad, but definitely a few where I downshifted a moment too late and it cost me a lot of speed.

So...it pulls well, although I still think their rating of 6400 lbs is pretty optimistic. It might do it but it wouldn't be pretty, and you probably wouldn't want to go far. (As against the Ford, which I always thought was underrated...I wouldn't have pulled 4300 lbs with it, but I didn't think twice about pushing against the factory ~3100 lb rating...as long as I didn't have to back it up a hill.

 

[taxreliever]

Thread on the topic coming elsewhere, but I bought a toy the other day, and dragged it home with the Tacoma...~4300 lbs for the loaded trailer, and I pulled it about 250 miles Monday night.

Truck did...OK. Rented a trailer I had to pickup about halfway to where I was going; gassed up just before I got it, and averaged 17.6 mpg for that tank- about half loaded and half empty, pulling across the rolling terrain of western Maine.

Gassed up just before I hit the mountains of NH, and that tank was still 16 mpg, all loaded and steeper terrain...truck struggled a little more here- obviously it was slower on the steep stuff, but it was getting dark and I was getting tired, so I probably wasn't anticipating the grades as well as I could have either...not bad, but definitely a few where I downshifted a moment too late and it cost me a lot of speed.

So...it pulls well, although I still think their rating of 6400 lbs is pretty optimistic. It might do it but it wouldn't be pretty, and you probably wouldn't want to go far. (As against the Ford, which I always thought was underrated...I wouldn't have pulled 4300 lbs with it, but I didn't think twice about pushing against the factory ~3100 lb rating...as long as I didn't have to back it up a hill.

interesting.....your trailer looks light.....i bought a nice 10000lb car hauler that itself weighs almost 4000 lbs. I pulled it through the western mountains unloaded with my 06 Nissan Titan (LOVE this truck by the way) and I hardly nee it was behind me; literally, never down shifted.

 

[taxreliever]

 

[taxreliever]

 

[fatherdoug]

Nice trailer, Ken. You had to drive to the western US to find an "Appalachian" trailer?

 

[dustybumpers]

[emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]

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[taxreliever]

Nice trailer, Ken. You had to drive to the western US to find an "Appalachian" trailer?

Haha....just the small Western Mountains (Hills really ) of western Maine! We call it the foothills of Maine!

 

[taxreliever]

Nice trailer, Ken. You had to drive to the western US to find an "Appalachian" trailer?

Oh, LOVE the trailer...it has a winch that hooks on the front of the trailer via a hitch pin...so, battery and winch stay in the back of the truck until I need it....so cool!

 

[fatherdoug]

That's a handy addition, and still "protected."

 

[taxreliever]

That's a handy addition, and still "protected."

Sorry to hack the thread Ian, but the deck is regular wood....before winter, should I paint it to protect it? Lacquer?

 

[heavydoc]

Linseed oil or just dump some old hydraulic oil on it

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[dustybumpers]

I use Thompson's water seal. Spray it on with a pump sprayer.
Runs around $20 gallon at Walmart

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[Blue-Truck-Nut97]

Hydraulic oil thinned with diesel works really well too. It's just nasty if you have to lay on it for some reason.

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[heavydoc]

But preserves the wood like nothin else

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[heavydoc]

And gives it a really nice color too

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[Blue-Truck-Nut97]

Indeed. All our trailers and the roll back get sprayed with it before winter. I use a cheap weed sprayer. If you want it tinted use dyed fuel or ATF.

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[heavydoc]

Bug sprayers work great for painting equipment trailers too, ask me how I know[emoji16][emoji16]

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[Fellro]

The advantage of an oil vs something like Thompson's is that is soaks in vs surface treatment only. I know I get scratches in my deck all the time.

 

[john112deere]

interesting.....your trailer looks light.....i bought a nice 10000lb car hauler that itself weighs almost 4000 lbs. I pulled it through the western mountains unloaded with my 06 Nissan Titan (LOVE this truck by the way) and I hardly nee it was behind me; literally, never down shifted.

UHaul says they weigh about 2200 lbs...I've pulled a number of these behind different rigs- they pull "heavy" for 2200 lbs, but they're great trailers.

I did OK through western Maine...truck seemed happier in fourth gear than fifth (it's a 6-speed) to keep it up in the power-band, but that was pretty easy pulling. Gassed up in Gorham and from there to St. Johnsbury was a little more work...but like I said, it was dark and I was tired...a little off my game.