You should’ve got a half ton I’m told 🛻

People have a lot of opinions on many things. And we all have to make a decision, despite contrary opinions on what is the right options for me. I went with an HD truck – my F-350 SuperDuty – and that’s not a decision without criticism.

For one, I wanted something with higher ground clearance then a stock F-150 or Silverado. I wanted to be able to run 33″ or even 35″ tires without having a lift kit – my truck came standard with 33s. I also wanted the high ride like my previous lifted truck, good views of the road, but without all the trouble of lifted truck.

While I never had too many problems with ball joints or CV joints on my old rig, I also took it real easy on the rough dirt roads I often drive back to camp. The straight axles, heavy-duty rear leaf springs and coil springs over a straight axle seemed to suggest HD truck was the best option for years of reliable, rough roads.

Suspension parts are generally stronger and more substantial on HD trucks both for towing and because it is common they are driven on rough roads. True with a front straight axle you do have U-Joints, you have upper ball joints and you have a steering rod, and you can get death wobble if they get too worn, but in general it’s a much more reliable system for heavy abuse, even if the ride quality is worse on pavement.

I also though the engine choices for half tons lately are generally bad, as manufacturers try to eek out greater preformance on fuel economy standards to pass increasingly tough EPA standards. Turbo-charging, small displacement engines that use ultra-thin oils might be slightly more fuel efficent especially if you are gentle on the gas, but they have had a rash of costly failures. A simpler, naturally aspirated big ol’ V-8 just seemed like a good choice for me. Tons of power in the mountains, and the amount of city driving I do is very limited.

Not that I’ve ever had a pickup that gets good milage in the city. And I don’t care that much about fuel economy whne I drive recreationally. That said, I do wish my 6.8L V8 did get somewhat better gas milage.

And I wanted the bigger alternator and extra battery for reliable starts when winter camping – and to provide ample power when camping. The old truck was fine, but when the weather was cold, sometimes the starts would be weaker then I’d like in remote country, and alternator would sometimes run hot and you could smell it starting to burn out on heavy loads after the camp batteries were low, and I had things like the headlights or air conditioning going full blast. While the alternator did not fail on my old rig, it always was a concern in my mind.

Maybe I would have been fine with a half ton, but I wanted a big truck, with lots of capacity for when I took it out on trips. Something I can later use to tow a cattle trailer or put a plow on should the need arise like after I buy a house or that off-grid cabin. But in the mean time, I still have a pretty awesome rig for camping and traveling like I did for many years with Big Red.