Mid-size vs Full-size truck setup

[2025 deleted member]

OK, how and where do you find these pics????????????????????????

I thought you meant of them having sex- and was like “really”….?

 

[SnowedIn]

B) When we go for 7-10 days trips that's when we go to places like Washington etc. When going to those places, we like to visit a few cities, stop for coffee etc. Maneuvering a trailer in downtown Seattle sounds like a nightmare. It sounds like a nightmare anywhere actually. On the other hand, maneuvering a short bed F-150 with a light aluminum camper sounds doable even in large cities (I mean it better be, because it will be our daily driver as I said in my first message, which is one of the concern of going full size).

Am I missing something?

Well, yes and no.

1. Yes, you're right, a trailer is definitely a pain in any moderate sized city and up. There is a tradeoff between payload/camping convenience/flexibility and having to drag the thing around. However I feel hauling a trailer, even a small one, often points to a full size still anyways. Towing much past 2k pounds with many midsize trucks in hilly and mountainous terrain can be pretty miserable unless it's really low profile. Doing it with an SUV that isn't pickup truck based is even worse - less about horsepower and wheelbase and more about how the transmission is set up.

Two young kids here. We've run a mid size truck for a decade - since before the kids - and added a converted cargo trailer a couple of years ago. The truck will pull the 1700lb trailer with 500 lbs of crap in it without killing itself if driven right; it'll do it on very rough terrain (trailer is on 32's and has a pintle). It's just that it'll do it with abysmal gas mileage and speed (dropping from 18-20 highway at 70mph to 12-13 at 65mph).

You sort of need to take the towing capacity #'s on a given truck and cut them in half for what you can comfortably tow, and anything 1/2 ton or smaller is going to be flirting with door sticker payload capacity if you're adding offroad mods/recovery/extra supplies for remote travel. As such we've added an HD truck and likely will add another in the next year or two, leaving the smaller rigs for daily driving and ground tent camping when we really need the smaller size for tighter trails.

There is a dividing line between "these trucks can be realistically parked almost anywhere, and these other ones cannot". The real split at last for crew cabs (and you'll want a crew cab with a family, most likely) isn't between 1/2 tons and bigger, it's between crew cab short beds and everything bigger. Many of the CCSB's will fit completely within a normal parking spot, albeit barely. But for a daily driver many have to live with cutting it close on payload for fuel efficiency reasons and roll with either a half ton or a midsize with serious suspension upgrades.

2. The bigger thing that I think you're missing is that if you keep taking a road trip/overlanding rig into places like Seattle, sooner or later you will get smash and grabbed if you park. Period, full stop. You need an honest appraisal of whether stopping for coffee is worth it.

 

[Highlander]

You aren't supposed to drive in 4h on dry pavement with a traditional transfer. I don't do it. The majority of people I know do it and never have an issue. They complain about how bad their trucks handle in 4wd but never connect the did. I used to try to explain it to people but I stopped trying a long time ago.

In appropriate conditions (muddy, wet grass and snowy road), how long can you drive in 4h?
Is it 500 miles? 1000?

My classmate drove his Dodge Dakota from Buffalo NY to Cleavland OH in a snowstorm. He was on interstate and put the car 4h as soon as the blizzard started. The T-case gave up not too from PA/OH border.
I always wondered about how long you can actually dive in 4h even when the pavement is not dry. I don't think the manufactures are very clear about it.

 

[UglyViking]

In appropriate conditions (muddy, wet grass and snowy road), how long can you drive in 4h?
Is it 500 miles? 1000?

My classmate drove his Dodge Dakota from Buffalo NY to Cleavland OH in a snowstorm. He was on interstate and put the car 4h as soon as the blizzard started. The T-case gave up not too from PA/OH border.
I always wondered about how long you can actually dive in 4h even when the pavement is not dry. I don't think the manufactures are very clear about it.

There isn't a maximum distance as much as a maximum speed. Generally speaking, 4H is a "mid speed" drive. You can bomb short highway runs for like 60mph, but you're testing your luck. I think the generally accepted case is something along the lines of "surface street speed, but below 45mph" and you're safe. Again, every t-case is different, and there are a lot of other things that can impact it such as external temps, age of the fluid, how often it's used, duration of use, size of wheels/tires, etc.

You shouldn't be using 4H to bomb down the highway doing 70 in a snowstorm, but you shouldn't be driving 70 in a snowstorm for hours if you need 4H anyway, unless you're willing to pay to play.

 

[IdaSHO]

Something to consider...

Unless you have manual front hubs (superduty), the full time front end on most trucks these days is in effect spinning the xfer case regardless of in 4wd or not.
Granted, every xfer case is a bit different, but Id assume the ONLY difference between 4wd and 2wd in these trucks at speed
is the physical connection in the xfer case that ties front and rear drivelines together. So provided you are driving straight, the any additional load on the xfer case would be marginal, if even measurable.

 

[deserteagle56]

Something to consider...

Unless you have manual front hubs (superduty), the full time front end on most trucks these days is in effect spinning the xfer case regardless of in 4wd or not.

True only if the vehicle has a "4A" position for the transfer case, and that's what you have it set to. If the vehicle doesn't have the 4A position (just 2H-N-4H-4L) then Ram/Jeep/GM have front axle disconnects that allows part of the front axle to rotate when the position is in 2H - but the transfer case does not rotate. My F150 has the standard transfer case (no 4A position) and both front wheels have what Ford calls "IWE" (Integrated Wheel End" built into each front hub which is essentially a front hub that connects/disconnects the wheel to the axle just like your manual hubs on your Ford. Mine (2016) works via vacuum, the new ones are electric. But when my F150 is in 2H the transfer case does not turn.

But there is NO reason a transfer case should fail just because it is engaged in 4H all the time as long as traction was such that the transfer case wouldn't bind up. If a failure happens then probably something else was the cause, like low oil level or transfer case oil never changed and bearings seized.

 

[jgallo1]

The transfer case should not fail from being 4wd at all. I work in the backcountry and there are many rangers, wildfire guys, and ranchers who have trucks that spend most of their life in 4wd. I think the only time the trucks go into 2wd is to get driven to a mechanic once a year ha ha.
As mentioned above if you're driving 50+ and flipping from 2wd to 4wd at high speeds who knows what could happen? We all have done it, but I don't think it is the best practice for the vehicle. Think about driving a manual a clutch should last a very long time. Give it to a first-time driver and the clutch will fail in a year if they give it hell.

 

[llamalander]

2nd gen Nissan Frontier asks nicely to not be put into 4H at speeds over 60mph.
Once in 4H, there is no suggestion that it should be speed or time limited.
In close to 200k miles, I've replaced an ARB locker and, just recently, some driveline bearings, transfer case does not complain even if I spend days in 4H or 4L.

 

[jgrillz94]

I have a canopy camper on my Tacoma. Was amazing for me and my wife and dog but got real tight real fast once we had our daughter. Now that baby #2 is on the way we’re upgrading to a f250 with a fwc grandby flatbed. I daily drove both Tacoma and f250 on Long Island no regrets either way. But with your growing family definitely just go full size no question

 

[Highlander]

But with your growing family definitely just go full size no question

Everyone I know who started in small trucks and later on had families had to move on to a half ton or to a 3/4 ton.
When you factor how much stuff you need to carry in a relative comfort, plus safety you don't have a choice. Even a 1/2 ton might seem small.

I know a guy who regrets not getting a 3/4 ton instead of a 1/2 ton, but I have never met anyone, with a family, who is regretting upgrading from a mid-size truck to a full-size truck.

 

[SnowedIn]

I don't feel cramped with the family in a midsize crew cab (2 kids) so much as limited by both payload and bed volume. Being in the bigger trucks sorta feels like we're all arbitrarily spaced farther apart.

 

[phsycle]

I don't feel cramped with the family in a midsize crew cab (2 kids) so much as limited by both payload and bed volume. Being in the bigger trucks sorta feels like we're all arbitrarily spaced farther apart.

Depends on the age of your kids. When my two kids were little, my Tacoma was fine (although with one in rear facing car seat, space was tight until she got in a booster). Teen years, F150 Supercrew was needed. When we added a third kid, no way any midsize would work.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I can't wait to get back into a Supercab F-150. Supercrew with a functional sized bed is so big and unwieldy.

There is no way I would want to recreationally offroad a half ton.

 

[Ozarker]

I can't wait to get back into a Supercab F-150. Supercrew with a functional sized bed is so big and unwieldy.

There is no way I would want to recreationally offroad a half ton.

Depends on many things, if you use to "off road" in a 5 ton, the F-150 is a midget racer.

 

[phsycle]

I think we all have different definitions of “off-roading.” Frankly, as I get older, more impatient, I grow tired of snail-pace rock crawl off-roading. So does my family. If I’m going to do that, I’d just pull my UTV along and do the trails in 1/4 of the time. Then ride back home in comfort of a full size rig.
My full size rigs now are primarily for backcountry dirt roads out here in Utah and Colorado. In which, in my opinion, I’d rather have an F150 Supercrew vs any midsize truck.