Brainstorming my next rig. How to fit 4 mountain bikes inside a 4x4.

[Hickey]

I recently had a F-350 crew cab long bed with the 6.2 gas motor. I really liked the truck, and my spouse found it easy to drive. The 6.2 is a very reliable motor. It towed everything i wanted quite well, until i got my 5th wheel (12k lbs). That 5th wheel ultimately forced me to step up to a diesel. I think the weight alone wasn’t the problem, it was the large amount of wind drag of such a tall trailer. That truck would pull your Airstream easily.

Car seats SUCK. They will force so many of your vehicle choices for many years to come. They are huge and akward. I wouldn’t look at anything but crew cabs if i were you. Kids take up a lot of room even without the carseat issue.

Fred is essentially a 3/4 ton now, and I think you would regret stepping down to a half ton. Your trailer isn’t very heavy, but you carry a lot of gear with you because of your nomad life.

I would choose a Ford or Chevy crew cab 3/4 or 1 ton with 6.2 or 6.0 gas motor and mount that service body on it that Rick is selling (that would also help the Ford ride better) You dont need the 8.1 motor. The Chevy will ride better but have less ground clearance. The Ford is stupid cheap/easy to put a leveling kit on and a little larger tire. That service body would be ideal for bike and gear storage.

 

[Corban_White]

I bought my eco about a year ago with 58k miles. It has 75k now. There's not anything strange to watch for, just the usual used car stuff. There are however a million different option combinations. For example, no backup camera, backup camera display in the rearview mirror, on a tiny screen in the dash or in the big screen in the dash. shifter on the column, shifter on the console with a pass through, shifter on the console with no pass through. It goes on and on. I had to figure out what options I wanted then watch for a truck with them. It's not based on trim level so I just had to look at the pictures.

If cost were no object (of course it always is...) I would go with the 8' bed on the DC tundra and this bed that I linked a couple pages back:

That allows the bikes inside and all the camping gear, tools, etc to be accessible from the outside. It's amazing what having everything easily accessible does for your space. It feels like you have way more room than you did when everything needed to come out the back.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I completely forgot to add this to post #1, but I don't want to finance. I want to pay cash for it, which means buying used.


That would be super handy. What do you think a service body like that would cost, and weigh empty? Are we talking $6k new, or $16k? One of the downsides of the tundra is the low carrying capacity in the bed. I imagine tongue weight when towing will factor in to cargo weight too.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I test drove a few tundras today. I think I prefer the 8 foot bed. It's a beast to park and do u turns, but there a lot of room back there.



Now I'm off to test drive some chevies.

The ride felt a little stiff on these. I'd like to try a Trd model, though I'll bet towing suffers with those.

I'm also dissappointed that the tundras dont have a 110v outlet/inverter like the Tacomas do.

 

[Corban_White]

Price depends hugely on options and configuration. I’ve never priced a fully enclosed one but the open ones that we have purchased have ranged from $5,000 to $12,000.

 

[sixstringsteve]

We just test drove the chevies. Wow, they're expensive. Cool features, but I dont need all that.

The biggest bed i can get in a half ton is 6.5, which is enough. To go to an 8 foot bed, you have to go to a 3/4 ton.

I really liked the ride of the z71 Silverado we drove. It only had a 5.3, which may be a bit underpowered for our needs. Suspension felt great.

The double cab was too cramped, even for small people like us, and the crew cab was huge.

If I were to get a Chevy, it would be a crew cab 1500 6.5 foot bed. But those are way more money than we want to spend. Next up... ford.

I didnt like how big the front end was. It felt massive.

 

[I Lean]

To go to an 8 foot bed, you have to go to a 3/4 ton.

I don't see this as a bad thing, at all. 3/4 ton also probably gives you the option of the 6.0 over the 5.3...

 

[sixstringsteve]

I think the only 8 foot bed I'd be interested in is the tundra. Everything else is just too large.

Ford has a good size with their 6.75 beds.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I'm not opposed to a 3/4 ton, im just taking notes here so I remember for the future. The 3/4 ton chevies feel really big. Bigger than we want. They made it sound like you could get a max tow 1500 with the 6.0 or 6.2.

I'll be test driving an f150 ecoboost and a transit EcoBoost again.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Allright, I just got done at the ford dealership.

First I drove the EcoBoost transit. Holy cow, that thing has so much power. Sticker was 39k. Cheap ride, decent visibility, awful interior quality. If you want one with 4x4, it's an extra $22k. So a 4x4 EcoBoost bar transit would be $61k out the door. No thanks.

Then we drove an xlt crew cab f150 EcoBoost. This was my favorite one so far. Sticker was $51k. It drove really well, has the 6.75 foot bed, 10 speed trans, and the ecoboost. I really liked it. Then we started checking out the stx models with the bare bones interior and rubber floors, but still had the EcoBoost with the 10 speed trans and max tow package. I'm not crazy about the trailer steering feature, but I like the rest of the max tow package.

Now, I work in the auroindustry, and I get employee pricing for fords, which is really nice.

All that being said, i like to pay cash for my vehicles and $35-52k is a lot of money and competes with some of my financial goals.

My favorite driving vehicle was the f150, followed by the tundra. So it was an informative day. I learned a lot, but I still don't have a fantastic option for carrying the bikes.

,,

 

[rholbrook]

You have to admit it too Steve, you liked the feel of that motor in the F150.

 

[sixstringsteve]

No doubt, it's one of my favorite feeling motives. It was fast and smooth.

However, it's out of my budget, and my budget dictates I buy used. Buying used, I wonder about the longevity of the EcoBoost motor. Most reports I hear about them are from people who bought them new.

 

[sixstringsteve]

It baffles me that a 4x4 completely bare bones transit van with zero interior and zero features costs $10k more than a 4x4 f150 with far more features and build quality.

 

[Kevin B.]

It baffles me that a 4x4 completely bare bones transit van with zero interior and zero features costs $10k more than an f150 with far more features and build quality.

#vanlife

 

[sixstringsteve]

It can't be that. If vanlife were a big enough market, they'd actually make good ones, and they'd actually come 4x4 from the factory.

 

[Caleb]

I loved loved loved my Tundras. No complaints other than the mileage and fuel tank size. Although the newer Tundras can now get a 36 gallon tank from the factory. I towed around a 35' camper trailer for a couple years with mine and it did just fine. The trailer came in at right about 10K lbs ready to go. I did have a weight distribution hitch and airbags which made all the difference. I could maintain any speed I wanted (80 over Parleys with that trailer wasn't an issue) but fuel mileage suffered. The worst I ever got was going from Price to Delta Colorado and we had a serious head wind. I maintained 75ish mph and pulled in the fuel station in Fruita on fumes. I think I was around 6mpg on that leg. However, I could have gotten much better had I not maintained 75. I absolutely loved the huge back seats on my crew maxes. If you go with a pre-14 I think it is, the back seats even recline a little bit. I also really liked how the entire rear window would roll down. I haven't ever looked too closely at the doublecab Tundra, but I believe it has a decent sized backseat as well, not quite as big as the crew max, but still plenty large to comfortable fit a carseat and get a child in and out of it without much issue (Congats on the kiddo by the way!)

I now have an '18 Raptor. I really like all the gadgets and features the Ford has, which the Toyota obviously doesn't. The back seat is big, but not nearly as big and nice as the Tundra. I think the overall build quality of the Tundra (despite being half the cost of the Raptor) is far superior. I know the Raptor is a different beast when it comes to towing, but I was straight up disappointed in most aspects of the towing vs. with my Tundras. Power was fine (no better, no worse) but handling was pretty bad. I could probably improve that with springs, airbags, whatever but then what's the point of the Raptor . Mileage was also not really any better than my Tundra. I have had several issues with my Raptor that I would not expect an $80K vehicle to have. Getting good service with the Ford has also been a bit of a nightmare. A positive for the Raptor is that despite being almost the same size as the Tundra, it's funner to drive and drives like it's much smaller.

If Toyota updated their features to this century, I'd go back to a Tundra today without hesitation. It's also creepy how many middle aged men stare at me in the Raptor

 

[Caleb]

First Image is my '07 Tundra with a fully loaded trailer and my CRF450 in the bed. I was around 8-9mpg.


Never had the camp trailer with my '16 Tundra but this was a load I'd tow most weekend up to my cabin outside Mount Pleasant not far off Skyline drive. I would usually get 9-10mpg with this setup.

 

[ttora4runner]

What about a new Titan?

 

[TRD270]

What about a new Titan?

I was actually thinking of suggesting the same thing since they market as a 5/8 ton, I've not heard great things about the transmissions in the XD's but may be worth a look

 

[sixstringsteve]

Thanks Caleb, I"m glad you chimed in. I remembered how much you loved your Tundra. I appreciate the real-world comparison between the raptor and the tundra. Those raptors sure look awesome.

I feel like Tundra was the only vehicle with a usable "smaller" back seat. In other words, the doublecab ford (with the suicide doors) was awful, and the doublecab chevy was even worse. The doublecab Tundra is plenty big for our needs, which allows me to get the 6.5 or 8 foot bed.

I think I'll drop the price on the van a bit, and if I can sell it for a decent price. If so, I'll have some really good options for my next vehicle purchase. I could be equally happy with a new F150 ecoboost or a new or used Tundra. I have a really tough time buying a brand new vehicle though, knowing how much it depreciates the second I'd drive it off the lot. With my work discount, the Fords become a little more affordable, but then again, I do tend to sell cars in a short amount of time. I've set a record with the van though, I've had it almost 3 years now, and it's been my only vehicle.

I still don't have an awesome solution for the bikes, so I need to think on that some more.