I had a '99 with the 4.8 (little V8) and it too struggled. If they still build a 4.8 I suspect the power is up in it also. The 4.8 was never popular so it may not even be in production now.
I had a '99 with the 4.8 (little V8) and it too struggled. If they still build a 4.8 I suspect the power is up in it also. The 4.8 was never popular so it may not even be in production now.
The 4.8 became the 5.3 when they switched to the Vortec/LS engines. They put 5.3s in almost everything and they can make power but from the factory they’re just ok. They will last a very long time unless you have an issue with piston slap or the selective cylinder dropout lifters.
Those engines are damn near bulletproof considering how many are on the road pulling big trucks around.
2006 Triton SP-185, 2006 Evinrude Etec 90, PowerTech NRS3, Garmin Echomap Plus 73CV & 93SV
Perhaps there's need to be a re-release of the "Heavy Half" pickups to satisfy everyone. Back before liters were used to identfy engine sizes Chevy have a line that fit between 1/2 and 3/4 tons. My '77 had a 454, heavier springs, and a 14 bolt rear end with 4.10's. This allowed consumers to skate around having to buy unleaded gas and having catalytic converters on 1/2 tons before the govt wised up.
I do not think that is correct in that the 4.8 and 5.3 were in production for many years at the same time. I think the 4.8 came out in 1999, mine was a 1999. I do not know if they are still available but I believe not. The 4.8 is essentially a destroked and smaller bore 5.3. I suspect (but, do not know), that the valves train, ignition specs and so may be different. But, the 4.8 did not "become" the 5.3Originally Posted by Casslaw
The 14 bolt, though kind of rare was a heck of a rear end.
The 3/4 ton will haul three of your Ranger boats coupled together. A 1/2 ton will haul a B-train of Ranger boats.
I'm a Ford man myself but I drive a 3/4 ton Chevy every day for work. It's an 09 2500, 2wd. with the 6.0 vortec gas motor and the 6 speed automatic transmission. I sometime pull a heavy duty trailer that weighs over 2000 lbs. with around 4 or 5 thousand pounds on it and it handles it just fine. It only gets 14 mpg. with my normal load of a steel pipe rack and gang box full of tools and only 11 mpg. with the trailer hooked up. It has the heavy duty 4 wheel disc brakes and will stop on a dime. The truck I had before this was a 1/2 ton with a V-6 and it sucked without the trailer. If you go with a 3/4 ton get the biggest V-8 you can.
I stand corrected, I was not only wrong, but completely wrong. Both are technically LS engines.
2006 Triton SP-185, 2006 Evinrude Etec 90, PowerTech NRS3, Garmin Echomap Plus 73CV & 93SV
My Tundra has a 5.7L (350) with no cylinder shut off, 16V dual overhead cam. All the modern ones have a 4.30 rear end with a true 1-1 in 4th gear. 13” disc brakes all the way around with four piston rotors up front. Not the torque of a 454 but they are stout. Nissan has the TITAN XD. BOTH can arguably be bested by Ford and Ram’s half tons with the right setups. GM’s 6.2 is no slouch. They just can’t help chasing the MPG messing with transmission programming.
This is true! I don’t like the looks of the Titan HD...it’s the weird fender emblem, but that’s a nice puller! The GM 6.2 had plenty of power but GM does need to get a good tranny behind it. Pretty much all 1/2 ton trucks these days can pull a good amount of weight safely...the current brake systems are so far beyond the drums of old!
Id like a smaller truck even but can’t do it. Being an ‘04 my F150 is ancient compared to today’s trucks but she is a great truck. When equipped correctly, today’s 1/2 ton trucks would run rings around anything from our youth! We want them to ride like a Cadillac and pull like a 1 ton diesel...they’re pretty damned good if you really break em down.
2006 Triton SP-185, 2006 Evinrude Etec 90, PowerTech NRS3, Garmin Echomap Plus 73CV & 93SV
It’s not the pulling, it’s the stopping.
When your 21ft tandem axle trailer’s master cylinder takes a crap 300 miles from home and perhaps you have never bled the brake fluid on your truck and some clueless idiot pulls out right in front of you on the highway that’s when you suddenly wish you had a safety margin.
You Don't Know what you Don't Know until you Know.
1984 Champion 201/Yamaha 175
1986 Ranger 390v/Yamaha 200
2002 Viper Cobra Coosa 216/Mercury 225EFI
2002 ProSports ProKat 2200/Twin Yamaha 150HPDIs
When your 21ft tandem axle trailer’s master cylinder takes a crap 300 miles from home and perhaps you have never bled the brake fluid on your truck and some clueless idiot pulls out right in front of you on the highway that’s when you suddenly wish you had a safety margin.[/QUOTE]
Had this happen. Towing my partners 520, brakes quit working . My 1/2 ton 4wheel discs were smoking on the bottom of the hill to his house.
A 3/4 ton is deff overkill but sometimes it’s good to have room for margin of error. Most 1/2 ton trucks are capable of towing 6,000-10,000 lbs depending on gearing. That’s more than anyone’s bass boat weighs. Ive seem Jeeps and Durango’s pull full size boats with no problem they just maintain the speed limit and don’t go over. Yes a 3/4 will work less and stop better but most people can’t afford a 3/4 on top of a bass boat and everyday living expenses, it’s just not practical and doesn’t mean they aren’t safe. When people say they have had issues breaking with 1/2 tons, they are either speeding way beyond what they should, or are emergency stopping which any vehicle is likely to slide depending on speed. If breaks are smoking, drop the gears and ease up on the pedal, make the engine work for you after all. It also helps to use the tow mode.
1995 Ranger 481v
1995 Johnson Fast Strike 175hp
A gas 3/4 is not going to give much if any more tow capacity. It will just have more payload. 1/2 ton will handle any bass boat just fine.
I cant agree with that. My boat is a loaded down tr210 but the 08 z71 half ton with a 5.3 is an absolute dog with that boat. Constantly runs 3k rpms and up just to run 65-70 on the interstate and does good to get 7-8 mpg. I’ve never been in a half ton Chevy that could walk off with a bass boat without struggling. The 2017 f250 gas we have pulls that boat likes it not back there, I can set the cruise at 80 and the truck doesn’t labor whatsoever. And it still gets 10 mpg.
What's the difference between the 3/4 ton and a 1/2 ton truck? Ford and all of the other Big 3 car manufacturers strive for bragging rights on which way their highly profitable truck sales are going. And they put the big sales incentive and low APR programs on the 1/2 ton trucks. Very seldom do they throw the really great incentives on 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks.
The difference between the trucks is about $10,000.
What do the 3/4 diesel guys do when they have to haul a 12,000lbs load? Trade it in for an F450 so it "feels like the load isn't even back there"??
My 2014 GMC 5.3 can burn the back tires off it with the boat hooked up; power is not an issue. Do I know it's back there at 65mph; of course I can. Same as you can with a 3/4 ton.
My truck in a 3/4 ton diesel would have been another $20k minimum. That $20k is in the bank. I don't need to spend that kind of money so "I can feel the load a little less when towing".
The newer 5.3 is a different animal. Admittedly the '08 would be a little anemic with insufficient low rpm torque but, thousands of bass boats have been towed hundreds of thousands of miles just fine with older 5.3's. Starting in '14 or '15 the mid range torque was increased and improved again in '17. The newer 1/2 ton will easily tow up to 4-4.5K pounds. Of course you will know it is back there. If you can justify the cost and can tolerate the rougher ride by all means go 3/4. Seems like a lot of money to spend on the outside chance the trailer brakes might fail. Frankly, if you can not get a 4K pound boat and trailer home safely without trailer brakes pulling with a 1/2 ton, you might be better served getting some towing instruction.
To say you NEED a 3/4 ton is just not true. Certainly nothing wrong with a 3/4, just not needed. I think many here just trying to justify the extra $10-20K they spent to get the 3/4 ton.
The difference is the half ton is engineered to be a daily driver these days while the 3/4 ton is engineered for the driver to work with their truck. Pulling a bass boat is hardly working a pickup. We pulled stuff with pickups with inline six cylinder and three on the tree, albeit at slower speeds.
I bought a a 2014 5.3 chevy new to pull the boat which never had a issue. Wife talked me into buying a travel trailer in 2015. Its around 5000 lbs . The 5.3 handled it for the most part . Summer here we have 30 plus days over 100. The 5.3 tranny temp soared on the hills.Traded for a new diesel in March 2018.The exhaust brake is almost worth the extra cost. It gets better mpg when towing or not towing than the 5.3 did.It rides better than the 2014 did, but is a longer wheelbase .
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