Goodbye Old Friend (Recommendations for a new truck)

[TigeTrojan]

RIP 2005 Nissan Frontier. My long time jet ski hauler and recent Tige boat puller just croaked. I was very impressed with that "midsize" truck who was able to drag my boat around like it was nothing. Unfortunately the service guy told me it was probably not going to be cost effective to repair her.

I am now looking for a new tow rig, preferably another pickup this time with a full crew cab, and am contemplating the merits of a diesel. I live in Southern CA so pretty much anytime I take the boat out it involves a 10% grade or more and I'd love to have the ability to pass the big rigs and other slow drivers without any trouble.

Please tell me what you would recommend, or maybe more importantly, what to steer clear of (no pun intended).

[KonaKing]

GMC/CHEV Duramax with Alison 6 speed.

[mcd]

I've had great luck with my 02 F-250 Powerstroke. I don't think that you could go wrong with either the GM Duramax or the Ford. They might be overkill for what you need though.

[TRD]

my TUNDRA is great!

[Fast1911]

GMC/CHEV Duramax with Alison 6 speed.

X2

[Timmy!]

While I am partial to my Chevy Duramax, any of the new pickups out there with a V8 are going to get the job done for the boat you have. You can probably get a smoking deal on an '09 Chevy or Ford pickup right now since the '10 models should be rolling out. Also check out a Titan - I hear that have great torque for towing.

I can't believe you killed a 4/5 year old truck already. Did you have a lot of miles on it? My 1990 Nissan truck ran for what seemed like forever!

[mneal]

I have Titan and very happy with it.
I bet you can get some good deals out there now.

After a V6 frontier and 10% grades.......any newer 1/2 ton will seem crazy easy. A Duramax would be like you forgot boat @ home.

[mtnsmith]

I vote Titan as that's what I have. Had a silverado before that. I thought long and hard about the new tundra, but they were still have some new motor issues at the time. I like the duramax if you go diesel route, my aunt gets a new truck a year for horse hauling and likes the duramax/Allison the most. My neighbor that is a tech also has one and swears by it. He had a ram before that

[Jason B]

I have 170k on my Tundra and it's still going STRONG!!!
I will definitely stick with the Tundras. A diesel would be nice on a rare occasion but 99.9999% of the time my gas burner is more than I ever need.

[Timmy!]

Here's a question for you - will the truck primarily be used for towing? If not, I don't know that you want to go with a diesel. I love my truck but it rides like crap compared to the Chevy Avalanche that I traded it on 2 years ago. The diesel has ridiculous power, gets a LOT better mileage towing (10-12 vs the 6-8 that I was getting) and definitely puts a grin on my face on the highway on ramp but for around town, I don't really enjoy driving it. It's somewhat loud, it doesn't turn as well, it's big and diesels take off relatively slow unless you want to get really crappy mileage. I get 14 around town and 19-20 on the highway. I think a 1/2 ton Avalanche with a supercharger would be my ideal truck after driving my buddy's supercharged Tahoe.

[jake's02-22i]

GMC/CHEV Duramax with Alison 6 speed.

X2

If I were to do it all over again and buy a new truck I would for sure get a 06 Chevy Duramax with the Alison Trans. It wouldn’t cost as much as a newer body style and it doesn’t have the new exhaust that is coming in all the diesels. The new exhaust is hindering the gas mileage and I think that you have to have them smogged now. And with the 06 you can convert it to vegetable oil and drive around for free all the time if you know someone with a restaurant.

[NICKYPOO]

Duramax. Duramax Duramax

[LovinPowell]

Steer clear of anything that is powder blue and gold.

[talltigeguy]

Steer clear of anything that is powder blue and gold.

Took me a minute...hahaha

[LovinPowell]

You must be working too hard. Did you go out yesterday, what were the conditions like?