Truck Buying Guide – Why do I need a truck?

June 5th, 2008 by Shenron

A Guide to buying the right truck for you – Part 1

I have known and seen many people who are looking for a truck to buy. Their names and locations have been changed in order to protect the innocent (because they both made the primary mistake of buying… anything. They did not research). H’ok let’s start off by saying this: Do you research. This will come in later, but the most important thing that I will repeat a billion and one times is Research. There comes a time in many men or women’s lives that they will realize “This car cannot do what a truck does”. You might need to rent one for a day to haul some lumber, some furniture, heck, maybe you just want to cut down that pesky tree. But, what happens when you find yourself looking at a truck to own? And what kind would be right for you? After all there are compact trucks, small trucks, medium duty trucks, heavy duty truck, super heavy duty trucks, humongous uber awesome earth shattering heavy nuclear powered trucks (I made that one up) and there are a number of bed styles too. Flat beds, edged beds, normal beds, sleeping beds (:p), covered, and finally there are engines. The engine is probably about as important as the frame, seeing how with a super frame and a weak engine you won’t get far. There are many types of either gasoline powered or diesel powered engines that are available, and we will discuss this later on. I’ll start by saying the number one question you should ask yourself.

What do I need a truck for?

This is the first question to ask yourself. Do you need a truck for light hauling and just transportation? Do you need that truck to pull a trailer filled with horses? Are you getting one for construction? Or are you just looking for one that can haul a bunch of crates? In any case, you need a good estimate of how much you will haul, or tow, or haul and tow at the same time. Although an average number will put you in the minimal range you need to be, you also need to consider the maximum you will haul (as if you go over what the truck can do it can hurt the truck). Considering that the truck you will own for many years should serve your needs most of the time, factor in what else you want the truck to do as a secondary. What if you want to pull horses AND haul lumber? What if you want to store tools and have the capacity to tow an entire vehicle behind you on a trailer? These are the questions you have to ask yourself. Then it is up to you to find the trucks that are listed for that capacity.

Okay, I know what truck I need – what about the rating?

Super Heavy Duty, Heavy Duty, Medium Duty, Light Duty, Compact, Super-compact, and the laughable Mini truck are all options. Once you know what kind of hauling capacity you need you should look up the truck ratings for various brands. The three big ones are Dodge Ram, Chevrolet, and Ford. However they also have luxury line trucks that come with extra amenities and maybe a sea anemone or two. Lincoln, Chrysler, GM – they have trucks to see as well. There are also Japanese made trucks that serve, such as Toyota and Nissan (and Honda). Depending on the rating you might get a better deal with a Toyota or a Nissan, considering their vehicles are more in line with economical and efficient. But if you need excessive power, GM Ram and Ford F series are a good start. They have the F’s going up to some ungodly number that can haul tonnages. Wiki them. If you want to save cash – go for a used truck too.

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