2021 Truck Buying Guide
For some, their truck is their lifeline; it’s mandatory for their work and their lifestyle. For others, a pickup truck is a personal preference, and why wouldn’t it be? They offer plenty of power, space and road-vision and can take you on any road, no matter where it leads.
That said, not all trucks are created equal. Some are better designed for transportation, while others are made with the towing and trailering capacity to suit the needs of any working professional.
Size and Class
To start, the smaller pickup trucks you see on the road are known as either compacts or mid-sized trucks. These are the most common pickups for people who are looking for a truck for either transportation and lifestyle purposes, as opposed to someone who needs to haul and hitch industrial loads and weight.
Those who use their trucks for work are more commonly found in Half-Ton, Three-Quarter-ton, and one-ton Trucks, which are named after their designated maximum weight capacities. It should be noted, that modern trucks are capable of carrying weights beyond what their names indicate, as the names have stuck as colloquial terminology. Full-size of Heavy Duty are other ways of commonly referring to three-quarter-ton and one-ton trucks.
For people who use their truck for light work, but also transportation, the half-ton trucks are a great balance of power, utility, and capability, and still get great gas mileage.
Power & Utility
When thinking about the capabilities of a truck, you think about power and force. So depending on what your truck will be used for, the type of engine that it comes with is very important. Compact, midsized and half-ton trucks generally come with four and six-cylinder engine options. Once you get up to a three-quarter-ton truck, you’ll start to see more eight-cylinder engines, which offer significantly more power, though it comes at the expense of fuel-efficiency.
You can also get power from a diesel engine, and you won’t be sacrificing the fuel efficiency. While diesel used to only be offered in full-sized and heavy-duty trucks, you can now find a diesel option for almost any truck, including light-duty trucks.
Towing
One of the most useful attributes of a truck is its towing capability, and the torque created by the vehicle. Torque, in the most basic sense, measures how the truck pulls passengers and cargo. That comes from how the engine rotates the drive shaft, and then it’s own wheels and axles. So it’s a truck’s torque that enables a truck to tow a trailer, or even a boat.
Compact and mid-sized trucks generally come with a towing capacity of around 4,000 to 7,500 lbs. Full-size and heavy-duty trucks can tow anywhere from 5,000 to 13,000 lbs.
Off-Road Capabilities
Another great benefit of driving a pickup is its off-road capabilities. Whether off-roading is just a hobby, or you need to traverse off-road conditions on the worksite, you will want to consider a truck with Four-Wheel Drive. Four-Wheel Drive is superior to All-Wheel Drive because you can manually select gears with four-wheel drive. You also have more power to go along with the traction to get up rocky terrain and steep grades. Having high ground clearance is also crucial for off-roading, and luckily, most trucks do, as you’ll need the extra space on uneven surfaces.
In the end, no matter what type of truck you select, we here at Koons Silver Spring Ford are confident that you will love one of our trucks. Come see us today and ask one of our truck experts about what kind of truck best fits you.