Best Pickup Truck Buying Guide. Below we highlight important features for you to consider when purchasing a pickup truck. Engines and Fuel Economy. Welcome to First Call Towing Recovery and Express Truck Repair. We do towing, recovery, emergency roadside service and much more. By Skip Lackie. Introduction. This history of Studebaker trucks is an attempt to bring together in one document a reasonably comprehensive chronology of Studebaker. Shelby will only make 500 of these Hulk trucks and theyll cost roughly 117,460, which includes the price of the truck. The release notes that those with a 2017. By Drivers. com staff. Date Sunday, 15. August 2010. Truck driving jobs in the U. S. Due to popular demand, we are writing a series of guides for overseas truck. Check out the top 15 lightduty tow vehicles for weekend adventures, including the Acura ZDX, Subaru Forester, BMW X3, and more, only on rvmagonline. The base engine for compact pickups is a large, four cylinder engine. Most offer an optional V6 that provides more power along with smoother and quieter operation. Base full sized trucks are typically fitted with a V6, which provides a good balance between power and fuel economy appropriate for light consumer use, with one or more V8s optional. Some newer V8 engines offer cylinder deactivation, allowing the engine to operate on fewer cylinders under light loads, such as steady speed cruising, and thereby save fuel. Fords F 1. 50 offers turbocharged V6s that promise V8 like power with better fuel economy when power demands are low. However, in our tests, the bigger turbo V6 delivered the same 1. V8. For heavy hauling or towing, consider a diesel engine. Nissan and Ram are the only manufacturers to offer a diesel in a 1. Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, and Ram all offer diesels in their heavy duty pickups, at significant cost. These large, loud engines are a wise investment if you will be routinely towing a very heavy trailer and spend most of your miles on the highway. Rear Wheel Drive, 4. WD, or AWD Almost all pickups are based on rear wheel drive platforms, a configuration that is well suited to moving heavy loads. The Honda Ridgeline is unique in using a front drive setup similar to a car based SUV sharing its architecture with the Honda Pilot SUV. Four wheel drive is recommended for winter traction, off roading, and other tough conditions. Traditional four wheel drive, often called 4x. WD, is a part time system that is controlled via a lever, button, or rotary switch as needed. A low range setting can also be selected for severe off road conditions, but these part time systems arent designed to be engaged on dry pavement. A more versatile design is full time 4. WD, optional on some pickups. In that mode, the front wheel drive portion kicks in as needed for extra traction, and the truck can run in that mode indefinitely without harming the driveline. Towing. A typical compact pickup truck can tow between 3,0. How Much Do Heavy Duty Tow Truck Drivers Make' title='How Much Do Heavy Duty Tow Truck Drivers Make' />Heavy duty pickups can be configured to tow as much as 3. If you are buying a pickup truck for towing, it is vital to carefully check the specifications of the specific truck you are considering. Engine, gearing, frame length, cab and bed style, drive axles, and installed towing packages all affect a trucks towing capacity, and the differences are drastic, even within the same model range. A properly configured Ram 3. Never assume that just because a pickup truck looks big it can tow big. And explore the tow related options todays trucks offer many features to make towing easier and safer. One of the many ways you can option a pickup is to choose from different rear axle ratios, which alter how much torque, or twisting power, is transmitted to the rear wheels. The choices usually range from three point something to four point something. A ratio of 3. 5 1 means that the main drive shaft from the transmission revolves three and a half times for every rotation of the rear wheels. Lower numbers maximize fuel economy, and higher numbers enhance towing and hauling capabilities. If you plan to do a lot of towing, we recommend that you select from the middle of the range. Our latest Chevrolet Silverado had a 3. A numerically high ratio only makes sense if you plan to spend a lot of time hauling very heavy loads. Cab Size. Regular cabs are the least expensive, but extended cabs are far more useful. Rear seats in extended cab trucks can be small and cramped for adults, though theyre acceptable for kids. The real advantage is additional interior storage. Crew cab trucks have four regular doors and a good sized rear seating or cargo area on par with full sized SUVs, but these large cabs usually come at the cost of a smaller cargo bed. Access. How easy is it to climb into or out of each seating position Try each seat yourself to see whether it meets your standards. For a full sized pickup truck, running boards are all but essential. Chartering And Vessel Operations Software. Look for adequate space for yourself, passengers, and the cargo you expect to transport. Pay attention to head, leg, and knee room in all seating positions. In an extended cab truck, see whether its easy to fold away the rear seats to make room for cargo. Cargo Bed. With a full sized pickup, the standard bed length is 8 feet, but its only about 6 feet with an extended cab and 5 feet with a four door crew cab. Compact pickup beds usually run 5 to 6 feet depending on cab configuration. Fold out bed extenders are a widely available option. They flip over, from within the bed, forming a fence around the open tailgate, to allow bulkier or longer cargo to be secured. Safety Features. It used to be that pickup trucks, especially compact pickup trucks, had an unenviable safety record, but that has improved some in latter years. Better crash worthiness and more standard safety gear have helped. Greater use of safety belts among pickup truck drivers has also lessened injuries and fatalities. Driver death rates in single vehicle rollover crashes remain above average for most pickup trucks, especially compacts. One reason for the high fatality rates in many pickup trucks has to do with demographics. Pickup trucks are popular among young males, who tend to be the riskiest drivers. That, plus the fact that compact pickup trucks are among the most inherently rollover prone vehicles, makes for a deadly combination. Electronic stability control is a recommended safety feature with a proven track record of reducing fatalities. ESC has been mandatory on light duty pickups starting with the 2. Its especially useful in slippery conditions or in cases where someone takes a corner too fast. It also reduces the typical axle hop on rough surfaces. Keep this in mind if youre shopping for a used truck. Most new pickup trucks have lap and shoulder belts even in the front center position, and top tether and lower LATCH attachments in the rear seats. Be aware that heavy duty pickups may not have LATCH attachments. Chest level side air bags are common for front seat passengers, too. Curtain style side air bags that cover the front and rear side windows are increasingly common, and we recommend them. Another useful feature, traction control, can help you get going on a slippery road but doesnt aid in a sideways skid. It can be helpful with rear drive pickup trucks, which are prone to tire slippage, especially when the bed is empty. Check our safety ratings, which factor in crash test results when available, and take those scores into consideration. Some configurations are low volume vehicles, so there might not be crash test results available. Learn more about car safety. Advanced Safety Technologies. Many advanced safety features now common on cars are moving to trucks, at least as options on higher trims, notably forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking. Forward collision warning FCW technology provides a visual, audible, andor tactile alert to warn the driver of an impending collision with a car or an object directly in its path. If a car equipped with automatic emergency braking AEB senses a potential collision and you dont react in time, it starts braking for you. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety data show rear end collisions are cut by 5.