I'm semi-needing a 3/4 ton truck and seemed to get mixed reviews based on who I ask. If I go this route, I'm thinking Chevy Duramax or Ram Cummins. Thoughts on each? How does a 3/4 ton do in the sand? My places are extremely sandy, and I'm often pulling trailers loaded down with feed or equipment through solid sand. Currently, the 1/2 ton truck does good for that, but at times, I'm needing a 3/4 for other things.

Thoughts?

If you are semi needing just get the gas 3/4. all three have proven gas engines. flip a coin on which is better

I had a 2000 Dodge Ram diesel 2-wheel drive. You could take a leak in front of the back tires and get stuck.

The Ram will be fine in the sand if you drive fast enough. Seriously though, they suck in dry loose sand. Bullfrog and I got stuck going downhill pulling a trailer in some very dry sugar sand.

My new F250 Tremor seems to do worlds better in the sand. If you don’t have at minimum a rear locker, your days are numbered until you have to get the shovel out

Diesel engines weigh more, like Bobo said gas would be better in sand.

3/4 tons, both gas and diesels, do fine in the sand, if you have appropriate tires and they are aired down.

Street tires at 65 psi won’t work too well.

I like to run them around 45 psi and have not had any trouble.

What you need a 3/4 ton for?

I had 11 of the Chevrolet 2500 HD gasoline over 20 years working for a company. I drove every one of them over 200K without any issues except the transmissions in the earlier ones.

When I started my business 4 years ago i wanted a diesel because I’d be hauling a trailer quite a bit more. I bought a F250 ‘19 with 35K on it. The truck was chipped and the engine blew up around 85K. I bought a brand new F250 Lariat in Jan ‘23 and have over 100K on it with no issues. At least 40K miles pulling over 10,000 lbs.

One thing I have noticed is the Chevrolets will handle much more weight in the bed. I’ve hauled over 6K many times in the 2500 HD. I get nervous hauling 3500 lbs in the Ford bed. I think I’m going to buy a gas 2500HD for my daily sales truck this year and keep the diesel for hauling the trailer.

As far as the sand question goes. No long bed truck does well in the sand with no weight in the back. Keep a shovel and boards in the back and let the air out if you get stuck.

Honestly sounds like you would do great with Dodge power wagon. As far as tires I run 45psi up front 40 in rear, and run 25/20 on sand or back forest/blm roads.

You use to be able to get a power wagon for about 55k new if with you went with tradesman model, think they took away that option in 24. I haven’t looked

As others have said, 4x4, decent tires, and airing down will help the most regardless of brand. We have some deep sugar sand in Freestone county on our place and my 3/4 ton cummins has done fine in 4 wheel drive. I've pulled my 5th wheel and/or buggy in and out of there multiple times without any issues.

He will need a Rebel 2500 instead of the Power Wagon. They greatly reduce the payload and towing capacity of the PW down to a 1/2 spec

Good advice and posts on this.

I'm needing it for more towing capabilities. There have been times where I wanted to rent a skid steer with attachment, and the model machine I needed to rent required a 3/4 ton or bigger.

A tractor is in my near future. You know it's going to need maintenance from time to time or have a repair.

I'm looking at hauling bulk feed, and the 3/4 ton would come in handy here.

Not sure what else I would need it for at this time.

So it's not all the time, but at times, yes, it would be handy.

Wow, it’s 1730 & 9380 towing now

I would say that a 3/4 ton is appropriate for what your wanting to do with it.


If your pulling a skidsteer often ( or a tractor ) long distances, you'll want the diesel

I wanted to rent a dump trailer before 7,000 gvw they wouldn’t rent it to me with a half ton that sucked.

I got a little short buddy that picked up a bobcat one time and had to use another Truck and trailer to get it back to the yard 😂🤣

If I were to buy my Ram megacab all over again, I'd buy the exact same truck but in a 1 ton single wheel instead of the 3/4 ton.

I thought the they pretty much came out and admitted the srw 1-ton and 3/4 tons were the same except for the ratings on paper? I believe with gm you can buy a 3/4 ton and pay to have it rated for the capacity you want.

Not remotely true ... any of that.

Not with Ford either. You can get upgraded capacity on F250, but it’s still not as much as F350. I know you used to be able to order a DRW F250, don’t know if that’s still available or not.

It wasn’t a 250. It was a short bed 350.


We had a short wheel base 350. They also made/make long bed 250’s

This here. A good friend of mine ordered an HD version of the F250. I can't remember exactly what was different other than maybe an overload spring from the factory but his weight capacity is higher than a standard F250. It's also not quite as high as the F350 single wheel.
In the Rams, the 1 tons still have leaf springs vs. the 3/4 tons on coil springs. On my 2500 I figured I might like that coils spring but to be honest, I'm not a fan.

I read somewhere you could order a 3/4 ton gm and had an option to have a standard gvwr or a higher one for a fee, only difference was the rating and the fee.

They do weird combinations with the ratings.

My 250 tremor had a 1 ton rear end and the leaf spring set up. But the weight rating was lower.

But how is that possible if it had the 1-ton rear end and springs?

I know on the pre-super duty’s you could order a F-250 Heavy Duty long bed that had higher ratings than a F-350.

That was only on a 2WD if I remember correctly.

In the late 90's and early 00's, Ford was using all the same parts on 250's and 350's. They came to the conclusion that they saved enough money by managing a smaller parts inventory that it more than made up for using some slightly higher cost parts on the 250 trucks. But they still rated them differently as there are some tax implications based on the gross ratings. I actually had a conversation with an exec at Ford on this topic while I was in business school and working on a supply chain project.

Whether or not Ford is still doing that I have no idea.

The front axle was the only thing different on the pre 99’ trucks.

After that I believe you are correct

There is a difference in saying:

You can get a heavier duty 3/4 ton than standard but still not a one ton. This is true in many cases.

and...

A 3/4 ton and a one ton are the same with different ratings. Not with GM. I don't think with any others.

and...

You can buy a 3/4 ton and pay extra to have it say it's rated higher. I sure hope this is 100% false. Not true with GM at least.

GM made Heavy Half trucks in the late 1970's and early 1980's. They made 1500HD's in the early 2000's (half ton frame, 3/4 ton rear axle, engine, transmission, no body lift). GM did NOT make a single rear wheel one ton at all for a good while. There are also more than one rear axle in 3/4 tons from most eras of GM trucks. A gas 3/4 ton doesn't always have as large an axle as a diesel 3/4 ton. In many cases, one or two leafs might be the only difference in a 3/4 and one ton ... but they are not the same, nor can money make a 3/4 rating grow to be one ton rated.

I had a 2001 Dodge Ram Van 2500 (2WD obviously) get stuck going up my paved driveway. And there is barely any incline on my driveway.

The ground was muddy and soft and I dropped a wheel off the pavement as I backed up, I had enough momentum to get back up on the pavement, but our greasy Virginia clay soil on the concrete and the van just spun. I parked it, waited a couple hours for the sun to dry things out then backed it up the final ten feet.

I think a Chevy or GMC with that big V8 gas engine would do you just fine. Make sure it has the Allison transmission and the locking differential and you'll do just fine. I have a 2018 Dodge with a cummins engine and 4wd. Never been stuck, when the back wheels start to spin I go to 4wd hi with the turn of a switch. I can't honestly say I need a 3/4 ton pickup but sure don't have to worry about overloadin a half ton either. I do go out in the pasture but I don't go muddin either. It pulls our 26 ft rv well. I can also haul a chord of firewood. Not at the same time, lol.