Big 3? You mean Volkswagen, Toyota, and Renault/Nissan?
At least with what I use it for, volume is more important than weight. Some of those short-but-wider-than-mine beds are the wrong shape for a bobcat to drop material in without whacking the cab.
That said, itās rated at 1600 pounds. But Iāve had more in it than that.
I know itāll take a yard of wet dirt, which weighs in the neighborhood of 3,000 pounds. I discovered that by accident when I had a load of dirt and a downpour happened while I was in the hardware store. Dirt was soaked through and had standing water to boot. Made it home fine.
I use to own a Chevy Luv long bed. Once I hauled a yard of Topsoil. At 40mph when I turned my steering wheel it had zero effect in the direction of the truck. The tires were actually off the ground a little. Luckily I only had about 2 miles to go and made it there safely by keep speed down to 30.
Mine does OK with the dirt loads, but then the landscaping supply place where I get it isnāt too far and I donāt have to take highways. It did feel like I had power steering when I had the wet dirt in there, though. 
I know people will probably buy this and it will become a pavement queen with low-profile tires and fancy wheels, etc. I doubt many will use it for work.
One thing about trucks is that they do seem to hold their value well compared to cars. I once saw an ad for a guy buying used junk vehicles for cash and would haul them off. I had a price I wanted and he offered exactly that price when I called him so told him to come over. We got to talking and he also sold used cars and seemed to only want the newer/better stuff for that line of his business. He would only buy good running cars if they were 5 years old or newer but that was extended out to 8 years for the trucks. We live in a rural area so there is a demand for trucks.
One thing about luxury vehicles is that they tend to depreciate quickly so it will be interesting to see how this goes. I was talking to a guy about how a few year old Escalade becomes quite affordable a week or so back. Also, I know a guy who picked up a 10 year old BMW 7-series for about 1% of the original cost. It needed some minor work which he did but overall there was nothing wrong with it.
I know there is somewhat of a niche market for the Hummer brand as well as the Avalanche based models. They have a following but are no longer made so may hold their value better than most vehicles like this. I donāt care for them so donāt know.
I agree that finding a truck with the torque and gearing of the old ones is not something common anymore. They want a truck that can go 70mph and not be at redline, sucking down fuel. I know some trucks are coming with 10 speed transmissions now so maybe that will bring the best of all worlds. I havenāt looked into them much or ever driven one so donāt know.
I personally have a 1997 Ford F250 Light Duty as my farm truck. It is a pretty gutless V8 and this was one of the first of the 4.6L trucks Ford made, all based around fuel economy of course. It has to be revved up to 3000RPM to really make any power at all. It is also geared pretty high so would be terrible for towing, etc. The 4WD low range is pretty low though so I make use of that when I need to go slow or have more power. I would never have bought this truck had I known all the quirks of the 1997 in particular as well as this truck. I could have bought a much nicer truck with all the money I spent but I have the truck and most of the bugs are worked out. It is now a reliable vehicle I can count on although a real beater. I think rust will get it before anything mechanical breaks at this time.
I know people with the straight 6 Fords built just a few years before mine and they are a better truck for what a truck is meant for if you ask me.
Big three of full size trucks making are Dodge, Ford, GM.
The one place I see a lot of these large fully loaded pickups - is camping. People buy them to justify hauling their 30ā campers. But 99% of them haul them once to the campground and then leave it there for years at a time as seasonal campers. But I see more of these huge pickups at campgrounds.
A few (10% or less) actually live full time in their campers. They use the truck to go back and forth from North to South.
To my mind, if Iām going to buy a giant powerful vehicle solely to go camping in, Iām going to buy a motorhome and have done with it. Or better yet buy an old intercity bus and convert it to a motorhome with style.
I personally am not into the monster camper scene. Theyāre harder to get into camping sites, they donāt fit into as many camping sites as normal campers, and they require me to spend 50 grand on a ridiculous truck to pull them. When I was a kid we had a Play-Mor single-axle camper. It was maybe 12 or 15 feet long. Had everything you need for camping except a bathroom, which was fine with my entire family for obvious reasons.
If I were to get a camper today, I doubt Iād even go that big. I really like the teardrops. Small, lightweight, and everything thatās fun about tent camping without the annoying setup and teardown.
Thatās definitely true around here. The ācampgroundsā even move them to storage areas for the off-season and then put them back into your allotted site in spring. Most get moved to the grounds once. I know quite a few people that do this kind of thing. Itās more like owning a cottage than mobile camping. The truck then becomes the way to get the ginormous boat or multiple ATVs/snowmobiles back and forth to the vacation site.
A lot of them around here are never moved. They build decks/patios and attach them directly to the camper. Many put the camper on blocks because tires tend to deflate over time.
Those are a lot bigger then my 10ā box pop-up. Iāll never do a seasonal like these people do. I like going to different places.
But everyone needs to remember that HE WHO DIES WITH THE MOST EXPENSIVE TOYS WINS.
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One of the benefits of a 5th wheel is that you can leave the trailer wherever and then use the truck to get around. Itās more practical than driving your Class A diesel pusher to the store. With that said, plenty of people tow smaller cars/suvs behind their motorhomes. But a motorhome the size of one of the larger 5th wheels (40-42 feet) will cost upwards of $200k (with higher end ones being double that) so from a finanical perspective. Even with the cost of a one ton diesel truck, youāre money ahead with the 5th wheel. So I can see the appeal there.
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Iām still not being tempted. My idea of a perfect place would be a motel with assigned camp fire pits for each room. Then you could go out and make hot dogs or whatever over the fire and go inside when you wanted.
Unless you get a very lightly used motorhome. Those things depreciate faster than Jaguars. You can get a 4 year old 30 footer from a decent maker like Winnebago for a little less than what youād pay for just the truck if you did the 5th wheel route.
The campers Iām talking about donāt sit on their wheels unless theyāre being moved. They have built in jack supports you deploy to level and support it. The decks are floating foundation. No need to attach to the camper.
What happened to the slide in campers that would slide into an eight foot pickup bed? I havenāt seen one in years. I remember Consumer Reports testing 3/4 ton trucks for use with a slide-in camper. This was back in the early 1970s if my memory serves me correctly. Of course, a slide-in camper wouldnāt fit in todayās crew-cab short bed pickup trucks. I think Ford even made a truck called a Camper Special that was designed for a slide-in camper.
My camping equipment consisted of a tent that I bought for under $100 at Walmart, a Coleman stove, a styrofoam ice chest that I bought for under $5 and a couple of sleeping bags that I inherited. All of our equipment fit in the trunk of my Oldsmobile Cutlass. My son and I camped in almost every state park in Indiana. My wife and I and our son took a trip out west through Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona and back in that Oldsmobile with the trunk filled with just the camping equipment mentioned above. I bet we had as much fun as anyone with an RV.
I always laugh at the campers mounted on blocks like mobile homes. Why not just buy a house trailer and have it setup somewhere instead of setting up a camper like a house trailer? You can get fixer uppers cheap around here and some really donāt look all that bad although some look like a meth lab has exploded inside.
Go to Lake of the Ozarks on a big holiday weekend. There are all kinds of big trucks pulling huge boats around.
Iāve seen slide in campers on newer crew cab trucks a few times. The camper overhangs the bed like 2 or 3 feet, it looks quite silly.
And some of them have slideouts. Insane.
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Because most campgrounds are not mobile home parks. You need potable and sewage water holding tanks. Mobile homes usually donāt have those. Trailers today are outfitted just as nice as some mobile homes just not as much square footage.
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