Big Load Tow Rig Popularity Survey Says: (unofficial results)

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Today I did a quick trip to Spokane and back from the Tri-Cities (about 300 miles for those not familiar with the NW). To pass those miles of brown hills and sagebrush along, I came to entertain myself by conducting a little survey. . . a sort of 'what brand wins the popularity contest when it comes time to haul that really big trailer?' survey



So I pulled out a pen and scratch paper and began marking off Chevys and Fords and Dodges. At the end of the trip the score was:





Dodge = 33 trucks

Ford = 28 trucks

Chevy = 25 trucks (amazing, LOL)



Woohoo, Cummins Power takes it!



It always seemed whenever I hit the highway, more of the big campers and flatbed loads were pulled with Dodge Cummins power. It was fun to make it a little more "official" and come up with numbers supporting it.



This is the trailer criteria I used:



--Must be at least 2 axles

--Must be longer than standard LB pickup

--Flatbeds don't count unless well loaded

--Boats must have 2 axles and be longer than LB pickup

--Slideins didn't count unless the truck also had a decent size trailer (accepted most 1-axle jobs)



Truck Criteria:

--Fords: included F150 through F350, all years of truck ('70s vintage was the oldest I saw).

--Chevys: I might as well say "GM" since GMCs counted as Chevys. I was really easy on GM by including Suburban/Yukon types

--Dodge: Pickups only, any year (only saw ONE that was Pre-Cummins Era)



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .



While Chevy did rack up quite a few numbers, I noticed they hauled a small percentage of the large 5th wheels compared to what was pulled by Dodges and Fords. The biggest load of the day was easily won by a PSD, he had a huge gooseneck hauler with 4 cars on it (Grand Am sized). However many of the Ford rigs were older Non-PSD, but possibly 6. 9L diesel, pickups, so PSDs didn't contribute a huge percentage to the Ford's numbers). The most impressive trailer was pulled by a nicely tricked out Chevy dually 4-door towing a 33-35' enclosed triple axle job. But for the DuraMax, well, only 1 DMax powered Chevy was observed hauling a trailer today (makes only 1 out of 86 ) If you compute the percentage of market share of the 3 makes, compared to the hauling percentages I surveyed today, it goes to show how well Cummins power is represented



Vaughn

 

[wrk2mtch]

It just goes to show when there is serious hauling or towing to be done you need the right tool for the job.

 

[Okie-Go]

I have seen the same thing on I-45 between my house and Oklahoma when I go back home. Glad you took time to write it down.

 

[Lurch]

I tow full time coast to coast. The thing I've noticed is the people doing this for a living are heavily biased to Dodge. Quite a few Fords in the car hauling crowd but they are all new, anyone who's been at it awhile is running a Ram.



Just my observation.

Lurch

 

[dresslered]

Slideins didn't count unless the truck also had a decent size trailer

I demand a recount!



Actually, I think that there are only a couple of candidates when it comes to toting the larger slide-ins. Perhaps this is more of a test for the truck rather than the engine though.



I attended a fancy horse show in Pebble Beach last year and noticed that the light duty towing rigs were almost all Dodges with the Cummins.

 

[Okie-Go]

I have been in the parking lot of the Astrodome in Houston during the Rodeo, nearly all of the trucks pulling the horses had a 3500 Ram. Talked to a couple of guys I know personally and they told me they need something dependable without costing a lot to run. One even said if we break down and miss a rodeo we don't get paid and our entry fee is already paid.

 

[Lazy-Boy]

Same thing in Missouri

This is exactly what I noticed when I was shopping around for a HD truck. Then one weekend I was headed northeast on I-44 from Springfield to St. Louis Missouri. When I finally got through that Ozark Mountain terrain I was done thinking about it. Went and bought my Dodge.

 

[Harley152]

Just last weekend attended the annual kitsap county fair and rodeo for the first time in many years---the young-uns montassori teacher had the honor of final flag display at the end of the show (she carried my favorite flag--Jack Daniels) so we went "back stage" if you will , to congradulate her performance to enter the realm of the "professional" cowboy---what a suprise---!!!! These guy's are on the road 300+ days/year and I would guess(without recording the numbers) that approximately 75% to 85% of the rigs in the contestant's area were CTD Dodges!!!!!!!! DC should jump on the advertising opportunity!!!

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Well it is great to see these posts backing up what I saw here in the NW. I thought there might be an unusually high concentration of Dodge/Cummins power in this area, but I guess not

 

[Power Wagon]

I made mental notes of the tow-ers I encountered on vacation... in the parks and rv resorts... GM was the most popular, with Ford 2nd and Dodge last. I was somewhat surprised by this, but had to note that a lot of the rigs I saw were pulling rather small trailers.



What I did notice, was that when I drove by the rodeo grounds in a couple of places that were gearing up or down (dno't know which) for/from an event, that it looked like Dodge City, with lots of Dodges, some fords and the rare chevy. In Montana, there were tons of Dodge work trucks on the road, but seemingly few vacationing.



I have no idea what that means... except that perhaps I was taking the roads less travelled???



BTW, I never saw another 60's Dodge towing an RV the entire trip, although in a gas station at a very remote corner of Montana, the clerk behind the counter got real excited. . . she said she and her husband had a crew cab dodge just 2 years different from mine, with a trailer nearly identical to mine... Maybe it's the wilderness in my blood???

 

[DHatfield]

Usually when I am out on the road I notice that most people pulling trailers are Dodge Cummins as well, but I have starting to see more Duramax though while coming back from California three weeks ago.

 

[Bad340fish]

Drag Racers

Seems like most 30ft+ Race trailers are always pulled by PSD autos around here. I think a big reason for that is CREW CAB. Anyways it looks like DC has removed thier head from thier ass(at least got an ear out) and is going to have 4 doors for us in 03

Clark