I know similar questions have been asked - and I've read the replies - but I am looking for a slightly more specific answer to a less specific question.

I have a 92 F250 that strained to pull a 2H bumper pull with 1 horse. I am looking at buying a new used truck (years 2000-2005), as the primary purpose of this vehicle will be occasional horse pulling. Eventually I plan to get a 2 or 3H gooseneck with a dressing room and don't want to buy another truck then, so the truck I buy now should be able to pull a gooseneck eventually.

I'm looking at the Ram 2500, F250, and Silverado 2500. A friend is saying I should only consider an F350 powerstroke Diesel if I want to pull a 2H gooseneck eventually. Is this true? Can I get a 2001 F250 Diesel to pull now and use for pulling a GN later? What's the best truck for this? Is there a weight I can use to guesstimate a GCVWR for a 2H GN (imaginary as yet)? Anyway, this is a great forum. Its the only forum I've found - and I've spent hours searching on this topic - that even comes close to addressing my questions.

Thanks!

Hello Critter, Welcome to the forum.

I am concerned about your F-250 that strained to pull an underloaded 2H trailer. Sounds like something was wrong or mismatched.

Any of the true 3/4 ton gas or diesel trucks as you listed should be fine with a 2-3H GN with a dressing room. A LQ trailer may be a different story. (be careful, some 3/4 ton trucks aren't... The GVWR should be more than 8900 pounds. any less and it's just a wanabe)

There are three issues one has to consider with GN trailers. 1) the total weight of trailer and truck. Known as the Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating or GCVWR. 2) the hitch weight. or the amount of force the trailer will put on the truck. It is very easy to exceed the rear axle rating with a honkin' huge or not so large trailer. 3) the bed length. Buy a short bed and a wide, square nosed trailer ... and you'll be a regular at the body & glass shop.

So .. don't pass up the gasoline trucks. The choice will depend on your use. It will take a lot of miles quickly, to make a diesel truck an economic choice. Diesel is nice for pulling, but it's expensive to buy and maintain. Some people buy them just to get the diesel noise and fuel smell. Next consider the rear axle ratio... a bigger number means more pulling power but less miles per gallon. For gas engines a 4.10 is a "tractor power puller" ratio. That 3.50 or smaller is good on gas but may be the straining issue with your present truck.

Wow, thanks so much for the clarity of your insight, hosspuller. It has been so frustrating trying to get direct answers from those who would seem to know. When asking people about trucks, I've gotten either overkill ("You MUST have an F350 Diesel Powerstroke") or disconcern ("Aw, sure that oughta be alright.") And I really wanna say, "Hey! We're talking about hauling our best friends back there!" A couple of months ago, I was getting the 92 Ford (my first truck buying mistake) ready to take to a show and I took it to a reputable hitch dealer to have the hitch checked out and all I could get from these guys was, "Huh, there's a little rust on the bolts there. It should be fine. Yea, I think you oughta be fine. It'll prolly be alright." Part of this is the region; its rude to say anything overly overt. So I finally had to put it this way, "Look. If you had a daughter, and her best friend was going to ride back there, would you use THAT HITCH?" And he's like "Oh, I might change the bolts, but I think you'll be alright." My point is... its a tremendously important decision when you're pulling horses - my little sister's psyche might as well ride back there alongside Octavian's tail! And my sanity, too. So thank *you* for knowing what you're talking about and being kind enough to share it - with care and clarity - time and time again!

Critter... Thank you for the kind words.

There is no special insight to trucks and horse trailers, just reading. Trust only the manufacturers. Ford, GM, etc ... What their literature says won't lead you wrong. (Their lawyers and engineers will back it up) The key is reading the fine print and footnotes. Dealers are mostly salespeople. They'll say anything to make a sale. Example: Only in the tow guide footnote does GM require a WD hitch for any BP trailer over 5,000 pounds. (Ford only recommends it) Yet ... a number of people in any group will say that a WDH isn't needed.

Critter: A thought about bolts. The guys you had check the hitch weren't telling you the full story. If they had, you would have been more confident of their judgement. Bolts are simple fasteners. The larger the bolt, the less effect rust has on it. (Just a relation between surface area and cross-section) Bolted joints will fail more often from loose bolts or sub-standard material strength than rust. Getting a wrench and trying to tighten all the nuts & bolts on the hitch is a good check. Any bolt/nut that turns with moderate pressure wasn't tight enough. A missing bolt is a more serious failure. "Anything that fits" is a disaster waiting to happen. Bolts AND nuts come in different strength grades. A "fractional" grade 2 in a grade 8 application is a typical "Anything that fits" disaster. (Metric bolts have a different grade scheme)