Input on Silverado vs Tundra purchase decision?

[bmward64]

It's so darn shiny and new that I'm gonna be looking for wide open trails and pruning back anything that might touch it

It's a truck, it was meant for it!

At least, that's what I keep telling myself. This is the first new vehicle I've ever purchased. And I came from a Mercedes C300, I cared about the paint and other things there, so this is an adjustment in thought process.

I would really like to get some ceramic coating it something before I fit it out and really start wheeling, but I'm the end it's gonna get some dents and scratches somewhere along the line. At least if we're on this forum for the reason we say we are. [emoji13]

 

[REGAR Expeditions]

We overland with our built up Tundra and mechanically it's been sound. All the new fangled tech doesn't weigh of any importance to how we use our truck, and maybe it's what keeps it so dependable both on and off trail.

I'd research resale values of brands, to help guide which tent to hold up longest, weigh out what your actual needs will be for the truck and how best it'll cover your day to day.

Everyones going to have opinions and experiences that differ, so just really narrow down how you're planning to best use it.

Picture for proof and because I do love my truck.

 

[Erydius]

I ended up buying the Silverado, a 2019 Trail Boss. The shopping and selection experience was quite an ordeal as I was considering quite a few vehicles...4Runner, Tundra, Tacoma, F150, GMC, even looked at some Nissans as I've always liked Nissans. Ended up going with what I am comfortable with since I was also coming from a Silverado.

I think the major cost is what made it not-fun. Now that I am done with it part of me wishes I could do the search all over and really just enjoy learning about the new features and stuff. Oh well, hopefully this one will fill my needs for many years and I don't have to do it again for a long time.

It's brown, looks black in low light

I had the same dilemma as you, I went and test drove a 4Runner TRD Off Road first then went and drove the silverado. I lived the feel of the 4Runner but the engine felt absolutely gutless and with how fast people drive down here in South Florida, when I went to merge onto I95 I had the pedal flat on the floor to try and get up to speed to merge. This is of course with the salesman in the passenger seat, my wife and 6'3" 300lb best friend in the back as well. Eventually what wrote off the 4Runner was both my wife and my friend complaining about how uncomfortable the back seat of the 4Runner was.

We then went and checked out a '19 Silverado LT Trail Boss and a Colorado ZR2, we LOVED the ZR2, the seats in that thing are just stupid comfortable and I wish that the back seat in the Silverado was as good as that of the Colorado, but size ended up disqualifying it. Trying to fit a 75lb dog and maybe eventually a baby seat in the back would be problematic. I have had the LT Trail Boss now for just over a month, I got the Silver, but really wanted that brown! So far I think this might be one of the best vehicles that I have ever owned and couldn't be happier, going camping over thanksgiving and planning on exploring a bunch of the trails in the Ocala National Forest, should be complete cake with this beast.

 

[HazMatt79]

I ended up buying the Silverado, a 2019 Trail Boss. The shopping and selection experience was quite an ordeal as I was considering quite a few vehicles...4Runner, Tundra, Tacoma, F150, GMC, even looked at some Nissans as I've always liked Nissans. Ended up going with what I am comfortable with since I was also coming from a Silverado.

I think the major cost is what made it not-fun. Now that I am done with it part of me wishes I could do the search all over and really just enjoy learning about the new features and stuff. Oh well, hopefully this one will fill my needs for many years and I don't have to do it again for a long time.

It's brown, looks black in low light

Nice truck! I love the front ends on the new GMs!

 

[MotoCRT]

We overland with our built up Tundra and mechanically it's been sound. All the new fangled tech doesn't weigh of any importance to how we use our truck, and maybe it's what keeps it so dependable both on and off trail.

I'd research resale values of brands, to help guide which tent to hold up longest, weigh out what your actual needs will be for the truck and how best it'll cover your day to day.

Everyones going to have opinions and experiences that differ, so just really narrow down how you're planning to best use it.

Picture for proof and because I do love my truck.

View attachment 127485

Nice Tundra! Toyota Tundra is the route I'm planning to go in the next year.
1. I like the reliability of a newer vehicle when traveling with the family.
2.I'm 6'2 so the mid size trucks are just to small for me .
3.I like the simplicity of the interior, less gadgets to break.

 

[REGAR Expeditions]

Nice Tundra! Toyota Tundra is the route I'm planning to go in the next year.
1. I like the reliability of a newer vehicle when traveling with the family.
2.I'm 6'2 so the mid size trucks are just to small for me .
3.I like the simplicity of the interior, less gadgets to break.

Thanks!

 

[GroundedLP]

My 2003 Silverado is passing 200,000 miles as well as rusting out so planning to replace it very soon with potentially a new Silverado or Tundra. This has to be my daily driver so can't focus on only overlanding potential. I'm probably getting a mid-range trim level, of course 4 wheel drive. When I go offroad it's going to be something mild and not climbing rocks or anything too technically challenging.

Curious if anybody has shopped for 2019 models and have any input on what swayed them one way or the other for one of these models.

I am in the construction industry and the old company I worked for decided to swap the fleet to Tundras from Ford I was a project manager so being curious I followed the fuel and maintenance on them and with our line of work they fell apart. They had nearly double maintenance cost and they were averaging 10mpg fleet wide. They swapped back to Ford.

 

[HazMatt79]

I am in the construction industry and the old company I worked for decided to swap the fleet to Tundras from Ford I was a project manager so being curious I followed the fuel and maintenance on them and with our line of work they fell apart. They had nearly double maintenance cost and they were averaging 10mpg fleet wide. They swapped back to Ford.

Just curious, what fell apart on them?

 

[Dilldog]

I am in the construction industry and the old company I worked for decided to swap the fleet to Tundras from Ford I was a project manager so being curious I followed the fuel and maintenance on them and with our line of work they fell apart. They had nearly double maintenance cost and they were averaging 10mpg fleet wide. They swapped back to Ford.

I have heard similar. One of the techs I work with worked for a company that did the same thing. Steering racks is what he always talks about not holding up on the Toyotas. But that was oil field work which is extremely hard on equipment.

 

[HazMatt79]

I have heard similar. One of the techs I work with worked for a company that did the same thing. Steering racks is what he always talks about not holding up on the Toyotas. But that was oil field work which is extremely hard on equipment.

This is good to know. I will have to keep an eye on my steering rack then. I found out there are some aftermarket parts to beef things up. Disappointed with Toyota on that though. Hopefully I can get decent miles before it fails.

 

[HazMatt79]

Found out some good news. The steering rack failures were limited almost exclusively to the 2007-2012 Tundras (with some 2013s) and exacerbated by lift kits, and NOT 2019s as the OP made clear he was considering. Even though the OP made his choice long before this issue was brought up, I wanted to make sure anyone else reading this thread considering a Tundra or ANY other vehicle for that matter, has the right info to make their decisions. Lets try to remain objective on this forum and remember this is not a vehicle-specific forum. Every vehicle has its limitations. Happy overlanding! :-)

 

[Dilldog]

Found out some good news. The steering rack failures were limited almost exclusively to the 2007-2012 Tundras (with some 2013s) and exacerbated by lift kits, and NOT 2019s as the OP made clear he was considering. Even though the OP made his choice long before this issue was brought up, I wanted to make sure anyone else reading this thread considering a Tundra or ANY other vehicle for that matter, has the right info to make their decisions. Lets try to remain objective on this forum and remember this is not a vehicle-specific forum. Every vehicle has its limitations. Happy overlanding! :-)

Every MFG. and every vehicle has its shortcomings, and it has nothing to do with planned obsolescence or just being cheap. They all have to build components less strong here and there to make the overall package affordable. Manufacturing is a balancing act between making what is cost effective, what the consumer wants, and what has good quality. As such the mark will be missed from time to time. It is very good to hear that when an MFG. sees they missed that mark they reassessed and made the product better.

 

[HazMatt79]

Every MFG. and every vehicle has its shortcomings, and it has nothing to do with planned obsolescence or just being cheap. They all have to build components less strong here and there to make the overall package affordable. Manufacturing is a balancing act between making what is cost effective, what the consumer wants, and what has good quality. As such the mark will be missed from time to time. It is very good to hear that when an MFG. sees they missed that mark they reassessed and made the product better.

Very good points!

 

[Wilbah]

Every MFG. and every vehicle has its shortcomings, and it has nothing to do with planned obsolescence or just being cheap. They all have to build components less strong here and there to make the overall package affordable. Manufacturing is a balancing act between making what is cost effective, what the consumer wants, and what has good quality. As such the mark will be missed from time to time. It is very good to hear that when an MFG. sees they missed that mark they reassessed and made the product better.

I like what you've said here.

I think another aspect to it that I didnt fully appreciate as a kid is the balancing act between the various systems/components within a vehicle and how tweaking one thing can cause a cascade of other issues on other systems. The best example is wheel bearings when larger wheels/tires are used. Bearings last with stock tires pretty well, but of course those little tires suck and dont look cool so we go with larger wheels and tires, then wonder why the bearings give out prematurely. Or beef up the engine and scratch our heads when the tranny explodes and wonder why the mfr doesn't make stronger trannys.

I do wonder if some of the "issues" people have with offroading vehicles is that the mfr has built them primarily for on road use with mild offroading in mind. There is a dedicated group of offroaders on a forum like this and everyone finds that same "weak point" on the vehicle due to our use being different than the general population. Of course if enough people find the same problem the mfr has to address it (or should anyway if they want to serve that market).

Ultimately it is what it is and I would prefer to know a particular vehicles "weak spot" before I buy it, but I dont immediately see it as a "problem" with the manufacturing design or limitation of the mfr. They're trying to find that sweet spot of reliability and profit just like any company. I just need to find if my needs mirror what they are building. Sadly too much is appearance based today so while a vehicle "looks cool" for offroading, it's really just another mall crawler with graphics and stuff that makes it look extreme. (All hat and no cattle for our TX friends. ;) )

And part of this is why companies like Cognito and other similar aftermarket companies exist. As good engineering systems (CAD etc) becomes available at cheaper prices we see more good quality places to go for those specialty parts that better suit our needs. Which beats the alternative, but just as one needs to find the vehicle that best suits our needs out of the box, we need to do that with aftermarket entities as well.

Sorry for the long winded "stream of conciousness" post. Ha.

 

[hoch]

Nice Tundra! Toyota Tundra is the route I'm planning to go in the next year.
1. I like the reliability of a newer vehicle when traveling with the family.
2.I'm 6'2 so the mid size trucks are just to small for me .
3.I like the simplicity of the interior, less gadgets to break.

I almost bought a Tundra a few months ago when shopping for a new truck. The things that kept me from buying one were:
- Poor payload. One I was looking at was 1,190lbs (on the door jamb sticker). Way lower than what the brochure said. My F150 has 2k lbs.
- Mediocre crash test rating (per IIHS). I have 3 kids, so safety is very important to me.
- Poor MPG. 3 of my family/friends have one and I don't think they've seen anything over 16mpg. That's 3/4 ton territory.

Otherwise, the engine is solid as well as the "archaic" 6-speed transmission. I like simplicity so I'd have no problems with the lack of tech. But I couldn't get over the factors above.

 

[Dilldog]

Only a 1200lbs payload? Thats only 200lbs more than my Ford Escape, and 300lbs less than my old 1980 Isuzu. What kind of options were on that Tundra, maybe there was a suspension package that reduced its payload?

 

[tjZ06]

If you're buying a full size truck to Overland just get a Power Wagon. I'm a Chevy guy and I have a Silverado (2011 2500 Duramax/Allison with a ~4" lift and 35"s) that I've Overlanded -some- but it was never bought/meant to be an Overlander. It's my tow pig. Hands-down if I was buying a new (or new-used) full size to Overland it'd be a Power Wagon. Factory locking diffs front and rear, very beefy solid axles front and rear, etc. It's just much better suited for the use than either the Tundra or Silverado (both IFS rigs, both open front diffs, etc.).

-TJ

 

[MidOH]

If you're buying a full size truck to Overland just get a Power Wagon. I'm a Chevy guy and I have a Silverado (2011 2500 Duramax/Allison with a ~4" lift and 35"s) that I've Overlanded -some- but it was never bought/meant to be an Overlander. It's my tow pig. Hands-down if I was buying a new (or new-used) full size to Overland it'd be a Power Wagon. Factory locking diffs front and rear, very beefy solid axles front and rear, etc. It's just much better suited for the use than either the Tundra or Silverado (both IFS rigs, both open front diffs, etc.).

-TJ

Or a F250 Fx4 or Tremor.

Dodge didn't have any PW's spec'd into a decent price range in Ohio. And they all had just 4.10 gears and I want 4.88. A Ford ($38k) , front locker and a regear ($3k), 17" Method and Cooper STT's ($3-4k) was cheaper.

 

[HazMatt79]

I quote "My 2003 Silverado is passing 200,000 miles as well as rusting out so planning to replace it very soon with potentially a new Silverado or Tundra. This has to be my daily driver so can't focus on only overlanding potential (emphasis mine). I'm probably getting a mid-range trim level, of course 4 wheel drive. When I go offroad it's going to be something mild and not climbing rocks or anything too technically challenging."

 

[MidOH]

You can daily drive a F250+. I've been daily driving a mix of F550, 450, 350, 3500, for about twenty years now.

It's also worth noting that to fit a 35'' tire on the Ford F250 or Dodge 2500, you simply pick up a wheel with a 35x12.5r17 and slap it on.

Fit's stock.