Top 5 New Pickup Trucks

Few vehicles are so perfect for so many Americans as the full-size pickup. That's why these big haulers have perennially been our nation's best-selling vehicles. But now the creators of this quintessentially American icon — Ford, General Motors and Dodge — need to watch their rearview mirrors. Serious contenders from Nissan and Toyota have entered this last preserve of American market dominance with trucks of their own — trucks engineered and built here in the U.S. of A.

5.Nissan Titan Crew Cab Truck Review

Ten years ago the idea of anybody competing with the US makers’ full-size trucks would have been unthinkable. Then, eight years ago, along came the Nissan Titan Crew Cab and the market changed forever. Not only was it a valid challenger to the established brands, it was better in many areas. Times change of course, and the home-grown pickups soon fought back with higher standards and bigger capacities. However, the Nissan Titan Crew Cab remains a viable alternative. It is big, powerful truck, with capacities that are on a par with its rivals and some clever features. Standard bed length is five-and-a-half-feet (with a seven-foot version available), and most versions have 2 or 4-wheel drive. Your combination will effect your maximums but at the top of the scale you get a payload of a little over 2,000 pounds and trailering up to 9,400 pounds. It’s certainly no lightweight! Inside that bed you get the Utili-Trac cargo system with channels for heavy-duty cleats that make tying down odd shapes easier. There’s also a range of lockable boxes, dividers and extenders. There’s no doubt the Nissan Titan Crew Cab is built for the professional.

4.Ford F-350 Super Duty Regular Cab Truck Review

You have to look at the Ford F-350 Super Duty Regular Cab as the lowest rung on the F-350 ladder. Does that mean you don’t get much for your money? Far from it. While it’s perfectly true that this is no boulevard cruiser, if you want a big pickup to do hard work day in, day out, you won’t need to look any further. The Ford F-350 Super Duty Regular Cab looks like it was built for a purpose from the tires up. There’s plenty of ground clearance. Stick your head underneath and you’ll see a thick steel chassis and chunky suspension components. Then there are the vital statistics. Two or four-wheel drive, of course. The eight-foot bed can be run on single or twin-wheel rear axles. You can throw a lot of gear in there too. How much? Well 7,070 lbs to be precise. Towing? With a fifth-wheel the maximum is 22,600 lbs. That’s more than a few head of cattle in a trailer, or the average boat, that’s enough for a 38-foot fishing trawler – and its crew!

3.Dodge Ram Pickup 2500 Regular Cab Truck Review

So you buy a truck like the Dodge Ram Pickup 2500 Regular Cab because you need to haul a good lot of stuff around most of the time, and maybe a trailer. It’ll get some rough treatment. It is going to be hammered across building sites or other broken, dirty surfaces and generally not given a lot of consideration. That’s what heavy-duty trucks like this are for, right? Doesn’t matter if it’s a bit short of creature comforts, like you it has to work for a living. While the life of the average Dodge Ram Pickup 2500 Regular Cab might be a lot like that, there are two inaccuracies. First, it’s not actually short on comforts and second, it is definitely not “average”. Now we’re not suggesting it’s kitted out like a luxury limo, but the driver environment was certainly high on Dodge’s list of priorities when they uprated the whole package a while back. This is not some rattly old pickup. Sure it is built tough, but not at the expense of the person behind the wheel. In fact some of the improvements – like better suspension – both increase capacity and give it superior manners on the asphalt.

2.GMC Sierra 2500HD Regular Cab Truck Review

Nobody buys a GMC Sierra 2500HD Regular Cab as a “fashion accessory”. It’s not an SUV that you might occasionally throw some junk in. It’s not a 4×4 adopted by the Hollywood A-list. It’s a big, powerful truck for serious professionals. The chassis is a rigid chunk of boxed steel. The suspension is heavy-duty as standard but can be tuned up further if you’re going to spend a lot of time on rough terrain. The bed is eight-feet long and it will happily carry over 3,400 lbs in there (depending on configuration). Choose the fifth wheel trailering option and it will tow not far shy of 18,000 lbs. Everything about this truck says work. Hard work. Yet actually driving it is not an unpleasant experience. It’s not a bone-jarring ride. You won’t be wrestling to keep a huge unwieldy beast on the road. That suspension may be robust but it’s also remarkably compliant. Combine that with a cabin that’s well insulated from vibration and road noise and the GMC Sierra 2500HD Regular Cab is a package that is never going to give you sedan dynamics but won’t put you off long distance hauling.

1.Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Regular Cab Truck Review

The Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Regular Cab might be seen as the out-and-out workhorse of the heavy duty Chevy pickup range, but it’s not just some big truck only fit for a tough day at the building site. There’s no denying that’s a role it performs particularly well, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t tell you how smart it looks, or how superbly it drives. When you look at being able to throw over 3,700 pounds of whatever you like in the big load bed, or tow an incredible 17,800 lbs with the optional turbo-diesel motor, you might miss the fact that it has near sedan-style handling and acceleration that would leave many a family compact in its dust. Sure, it’s a hugely capable working vehicle, but it is also a positive pleasure to get around in. It’ll happily take you out on the prairie or up a mountain, but it can also take you on long freeway trips in considerable comfort. From the incredibly strong box steel chassis, to the powerful motors, it’s built for the roughest challenges. That doesn’t mean it’s unrefined. The Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Regular Cab is one thoroughly modern truck.