[wiredgeorge]

I bought a 2013 F150 NEW back in 2013 for $17988 (plus TT&L). It had the standard V6 and automatic. It was the first automatic transmission truck I ever owned and I began to be a believer. I took it to the tint & alarm shop and had an alarm system in that included remote entry for the remote door locks. Didn't know you could buy the remote entry without the alarm. If you locked the doors while traveling, the slightest bump would set off the alarm which was annoying. The truck couldn't pull much but got good gas mileage. I had a truck camper on it and put some air bags on and LRE tires so it didn't get squished. I had never heard about the payload thing. That truck was not designed for a lightweight Lance truck top.

We got a series of 5th wheels and bumper pulls. My wife retired so I didn't want a truck payment so sold the F150 and and bought a 1996 F250 with 7.5L and automatic and after putting a little money into this $1700 truck, the truck ran like a top but of course with a quarter million hard miles rattled and rode kind of rough with super heavy duty shocks I added and air bags and LRE tires. This truck was an XLT model and the power windows and door locks actually worked and I got spoiled so when I got diesel fever I went back to the basics (stripped XL work truck) and have since added remote entry system ($32 on Amazon) and I have spent a few bucks to make everything right but the truck is now the way I like it. Vinyl seats and flooring with a BIG bench seat, automatic and a good A/C. I did add a license plate mounted rear view camera as the truck is a mile long and I need it to gauge how close I am when backing up.

Would I own a Ram or Chevy? Sure and it would be interesting to have the funds to make a choice not based on my economics but features. And I do have a hard time (being old and fat) getting into the bed so a step back there would be welcome but one coming off the trailer hitch receiver might skewer the fifth wheel so I live with it.