“Tux”

As we mentioned in Stella, if we went with the 25’ Airstream then we needed to go with a 3/4 ton pickup. As it stands, we probably still should have gone with one, but we love Tux.

Make it stand out

Tux is a a Ford F-150 Powerboost Platinum.

Why a Ford? Well, we test drove a Chevy and the interior felt dated compared to the Ford, and then we drove a GMC and that interior felt dated compared to Kevin’s first car in the mid-2000’s. It was an easy choice. We did also consider a Grand Wagoneer, we do love Jeeps, but the payload was atrocious. We also like the capability to store dirtier items in the bed of a truck, so an F-150 it was.

“The F-150 has a hybrid model”

We wanted the Powerboost because we camp off grid and with the built in generator we can charge up our batteries anytime in just a few hours. Additionally, nature rocks, and we want to keep it that way, so the hybrid helps significantly with fuel economy.

The drawback here is the payload. With all of the options that come on this truck, it dropped our payload to 1,360lbs, which with an 800lb tongue weight doesn’t leave us much room for stuff.

As always, it’s a tradeoff.

The Platinum gave us a number of options that were essential to long days in the truck, but ate away at our total payload.

After running all of the numbers, we finally caved and agreed we could make the payload and camper weights work. Well, we can officially answer that question now because we’ve hitched up and went to the CAT scales. The answer?

Not a chance lol.

We were over by a good bit fully loaded, so we rearranged and lost some “essential” items. Guinness even gave up a few neglected toys, but we got our weight under control.

Even though we’re pretty high on our weight limit, the truck can handle the Airstream with ease due to the integrated brake controller and weight distribution hitch. We went with a Blue Ox Sway Pro which helps out drastically with trailer sway and towing has been a breeze.

Now, as we continue on the trip and accumulate stuff, we might revisit this. The F-250 Platinum is pretty amazing too.