The 10 Best Pickup Trucks for Towing

Not every pickup truck owner tows. But many of them do. And while there are SUVs out there that are great for towing, a pickup is the ultimate tool for the job.

A midsize truck can handle your average camping trailer, sure. But if you’re towing a boat or a horse trailer or one of those homes on wheels you sometimes see, you may want to level up to a full-size truck or heavy-duty pickup — the latter of which can now tow everything up to and including an aircraft carrier’s anchor.

What are the best trucks for towing? The ones that can tow the most, of course. Here are the 10 pickup trucks with the highest towing capacities.

Ford F-450 Super Duty

Ford

• Max Towing: 40,000 pounds
• Powertrain: Turbocharged 6.7-liter diesel V8
• Horsepower: 500
• Torque: 1,200 lb-ft
• Starting MSRP: $60,350

Ford’s all-new Super Duty is an absolute torque monster. It can tow a 30,000-pound conventional trailer, and up to 40,000 pounds with a gooseneck trailer.

Ram 3500 Heavy Duty

Stellantis

• Max Towing: 37,090 pounds
• Powertrain: Turbocharged 6.7-liter diesel I6
• Horsepower: 400
• Torque: 1,075 lb-ft
• Starting MSRP: $47,580

The Ram 3500 Heavy Duty can’t quite match up with the F-450 and F-350. But with more than 1,000 lb-ft of torque, it comes quite close.

GMC Sierra 3500 HD

GMC

• Max Towing: 36,000 pounds
• Powertrain: Turbocharged 6.6-liter diesel V8
• Horsepower: 470
• Torque: 975 lb-ft
• Starting MSRP: $47,495

GMC’s entrant brings a mere 975 lb-ft of torque to the table. But the diesel can tow an impressive 36,000 pounds with a gooseneck trailer.

Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD

Chevrolet

• Max Towing: 36,000 pounds
• Powertrain: Turbocharged 6.6-liter diesel V8
• Horsepower: 470
• Torque: 975 lb-ft
• Starting MSRP: $46,495

The Chevy Silverado HD shares its powertrain and towing capacity with its Sierra HD sibling.

Ford F-150

Ford

• Max Towing: 14,000 pounds
• Powertrain: Turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
• Horsepower: 400
• Torque: 500 lb-ft
• Starting MSRP: $33,695

The Ford F-150 comes in first for full-size pickups, towing up to 14,000 pounds in a 4×2 configuration with the 400-horsepower 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6.

Chevrolet Silverado 1500

Chevrolet

• Max Towing: 13,300 pounds
• Powertrain: 6.2-liter V8
• Horsepower: 420
• Torque: 460 lb-ft
• Starting MSRP: $36,000

The Silverado comes in second for full-size trucks with a 13,300-pound capacity — a figure obtained with the gas V8 rather than the diesel engine.

GMC Sierra 1500

GMC

• Max Towing: 13,200 pounds
• Powertrain: 6.2-liter V8
• Horsepower: 420
• Torque: 460 lb-ft
• Starting MSRP: $38,995

The GMC Sierra 1500 uses the same 6.2-liter V8 as the Silverado, but has a 100-pound lower max tow rating.

Ram 1500

Stellantis

• Max Towing: 12,750 pounds
• Powertrain: 5.7-liter V8
• Horsepower: 395
• Torque: 410 lb-ft
• Starting MSRP: $37,410

The Ram 1500 comes in third among the Big Three pickups, with a 12,750-pound capacity from the 5.7-liter V8.

Toyota Tundra

toyota

• Max Towing: 12,000 pounds
• Powertrain: Twin-turbocharged 3.4-liter V6
• Horsepower: 389
• Torque: 479 lb-ft
• Starting MSRP: $38,965

Toyota recently switched the Tundra to turbocharged V6 power. But the capable base engine can still nearly match the Ram 1500 at 12,000 pounds.

Rivian R1T

Will Sabel Courtney

• Max Towing: 11,000 pounds
• Powertrain: Quad-motor AWD
• Horsepower: 835 hp
• Torque: 908 lb-ft
• Starting MSRP: $73,000

Rivian’s R1T pickup is best among electric trucks for towing capacity, nearly matching that of conventional full-size trucks. But towing any sort of heavy load will greatly diminish the range.

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