Best used 1/2 ton truck for towing

Ford's brand-new unibody 2022 Maverick compact pickup is the perfect little truck for people who want carlike characteristics with the benefit and utility of an open bed—plus great fuel economy. It comes standard with front-wheel drive and a 2.5-liter four-cylinder hybrid powertrain (total system output: 191 hp and 155 lb-ft of torque), with an available 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbo four-cylinder (250 hp and 277 lb-ft) that allows for all-wheel drive. The EcoBoost engine can tow 4,000 pounds when equipped with the 4K Tow Package. Otherwise, both engines are rated at 2,000 pounds of towing capacity.

The Santa Cruz is Hyundai's entry into the growing segment of compact pickup trucks. When equipped with the 281-hp, 311-lb-ft 2.5-liter turbocharged four cylinder, it has a towing capacity of 5,000 pounds, which isn't too shabby for a wee thing that can zip around tight city streets with ease. Best of all, it has underbed storage (like the Honda Ridgeline), a fun feature for this fresh small truck that bridges the gap for many customers.

With a midsize truck, you won't be able to tow everything. But you should still have enough pulling power to pull a decent-size small trailer. The Ford Ranger is one such midsizer that's up to the task. While it's based on an old platform that got a few tweaks when it was brought over to the U.S. for 2019, it shines in the powertrain department.

Every Ford Ranger variant gets a 270-hp, 310-lb-ft 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission with a tow/haul mode, and each has the same max tow rating of 7,500 pounds. You may be looking at the Ranger's max tow rating and wondering why the new Jeep Gladiator, with its higher max of 7,650 pounds, didn't make this list of best trucks for towing. The truth is we just weren't impressed with its towing performance during previous Truck of the Year testing.

The Chevy Colorado won back-to-back Truck of the Year awards in 2015 and 2016, and it continues to be one of our favorite pickups in the midsize truck category. With its wide range of powertrain choices, the Colorado and its GMC Canyon sibling can be equipped to suit most consumers' needs. A 2.5-liter inline-four making 200 hp and 191 lb-ft of torque serves as the base engine. From there, buyers can upgrade to a 3.6-liter V-6 (308 hp and 275 lb-ft) or a 2.8-liter turbodiesel I-4 (181 hp and 369 lb-ft). The diesel will be the best truck for towing in the lineup, but the V-6 isn't bad either. In a midsize truck comparison test, a Colorado V-6 towed a trailer loaded with 14 bales of hay up a narrow, winding road with ease, demonstrating impressive shift logic from its standard eight-speed automatic and a supple, refined ride along the way.

Our 2019 Truck of the Year, the Ram 1500, is still one of the light duty full-size pickups to beat. Its superior ride quality, unmatched quietness, and long list of available niceties make it the most luxurious half-ton truck on the market, which means it should make long trips with your RV more comfortable. The Ram 1500 can be had with either the base 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 (305 hp and 269 lb-ft of torque), two different 5.7-liter Hemi V-8s (both making 395 hp and 410 lb-ft), or an updated version of Ram's 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 engine (260 hp and 480 lb-ft). The Ram TRX comes with the supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V-8 (702 hp and 650 lb-ft). Additionally, Ram's eTorque mild hybrid system, standard on the base V-6 and available on the V-8, recoups and recycles energy from the wheels that would otherwise be lost. That energy is stored in a battery and is used to assist the engine under heavy loads and power the automatic engine stop/start system to save fuel.

The 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 and the GMC Sierra 1500, refreshed for this model year, bring with them some impressive towing numbers, including a big bump for the 3.0-liter I-6 diesel to 13,300 pounds. Engine options include a 2.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder (310 hp and 420 lb-ft), a 5.3-liter V-8 (355 hp and 383 lb-ft), a 6.2-liter V-8 (420 hp and 460 lb-ft), and a 3.0-liter Duramax diesel inline-six (277 hp and 460 lb-ft). All gas engines get GM's Active Fuel Management cylinder shut-off tech, and most can be had with a stop/start system. For towing purposes, it's hard to beat the Duramax diesel option, especially with its huge max tow capacity increase for 2022. Plus, the 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 gets Super Cruise for hands-free towing.

A great choice in the full-size ½-ton truck class is the venerable Ford F-150. There's a reason it's America's best-selling pickup and that it has a solid record for dependability and versatility. The F-150 engine lineup includes a capable base 3.3-liter V-6 (290 hp and 265 lb-ft of torque); two turbocharged EcoBoost V-6s, a 2.7-liter (325 hp and 400 lb-ft) and a 3.5-liter (400 hp and 500 lb-ft); a 3.5-liter PowerBoost Full Hybrid V-6 (430 hp, 570 lb-ft); a 5.0-liter V-8 (400 hp and 410 lb-ft); and a 3.0-liter Power Stroke diesel V-6 (250 hp and 440 lb-ft). Additionally, there's a high-output version of the 3.5-liter EcoBoost (450 hp and 510 lb-ft) in the F-150 Raptor. The diesel F-150 option is going away, but the lineup gains an electric version, the Lightning, for 2022.

Ford's handy Pro Trailer Back-Up Assist feature helps you reverse more easily when towing, simplifying back-up maneuvers with an intuitive knob that takes all the guesswork out of steering by doing it for you. That available feature alone makes the Ford F-150 one of the best half-ton trucks for towing.

Sometimes you don't need a gigantic truck—you just need a pretty huge one. Still imposing and capable, three-quarter-ton trucks like the Chevy Silverado 2500HD and the GMC Sierra 2500HD will do the job for most. Like the larger Silverado and GMC Sierra 3500s, the 2500HD can be had with either a 401-hp, 464-lb-ft 6.6-liter gasoline V-8 or a 445-hp, 910-lb-ft 6.6-liter Duramax diesel V-8.

The gasser is mated to a six-speed automatic, while the Duramax diesel receives a slick-shifting 10-speed Allison automatic transmission and a towing capacity of up to 18,500 pounds on a conventional hitch. Interestingly, this figure applies to the two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive Crew Cab configuration.

Additionally, the Silverado HD offers a transparent trailer view system, which uses two cameras (one on the tailgate and one that has to be installed on the trailer) to allow you to virtually see through whatever you're towing. That feature makes the Silverado HD one of the best trucks for towing a travel trailer or other large, sight-impeding object hanging off your hitch ball.

The F-250 is the workhorse of the Super Duty range. The F-250 is available in a number of bed and cab configurations, and it can he had with your choice of 6.2-liter V-8, the new 7.3-liter V-8 with 430 hp and 475 lb-ft of torque, or the same 1,050-lb-ft Power Stroke diesel found in the 350 and 450—a costly option at $10,495. But when properly equipped, the F-250 has a max conventional towing capacity of 20,000 pounds. For most, that should be plenty for towing your RV, boat, or toy hauler.

When equipped with the 445-hp, 910-lb-ft 6.6-liter Duramax diesel V-8, the 2022 Chevy Silverado 3500HD (and mechanically similar GMC Sierra 3500HD) can tow up to 36,000 pounds, a best-in-class number that competitors quickly topped, barely. (And that's if you consider the F-450 to be a player in the class, which is debatable.) Like the Ford Super Duty, the GM HD trucks have the benefit of more gears to choose from thanks to the Allison 10-speed automatic transmission. The 3500HD that can tow 36,000 pounds with a gooseneck hitch is a Regular Cab, two-wheel drive Duramax dually, a configuration you won't see plentifully on the road.

The handsome Ford F-450 Super Duty dually is a powerhouse when it comes to towing. Its 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel V-8, shared across the whole Super Duty lineup—produces 475 horsepower and a staggering 1,050 lb-ft of torque. That much horsepower and torque pay off when it comes to towing heavy loads. That's mated to a TorqShift 10-speed automatic transmission, providing plenty of gears for optimal towing. For those keeping track of the horsepower and torque wars, the Power Stroke produces 25 lb-ft of torque less than the Ram's high-output Cummins and 140 lb-ft more than GM's Duramax. What does that much twist get you? A claimed max gooseneck towing capacity of 37,000 pounds from the regular-cab two-wheel-drive F-450 Super Duty.

The 2022 Ram Heavy Duty pickup, which won our 2020 Truck of the Year when it was introduced, is an easy choice for this list of best trucks for towing, and the Ram 3500 Heavy Duty dually in particular excels at towing with a fifth wheel or gooseneck hitch. When equipped with the powerful 6.7-liter Cummins diesel inline-six that makes 420 hp and a best-in-class 1,075 lb-ft of torque, the Ram 3500 can tow a gooseneck trailer weighing up to 37,090 pounds, which is actually down 10 pounds from last year. The large truck that can tow this amount is a regular-cab, two-wheel-drive, base Tradesman model with dual rear wheels and the high-output Cummins I-6 diesel engine. The downsides are the top-dog Cummins diesel is a $12,195 option over the base gas 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 (410 hp, 429 lb-ft of torque), and to handle that lofty 1,075 lb-ft, you'll need the beefy Aisin AS69RC six-speed automatic transmission instead of the gasoline's eight-speed automatic. But even with the $2,795 cheaper 370 hp, 850-lb-ft standard-output Cummins or the standard 6.4-liter Hemi V-8, the Ram 3500 is an excellent choice for towing with a fifth wheel or gooseneck thanks to available features like a high-res in-bed camera and the air suspension's trick Alt Trailer Height ability.

Best Compact Trucks For Towing:

• 2022 Ford Maverick | Max Tow Rating: 4,000 pounds
• 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz | Max Tow Rating: 5,000 pounds

Best Midsize Trucks For Towing:

• 2022 Ford Ranger | Max Tow Rating: 7,500 pounds
• 2022 Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon | Max Tow Rating: 7,700 pounds

Best Half-Ton Trucks For Towing:

• 2022 Ram 1500 | Max Tow Rating: 12,750 pounds
• 2022 Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra 1500 | Max Tow Rating: 13,300 pounds
• 2022 Ford F-150 | Max Tow Rating: 14,000 pounds

Best Three-Quarter-Ton HD Trucks For Towing:

• 2022 Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra 2500HD | Max Tow Rating: 18,500
• 2022 Ford F-250 Super Duty | Max Tow Rating: 20,000 pounds

Best One-Ton HD Trucks For Towing:

• 2022 Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra 3500HD | Max Tow Rating: 36,000 pounds
• 2022 Ford F-450 Super Duty | Max Tow Rating: 37,000 pounds
• 2022 Ram 3500 Heavy Duty | Max Tow Rating: 37,090 pounds