Most Interior Room
Ram 3500 Mega Cab
Towing the horse trailer to a show or the race car to the track can be family activities that require seating for five or six and a certain level of comfort. That's why buyers opt for crew cab trucks with full-size rear seats more than any other configuration. Ram goes one step further by offering the Mega Cab, which has a limousinelike 45.3 inches of rear legroom. By comparison, the Ram 1500 Crew Cab has 40.3 inches of legroom. In addition, the Mega Cab's rear seats recline, they can double as storage bins, and there is still 12.1 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats — about as much as a typical sedan's trunk.
Read: 5 Trucks That Will Float Your Boat
Most Luxurious
Ford F-150 Lariat Limited
The full-size half-ton pickup market has only six models, but the trim and body style choices are limited only by your pocketbook. Domestic automakers have embraced this diversity with several high-end trims, and none more so than Ford. With its heated and cooled leather bucket seats, rearview camera, remote starting and Sony audio system, the $45,565 Ford F-150 King Ranch (for a 4WD SuperCrew short bed) is plenty luxurious. But Ford has three models above that, including the $50,970 Lariat Limited. The Lariat Limited features amenities such as power retractable running boards, sunroof, navigation system, high-definition radio and 22-inch wheels. Is there anything else you could possibly want?
Best Bargain for Contractors
Ram 1500 Tradesman
Contractors depend on their trucks to make a living; they don't buy them to sit in the lap of luxury. They want trucks with all the capability and none of the pretense. No carpet. No power windows. No remote keyless entry. Just a long bed, a powerful engine and maybe a radio. Most of all, they want an affordable price. The best deal for these folks is the Ram 1500 Tradesman, which starts at $22,340 for a 2-wheel-drive model with the 6-foot-4-inch bed and the powerful Hemi V8 engine. Get the long bed and the price increases by $305.
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Most Fuel-Efficient Full-Size Truck
Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid / GMC Sierra Hybrid
The two-mode hybrid system in the GM full-size pickups increases fuel economy by 23.5 percent. The electric motor is paired with a 6.0-liter V8 engine, producing 332 horsepower and 367 lb-ft of torque while delivering fuel-economy ratings of 20 mpg city/23 mpg highway. Those numbers are better than the ratings for any full-size V6 competitor. In fact, the closest a V6 engine gets is the Ford F-150's 3.7-liter V6, which is rated at 17/23. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the GM hybrid pickups will cost a typical driver $2,506 a year in gasoline expenses, about $500 to $700 less than comparable V8 engines.
View Slideshow: 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Workhorses
Kirk Bell has served as the associate publisher for Consumer Guide Automotive and editor of Scale Auto Enthusiast magazine. A Midwest native, Bell brings 18 years of automotive journalism experience to MSN, and currently contributes to JDPower.com and Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com.
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