Despite the shortage of icicles around these parts last winter, we Canucks love to make the most of our woefully brief summer months by getting outdoors to celebrate the sun, surf and badly charred meat.

For many of us, camping is synonymous with summer vacation. It can be as simple as throwing a tent, sleeping bags and a Hibachi into the trunk of the family car, or as elaborate as packing the microwave oven, plasma TV and chinchilla bedspread into a recreation vehicle (RV).

Whether you drive it or tow it, an RV can provide you with all the comforts of home. According to industry association Go RVing Canada, one in seven households owns an RV, and there are more than 1 million on the road through Banff National Park every July.

Whether you opt for a pop-up tent-trailer, a conventional-hitch trailer or a fifth-wheel trailer, seasoned campers recommend a body-on-frame truck to pull your rig with no duress. Here are four worthy, used pickups that take the business of recreation seriously.

2003-09 Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins:

If you’re looking to pull an Airstream or other full-sized trailer (they can be up to 12 metres long), you’ll need a genuine workhorse to take your house-on-wheels over hill and dale at highway speeds.

Although all domestic automakers offer heavy-duty diesel pickups, owners report being especially impressed with the Dodge Ram 3500.

The third-generation 3500 was sold between 2003 and 2009, and was available in regular and Quad Cab (four-door) body styles, as well as the really big Mega Cab that joined the lineup in 2006. Dodge did a commendable job with the interior of these trucks, as there’s no shortage of decadent furnishings and features.

Dodge farmed out its diesel powerplants to heavy-duty engine maker Cummins. Originally, it was a 5.9 L inline 6-cylinder turbodiesel, good for 305 hp and 555 lb.-ft. of torque. It was displaced by the updated 6.7 L inline six in 2007, which ground out 350 hp and 650 lb.-ft. of stump-pulling torque. Thus equipped, the Ram could tow up to 23,000 pounds (10.4 tonnes) with gusto.

A diesel is the best way to pull a big trailer. Saddled with a heavy load, a conventional V8 may burn 29 to 39 L/100 km on the highway, while a diesel will do considerably better with (hopefully) cheaper diesel fuel. With the exception of Crew Cab shortbeds, all Ram 3500s had a dual-rear-wheel axle, which is required for proper fifth-wheel towing, where the trailer connects to a turntable mounted in the bed of the truck.

2007-’09 Chevrolet Silverado 1500/GMC Sierra 1500:

For big trailers that don’t require fifth-wheel coupling, General Motors built a variety of full-size pickup trucks in every possible configuration a driver could want, including three cab sizes, three beds, numerous engines and towing capacity up to 15,500 pounds (7 tonnes).

The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks were completely redesigned for 2007, building on the super-rigid frame previewed by the Tahoe and Yukon SUVs.

The trucks gained a redesigned front suspension and rack-and-pinion steering for better steering feedback, handling and ride quality. Unfortunately (or fortunately), GM stuck with its tried-and-true, four-speed automatic transmission across the board, although it did have a tow/haul mode.

Base fleet trucks came equipped with a 195-hp, 4.3 L V6, while a 4.8 L V8 (295 hp, 305 lb.-ft.) powered the standard models (except the long-box versions). A 315-hp 5.3 L V8 was a popular option, while the Vortec Max 6.0 L V8 made 367 hp and 375 lb.-ft. The latter two V8s featured Active Fuel Management, which shut down four cylinders under light-load conditions for better fuel economy. A high-performance 403-hp 6.2 L V8 was available later in the top trim line.

Buyers give the GM twins’ cabin top marks, which is reputed to be the quietest in the industry. Reliability is characterized as average, but at least parts are plentiful.

One consistent accolade from owners is that the Silverado/Sierra returns the best fuel economy in the gasoline-powered segment. Given where the price of fuel may be headed, that’s a distinct benefit.

2000-’06 Toyota Tundra:

Stung by taunts that its “big” T100 truck was toy-like, Toyota redesigned its large pickup for 2000, dubbed the Tundra, which came closer to matching the domestics in terms of scale — but still wasn’t quite there.

As a mid-size truck, however, the Tundra had a useful combination of gear and muscle to make for a good tow vehicle.

Although wholly conventional in terms of layout, suspension and styling, the Indiana-built Tundra brought Lexus-like refinement to the segment. Its doors shut with a solid thud, the body floated squeak-free over bumps, and the engine and transmission delivered seamless power. Buyers could choose from a standard cab with an 8-foot bed or an extended Access cab with a 6.5-foot bed out back.

The Tundra used a 190-hp, 3.4 L V6 as the standard motivator and offered the Land Cruiser’s 245-hp, 4.7 L V8 as the optional engine. The four-cam V8 could sprint to 96 km/h in 8.5 seconds and had a maximum towing capacity of 7,500 pounds (3.4 tonnes). What the Tundra lacked in choice, it made up for in sterling reliability, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

Toyota added a crew cab model to the lineup in 2004. The Double Cab had four proper doors, a 30-cm-longer wheelbase and came standard with the 4.7 L V8 and four-speed automatic transmission. The Tundra was further upgraded for 2005 with a 245-hp, 4.0 L V6 replacing the 3.4, tied to a six-speed manual transmission or five-speed automatic. The 4.7 L V8 gained 42 hp for a total of 282 horses.

2001-’11 Ford Ranger:

The Ford Ranger and its corporate twin, Mazda’s B-Series, were among the last holdouts in the compact pickup-truck segment.

Originally launched in 1983, the Ranger was heavily revamped for 1998 with a 350-per-cent improvement in frame stiffness, along with contemporary wishbone-type front suspension and rack-and-pinion steering.

The pair was further updated in 2001, when two-wheel-drive base models received an energetic 2.3 L four-cylinder motor, good for 135 hp (later upgraded to 143 hp). Ford’s anvil-like 3.0 L Vulcan pushrod V6 was standard in 4�4 models, making 154 hp and 180 lb.-ft. of torque. The big enchilada was a SOHC 4.0 L V6 pinched from the Explorer, producing 207 hp and 238 lb.-ft. of grunt. It could tow up to 5,750 pounds (2.6 tonnes).

The Ranger didn’t offer a lot of choice — standard cab or SuperCab, two wheelbases and box sizes — but it was aggressively priced, which made it a fleet favourite.

The truck offered comfy space up front for two adults, but little else. Most SuperCabs included folding rear jump seats that served as temporary perches suitable for kids. No four-door crew cab was offered in North America.

Going without a redesign for a whole decade allowed Ford to work out the bugs, making the Ranger a reliable little truck. If there’s a downside, V6-powered Rangers are fond of gasoline and return little savings over the big-brother F-150.

That may be why the diminutive Ranger was retired last December, when the last appliance-white pickup rolled off Ford’s Minnesota assembly line.