Chuck 98 RT/10
Enthusiast
For a tow vehicle. No bigass duallys please. Just a full size truck. Which would you suggest, diesel or gas?
Diesel or gas?
- Thread starter Chuck 98 RT/10
- Start date
GTS Bruce
Enthusiast
Depends on how much you drive.Diesel will not justify its price until you drive it 100,000 plus miles.Few days ago a cummins 1 ton dually was in for routine maint at local dodge dealer.Auto trans equipped.It had 345,000 miles on it.Guy delivers for an RV place and drives back and forth east coast,west coast making deliveries. GTS Bruce
Actually, Chuck, how much are you pulling? If you are going with an open, one car trailer, a Hemi will do fine. Anything more,( enclosed for instance ), I suggest a big honking W2500 Diesel , just like I gotsss. Then we can hang around and say things like, " Whatcha doin good buddeeee?" Seriously, the Diesel costs more, but is one pulling Jesse and it makes the trip more enjoyable( plus resale is much better and does even justify the extra cost). I pull a 30ft H&H Enclosed Trailer with my 625 ft. pounds of torque monster and it is hard not to go running over 80mph. Call me and I would be happy to answer and question or concerns, as we sell trucks at about 100 to 1 compared to Vipers - and we do move quite a few of those too, ha.
Sincerely,
Bill Pemberton
1-800-889-1893
Sincerely,
Bill Pemberton
1-800-889-1893
treed
Enthusiast
Diesel.
Socrates
Enthusiast
Chuck,
Diesel by far - just picked up my F250 about a month ago - absolutely love it. Yellow of course.
Hope to catch up with you when I'm back in Lakeland (for good) in a few weeks...
Diesel by far - just picked up my F250 about a month ago - absolutely love it. Yellow of course.
Hope to catch up with you when I'm back in Lakeland (for good) in a few weeks...
Socrates
Enthusiast
Chuck,
Diesel by far - just picked up my F250 about a month ago - absolutely love it. Yellow of course.
Hope to catch up with you when I'm back in Lakeland (for good) in a few weeks...
Diesel by far - just picked up my F250 about a month ago - absolutely love it. Yellow of course.
Hope to catch up with you when I'm back in Lakeland (for good) in a few weeks...
REDSLED
Enthusiast
Yaaaay diesel. $3.25 a gallon out here in California.
I personally don't think the higher price of a diesel is worth it if your just towing a standard 1 car race trailer.
A V10 truck will do the job just as well.
I personally don't think the higher price of a diesel is worth it if your just towing a standard 1 car race trailer.
A V10 truck will do the job just as well.
Topawam
Viper Owner
Is the mileage better with a diesel? That would make up for the heavy consumption of a gas with a trailer...
Bo knows
Enthusiast
I've worked at a Ford dealership for 20 years and I without a doubt would recommend a gas truck over diesel.
Jeff-00-ACR
Enthusiast
Get ya a big ass Dodge diesel like mine!
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mopar75110
Enthusiast
If you tow a lot, (nearly every weekend), get a diesel. If not, get a gas rig and save $4500.00 That much money will buy lots of gas. Also, diesels take 10 quarts of oil or more at oil changes. Filters cost more too, especially fuel filters.
Matt M PA
Enthusiast
I recently went through all this before I ordered my 2005 Excursion. My experience was Ford, but I'd bet the comparisons would be similar.
I drove both the newer diesel 6.0, the older, 7.3 and the 6.8 V10. (I guess Dodge has the Hemi as their top gasser.)
Anyhow, around town the diesels were slugs. Throttle response was nothing like a gasser, you have to wait to start it...and it just crawls until the turbo spools up.
The gasser drove much better. Thottle response is, well, like a gass engine. Acceleration was much, much better.
Towing puts more of a strain on a gas unit than a diesel, but I have no trouble pulling a 22' enclosed trailer (7000#) with my V10. And remember, my Excursion is heavier than a comparable SD pickup.
I also did the math and found that with diesel prices being what they are, the added cost of maintaining a diesel, and added upfront cost of buying the option...it would take over 100,000 miles to break even.
Another thing to consider is your driving. If you will do alot of stop and go local driving...a diesel will not live a happy life. They are best for long hauls and being hot all the time. One old time diesel guy told me that lots of short trips will ruin a diesel.
I drove both the newer diesel 6.0, the older, 7.3 and the 6.8 V10. (I guess Dodge has the Hemi as their top gasser.)
Anyhow, around town the diesels were slugs. Throttle response was nothing like a gasser, you have to wait to start it...and it just crawls until the turbo spools up.
The gasser drove much better. Thottle response is, well, like a gass engine. Acceleration was much, much better.
Towing puts more of a strain on a gas unit than a diesel, but I have no trouble pulling a 22' enclosed trailer (7000#) with my V10. And remember, my Excursion is heavier than a comparable SD pickup.
I also did the math and found that with diesel prices being what they are, the added cost of maintaining a diesel, and added upfront cost of buying the option...it would take over 100,000 miles to break even.
Another thing to consider is your driving. If you will do alot of stop and go local driving...a diesel will not live a happy life. They are best for long hauls and being hot all the time. One old time diesel guy told me that lots of short trips will ruin a diesel.
1TONY1
Enthusiast
Diesel and a Dodge !!
Tom F&L GoR
Enthusiast
This is easy spreadsheet stuff.
Diesel engines in the same application as gasoline will normally consume ~35% less fuel. Diesel fuel at worst is typically same price as premium, or 10% more than regular.
Therefore annual diesel fuel costs should be (110%/135%) lower than gasoline costs, or about 81% that of the same service using a gas engine (that uses regular fuel.) Now figure how much gasoline you might use per year, and your diesel fuel costs will be 81% of that.
Using this as a rule of thumb, at 15000 miles, 7 MPG, and $2.50 gas cost, you'll save $1000/yr. You decide if it's worth it.
Diesel engines in the same application as gasoline will normally consume ~35% less fuel. Diesel fuel at worst is typically same price as premium, or 10% more than regular.
Therefore annual diesel fuel costs should be (110%/135%) lower than gasoline costs, or about 81% that of the same service using a gas engine (that uses regular fuel.) Now figure how much gasoline you might use per year, and your diesel fuel costs will be 81% of that.
Using this as a rule of thumb, at 15000 miles, 7 MPG, and $2.50 gas cost, you'll save $1000/yr. You decide if it's worth it.
Fast Freddy
Enthusiast
Chuck here is a pic of my tow rigs. the 1st two pics are of my daily driver work truck. it is a year 2005 ford f-150 4X4 with a 5.4 litre gas burnin V-8. its the white truck. while this truck is rated to tow something like 9,000 lbs; the truth is the tranny won't take it and the engine does not have enough power. that bein the case i keep my tow loads at less than 3,000 lbs on this truck. i have two trailers that come in at or less than 3,000 lbs when loaded for this rig.
in the bottom 2 pics you can see my year 2003 ford superduty 4X4 with a 6.8 litre gas burnin V-10 engine. its the red truck. this truck is rated to tow something like 12,000 lbs; but the reality is: the tranny might be up to it but the engine just doesn't have the torque to get the job done effectively. that bein the case i limit tow loads on this rig to 7,000 lbs. i have two trailers that when loaded come in at or below this figure.
i own and tow 4 different trailers with 2 different trucks. obviously, i do alot of towing
bottom line if you are gonna tow more than 7,000 lbs of weight in my opinion get yourself a one ton diesel with single rear wheels. if the load is gonna exceed 10,000 lbs than i would get a dually because its more stable. diesels get better mileage and have way more torque for pullin. they don't do better offroad than a gas burnin engine, but they pull heavy loads better. diesel engines cost more to purchase upfront and in some ways are more exspensive to maintain than gas engines but in the long run it will even out.
good luck with your decision chuck
in the bottom 2 pics you can see my year 2003 ford superduty 4X4 with a 6.8 litre gas burnin V-10 engine. its the red truck. this truck is rated to tow something like 12,000 lbs; but the reality is: the tranny might be up to it but the engine just doesn't have the torque to get the job done effectively. that bein the case i limit tow loads on this rig to 7,000 lbs. i have two trailers that when loaded come in at or below this figure.
i own and tow 4 different trailers with 2 different trucks. obviously, i do alot of towing
bottom line if you are gonna tow more than 7,000 lbs of weight in my opinion get yourself a one ton diesel with single rear wheels. if the load is gonna exceed 10,000 lbs than i would get a dually because its more stable. diesels get better mileage and have way more torque for pullin. they don't do better offroad than a gas burnin engine, but they pull heavy loads better. diesel engines cost more to purchase upfront and in some ways are more exspensive to maintain than gas engines but in the long run it will even out.
good luck with your decision chuck
Fast Freddy
Enthusiast
oh yea one more thing chuck. if you ever feel the need to pull more than 15,000 lbs. i would recommend this BIG dawg. shes a ford F-650 extreme supercrewzer 4X4. shes packin 900 foot pounds of torque in the form of a caterpiller diesel engine 
Chuck 98 RT/10
Enthusiast
Thanks for all the advice guys. Looks like I'm going diesel.
FF if I get to the point where I'm pulling 15K it's gonna have a sleeper with it.
FF if I get to the point where I'm pulling 15K it's gonna have a sleeper with it.
