Would like honest suggestions about tow vehicle issues

[Peacock]

Agree with PoorMansCat. I wonder if the downsized light duty diesels will even the playing field? Depends on what they charge for them, and what the mileage is, I suppose? Very few of us need those 7 liter monsters with 800 ft-lbs of torque in a pickup truck! The Cummins was originally built for farm tractors! (Joint venture with J.I. Case back in 1989) :shocked:

It's actually been in production since 1984 iirc.

 

[EricG1793]

Well, this thread started going in a loop repeating what's been said many times until the light-duty diesels were mentioned... glad you brought that up! Dodge is about to produce a Ram 1500 with a 3 liter V6 diesel. 240 hp, 420 lb-ft, 9,200 lb towing.... I watched a video and the chief engineer claims 700 miles on 26 gallons or just shy of 27 mpg driving around. Wonder if that's broken in.... I love how it sounds, too.

I'd been hoping they'd make a smaller truck with a diesel that wasn't excessively huge and powerful. The complaint is that it's not extraordinarily fuel efficient or powerful... it's pretty balanced, so people think you might as well get the V8 gasser for power or V6 for economy. I think it's a $4,500 option over V6.

Anyway, I'm so sorry to hijack this thread, but I get excited about this small diesel thing.

 

[Lt CHEG]

After having owned a few different trucks recently before I found the combination that works best for me, I don't think that I would buy any used diesel from 2003 onward. I like the Duramax, heck I own one and love it, but they don't look like much fun to work on, ie expensive repairs when necessary. I owned a 6.4 Powerstroke and it too seemed nice but it did have a couple recalls for computer reflashing and it too was expensive to repair if needed. The 7.3 diesel that I owned was a great engine but with a truck of that age you're going to run into other issues. If I wasn't able to do all the work myself replacing my ball joints, tie rods, hubs, etc would have cost me a little over $3,000 instead of the $1300 or so in parts that I had to purchase and unfortunately being the last pre emissions diesel on the Super Duty chassis these trucks command a premium with warts and all. Plus the 7.3 didn't feel a whole lot more powerful than the 6.0 gasser that was in my 2011 Silverado HD. Sure it didn't rev as high at highway speeds and probably did its work easier but I wasn't able to tow or accelerate with a load appreciably faster with the 7.3 than I was with the 6.0 gasser. Sure you can add a programmer and make more power but at the risk of reliability. The Cummins engines were terrific, but the pre 68RFE auto transmissions aren't known for their reliability. There were certainly lots of good 6.0 Ford diesels and there's no denying that there were a lot of bad ones too, so a 6.0 Ford is likely a crap shoot too.

I think what I'm getting at is that in order to have a reliable newer diesel truck you are going to be spending more than you probably want to. You can either spring for a new one, or one that's close to new with an extendable warranty or you can buy an older one and toss in some bucks to make it reliable. And I know that there are plenty of people who buy 2006 6.0 Fords or 2005 Dodge's or 2004 LB7 Duramax powered Chevy's and don't have problems. However if I'm hauling my family in it, I will not run the risk of sub optimal reliability. If a gas engine (which is capable of towing 13,000 pounds in any properly equipped HD pickup) is absolutely out of the question, and you can't swing something new or nearly new with an extended warranty then I would get something pre 2008 (and pre DPF) regardless of the manufacturer and budget $5,000 for repairs. Chances are that you are going to be doing anything from transmission work, to injectors to replacing worn out front end components regardless of what brand you choose and none of that stuff is cheap on a diesel. Unfortunately with a diesel you have to pay to play. And in the interests of full disclosure since 2009 I've owned a 2009 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab Z71, a 2010 Ford F250 supercab Powerstroke, a 2011 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Crew Cab Z71 short box gasser, a 1997 Ford F350 regular cab Powerstroke with a ZF5 manual and my current 2013 Silverado 2500HD Crew Cab Short Box Z71 Duramax. It took me a while to figure out that it would have been cheaper for me to find a way to come up with the funds for a new diesel that met all my needs in the first place than to try and save a buck or two.

 

[handirifle]

Thanks guys, for honest assessments and opinions.

 

[dodge man]

People are overlooking one thing, maybe the OP WANTS a diesel. Nothing wrong with that, its the American way.

 

[john Harper]

We own an 09 Ford F350, towing a 36' fifth wheel, and have had no issues, of any kind. It is pulling 15 thousand pounds, and for the most part the only issue is remembering you do have a trailer there. Did a four thousand mile trip last summer, and enjoyed every minute of it. We had two F350's before that in our business, with lots of trailer towing, and had no problems.

 

[DeereMann]

Well, this thread started going in a loop repeating what's been said many times until the light-duty diesels were mentioned... glad you brought that up! Dodge is about to produce a Ram 1500 with a 3 liter V6 diesel. 240 hp, 420 lb-ft, 9,200 lb towing.... I watched a video and the chief engineer claims 700 miles on 26 gallons or just shy of 27 mpg driving around. Wonder if that's broken in.... I love how it sounds, too.

I'd been hoping they'd make a smaller truck with a diesel that wasn't excessively huge and powerful. The complaint is that it's not extraordinarily fuel efficient or powerful... it's pretty balanced, so people think you might as well get the V8 gasser for power or V6 for economy. I think it's a $4,500 option over V6.

Anyway, I'm so sorry to hijack this thread, but I get excited about this small diesel thing.

Thanks for posting numbers, EricG1793. 27 mpg for +$4500 puts the diesel back in the game, at least. V8 gas torque and V6 gas fuel economy. It has my interest. Waiting for Cummins/Nissan combo next.

 

[DeereMann]

People are overlooking one thing, maybe the OP WANTS a diesel. Nothing wrong with that, its the American way.

Agree! Many of us like efficiency (minimal fuel use, minimal CO2 output, longevity), even if economics aren't the absolute lowest.:thumbsup:

 

[handirifle]

Yea I have towed with gassers for about 30 years, and really am tired of trucks struggling up steep hills. Not looking to rocket up any hill, but cannot tell you how sick it feels to have family in the vehicle, on a camping trip, with a light trailer, and going up SLOW, STEEP, SHARP turns and finding that with the thing FLOORED, it barely pulled itself out. Trust me there was NOWERE to back down to.

Not all situations are like that, but there have been too many to ignore. For me, it will diesel or nothing.

 

[slowzuki]

That is a power issue not diesel vs gas issue. I finally ran into that with my 5.4 in my F350, took a different route with my usual load and couldn't do the speed limit up a hill even floored. I suppose if there was miles of that it like in the mountains it could get annoying.

Yea I have towed with gassers for about 30 years, and really am tired of trucks struggling up steep hills. Not looking to rocket up any hill, but cannot tell you how sick it feels to have family in the vehicle, on a camping trip, with a light trailer, and going up SLOW, STEEP, SHARP turns and finding that with the thing FLOORED, it barely pulled itself out. Trust me there was NOWERE to back down to.

Not all situations are like that, but there have been too many to ignore. For me, it will diesel or nothing.