Your towing rigs and trailers

[3930dave]

Anyone using a large Mercedes SUV to tow? The large ones are unibody but have a 7500 lb rating. Our heaviest trailer is 6,000.

We are kind of done with our Tahoe.

Gman:

Friend has a ML350 Bluetec. He has a few trailers, but w/o checking with him, I'd guess 4k# so far. He likes it.

Neighbour uses a Sprinter with similar/same engine. Tows some dual axle enclosed trailers, probably close to maximum rating for the Sprinter. Stability-wise onroad, he likes it better than the Yukon he used to tow the same trailers with.

Depends what you are used to towing with. Unless you are addicted to big-block performance, I think most people would find these 3.0L diesels acceptable, within their spec'd tow-limits.

Rgds, D.

 

[zing]

Anyone using a large Mercedes SUV to tow? The large ones are unibody but have a 7500 lb rating. Our heaviest trailer is 6,000.

We are kind of done with our Tahoe.

Ran into a guy recently at a horse show using an Audi SUV with a 3L diesel to tow with. He wasn't towing a huge trailer or anything, but he was singing its praises for light to mid-weight towing.

 

[Garandman]

Not planning on a Diesel model. The GLS450 has a turbocharged V6.

 

[ultrarunner]

Ran into a guy recently at a horse show using an Audi SUV with a 3L diesel to tow with. He wasn't towing a huge trailer or anything, but he was singing its praises for light to mid-weight towing.

I'm always amazed a the camping trailers I see being towed on the Autobahn behind small Euro cars and Germany is very strict when it comes to these things.

On the other hand... a BMW 330it wagon has no factory tow rating in the US but does in Europe... I was told it is because the US is more litigious...

Land Rover has a 7k tow rating but the air suspension and factory hitch location make that questionable... staying under tongue weight max is critical...

 

[3930dave]

Not planning on a Diesel model. The GLS450 has a turbocharged V6.

217 Mercedes-Benz GLS 45 Information

Looks like the 3L gas motor gives up about 86ft/lb to the 3L diesel. If you can live with that @6k# might be worth it for the right price...

Rgds, D.

 

[Garandman]

We had two diesels at work. They had problems with the emissions control systems and the better mpg was made up for by the higher price of diesel fuel.

My BIL always had diesel pickups on his farm. Now h3 has a 3.5 EcoBoost and is happy with the power.

 

[3930dave]

Post '07 diesels are much more complex than earlier ones.

Complexity adds cost, probably the most later in life-span. That applies to gas motors too.... stating the obvious. Turbos need vacuum pumps. Ford had a recall here, for cold-weather problems with their electric vac pumps on EB motors..... 3.5L was affected IIRC.

My preference would be a Ford 6.2L over an EB, but you don't need that class of ability.

Standard drill.... cruise motor forums for known issues..... some modern engines are known for fuel dilution in oil...... I'd spend time reading UOA reports on BITOG as one datasource for fuel/oil concerns, before cutting a deal.

Our fuel prices are higher in general, but diesel is "allowed" to cycle below gasoline pricing at times up here - generally not the case south of the '49, based on what I read on TBN.....

If you take the plunge, post your impressions.... overall, my friends have found the cited chassis's to be well sorted, stable on-road when towing, with well integrated brake-controllers.

Rgds, D.

 

[farmer2009]

Had this gas vs. diesel conversation a couple weeks ago with my BIL. He was talking about trading a 6.4 Powerstroke for the 6.2. I haven’t heard anything from him since about the subject.

I just traded a 6.0 GM in for a 6.7 Cummins. Went from an average of 9mpg to 16mpg. Driving them the same way, doing the same work. I farm for a living. Livestock. GM was costing me about $.28 per mile. The Cummins is running about $.18 per mile for fuel alone. Even with a higher cost per gallon. I had 200 miles a tank with the 6.0 highway or not no change. The 6.7 is running 350 and on highway gets even better and will run close to 450 miles per tank. 26 gallon gas vs. 31 gallon diesel. I know there’s other cost associated with these and fuel ain’t everything, but I’m towing light loads at better mpg than the old truck got empty. Same tool box and bed load. The Cummins is towing 15k+ at around the empty mpg of the GM.

So if you are towing much the diesel makes since. About 20-25% of my miles are towing.

 

[3930dave]

Had this gas vs. diesel conversation a couple weeks ago with my BIL. He was talking about trading a 6.4 Powerstroke for the 6.2. I haven稚 heard anything from him since about the subject.

I just traded a 6.0 GM in for a 6.7 Cummins. Went from an average of 9mpg to 16mpg. Driving them the same way, doing the same work. I farm for a living. Livestock. GM was costing me about $.28 per mile. The Cummins is running about $.18 per mile for fuel alone. Even with a higher cost per gallon. I had 200 miles a tank with the 6.0 highway or not no change. The 6.7 is running 350 and on highway gets even better and will run close to 450 miles per tank. 26 gallon gas vs. 31 gallon diesel. I know there痴 other cost associated with these and fuel ain稚 everything, but I知 towing light loads at better mpg than the old truck got empty. Same tool box and bed load. The Cummins is towing 15k+ at around the empty mpg of the GM.

So if you are towing much the diesel makes since. About 20-25% of my miles are towing.

Constant towing..... still some advantages with diesel today, but somewhat less so than yesteryear......

Most years, Dodge's Cummins have been fairly well sorted motors.

What has changed is that while gas motors have tended to reduce maintenance requirements over time, diesels have somewhat gone the other way. IMO, where some people got into trouble with post '07 road-diesels was assuming they could be neglected to the extent that older ones would tolerate - Fuel Filters being a good example.

Liking that Dodge still has a stick trani available with the Cummins :thumbsup:

Rgds, D.

 

[Sumner Sapough]

The truck is a 2016 Ram 2500 with a Cummins turbo diesel. I have about 40,000 miles on it running 34s. The trailer that I use most often is a 20-foot currahee utility trailer. The trailer being so long pulls terrible when empty however when it has a load on it and it has brakes on all wheels it tows like a dream. Also with that Cummins engine going up and down mountains in North Carolina and having that wonderful exhaust brake ain't no issue.