Community Forums

mward3 · 12-14-2011, 10:18 AM

Fellow RVers,

Question about gas tow vehicles. I did use a dodge V10 with my 5th wheel, but someone was in a hurry on Thanksgiving and ran a red light and took me out bad enough for the truck to be totaled.

I have been looking for a replacement. One is a ford V10 and the other one is a Chevrolet 8.1L V8. I would like to know which of these two has the most get up and go to pull a load. I know a diesel would be best but the insurance company thinks I should only be able to afford a gas powered truck. HA!

Thank you for your input.

Mike

dajudge · 12-14-2011, 10:36 AM

The 8.1 is the best gas engine, in my opinion, but they are no longer available. RAM has hemi with 390 hp. They make a very good engine.

cutrell01 · 12-14-2011, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mward3

Fellow RVers,

Question about gas tow vehicles. I did use a dodge V10 with my 5th wheel, but someone was in a hurry on Thanksgiving and ran a red light and took me out bad enough for the truck to be totaled.

I have been looking for a replacement. One is a ford V10 and the other one is a Chevrolet 8.1L V8. I would like to know which of these two has the most get up and go to pull a load. I know a diesel would be best but the insurance company thinks I should only be able to afford a gas powered truck. HA!

Thank you for your input.

Mike

You see a lot of Ford V10 around so that must be some indication! We have one in our class C motorhome but have only had it for 3 months. Almost all class C in our size use Ford V10. On a trip to Colorado and back from Illinois pulling a Chevy Equinox we averaged 9mpg. Our motorhome is a 32 ft Jayco Melbourne 29d with 3 slides.

toneumanns · 12-14-2011, 10:53 AM

The Ford chassis with the V10 has been the most reliable component of my RV. Wish Winnebago would put the same quality in their motorhomes as Ford puts in the chassis.

wa8yxm · 12-14-2011, 11:10 AM

Man is that a religious argument... I do admit "Ford Builds Tough trucks" But I've driven ford pickups with out a load and frankly they scared me.

I have also driven Dodge and GM

I used to be a GM fan till the CEO said congress should slap a dollar a gallon tax on gas to encourage folks to buy the VOLT.

Anyone for a Dodge?

Personal recommendation: Drive them.. I will tell you I liked the Ford cockpit best.. Just not the way it handled when empty. Not nearly enough weight on the rear wheels.

MikenAmber · 12-14-2011, 05:10 PM

I really like my Ford 250 V-10, many miles on it and does a good job towing. Would probably buy another Ford but will most likely be a diesel. Good luck on your search.

Rick Long · 12-14-2011, 05:34 PM

87,000 miles on my Ford V10 and no problems

Hipshot · 12-14-2011, 05:49 PM

As you can see from the replies the best engine is the one you have. That said, my Bounder is a Ford V10. I like it very well, but it is the only Ford of any kind I have ever owned.

Arch Hoagland · 12-14-2011, 06:59 PM

I've had two of the 8.1 engines and find them pretty strong. However I've never had a V10 to compare them with so I don't know.

I think a good thing for you to do would be drive them both.

I don't see too many complaints for either engine on here or the other RV forum I use.

Mikey-KE7LBB · 12-14-2011, 11:58 PM

Sorry to hear about the total loss of the Dodge.

A friend of mine had a 95 V-10 and then later upgraded to a '99 dually with a Cummins and now to an '06 Mega with the Cummins. He said that he would rather have the V-10 than either of the last two that he's owned. I was even impressed with it and I refuse to own anything with a gas motor.

I have never really been impressed with the Ford V-10 that I've driven in the past. Mostly 15 passenger vans and pickup trucks. I never towed anything with them, but the motor seems to be quite sluggish and the transmission was constantly downshifting on the slightest hills. It was probably due to gear ratios, but I was still not very impressed at all.

I imagine that one in a purpose built chassis would have better gearing and is why so many MH owners swear by them.

RustyJC · 12-15-2011, 04:04 AM

Sorry for the loss of your Dodge V-10. We had a 1996 Dodge Ram 3500 dually with the V-10 that we used to tow our first two 5th wheels. The V-10 was an excellent engine (for a gasser) that never gave us a problem. I don't have a clue about today's crop of gas engines since I've been driving diesels from 2002 onward.

Rusty

George Schweikle · 12-15-2011, 05:30 AM

That's a bummer about some one totaling your truck. I don't have a dog in this fight, but remember a few items from reading this excellent forum:

1. Some of the GM 8.1 engines have suffered early failures attributed to changing the crankshaft from forged to cast iron. However, I also read somewhere that GM stated that the life of this engine in RV use is 200,000 miles.

2. Some of the Ford V10 engines are said to have a habit of ejecting a spark plug; some times with damage to the plug threads in the cylinder head. This engine produces power at higher rev's than the GM, so you may hear more engine noise and the transmission may do more shifting.

3. There will be posts from owners of either engine stating their satisfaction. It may be worthwhile doing research into when the GM crankshaft material changed, and when the spark plug fix (if any) was done for the Ford. Also, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think either engine is available in a new truck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mward3

Fellow RVers,

Question about gas tow vehicles. I did use a dodge V10 with my 5th wheel, but someone was in a hurry on Thanksgiving and ran a red light and took me out bad enough for the truck to be totaled.

I have been looking for a replacement. One is a ford V10 and the other one is a Chevrolet 8.1L V8. I would like to know which of these two has the most get up and go to pull a load. I know a diesel would be best but the insurance company thinks I should only be able to afford a gas powered truck. HA!

Thank you for your input.Mike

Coyotetr · 12-17-2011, 11:48 PM

Change insurance companies, if you want to tow your camper, you really need a deisel truck. Gas is not going to make it as well. YOur choice but when you want to climb a hill, you need that diesel power. Have you ever seen a commercial tractor trailer that runs on gas? There is a reason for that.