Diesel vs Gas 3/4 ton Truck Opinions

[jaycunn]

I have a2016 Ram crew cab 3500 We tow a 20000 lb. 45 ft. toyhauler. love my Ram use it for a daily driver and is 4x4 dually.

[ryhunzie]

I had towed various size trailers with a f150 for many years and found the eco boost to have plenty of power. Finally decided to make the investment and get an 3/4 ton. The biggest issue for me was stability and control when towing. The difference in towing was night and day. The entire experience felt much safer especially in high wind. I looked at the gas 3/4 but towing and payload was much lower and ended up with a diesel. I had heard the 6.7 is a great engine. So far love it. Towing is a breeze. Would suggest anyone wanting to tow a trailer in the 30’ range skip the 1/2 ton.

[Krist003]

Lots of good advice here already but I will offer my experience. I had a 2002 Ford F250 7.3L diesel to tow my 26’ Jayco. I wanted a newer truck and ended up with a used 2016 Ford F-250 6.2L gasser. I am very happy with the choice I made. I bought it with 25k miles for $30k. It tows just as well as the 7.3L did, just at higher RPM. MPG is not much different either.

Now, the newer diesels are sweet, but I don’t tow enough to justify it. The truck is my daily driver (I have a 10 min drive to work). I really got tired of the expensive maintenance and emission stuff the diesels have. In my opinion, you really have to NEED a diesel in order to justify buying one. But if money wasn’t an option, I would probably drive one ��

[Fanrgs]

Originally Posted by Empty Nester

We live in California so we have a good mix of different elevation changes. We find ourselves traveling more through the mountain ranges. Our next major trip, which is why we're looking at gas vs diesel, will take us to Alaska via Banff.

Everyone has given us some good information to mull over...hard to choose but we are a little swayed by diesel at this point, definitely used.

. Here's a little more to mull over. We just got back from an RV trip to Tucson. I decided to measure and calculate our fuel mileage on the last leg home from Santa Rosa, NM, to Denver. So, I filled up in Santa Rosa, topped up in Trinidad, CO, and topped up again 1/4-mile from the house after unhooking. Trip odometer said 397.3 miles at 11.9 MPG and the calculated mileage was 11.96. That's mostly I-40 and I-25 miles, including 7830' Raton Pass, plus 41 miles on US 84 and 26 miles on US 85 and suburban Denver streets.

Twice I have calculated mileage for the truck without the fifth wheel. One trip was 1,056 miles on I-76/-80 to pick up the trailer from the dealer in Chicago. The reason I calculated it was because the truck wasn't even broken in (107 miles on the odometer when we left the house), but we got 23.4 MPG. The second trip was in January 2017 from Las Cruces (where we were snowbirding) to Big Bend NP. We averaged a calculated 23.1 MPG over 758 round-trip miles.

We have an odometer for our factory brake controller that measures miles traveled with the trailer cord plugged into the 7-pin connector. Of the 43,000 miles on the truck, nearly 28,000 are towing miles. Many of those other 15 K miles are when we are driving it as our only vehicle while camped.

And we have never had the Ram back at the dealer except to check/repair 5 factory recalls. But I make sure that it is completely serviced at the factory-mandated intervals and have changed the transmission fluid every 15,000 miles due to the percentage of towing miles.

Hard to beat that 6.7 L Cummins for fuel mileage in a 7,000- lb truck!

[jloftice]

Originally Posted by Empty Nester

We're looking to upgrade from a 1/2 ton to a 3/4 ton truck (extended cab) to pull our 26' Coleman Lantern. We aren't sure whether or not to switch from a gas truck to diesel - heard so many things pros & cons. We're looking to purchase a used truck regardless. I've heard to avoid Ford -- Chevy & Dodge are the preferred for diesel, gas n diesel are about the same in gas consumption, etc. The three biggest wants are 1) good braking, 2) more power and 3) reliability. Can any of you provide some advice on your preference gas vs diesel and year/make/model? Hoping to find something in 2010 or 2011.

We have a 2012 Ram 2500 Laramie Diesel. Love it. Last year for no DEF. I have an H & S engine and transmission tuner on it not for the power (though it is nice) but for the slight increase in economy. It pulls our Montana like a champ. Almost 80000 miles now and trouble free. Gas burners are no comparison when it comes to pulling and stopping in my opinion. Makes pulling way more relaxed.

[tuffr2]

Again, it will be interesting when the gasoline powered Godzilla engines from Ford start showing up in F-250 and up trucks. I am reading it is built from the ground up for trucks. Not like the 6.8 litre V10 that was a 5.4 V8 with 2 more cylinders added.

7.3 litre pushrod built for torque might bridge the gap between Gas and Diesel engines better than any current gasoline engine.

Again, it will be interesting.

[shaffersh1]

I have a Chevy Avalanche 2500 with an 8.1 gas engine. I pull a 9000# camper with a Hensley (has a shorter wheelbase) and it is rock solid. I have pulled through the Appalachians and Rockies with no problems. I also drive around town with it and do most of my own maintenance. I have 170K miles on it (although I have seen them with 400K), so not sure how long it will last, but I paid $6000 and it is a nice looking truck with a decent ride for me and the family (lots of interior space). I have thought over and over about getting a diesel, but in the end I just cannot justify the $$$. If it was a clean slate, I may get a diesel, but this is a very subjective thread and everyone's situation is different...

[ll4044]

Many have asked this question and all have different views. I owned '01 2500HD with 8.1 gas and 3:73 gears, 5-spd allison for 14 years. It did an ok job with a bumper pull TT weighing 6200 loaded. Then we upgraded to a fifth wheel at 13k loaded. That truck failed miserably pulling a 11,000 pass, Berthoud, in CO. We now have a Ram 3500, CC, Dually, 4x4, 3:73gears, Aisin A-69 trans, with a Cummins HO. It is a cake walk to drive whether you are in the flats or mountains. Gassers are fair at best and the diesels are made to do the job. Pick your poison....diesels are the only way for me after a life time of driving big block gassers.

[Ret.LEO]

For Diesel.........Ford. For Gas.........Ford. The aluminum cab and body puts them miles ahead of the competition.

[Ken Thompson]

You will be much happier towing with a diesel. A gasser will do it, but the diesel is made for towing.

[Rhagfo]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Again, it will be interesting when the gasoline powered Godzilla engines from Ford start showing up in F-250 and up trucks. I am reading it is built from the ground up for trucks. Not like the 6.8 litre V10 that was a 5.4 V8 with 2 more cylinders added.

7.3 litre pushrod built for torque might bridge the gap between Gas and Diesel engines better than any current gasoline engine.

Again, it will be interesting.

I can’t wait to see how thirsty those beast are.

[ScoobyDoo]

Originally Posted by CharlesinGA

Many people will state that since a diesel doesn't have a throttle butterfly to choke off the air supply the diesel pumps air easier thus less engine braking than a gas engine. I'm not so sure of this reasoning. Only experience I have is a Sprinter chassis motor home. Bump it down to 1st and ease down a 8% grade and it holds well. Certainly a diesel with an exhaust brake does the trick, it stops the air flow, just like a throttle butterfly would. Not sure what is right, but you would think the 20:1 compression would provide more resistance than 9:1 or so of a gas engine.

Charles

Theory. If air can flow free, sure it takes power to compress 20:1. But, after TDC, that pressure is pushing piston down with almost the same force.
I have no experience with anything that would normally be moved with a 3/4 ton class vehicle. But years back I would load, climb a 1/4 mile in 2+2 with a 427 CID gas engine, shift to 2+3, and ease down, just a little brake to stop at the bottom. First trip with my 855 CID diesel, the trip up was much faster, but with no jake, I had a double hand full of seat, and both hands on the wheel on the down grade. Learned I had to use service brakes all the way down that hill. Of course, 30 years later, with a 3406E and Jake, the same 110,000 lbs. was no big deal...

Originally Posted by Fanrgs

The OP doesn't say where he lives, so I 'll give my perspective based on where I live. My house is at 6,000' above sea level. That means every naturally aspired engine out there has lost 18% of its horsepower (3% loss/1000' altitude gain x 6000') compared to its OEM specs, which are based on sea level. If I leave my house, drive 3 miles to I-70, and go west to the Eisenhower Tunnel at 11,000' above sea level, that same vehicle will have lost 33% of its horsepower. Now you know why gas motorhomes and pickups towing trailers have trouble getting over Vail, Berthoud, Monarch, Rabbit Ears, and Wolf Creek passes, all at around 11,000' and all on Colorado's major E-W highways.

You might be on to something. But back before say the early 1980s when diesels started appearing in light trucks. everybody that lived in your area used mules? I know better. We knew how to lean out the carb to compensate for the thin air. I don't know much about how modern injection systems work, but I imagine the computer reduces that 3% some.

[Barefoot68]

Something else to consider. If you look to diesel a 1 ton will allow for a diesel storage tank in the truck bed. An extra 85 gal would be nice on long hauls. You could hook it right into your current fill port. With a switch to open valve to fill main tank from storage tank. You can’t do that with gas.

[Dana Anderso]

I have a 2015 Ford F-350 with a 6.7, this truck will tow a house. I tow 10 k and pick up speed going up hill. Truck came with a 100k warranty on engine. I have 48 k and never an issue. Don’t go small, better to be over powered than to have to strain. With this rig I can actually tow more.