Gas vs Diesel for Towing a Fifth Wheel?

[Cowpie1]

I guess it has not bothered me either way, whether pulling with a diesel at 1500 RPM or a gasser at 3500 RPM. Especially since fuel cost per mile equivalent between the two.

[monkey]

Gas motors have made big improvements in the last few years as far as power. Thats Great ! In "our world" of rvs, DW just brought up getting rid of the 2 yr old 5vr for a motorhome. Long story short, our first class A was gas, very underpowered, (as most, Not All). Then we move to present, a 15 Duramax with light weight 5vr, just under 10K for the rv. Man I love this truck !!! BUT IF we go back to a MH, it will HAVE to be a deisel, no more 20-30 mph up big hills, and we'll tow her small Honda car. (I'll keep my Silverado thankyou) ... Comes to price as we are planning retirement... Good luck in your choice ! Monkey

[Nevadastars]

Originally Posted by monkey

Gas motors have made big improvements in the last few years as far as power. Thats Great ! In "our world" of rvs, DW just brought up getting rid of the 2 yr old 5vr for a motorhome. Long story short, our first class A was gas, very underpowered, (as most, Not All). Then we move to present, a 15 Duramax with light weight 5vr, just under 10K for the rv. Man I love this truck !!! BUT IF we go back to a MH, it will HAVE to be a deisel, no more 20-30 mph up big hills, and we'll tow her small Honda car. (I'll keep my Silverado thankyou) ... Comes to price as we are planning retirement... Good luck in your choice ! Monkey

Same here, NEVER have another gas MH. Our 31ft Tioga with V10 Ford pulling a Jeep Liberty screamed bloody murder pulling the long grades here in Nevada. A diesel pusher was out of our league and why we have our current setup. I imagine the newer gas pickups are much better than our old 07 Tioga, especially with 8 and 10 speed transmissions. But ours is paid for and does nicely with our relatively light 5er, so a new truck isn't in the cards, at least for quite a while.

[96 Softail]

I’ve owned 3 gas V-10 motor homes. All of them struggled with overpasses, not to mention mountains. The last one was 20,000 lbs. plus we towed a 3,000 lb. car
Diesel truck plus fifth wheel is 23,000 lbs.
Diesel doesn’t even break a sweat @ 9,000 ft. towing.
For RVing I’d never have a gasser again.
Love our diesel.

[monkey]

Why won't Ford or GM put a turbo on the bigger motors ???? Like the 8.1 or V10 ??? That would really solve a lot of underpower problems..... Obviously they can make power trains to hold up.... Is it a money thing, like going to diesel, ??? Monkey

[96 Softail]

Originally Posted by monkey

Why won't Ford or GM put a turbo on the bigger motors ???? Like the 8.1 or V10 ??? That would really solve a lot of underpower problems..... Obviously they can make power trains to hold up.... Is it a money thing, like going to diesel, ??? Monkey

A turbo gas engine would make high hp but not high torque. The engine would still scream. Torque is what you need for heavy RVs which is what a TD delivers at low RPMs.
Don’t miss the screaming V-10 at all.
Love the diesel purr.....

[Freqz]

Huh? That's news to ecoboost owners...

[96 Softail]

Originally Posted by Freqz

Huh? That's news to ecoboost owners...

Comparing a 1/2 ton truck to a 3/4 ton truck?
Yeah, I guess the Ecoboost with 375 hp and 470 ft-lbs torque seriously out classes my Cummins diesel with 370 hp and 800 ft-lbs torque
My bad
BTW, my old 400 hp 5.7 Hemi would run circles around an Ecoboost.

[Freqz]

Originally Posted by 96 Softail

Yeah, I guess the Ecoboost with 375 hp and 470 ft-lbs torque seriously out- classes my Cummins diesel with 370 hp and 800 ft-lbs torque

My bad

Well I don't think anyone said it did...but to think turbo'd gas engines won't have pretty decent low end torque is just silly.

[1bigmess]

This is what happens when peak numbers get discussed. The overall drive-ability of a vehicle gets missed.

I haven't heard one person say anything bad about how their EcoBoost or their Ram with the Cummins diesel engine drives, from a dead stop or already cruisin' down the road. As far as I can tell, all of these machines have made great strides in a short time, and should only get better.The technology is just amazing to me, and I grew up the grandson of a tuna boat engineer. Modern engines are just incredible, aren't they?

Does anyone make an exhaust brake for the gas turbo engines yet? If not, score one extra for the diesel crowd (if you want to ).

[96 Softail]

Originally Posted by Freqz

Well I don't think anyone said it did...but to think turbo'd gas engines won't have pretty decent low end torque is just silly.

Not silly, just a fact. Turbo gas engines don't have much low end torque. Just try towing something heavy with one.
I've wrenched on many turbo gas engines. They do produce mega horsepower, but they don't produce big torque.
If you want to drag race, turbo gas engine is the way to go.
If you want to pull a heavy load, turbo diesel engine is the way to go.
I'll put money on a race between my Cummins diesel and an Ecoboost pulling a 14,000 lb. load up a 6% grade anytime.

[96 Softail]

Originally Posted by 1bigmess

This is what happens when peak numbers get discussed. The overall drive-ability of a vehicle gets missed.

I haven't heard one person say anything bad about how their EcoBoost or their Ram with the Cummins diesel engine drives, from a dead stop or already cruisin' down the road. As far as I can tell, all of these machines have made great strides in a short time, and should only get better.The technology is just amazing to me, and I grew up the grandson of a tuna boat engineer. Modern engines are just incredible, aren't they?

Does anyone make an exhaust brake for the gas turbo engines yet? If not, score one extra for the diesel crowd (if you want to ).

An exhaust brake for gas engines would be a big help for downhill jaunts, but given the different dynamics between gas and diesel engines, I don't think it will happen anytime soon. But, maybe in the future.....

[96 Softail]

Originally Posted by Freqz

Well I don't think anyone said it did...but to think turbo'd gas engines won't have pretty decent low end torque is just silly.

Well, you did. Check your posts above.....
You can't compare a 1/2 ton truck to a 3/4 ton truck.
And yes, I've owned both..... So I know what they're capable of hauling/towing.

[Freqz]

Originally Posted by 96 Softail

Well, you did. Check your posts above.....

You can't compare a 1/2 ton truck to a 3/4 ton truck.

And yes, I've owned both..... So I know what they're capable of hauling/towing.

No, pretty confident I was responding to your statement:

Originally Posted by 96 Softail

A turbo gas engine would make high hp but not high torque.

Which is, indeed, news to Ford EB owners.