5th wheel tow vehicle?

[lynn boyd]

Originally Posted by aspeyrer

the 5mpg was hand calculated for one tank of diesel from Carlsbad New Mexico to the 375 loop around El Paso Texas. i am looking at a 2010 dodge ram 3500 dually, 24k miles, slt package, dealer wants 42k. i will try to get there today for a test drive. I really want a stronger truck, but have yet to find one with a interior like my King Ranch Edition F 250

by saying you want a "stronger truck", i assume you are talking horsepower and torque?
your 6.0 truck 325hp/570t (when running right)
2010 dodge 350hp/650t
GM 397hp/765t
ford 400hp/800t
these are stock #'s. there are many mods you can do to get more, but they can hurt the reliability.
do you have any mods. on your 6.0?

[RustyJC]

Originally Posted by lynn boyd

by saying you want a "stronger truck", i assume you are talking horsepower and torque?
your 6.0 truck 325hp/570t (when running right)
2010 dodge 350hp/650t
GM 397hp/765t
ford 400hp/800t
these are stock #'s. there are many mods you can do to get more, but they can hurt the reliability.
do you have any mods. on your 6.0?

If we're going to quote 2011 data like you're doing for GM and Ford, the 2011.5 Cummins HO now being delivered is rated 350/800, with the 800 ft-lb of torque being available at 1600 RPM, which just happens to be cruise speed at 60 MPH in 6th gear of the 6-speed 68RFE automatic with 4.10 rear axle gears (1612 RPM) - see HERE. That's why Cummins put the additional torque in the midrange where it's usable for towing instead of at the top of the RPM range where it could inflate the HP numbers but you have to downshift and rev the engine to get to it.

Ya pays yore money and ya takes yore choice. I've been pulling trailers with these pore ole tractor engines for a long time (the ISB traces its roots to the early 1980s), and I've yet to have one fail to get me where I'm going or to get me home.

Rusty

[lynn boyd]

Originally Posted by RustyJC

Ya pays yore money and ya takes yore choice.
Rusty

aint that the truth. glad im not in the market for a new rig.

and no Rusty, I was not refering to you in my previous post. you did try to help the guy, instead of just telling some story about your own truck.

this guy has a problem with his set-up and is pissed. best to have someone help him before he throws the baby out with the bathwater
(oh, and yes. I quoted the year of dodge the guy mentioned in his post)

[aspeyrer]

previous owner put a Banks ram air intake and removed the cats on my truck.

Originally Posted by lynn boyd

by saying you want a "stronger truck", i assume you are talking horsepower and torque?
your 6.0 truck 325hp/570t (when running right)
2010 dodge 350hp/650t
GM 397hp/765t
ford 400hp/800t
these are stock #'s. there are many mods you can do to get more, but they can hurt the reliability.
do you have any mods. on your 6.0?

[aspeyrer]

yes it was a full tank. WE only had 6 gals left when we got to the city limits of El Paso, kinda stressful

Originally Posted by pa0gri

Was the previous fill-up a true full tank???
I was happy with my first (gasser) milage of around 18, the next fill-up made it 5mpg.
Must have been a half filled tank the first time (I could not get more in it, so it must have been "full".)

And for your stretch, I like that there, drove it in 1993, ran on vapor entering Ell Paso...

[lynn boyd]

aspeyrer, what is your fuel milage empty? do you have stock tires?

pulling that size of trailer you should be getting 10-13mpg.

[aspeyrer]

stock tires, think they are 18", pulling the trailer on flat level ground we got 10 to 11, maybe once we got 12.
you know cloth interior on a 1 ton dually would probably be okay, you could say i am spoiled with the King Ranch interior of my current f 250

Originally Posted by lynn boyd

aspeyrer, what is your fuel milage empty? do you have stock tires?

pulling that size of trailer you should be getting 10-13mpg.

[CD]

Originally Posted by aspeyrer

35 ft toy hauler, was loaded with a 125cc Superkart and gear and tools. no water. my whole family went, thats myself and wife and two daughters, so yeah, lots of crap in the toy area. listed dry weight of this trailer is 9200lbs, i bet its 11k loaded. truck has 65k miles, normally get 12 to 13mpg in town, 18 to 19mpg hwy, but towing in the mountains we got 5mpg, no joke, i calculated it myself !
anybody own a 2008 to 2010 ford f 350 with the 6.4 twin turbo DRW. i have heard that the 6.4 gets fuel mileage like what i got in the mountains.
next trip planned for June to the Austin Texas area, so i need to find a 1 ton dually

Don't believe the listed dry weight. i would bet there has been more added before you got it. Our TT had a dry weight of 6300 and the actual travel weight is about 9K. I have trouble believig we have 3K stuff in it. I don't plan on unloading it and weighing it. My actual weight is 1500 below the GVWR.
Also, if your 18" tires are bigger in outside dia. than 16" then you are really working the engine.

[aspeyrer]

those tires are the stock size, stock size wheels. Heck the new f 250 and f 350 have 20" tires.

Originally Posted by CD

Don't believe the listed dry weight. i would bet there has been more added before you got it. Our TT had a dry weight of 6300 and the actual travel weight is about 9K. I have trouble believig we have 3K stuff in it. I don't plan on unloading it and weighing it. My actual weight is 1500 below the GVWR.
Also, if your 18" tires are bigger in outside dia. than 16" then you are really working the engine.

[CD]

Originally Posted by aspeyrer

those tires are the stock size, stock size wheels. Heck the new f 250 and f 350 have 20" tires.

I will stand by the point I was trying to make. If your tires are bigger (standard or not) it will make your gear ratio higher (smaller #) therefore putting more load on the engine. If Ford’s Diesel engine still has a higher red line on the tack and higher sweet spot RPMs (compared to the Cummins) then you probably need about 430 gear ratio to get the same performance as my Dodge W/410 (assuming we have about the same HP and torque). I believe this( bigger dia. Tires and high gear ratio) is a ploy by the manufactures to get better MPG as most people using the smaller PUs are only using them for light loads, not for heavy towing like they might expect a 1T Dually to be used for.

[aspeyrer]

Are you sure a F 350 with 4:10 rear gear DRW would not pull my 5th wheel up a hill any better than my f 250 with 3:73 rear gear SRW?
I would think the 4:10 rear gear would have more torque even with both trucks having the same engine.
P.S. I found a 2007 f 350 cc 4by4 King Ranch DRW truck, i will test drive this truck this Sunday.

Originally Posted by lynn boyd

the gm and dodge guys jumped all over that huh?? lol!
but lets find out some more info here.
you have a 35ft toyhauler, was it loaded with atv's? water? fuel? what is the gvwr on that unit?
8% is a pretty good grade. and all of us pulling 5ers know a headwind will kill your fuel milage.. but 5mpg? you have something wrong with your truck or trailer. could be something as simple as an air filter problem, or as serious as a dusted turbo. a 6.0 DRW f-350 will not pull the hill any faster than the outfit you got. comfortwise and stopping power no doubt a 1-ton DRW has an advantage.
as far as the emblem on the grill, they all have problems.

[kellylipp]

I have a 2008 F250 with the 6.4. Don't know the rear axel ratio. Pulled a FunFinder 214 from Michigan to Colorado several weeks ago. Head wind all the way back (at time probably 30 on the nose) and was lucky to average 7 MPG. Few hills on that stretch and nothing like 8%. Went into a specialty diesel repair shop to ask about a chip upgrade to improve performance. Got an ear full about the problems with Ford and those engines. Bottom line is they would not recommend or perform and after market upgrades on that engine. Needless to say I was not happy but I was glad I had the feedback before I spent tons of money on stuff that wouldn't help. This all from a lifelong Ford guy. My next question was then so not Ford what would you buy? Chevy. I'm a lifelong Ford guy and love the rig. My neighbor suggested I man up and accept the mileage and move on.

Apparently we can thank the denizens of Washington DC for a lot of this due to the regulations placed on diesel engines before the 2008 model year. They brought us the DPF and a raft of other stuff that killed the performance and mileage but did eliminate the smallest release of black smoke from the tailpipe. I'm sure glad of that...

I love my Ford. Dang. I live in colorado. I can hardly wait for those 8% grades...

Kelly

[CD]

Originally Posted by aspeyrer

Are you sure a F 350 with 4:10 rear gear DRW would not pull my 5th wheel up a hill any better than my f 250 with 3:73 rear gear SRW?
I would think the 4:10 rear gear would have more torque even with both trucks having the same engine.
P.S. I found a 2007 f 350 cc 4by4 King Ranch DRW truck, i will test drive this truck this Sunday.

The 410 will diffenately pull better than the 373. And IF the 18" tires on your 3/4T are bigger outside dia. than the F350 tires, the F350 will be even better.

[aspeyrer]

the F 350 DRW stock tires are 17".
I test drove a 2008 chevy 3500 DRW cc 4by4 today, truck only had 7500miles, some old guy bought it and a 5th wheel, his wifes health got bad, so he sold truck and trialer, it is a nice truck, but dealer wants 41k, too much for me.
I will look at a 2007 f 350 DRW cc 4by4 6.0 trubo diesel sunday
I had another dealer call about an hour ago, he will have a 2008 F 350 DRW cc 4by4 6.4 twin trubo for me to test drive on Monday
dealer on the 2007 wants 28k
dealer on the 2008 wants low 30's he said.
Heck i just want more truck and better fuel mileage! Wishing i could find a Nice used dodge DRW cc 4by4, i hear they get better mileage.

Originally Posted by CD

The 410 will diffenately pull better than the 373. And IF the 18" tires on your 3/4T are bigger outside dia. than the F350 tires, the F350 will be even better.