Need new truck

[Nwcid]

I just bought a 26' enclosed V nose trailer. I had planed on pulling it with a 1992 Ford F250 with 460 in it. Grandpa had bought and used this truck for pulling a 29' 5th wheel camper weighing ~10k lbs. Grandpa said it generally got 10mpg loaded, empty, 2x, 4x, ect. This weekend we pulled the trailer from the east side of the state (home) to Federal Way where we were diving. The trailer has forced air heat so was good for when we got out of the water between and after the dives. I knew it was not going to be a cheap trip but was going to be worth it, problem is I averaged about 6.5 mpg. This is a HUGE problem for obvious reasons. I burned up almost 40% more fuel then I had planned and this is a problem.

This is also basically hauling empty. We just had dive gear and a few odds and ends in there. When we use it in the future we can and will be hauling multi ATV's, camping gear, guns, ammo, ect. With increased weight I am sure milage will drop even more.

Now I am looking at diesel trucks. I dont know much about them. I have been reading lots of stuff about them and not sure if that makes me have more or less questions. From what I have been reading any mid 2000 and new 3/4 or 1 ton trucks seem to be able to get ~15 mpg with ~10k loads. Does anyone have any experiences that confirm or deny this?

I am looking at either a Chevy 2500/3500 or a Ford 250/350 possibly a dually. Dodge is not on my list due to the way I was treated by the local dealer and Chrysler after buying a new truck that had lots of problems. I am more of a Chevy fan due to interior comfort. Plus other then my one Dodge I have only owned Chevy/GM. I am looking at under $30k, closer to $20K would be better. The truck I have now had ~130K miles on it but does need some work. If I continue to keep using it to pull it really needs about $4000-$5000 work overall to get it back in great shape. I would rather put that money in to a newer rig.

Any thoughts or comments would be great. I am hoping to have pics and a review of my new trailer set up sometime this week.

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[ChiefPaul53]

Howdy,
Well with the crap gas manufactured today and the age of your truck you are getting about average for the power plant in your ford.
On the cheap installing a K&N air filter, synthetic oils and maybe a upgraded chip for your engine would help for maybe one or two mpg's but diesel is the best way to go if you will be doing a lot of towing.
I like the Ford's with the 7.3 diesel and the dually platform, they will tow a house and still stay in the double digits for mpgs.
Realize that a new diesel pick up Ford or Chevy will be mucho denaro my friend so if you can find a good used one with under a 100k in miles and it is tricked out for towing go for it.
Good Luck!

 

[sixfoot674]

with the emissions set up on new deisels would not get any newer than 07. as far as ford goes wouldnt get a 6 liter. pretty much narrowsit down to a 98 to 02 ford or pre 07 duramax

 

[bruzer]

Too bad about Dodge being out of the running for you. Father-In-Law (99) and a friend (02) have the the trucks with the Cummins diesel. I believe they get 12 to 16 pulling HEAVY loads. Father-In-Law can get 25 mpg unloaded on the highway with his. Cummins is the only reason I would put Dodge trucks back in the running. My buddy says Dave Smith in Kellogg, Id is the place to shop. Good luck and stay safe,
Mike

 

[RedneckRampage]

Do NOT buy a 6.0liter Powerstroke! That is number one. I've had a '01 Duramax and a '03 Cummins.

The Duramax - First, blew the head gaskets and cracked a head at 15x,xxx mile with an Edge chip and AFE intake. It was $8,000 to fix. Some wise guy, at Isuzu, decided to put aluminum heads on a diesel...I also had a few small issues with the Allison tranny. I used it as a daily driver, and for some towing, a 35' 3-axle racecar trailer, LOADED heavy! Average milage was about 20-25 unloaded, 16-20 loaded. I also straight piped the exhaust. The truck was very fast, and had good power, while it lasted. The body seemed cheap and got dents easy.

The Cummins - Very strong truck! Got 30+ mpg highway. You said they are not an option, so I won't go into details, but it's what id buy.

My dad has a 96 Powerstroke, it is a great truck. He has ALL the Banks stuff, as he was an installer. He towed a 35' Weekend Warrior all the time with it. He averaged about 12 pulling it, he gets about 16 empty. Any 95-02 Powerstroke is a good truck. Keep in mind, my Dodge had 37" or 40£ tires depending on the time, and my dads has 35s. My Chevy had 31s and 33s. Diesel pickups were my "thing" for a long time. PM me if you have any questions.

 

[Rich7944]

Been around trucks all my life, working on them and selling them. For what you are doing the Cummins power plant is the way to go with Chev in a distant second and Ford 6.0L not even in the running. Look at the toque curves of the straight 6 vs the V-8's. With the staight 6 it will be flat because of the straight design and the straight design is better on fuel. The Cummins motor has something like 43% less moving parts and mirrors the design in the big rigs.

Don't hate the Dodge trucks because some salesman treated you like crap. Also if you do go and buy a truck from Dave Smith then good luck getting dealers to service your truck, they'll tell you to go and take it back to Dave Smith. Go and drive the Chev Vs the Dodge, take them through some tight turns and you'll see the Dodge turns alot tighter than any Chev or Ford.

If it was me I'd keep the Ford with the 7.5 and add some intake and exhaust to it. That 7.5 is built like a brick s h i t house. You can also beef up the transmission in it too.

 

[SteelyDan]

7.3L Powerstroke. No question about it. And I'm a Chevy guy!

 

[Key-Hay]

7.3 PowerStroke with Banks Stinger+ kit. 23,000 lbs join down the road Still get over 10 MPG around Oregon.

 

[ATCclears]

I have a 2001 F350 with the 7.3L diesel, Supercab and full 8' box config. Love it. I've owned it since it was new. Comments in no particular order.

There were a few years there (2003-2005?) where Ford kept changing out the diesel engines, and a friend at a Ford dealership hinted there were some teething problems. If you can find a decent truck with the 7.3L I would personally tend to favor it.

My wife tows a horse trailer regularly with my truck. Gas mileage drops to say 11mpg city.

Without a trailer, I've seen as high as 19mpg driving at between 60-65mph between Seattle and Portland. The typical average with some city driving is around 15mpg.

Peter

 

[mjbskwim]

Hahaha,as soon as I saw your name on this thread,I knew you had a little more trailer than you thought.How's the solar panels coming?
And pics of the trailer?


12,000 trailer + 24v Cummins = 10mpg and running strong over most any pass.
I would not buy the newer diesels (especially the 6lt ford) as the injectors get up there in price real fast.The older pure diesels are a better buy,in my opinion the cunmmins being the best and the corn binder a close second.
The older 6.5 chevy is a great engine............ if you will keep it to a camper and 1 quad.Maybe tale the girlfriend in stead of the wife and kids.

But for pulling power and....let's put it this way.You see a lot of Fords around the sound.Once you get out here and other out lying places you will see more cummins.
I have had all three and wouldn't bother with anything but the dodge cummins.

19mpg for my 24v dually with 6" pipe and a Diablo tuner puck,5 speed,empty (8600# truck) 22+ for a 4X4 stick 3/4 ton.
And the guys who are getting more? (Bull/cough/shyte)If you put a mileage tuner on a diesel,it tends to slow down the fuel,which lubes your pumps and then ruins your pumps.So be careful there.

A Dodge 3/4 ton is a heavy hauler.And the 1 ton dually will move a house.My 5th wheel dropped the truck about 2 inches in the rear.I would guess it would take a 20k# 5th wheel to actually tax a 1 ton dually

 

[Key-Hay]

My 2002 pictured above gets 20 MPG running no trailer on I-5.
13-15 around town (Depending on how heavy my foot is)
10+ towing to Bend and back. 11+ just running down the valley.

I did kill the factory tranny as the 7.3s have too small of tranny cooler. Replaced it with the last tranny this truck will ever need.

 

[DieselScout]

I am going to echo what others have said. The 6.0L Powerstorke seems to be a huge problem child, however the 6.4L PS seems to run fine. I haven't had any experience with the Duramaxx engines, so I can't speak to those. So, since a Cummins (my vote) powered truck is out, see if you can find a nice new Ford with a 7.3L PS or do some research on the Duramaxx and find out which one of those is most desirable.

 

[Glockman19]

Find a low mileage Cummins and swap into your Current truck. There are companies that do conversion mounts and brackets for your truck then your out maybe 5 K and have a good diesel and MPG's.

 

[mjbskwim]

I did not read where he eliminated the best diesel engine available for a passenger type truck
Or just the ugly Dodge ?

Just can't help some people's kids

 

[Nwcid]

Thanks for all the replies. Sorry it took so long to get back here, busy at work.

Dodge is out because of how I was treated by the dealership and Chrysler after having MAJOR problems with my brand new truck. They will not get any more of my money. There was a thread covering this topic just a few days ago..............

I am split on Ford vs Chevy. I have driven a lot of both and generally prefer the Chevys.

Looking around the internet last night I found a local dealer with a 2004 Chevy 3500 with 6.6 Duramax. It has 100k miles and comes with a 6 speed manual. Took it for a test drive and seems to run good. I am going to do more research on it in the next day or two. I know they are about $3k over priced on it.

I will try to get pics of the trailer up this weekend. Is not going to happen before then, just too busy.

 

[mjbskwim]

If you buy a used dodge,Chrysler Corp won't get your money and if you don't go back the the place you got shafted they won't get your money.
With that said,what other reason do you have to not buy the best diesel out there?

The Chevys are the most comfortable trucks out there,from all the trucks I have owned.And the list is big.
I haven't owned a Duramax,but have talked to owners that liked it pretty good.Hard to tell when a guy is convincing you and himself after purchasing a $40k truck,ya know?
But Other than the 6 liter and the early Duramax's,I haven't heard a lot bad about any of the diesels out there.
I think it comes down to what truck you like best,and the deal that you find.Both the Chevy and the Fords will pull a lot of weight.Unless you are pulling about 6 animals or a couple houses worth of form boards,maybe a couple cars,you aren't really working the engines
Google the early Duramax.The first ones are the only ones I heard bad things about.

With what you have,loaded,an exhaust and an air cleaner will be more than enough to power you anywhere you want to go.Maybe a little tuner and you will be cruising at 70mph and 10mpg.

Oh and if you have really good credit,beat the pants off of them.Those trucks are not going anywhere fast.If you have credit or show them you are a solid buyer,they will be ready to deal with you.
Dave Smith ain't that far from you,or is that the bad guy?

FYI, if y'all didn't know,if you just leave,don't say a word,just go get lunch or coffee?
They get skeered that you'll do it again and will be easier to work with.
They loose control,they don't like that.....fyi

 

[Mookie]

Take a Cummins, put an Allyson transmission on it and put it in a Ford, but have it put together by Toyota and you have the perfect truck.

Any of the new diesels are great, tons of power and decent fuel mileage. Find the one you like best and go with it.

FYI, my work truck is an '02 Dodge Cummins and it just rolled over 667,000 miles on the factory engine and I still get 18 MPG everywhere. There is a LOT of ball joints in that time period.

 

[Nwcid]

Well looks like I might be getting a Dodge

GF's Sister and BIL are moving out of state. Found out he has a '01 Dodge 3/4 ton diesel they are not taking with them. It has 270k miles on it but 99% are commuting miles as he works out of town. He takes really good care of all of his stuff. We are going to be at their house this afternoon so going to take a look and see if we can swing a deal.

For what we are doing the high miles dont scare me because it will be getting less then 5k/year use out of it.

 

[Mookie]

it should be a good truck without a lot of maintenance, unless it's a 4x4 as they wear out the front ends relatively quickly. If it has not been done yet the injector pump will most likely need replaced within a 100k, and they aint cheap, for any diesel.

 

[mjbskwim]

Well looks like I might be getting a Dodge

GF's Sister and BIL are moving out of state. Found out he has a '01 Dodge 3/4 ton diesel they are not taking with them. It has 270k miles on it but 99% are commuting miles as he works out of town. He takes really good care of all of his stuff. We are going to be at their house this afternoon so going to take a look and see if we can swing a deal.

For what we are doing the high miles dont scare me because it will be getting less then 5k/year use out of it.

Once you hook it up and pull the trailer around,you won't look back.Doing little things like injector pumps won't be a bother.

i kinda jones for one every time I hear one drive by.It was fun stomping on the accelerator when someone tried to cut you off.Never expected a huge truck like that to actually be able to move like that!
And that was the dually!