New to me truck recommendation

[mjbskwim]

Trailer is bumper pull

Most definitely a dually then

 

[mjbskwim]

I have been looking really hard at the new Dodge Trucks, If I order the base 4X4 extra cab with Cummins, I can just about afford it! Problem is I really don't want ANY of the new diesel trucks out there! So for me, it's a pre emissions Diesel, probably a Dodge, But a good F-250 isn't out of the running, but it has to be a 7.3DI I hate the idea of having to run special fuel additive at additional cost,and the emissions crap really sucks the power. The other option is a Mercedes Benz/ Freightliner Duely Sprinter, which actually makes more sense in the long run! I am not going to pull any thing as heavy as the OP, I have a 2 1/2 ton LMTV for that kind of work!!!! Just some thoughts!

My neighbor,an ex bull rider so you know,accidentally pored his exhaust fluid into the gas tank. OK this is fine but
He turned the key on to move the steering wheel.
The shop figures it put enough fluid into the pumps to have to replace them
$7000. Insurance paid for $5000 of it. A stupidity clause lol

 

[EVILZ]

Yeah, I found that out but I am not hauling all over the USA so can handle it with present fuel prices.
Have you seen any better fuel mileage with a tuner (Spartan or ST?) to be able to delete the EGR & DPF? I'm not wanting to spent upwards to $3K for that work UNLESS it is possible to get 18-20 MPG....

Yeah the deletes greatly help fuel economy, If I owned a DPF equipped truck it would be deleted the first day(along with EGR) The spartan tuner is a hell of a tuner but not sure on the MPGs. Seems like 15 to 16 might be more realistic. Best advice I can give you if you own a 6.4 powerstroke is stay on top of your fuel system. Drain your fuel/water separator as often as you can and replace your fuel filters every 12k miles max. They don't like contamination, fuel system components are expensive and I have seen failed injectors quickly cause cylinder damage. Maintenance is huge on these newer diesels.

 

[Ura-Ki]

One of the first things I did on my 3126 cat was pull all the egt and exhaust crap off of it, change turbo to the road spec high boost turbo, replace the injectors with Cali spec nozzles and a higher pressure regulator. I also installed a water/meth system running at 4500 psi and put a double fuel filter water separators on it. I gained much needed power, and am getting pretty good fuel mileage out of it, pretty good with the aerodynamic shape of a brick!

 

[Caveman Jim]

To the OP, I would find a low mileage F350 with a 7.3 in it and go from there and remember that diesels don't even get broke in until over 100K miles....

 

[Cloudrnnr]

Sorry there is...was a 6.0L duramax and now there is a 6.6L duramax. As far as I know they are both diesel

Ahhh, I see the question now. I don't believe there was ever a 6.0 Duramax, at least not in the US. Might have been such an animal installed in Izusu trucks elsewhere, but never in the GM pickups.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I second the recommendation of a good Ford 7.3 turbo, I had an old mill surplus pickup, and it was bomb proof! Ugly as sin, but had a ton of power and rode pretty nice. Got 17 miles per gall too! Also had a dodge Cummins, great truck, more torque then the Ford and better fuel mileage, but rode like a buck board!

 

[bbbass]

Ditto on the diesel fuel/water separator and the extra tight add on filter. Well worth the $$$ if you want to save injectors from wearing out... they are really expensive to replace.

@USMC1911 if you really don't want to have breakdowns/repairs on the side of the road, I would go diesel. Those engines will go 1M miles if you tow in the correct power band, ie lugging a diesel is the worst thing besides running it too hot with a tuner. The diesel engine outlast the truck.

Towing is hard on a gas engine unless you get the V10, which will eat you up in fuel costs. But avoid the Chevy 6.5 Turbo that was out before the Duramax! Like the man said, they are not a real diesel... low power, no add-ons/mods made for them. I had two of them and they are crud for towing.

So 10k is a lot of miles. You might want to ride comfy.

 

[bbbass]

PS for bumper pull, you can't beat an Equalizer hitch... has both load dampening and anti-sway. I pulled RVs to deliver and so had both a 5th wheel hitch and a bumper tow hitch. Equalizer very well worth the money.

Yah, 14k you might want to go dually but if you don't, definitely get a hitch with anti-sway. Safety safety safety.

 

[bbbass]

Apprentice... So, ya gonna meet Arnold?

 

[ZigZagZeke]

I pull heavy tractors on a 14K car hauling trailer, and also a 6000# RV. I've had very good luck with a 2000 Chevy Suburban 2500 with a 6.0L gas engine. After 17 years of basically zero maintenance and 161,000 miles I'm sold on Chevy for towing. It's not a daily driver anymore. It's now the designated tow vehicle. I don't pull every day, but when I do it is serious business.

Realizing that the Suburban is nearing the end of its useful life I have been investigating replacements. My dream replacement for the Suburban is a Chevy Silverado 2500 Duramax. Somewhere around a 2006 seems like the best price/value combination. That seems to be in your price range.

On the other hand, we recently had to replace our every day family SUV, and while we started out looking at Chevys, we ended up with a Ford Expedition. Now this is MAJOR. I've been a Chevy guy, building race car engines and restoring old Corvettes for several decades. I would never have touched a Ford until now. When we went shopping we found that Chevy has simply dropped the ball, design wise. Their seating and interiors are not as efficient and useful, nor as safe as Ford's. Try as I might to justify buying a Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon the features and the efficiency just weren't there. The Ford Expedition in just about every way beat the GM equivalent. So, for the first time in 50 years, as of last Saturday, I'm driving a Ford.

I agree with others that for your purposes a diesel is a must. Duramax/Allison is the best combination out there. If you go Ford, get the 7.3L diesel. They have a good reputation.

 

[bbbass]

I pull heavy tractors on a 14K car hauling trailer, and also a 6000# RV. I've had very good luck with a 2000 Chevy Suburban 2500 with a 6.0L gas engine. After 17 years of basically zero maintenance and 161,000 miles I'm sold on Chevy for towing. It's not a daily driver anymore. It's now the designated tow vehicle. I don't pull every day, but when I do it is serious business.

I like this. But really a 6000# RV? That's not an RV!!!

 

[ZigZagZeke]

I like this. But really a 6000# RV? That's not an RV!!!

It's a small toy hauler. Not very heavy, but lots of wind resistance. I've wished for a diesel many times while pulling it in places like up the Okanagan Grade (20 miles of 4%-6% grade). On the other hand, I have put a 6000# diesel tractor on a 3000# steel decked trailer and pulled it over Mt. Hood to Maupin with the Suburban, no sweat.

 

[bbbass]

Realizing that the Suburban is nearing the end of its useful life I have been investigating replacements. My dream replacement for the Suburban is a Chevy Silverado 2500 Duramax. Somewhere around a 2006 seems like the best price/value combination.

I've been a Chevy guy, building race car engines and restoring old Corvettes for several decades. I would never have touched a Ford until now.

I knew there's a reason I like you!

I used to drive Corvettes for a vette only dealer in S. Calif. I still love older Vettes.

Sad to hear about your assessment of current Chevy products. My wife's Yukon crapped out late last year and we went shopping. Not happy with getting another Tahoe/Yukon since we couldn't afford a later model. Not happy with mid-size Chevy SUVs. We settled on a Toyota Highlander since she doesn't need a real 4wd just getting around town and the price was right at $8000 cash plus minimal trade on the junker.

 

[bbbass]

It's a small toy hauler. Not very heavy, but lots of wind resistance. I've wished for a diesel many times while pulling it in places like up the Okanagan Grade (20 miles of 4%-6% grade). On the other hand, I have put a 6000# diesel tractor on a 3000# steel decked trailer and pulled it over Mt. Hood to Maupin with the Suburban, no sweat.

My 6.5turbo diesels wouldn't pull a 27' 5th up similar grades at more than 20mph while overheating.

I've pulled a 22k# Newmar 5th with the Dodge Cummins and it was great. Now I pull at 36' King of the Road triple slide with the 2002 Duramax. It is wood constructed so it's heavy 3 axle job. 20k# loaded. No problem. But if I had known how hard it is to back a triple axle into a camp space, I would not have bought that trailer despite the great floor plan. Mostly we use it to go south for the winter. It's not really a camp trailer.

 

[mjbskwim]

My 6.5turbo diesels wouldn't pull a 27' 5th up similar grades at more than 20mph while overheating.

I've pulled a 22k# Newmar 5th with the Dodge Cummins and it was great. Now I pull at 36' King of the Road triple slide with the 2002 Duramax. It is wood constructed so it's heavy 3 axle job. 20k# loaded. No problem. But if I had known how hard it is to back a triple axle into a camp space, I would not have bought that trailer despite the great floor plan. Mostly we use it to go south for the winter. It's not really a camp trailer.

They make pull thru parks for beginners. You can do it

 

[CoastRange57]

PS for bumper pull, you can't beat an Equalizer hitch... has both load dampening and anti-sway. I pulled RVs to deliver and so had both a 5th wheel hitch and a bumper tow hitch. Equalizer very well worth the money.

Yah, 14k you might want to go dually but if you don't, definitely get a hitch with anti-sway. Safety safety safety.

Second on the equalizer hitch. You can find them all day long on craigslist for under $ 250.

About hitches...you see a lot of non equalizer hitch receivers on the market and in use. Most of them are HOLLOW. Most of them have a 6,000 rating, well under they are attached to usually.

You need to get and use a SOLID shank receiver. They are heavier but usually have a full 14K GVW rating on them and will hold the weight. The hollow ones will fold like paper under stress or tear loads. Same thing for safety chains. Most all stock ones are woefully poor.

We usually always took off the stock safety chains, added Grade 8 chains, bolted through and welded to the frame, and then used a Grade 8 oversize clevice to hook them to reinforced attachment points on the hitch of frame of the tow vehicle. The idea is to keep the trailer attached to the tow vehicle, not have it come loose and go across three lanes of traffic and wipe out the mommy missile van with 4 kids in it, and hopefully if it stays on its wheels the dead man switch on the trailer brakes works, but most people batteries are dead on these anyway.

I have seen car trailers with 50K show cars on them and there are aluminum hooks ($ 3.99 BiMart) holding the safety chains on. I was flagging traffic at a wreck couple years ago where a Yukon had a 2 axle 28 foot toy hauler on it had flipped after what was probably a pretty amazing fishtailing session. Of course they had passed us earlier and I had that on video.

I noticed the hitch was folded up, and mentioned it to the young police officer who did not seem to know anything about it, but seemed to want to hear what I had to say. Showed him how to find the combined GVW ratings on the vehicles, which it was way over of course, and showed him the HOLLOW, receiver that still had the 4,000 GVW sticker on it. Most time people get away with it, unless a State Motor Carrier Enforcement officer is around, OSP has a few rated officers and most counties have Motor Carrier deputies.

As far as hitches on bumper pull trailers go, they are usually very weak and after a couple of years will start to fold upwards ever so slightly. My work over the last 20 years allowed me to develop a pretty keen eye for grade variations down to 1/4 inch, and when I noticed my travel trailer had developed this bend, into the shop it went, and we straightened the tongue portion, we gusseted and reinforced across the hitch portion in three different and did the same thing to where it meet the main frame. This was not an afternoon fix or modification, but it sure felt good to get it fixed and reinforced.

If you have worked on those frames you know that cost and weight determine how they are built, certainly not strength of construction, and they are some thin azz metal. Take it on a few hunting trips and you will increase that stress and bending.

 

[bbbass]

They make pull thru parks for beginners. You can do it

Hah!

A 3 axle trailer is like a left handed gun.

 

[CoastRange57]

M But if I had known how hard it is to back a triple axle into a camp space,

Hey, somebody has to provide the entertainment during cocktail hour at the RV park.

 

[bbbass]

Hey, somebody has to provide the entertainment during cocktail hour at the RV park.

RV park?... Yuck!!!! We don do dat! I was talking camping where they block everything with big*ss trees. But for entertainment down south, you can watch the geezers run around nekkid.