dan212

I grew up in the city.. what do I know about trucks??

I need to get a heavy tow vehicle now that I am going to trailer my car.

I've been looking at For F250/7.2 and Doge Ram2500 Diesel.. At my very low price point, I am looking at Diesel's in the 120-140 mile range. Saw a lot of junk along the way.

I finally found a decent 2004 dodge Ram 2500/diesel with 142K miles on it. 14K.. Its in decent shape. I also found a 2006 GMC/2500HD-SLT 5.0 GAS with a 4.10 rear end. I know I know. The 4.10 won't give me great milage, but it will handle the 24 foot box steel trailer plus car and three sets of wheels. etc

The Dodge is in decent shape, the headers on the engine show some rust, but the engine and chassis is otherwise clean. Its the best I have seen.. The GMC is a bit more actually, but totally spotless, was garaged and comes with a 12 month full GMC warranty, brake controller etc.. Very plush inside too.. I know the GMC will use more gas, but the cost of gas will be lower than the diesel and this is a very clean, AND warrantied vehicle. I am assuming I might get 8MPG with the Gas while towing 8-9,000 pounds.

So the point is. I am really scrambling.

I really don't know much about trucks. From what I have read, I should stay clear of the 6.0 F250/Diesel. But I am way over my head sifting through all of the choices.

I am open to any and all suggestions. Really at a loss.

Larry Herman

Love my 2007 Dodge 2500 Diesel. 70K miles & runs like new. 22 mpg empty at 65 mph, 14 mpg towing a 24' box.

race911

That GMC is a 6.0 or a 5.0? No way, no how does a 5.0 do the job. Point of reference I have is some friends (sort of out of the track thing now) with an 8.1 '03-'04 2500 Suburban. Probably about 9K with the car in their trailer. Maybe 6mpg @ a diligent 55mph towing as flat as can be Bay Area to Thunderhill or Buttonwillow. And pretty underwhelmed by the whole experience. But there's no diesel Suburban.............

I've got one of the Devil's Spawn early '03 Ford 6.0s. Two turbos under warranty, and the usual EGR thing. But 85K miles later all I've done is change the oil and fluids.

dan212

Yeah, the GMC is a Gas 6.0... Hence the 4.1 rear.

I've read in a few places that the Ford 6.0 diesel should be avoided. Didn't know why. At this point any Ford 6.0 diesel I see would be in the 80-120K miles range. I don't know if any potential problems have been exposed by this point. Beginning to sound as though a 7 year old 140K mile Dodge 7.2/diesel is more sensible?

CT03911

Dont know if this thread helps:

https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-a...es-please.html

If you are set on a 3/4 ton and diesel sorry to waste your time.

What I found is that late model 1/2 ton pickups have serious tow capacity.
I settled on a 2010 Tundra because while the GMC/Chevy and Ford have pretty big tow numbers, I believe they do it by their gears more than HP or torque. They are both in the 5.3/5.4 class. Nice machines but....

The Ram has big hp/torque numbers but i personally just did not like it's styling.

The Tundra has a legit 5.7, 380hp and some 400 ft/lbs torque. That, coupled with the same advanced 6-speed gearbox many others offer leads to a 10k tow rating which I believe it actually has more grunt to tow even though the others have compaable numbers.

I am towing a 5500# total packgage open trailer, not an enclosed with it's drag. I am new to the truck but am seeing 12.5+mpg hwy under tow, some hills, and almost 19mpg hwy clean.

My feeling is that unless you really need a 250 (plow platform etc) or have to have a deisel you are well served by considering a vehicle like a !/2 ton Tundra.

I got mine, a 2010, for 26.1K with 14k mile on it. SR5, TRD Offroad eqipped, 4x4, and like new. It is incredible on hills.

Rich Sandor

9,000lbs is getting close to the maximum for a late model 1/2 ton. You can do it comfortably with an F150 if it's one of the newer ones with the 6-speed tranny. If you are looking at spending ~16k there is one seemingly decent deal on craigslist near you: http://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/2475921526.html

Remember 4x2's tow more than 4x4s do (~400+lbs lighter and they sit lower so they get better MPG) so if you're looking for strictly a tow rig, that might be something to consider. (and they're cheaper)

KaiB

Given the two choices above, I'd stick with the diesel and run away from the 5L gasser.

I would not want to tow a reasonable load with any modern half ton truck. Sorry, I grew up rural farm, still do and have towed ****e my entire life.

Eifeler

Between the two, the 5.9L dodge is the run away choice. That 5.9 was the best in class motor. I had an 06 that towed a 33ft offshore boat with no problems. The GM with 6.0 is a horrible package. I owned one. It wouldn't get out of it's own way and got bad mileage. When you hit the slightest grade it violently downshifts because even with 4.10's it doesn't have the torque to pull any significant loads. Oh and I had to lemon law it because GM couldn't get rid of a drive line vibration. They tried to claim it was normal due to "frame flex".

mhm993

Hey Dan --

Marc and I hear the sliding noises coming from you as you slip down that slope.

Maybe the RL is not the best place for specifics. You should find the boards dedicated to each type of truck. Marc has been on the F150 board successfully troubleshooting a variety of problems. Not only will these guys (alas, there a few women on the truck bds.) know everything about truck/trailering issues but you will get a lot of good info re: each truck, each year of truck, and every configuration of truck. You can ask what problems to expect and get a lot of great responses from people who own and actually work on their trucks.

We have found that, upon a "what shall I buy question," folks generally recommend the largest truck possible. Test drive each level of truck since the bigger you get the harder it will be to maneuver. Clearly you need to balance initial cost, reliability, cost of operating (incl. repairs) and practicality.

An F350 will be great going into your parking garage on the upper east side!

-- mindy

ohenryinatlanta

stay away from the ford 6.0 and the early 5.4 triton motors....... fords are the most expensive to fix... just compare the cost of crate motors

seems to me as for as resale cost to buy chevy > dodge > ford

dodge diesels seem to have really robust drivetrains. chevy's have that nice allison tranny.

that said, i bought a really nice 01 V10 excursion limited with 72k on the clock for $9k

Dave 86 930 Fl

I have an 03 Duramax and other than replacing the injectors under warranty, it's been a dream to pull my trailer, 9k lbs loaded. I really don't care about mileage, but I get 9-11 mpg, 18 mpg around town w/o load. The Allison transmission has been fabulous too. I have 100k miles on the truck and plan to keep it until it pukes all over the road someday. Good luck and stay away from gas motors (IMHO).

Regards, Dave

TexasRider

I HAD a Ford F250 Powerstroke Platimun Edition 4 x4 truck. These have the 7.4 diesel motor by International in them. While Ford may be back on track today, I truly believe that this was their best truck. A friend in the diesel repair buisness told me the same thing. Had I known I was headed to a race car at the time I would have kept it. My boat weighed in at 15,000 lbs and at times I had to pull it out of the water up the slippery ramp at the yacht club. It walked that baby out but I had to use 4 WD sometimes to get a grip. For a car and trailer it would be nothing. I pulled my Haulmark motorcycle trailer all over the South at 70-80 mph without any issues at all. Mostly the truck was bullet proof. It had one little bobble with the timing sensor and/or EGR that is a known characteristic of these motors. Keep one in the glove box for $150 or so.

I have a Z71 Avalanche 4 x 4 now. It is quieter than the big Ford was by a LOT. That is one of the thing of the diesels. They get LOUDER as they get older. Theat big F250 got about the same mileage. If you keep it 2000 rpm it just cruises. For every 100 rpm over 2000 you lose 1 -2 mpg. The Ford could carry the Chevy on a trailer! My Avalanche might pull an enclosed trailer with all the stuff. But the trailer will have to be lighter like a Trailex etc.

And I have nothing against the Dodges. That motor is great. But most of my Dodge buddies said the motor will be be running when the truck around it falls apart. I dont know that to be true. Just passing on what they said. Probably depends on useage.

I know two or three guys that got the Chevy Dura Max and Allison. At least one was a complete nightmare. At least one runs like a scalded ape.

From the 2000-2005 era I think Ford. I would stay away from their transition years, untl now.

I too went and looked at a new King Ranch F250. $60,0000 !!!!!!!!

They wouid have to pony up more on my Z71 Avalanche to get me in to that deal.

Eifeler

Concur that the Ford/Navistar 7.4's were great. Sold our Diesel Excursion with 170k miles and it was still pulling strong. 6.oh-no motors are junk. Our current F250 has the 6.4 and it's been great but I think that's a little newer than your considering.

TexasRider

Dan:

I missed this very important tidbit

............ this is a very clean, AND warrantied vehicle. ............

That is important. But what you double sure should do is be sure who is the issuer of that warranty. And all the specifics. It may cover rust through (good) and maybe the drive train. But be sure you know what is not covered. Like a turbo. And you might be sure the warranty is in force. Are all the services done and current that keeps it in force?

Get a copy and hump it over to a Dodge dealer and see if he takes it today. If it is ANYTHING but a factory DODGE warranty it is highly suspect and at risk. If it is a Warranty Gold or something like that it is useless.

ninjabones

Dan:

I'm going to throw something at you from left field:

- sell the GT3
- Buy a Cpo Cayenne