TL;DR - I’m looking for advice on what to do next regarding a tow vehicle that also has to work as a daily most of the time.


I was a longtime Ford guy having driven around 385k miles in a 1996 F150 over about 15 years pretty much trouble free. It was slowwww, but would pull your house off its foundations and worked well for a long time.

Then after 10ish years of driving my car to the track I had a Diesel BMW X5 that I used to tow a few open trailers with my street/track car.

We eventually bought a pretty heavy boat too and I decided to upgrade the tow vehicle and got a 2021 F250 Platinum that was amazing! I loved that truck but it got stolen from my driveway about 1-1/2 years into my ownership.

I replaced that one with another F250 (a ‘22 Lariat) that was great too right up until it met an untimely demise at a boat ramp and sunk due to a particularly low tide and a lot of algae buildup on the ramp itself.

At this point my wife and kids were adamant that I not get another modern super duty Ford as it was obvious I was having a lot of bad luck with them so I bought a 2025 Chevy Silverado 1500 with the max tow package and the 6.2L V8. What could go wrong now? Three months and 4500ish miles into my ownership the engine suffered catastrophic failure while towing my boat (approximately 7000lbs).

GM replaced the engine but it took almost two months due to shortages of the 6.2 engine that they are/were fighting for all the ‘21-‘24 failures.

Fast forward 8 months and I just suffered another engine failure last week! Allegedly they will be able to repair it more quickly this time but at this point I have zero confidence in the truck and will be doing whatever it takes to get GM to buy it back from me.

That all being said I am looking for advice as to what I should do next. A mechanic friend and a few others have suggested that I get an older F250/350 with the Powerstroke 7.3L engine and buying a fun sedan as a daily but my wife would prefer we get a full sized SUV (i.e. Expedition or similar) and for it to be my daily so as to not add to our car count around the house.

Currently I’m towing the same 7K boat and recently upgraded to a 24 foot enclosed InTech trailer for the 996cup which all in is probably an 8k load.

Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!

 

Ram 2500 Cummins

 

Newer the better.

Love my Tahoes (20' box) and Suburbans (24'-28' box).

Heard good things about the newest Expedition MAX HO.

 

The 7.3 Ford was a great truck in it's day, but they are old now. They do not have the comforts or ride quality of the new trucks. I would go new if I were you. The new Dodge are great units in my experience.

 

I used to tow with a series of very large SUVs and went through a couple of transmissions even though I was towing under the weight limit. I think the weight limit does not include hills and driving several times a year to WGI did them in.

I bought an F-350 diesel superduty in 2019 and I sometimes forget I am towing a 27 foot enclosed steel trailer, even going up hills.

When I bought it I said this will be my town vehicle and did a "poverty spec" (I like that term) and now I regret not getting some creature comforts. That being said, I love my big truck!

 

It sounds like both of your Fords worked great but met their demise through no fault of their own. Simply evaluating the truck (without outside circumstances) I don't understand why you would be resistant to buying another. Either way, if I were you, I would buy a 2500 diesel from one of the major brands (Ford, Ram, Chevy/GMC)

 

IMHO, your 8k enclosed is a bit much for a half ton truck or any of the current crop of big SUVs. Yes, these less-capable options will tow it, but won't be as stable as a 3/4 ton. On your way home from a race weekend (especially if you ran the enduro) you don't want a stressful drive.. Any of the gas 3/4 tons from Ford, Ram, or Chevy will get the job done for what you're towing if you don't want the cost of a diesel.

 

Hearing good things about the new Ford gas Godzilla motors.

Peter

 

I used to tow an enclosed 24' trailer with my coyote gas engined F150 (2011 I think). It could barely get the job done. On the flat it was okay, any hills and it labored mightily. We were getting passed by the big rigs as well, which didn't help. Going downhill was also a white-knuckle experience.

So for those reasons, stay away from the 1/2 ton trucks and SUVs - they just don't have enough grunt for towing.

As others have said, you need a 3/4 ton diesel. I have a 2021 Ram 2500 with the V6 Cummins diesel. I can set the cruise control to 75, and it will haul my trailer up and down any hill or mountain pass with ease. It has an exhaust brake so going downhill is a breeze as well. I probably have 50k miles in towing. I added a trailer TPMS which I think is worth having for peace of mind. I also have the air suspension which makes hooking up a trailer easier (unless you have a power jack at the front.

 

I have a '22 Ram 1500 eTorque and a 20' aluminum trailer. With about 4k lbs in the trailer and the trailer weighing 2k, it does fine. I've been as far as Charlotte with it. Is it diesel good? No. Is it cheaper and a better truck the rest of the time? Yes. Towing with my setup is not a challenge at all and it does great. I cruise around 70, but it will run faster when needed.

Figure any gas truck towing an enclosed is going to be 6.5 - 9.5 mpg depending on weather and fuel blends. I think the new diesels will see 12-16 mpg, but not positive.

 

8k is about the cutoff, imo, for a half-ton truck. Doable, certainly, but as others have mentioned it will not be as stable/stress free as a bigger truck. I don't think I would use an SUV for a 24' trailer weighing 8k lbs, personally. The 3/4 ton truck is going to be a pain to daily, imo, just too big. A nice, 1/2 ton truck would probably be my choice. F150 with the max tow and can be usable as a daily and will do an adequate job towing. The big fuel tank ford offers is really nice to be able to go ~250-300 miles or so without needing to stop for gas. I would opt for the 3.5 ecoboost (non-hybrid) in a higher trim level. I believe they offer self-leveling rear shocks as well on some of the later gen14 trucks also, which is nice. It is a compromise solution but based on your needs it seems like a good choice.

 

Don't overlook the idea of of a "medium' old truck. I've been driving a '13 F350 SRW, it's an earlier 6.7, so has all the torque and big brakes for the AZ/NM mountains headed out to Laguna Seca, and TN mountains heading up to Road America. As mentioned above, the 8' box gives you the larger fuel tank option which is great. You'll miss out on some newer creature comforts like Apple CarPlay, 360 + trailer cameras, trailer TPMS, etc, but the platform itself will be confidence inspiring. I can tow my 24' enclosed trailer at/around 13mpg at 75mph, our team dually ('12 F350) is exactly 10.5mpg with or without the 2-car enclosed trailer. Going with an earlier 6.7 should save some money for a sensible sedan, Acura TLX in my case. (yes the 6.7 has a couple known issues to upgrade, but the seller should have already addressed them by this point)

 

I am in a similar positon. Towing 24ft enclosed with 997 cup (about 7,500 lbs fullly loaded). Need a vehicle that i can park in the city for work and also tow occasionally. To me, "ocassionally" is the key word. If i was towing 15+ times a year absolutely it makes sense to buy a diesel super duty. But i typically tow less than 10 times a year. I ended up with a Lexus GX550 and added rear air leveling kit and LT 10ply tires. It is very smooth towing and other than a heavy gust of wind and/or big rig passes at highway speeds it tows great.

If I found myself towing more then I would probably buy a used 6.2 F250. Diesel's dont like to sit for extended periods of time (I learned that with my old F250 6.0). The 6.2 should tow 10k lbs with ease and are alot cheaper than the new godzilla's. If $ was no opject then 7.3 would be the way but ya know.... tire budget...

 

Well... I'll go old.
My tow vehicle is a 2002 Chevy extended cab with the 6.2L turbo diesel. Just 120K miles and probably 3/4ths are towing a 24' enclosed trailer. Tows like the trailer isn't there.
Lost the serp belt once for its only actual breakdown. It's in a heated garage all winter since new. AM, FM, CD and cassette!

 

I tow a 24' Intech, probably ~7,500 lb. loaded, with a 2021 Ford Expedition. 3.5 Ecoboost, tow package, and weight distributing hitch. I've been amazed at how well it handles the towing duty, it's comfortable, and does double duty as daily driver and tow vehicle.

I can't speak for how it will hold up long term, and surely a purpose built heavy duty truck is better for towing. But like the OP, I didn't want a separate tow vehicle and it's been great for me.