Deisel vs gas trucks

[ACM]

Yes, a dork in Boston decided to join a stationary line of traffic.   At 35 mph.    I was the fortunate recipient of his tender ministrations.   

I had always assumed that 3 Talons was more than sufficient - apparently not !   I have a sloping driveway which has thick sheet ice at the bottom - the F350 has been stranded back there for weeks.  Normally this isn't an issue, but...

[ACM]

Oh Jeff, to answer you question regarding PSD availability, the opposite is happening !   Their value is increasing and they're harder and harder to find.  All of the PSDs found on AutoTrader I've called about have already sold, I can't find anything I'd be willing to own.   

That's in part why I'm asking about the V10 gassers, I've seen a number for sale, and for substantially less than the PSDs.  The one response here, noting 10mpg, appears to be typical, which means the running costs will be far higher than a PSD.  But when truck A with a V10 lists at $12k, and the identical truck with a PSD lists at $17k, that $5k buys an awful lot of regular gas  (and spark plugs, and wires, yada yada).

But PSDs are _so_ relaxing to drive, Katy's biggest complaint is the engine lulls her to sleep 

[J_Anderson]

ACM

I went through the powerstroke search and with family in Florida I was looking in that are. I found quite a few nice 7.3l's down there in the 12-15k range w/ around 100k miles and a number of moderate trucks in the 8-12k range. I was searching around the Tampa area, lots of people with money and horse farms. Ocala is another great spot to look as its mostly high end thoroughbred farms that take pretty good care of their trucks.

My issue was dumping the cash into something I was buying just for the novelty of the diesel. I did not really need the power, though 20mpg would be nice. When I found my 2002 gasser for under 5k I jumped on it. The bonus was after the purchase there was very little wrong with it as it turned out to be a true southern truck.

Jeff

[LGT-FST]

Don't forget the 5.4 with a blower. Lot of torque to pull your race car to the track even up hill. LOR

[batchman]

Don't forget the 5.4 with a blower. Lot of torque to pull your race car to the track even up hill. LOR

Or for that matter, the 5.4 4-valve found in the Navigator - a nice lazy boost brings >500rwhp...

Really sorry to hear about the Talon, Hope you're unscathed.  If so I guess it had your back!!!

My guess is what you really need is a limited slip for your current truck.  Or convert it to 4wd - it wasn't hard in the previous generation.

Best,
- Jeff S

[dragonbill]

Charles,  Sorry to hear about your Talon.
Gas Vs Diesel=Gas is always cheaper to buy, own and tow with Assuming the truck can pull your load!.  To make up the difference in $ (assuming equal upkeep expense) means towing 350K + miles.  Not going to happen.  If you are going to tow a larger enclosed trailer (say Mark C's) the diesel makes sense due to the torque curve, but up to a 18-20' trailer the difference between a big gas and big diesel is mostly academic. 
Real world examples = My previous 5.3l Silverado : no trailer, but full of stuff 19.5 MPG highway, towing open trailer with 3800 lb car 14.5 hwy, towing enclosed 20' v nose 10.5 hwy, towing 24' steel flat nose 9.0 hwy. 
Mark C's big Ram 2wd manual towing same 24" trailer, 18-20 MPG hwy.  Empty 26-28 mpg.
Kim B's 3/4 ton 4wd Ram Diesel Automatic towing 20' V nose 17 MPG hwy, empty 25 mpg. 
Mike S's 3/4 ton Ford 6.0 Diesel empty, 18 mpg hwy, towing 24" enclosed 12 mpg hwy.  Bigger Fords do better. 
My 2006 GMC Vortec Max gas towing open 14.0 mpg hwy, towing 20' V nose 11.0 hwy.  Empty 18.5 mpg.  Difference between the 5.3 and the Max 6.0 is on any hill.  With Max I can out pull (crush) most cars uphill.  Just push the pedal.
I put a lot of thought and time into this newer truck and the only way the Diesel made sense was with a bigger trailer.  If you are still going to tow an open trailer, medium to big gas is the deal.
Finally, if anyone is planning to tow more than 7500# for distances of more than 4 hours I would suggest staying away from the Imported and medium trucks with the 8" rear ends, the bearings will not stand up to the long term loads/heat.  Towing locally, with one long trip a year, OK, but that seems to be the limit.
BG

[demelok]

ohk so im retiring the old 4.0 strait 6 and looking for a nice pick up

towing- open car steel trailer w/ 2200lbs car

deisels are fun put just way to pricey for me .
i 've been looking into the dodge market looking for a nice 5.9L gasser 360 seems more then fine to me
 just looking for some input for anyone thats been towing with a mopar

[Pitcru]

I used to tow my 16ft open trailer with an extended cab Dakota with the 4.7 V8. It was fabulous. Went to Nationals with it as well. Great gas mileage and easy to drive. They have been a highly rated truck for a number of years.

Pitcru

[dragonbill]

I used to tow my 16ft open trailer with an extended cab Dakota with the 4.7 V8. It was fabulous. Went to Nationals with it as well. Great gas mileage and easy to drive. They have been a highly rated truck for a number of years.

Pitcru

Rode in Mark's truck, it worked great!  One note though: I recall it was a manual.

BG

[Pitcru]

Yes, my Dakota was a manual transmission, 5 glorious speeds forward and one in reverse. Rear axle ratio was 3:92. I would think there should be a few good used Dakota's around for reasonable money.

Pitcru