PDA

View Full Version : If you were only towing 2-3 times a year...



Jim311
06-15-2007, 09:52 AM
What sort of truck would you buy? Keep in mind you have to daily drive this in the city. Is it even worth buying a diesel if you're only towing a couple of times a year? :smt102



I'm thinking about just picking up a Ram 1500 because you can get them dirt cheap and they should haul 7k or 8k nicely.

J B
06-15-2007, 10:01 AM
No need for a diesel in that case, IMO. If you get the Ram, get a manual transmission.

Alaska ZJ
06-15-2007, 10:23 AM
I would still get a diesel. JMHO. I get 22 mpg with a huge Crew Cab. What does taht Ram 1500 get with the 5.9? 10 mpg?

In all honesty you might want to look at a older 2wd diesel. You can get them fairly cheap now.

Jim311
06-15-2007, 10:46 AM
No need for a diesel in that case, IMO. If you get the Ram, get a manual transmission.


Yeah, I won't go with the craptastic chrysler tranny on a tow rig. I used a Dodge 2500 diesel to haul my rig and another rig to Gray Rock and the tranny was searching for gears and just never seemed to be in the gear it needed to be in. We were struggling to hold 40 up hills sometimes. I won't be towing more than one rig if I get a pickup and trailer of my own. It just seems like I can get a WAY newer 1500 that's in great shape, or a beater 2500 diesel with 100k+ miles on it for the same price. I'm just wondering if I can justify the diesel :smt017

Jim311
06-15-2007, 10:48 AM
I would still get a diesel. JMHO. I get 22 mpg with a huge Crew Cab. What does taht Ram 1500 get with the 5.9? 10 mpg?

In all honesty you might want to look at a older 2wd diesel. You can get them fairly cheap now.


I'll probably end up getting something with the 4.7 i it, not a 5.9 if I buy a 1500.

J B
06-15-2007, 11:21 AM
I would still get a diesel. JMHO. I get 22 mpg with a huge Crew Cab. What does taht Ram 1500 get with the 5.9? 10 mpg?

In all honesty you might want to look at a older 2wd diesel. You can get them fairly cheap now.

Yeah, but the diesel costs more to maintain, and if it ever breaks down, you'll have thrown all the savings on fuel out the window and then some. Don't get me wrong, I love a diesel, but I just don't see much value in one if you're not using it to tow a lot....just like I don't understand people who'll actually by a 1 ton truck with a gas burner.

DCHZJ
06-15-2007, 11:34 AM
Yeah, but the diesel costs more to maintain, and if it ever breaks down, you'll have thrown all the savings on fuel out the window and then some. Don't get me wrong, I love a diesel, but I just don't see much value in one if you're not using it to tow a lot....just like I don't understand people who'll actually by a 1 ton truck with a gas burner.


I would disagree on the maintenance of the diesel. I have had several over the years and all required very little maintenance. 1 Rad, 1 starter, and oil changes and i think i rebuilt one set of injectors (all mine were manual transmissions). All of these around the 300K mark. I cannot say that for any gassers i have owned, most have been rebuilt by then.
I agree Diesels are more expensive if they need maintenance (but then so are most newer cars and trucks now a days), but for the most part they do not need much. With basic maintenance most will last well over 400K mark. Hell with 100K most are just broken in. Well except the early Ford 6.0, your lucky if that POS will last for 50K.

ajmorell
06-15-2007, 11:50 AM
I'll probably end up getting something with the 4.7 i it, not a 5.9 if I buy a 1500.

At what point did they make both the same year? I was under the impression it went from being the 5.2 & 5.9 available to the 4.7 and 5.7 Hemi available?

J B
06-15-2007, 11:53 AM
You could get a gas engine to last 300-400k in many cases. It's just that diesels and gas engines are usually driven differently. 30 years ago, NYC taxi cabs would regularly get 300k out of them because of the duty cycle the cars ran - which you crank the thing up and drive it 1000 miles before shutting it off, they'll last a LONG time. Most internal wear and tear on an engine happens in the first 10 seconds after you start it.

So it's not just that diesels are built for more severe duty (we all know they are), but that the soccer mom's gas burner gets cranked up and driven 3 miles to the store, while the 1 ton truck pulling a loaded horsetrailer cranks up and drives 1200 miles. In both of those scenarios, the internal wear on the engines are about the same...but there's obviously a drastic difference in mileage.

Also, let's not forget that all things being equal, the diesel is going to cost more to buy. $3000 will buy a LOT of fuel, so it's going to take some time to get your money back of that rig.

Like I said, to me it's a value proposition. I can't see that there's a lot of value in a diesel in this case.

Jim311
06-15-2007, 12:05 PM
Yeah, like I said, initial cost is a HUGE factor. A diesel with 100k on it might be broken in when it comes to the ENGINE but there's a hell of a lot more shit to go wrong once you get up above 100k... axle bearings, trannies, all sorts of shit can wear out besides the engine. It just doesn't seem practical to pay more initially for a truck with way more miles just to get something that tows better 3 or 4 times a year. Plus, typically, diesel fuel costs more so comparing fuel mileage is sort of comparing apples to oranges.

Jim311
06-15-2007, 12:06 PM
At what point did they make both the same year? I was under the impression it went from being the 5.2 & 5.9 available to the 4.7 and 5.7 Hemi available?


I really am clueless about what years had what motors. Maybe somebody can chime in on that one.

J B
06-15-2007, 12:30 PM
Plus, typically, diesel fuel costs more so comparing fuel mileage is sort of comparing apples to oranges.

Lately, diesel here has been $.30 cheaper a gallon or so, so you'd save some money on fuel, but who knows how long it will stay that way. Traditionally, diesel has been cheaper, but we know how that's been the last year or two. A buddy of mine traded his tahoe for a 3/4 ton duramax, and was paying about the same for fuel.....the diesel got better mileage, but the fuel was more expensive.

ajmorell
06-15-2007, 01:12 PM
Lately, diesel here has been $.30 cheaper a gallon or so, so you'd save some money on fuel, but who knows how long it will stay that way. Traditionally, diesel has been cheaper, but we know how that's been the last year or two. A buddy of mine traded his tahoe for a 3/4 ton duramax, and was paying about the same for fuel.....the diesel got better mileage, but the fuel was more expensive.

For a while here diesel was about $.75 cheaper but now it is about the same as regular, at most 10 cents less.

TrojanMan
06-15-2007, 09:20 PM
Buy my truck. Then again, i'm getting like 15mpg on a great day.

ATL ZJ
06-16-2007, 01:12 AM
I would buy a Toyota Tundra and run 89 octane while towing. I have a couple buddies that tow their cruisers with these (both 03's I think) and they have zero problems with their trucks, which double as daily drivers. My 95 6.5TD was right for the money, but the 160 something inch wheelbase makes it a disaster to park. I tow a fair amount so it's a decent tradeoff, but if you're only going to have a trailer behind you 4-5 times a year, a short box half ton might be more your speed. But don't even think about pulling out of the driveway without trailer brakes.

nate
06-16-2007, 01:28 PM
I like my diesel just because it's a diesel. Even if I didn't tow anything, I would still own it. The fact that it tows nice is just a perk.



Here's just some info/ramblings of my own...

My friend Dave had a 2001 Ram 1500, while I have a 98 Ram 2500 CTD. I drove his truck for close to a month while he was on leave and I was working on my truck. The included trips to work (26 miles each day), trips to Boise, errands in town, etc. I filed it up 3 or 4 times and every time it got 12mpg.

The thing felt so gutless compared to my truck too.

Now I drive my the same way I drove his and I get 16-17mpg. Towing the Jeep, which is about 7500lbs, I get around 14mpg.



Last year I went to EJS. Myself and my friend Jon convoyed down. He runs a 2500 Suburban with the 6.0. He was towing a YJ on a smaller trailer. I'm not sure on the weight, but quite a bit lighter than me.

Anyhow, he had no problems until we hit the hills. I'd loose sight of him after a bit, and I was not pushing my truck at all to prove a point or anything. I was just doing the speed limit and backing down if I needed to keep EGTs in check.
Everytime will filled up, he put 3-4 more gallons of gas in.