Agree with others. 8000# is not much so it comes down to how much towing do you do & where do you go? East of the the Appalachans the grades are easy so if you are a weekend warrior with the occasional longer trip IMO spending the extra for a diesel is not worth the $$.
Coming from boating world, the views are similar. If you are not running over 100hrs a season the diesel is really not worth having. Diesels really don't come into their own unless there are hours of hard work to be done.