Gas VS Diesel F250

I tow 12000 lbs with my 6.2 gas, it does fine including in the mountains. The diesel had more power but cost me bundles to keep maintained and repaired. It was the old 6.0 diesel so hopefully none will be as bad again.

spud1957 wrote:
Seems a lot of talk about the gasser's "redline" needed to go up some steep grades. The 6.2's redline in 6000. Way above HP and torque. Absolutely no reason to go that high.

In another thread there is picture posted by a strong diesel proponent of his dash showing pulling a grade at 60mph. What the picture also shows MPG at about 4 AND 3000 rpms which is 500 rpms below his redline. So, a diesel roaring up a hill just below his redline is OK and isn't as loud as a gasser?

Maybe the fact that he is climbing a 6% grade running 29,000# GCW and still able to go 60 should be why diesel owners smile.

I believe that he was showing 2.800 rpm, which is about 80% of red line. If a 6,000 rpm red line gaser it could only turn 4,800 rpm and with trying to 29,000# would not likely happen at 60 mph.

wing_zealot wrote:

krazymatt wrote:

zedd wrote:
Anyone tow with a gasser in the mountains in the West? The hills back east really pale compared to a lot of the stuff out here. A gasser trying to haul up a 7% grade at 8000 or 9000 ft altitude is really straining. Quite a different environment. I've passed lots of gassers laboring up mountain grades at 25mph screaming at near red line.

X10!!! Zedd is absolutely right! The hills out here are savage and in my opinion most gassers are past the verge of abuse engine and transmission wise. #REDLINE

That statement is so overblown as to be REDLINE VERBAL ABUSE. Lots of hyperbole - no substance. Just to stick with the basics, today's vehicle computers won't let you abuse the engine. If it's not in limp mode it's good to go. Nice try but you need to get yourself a new dance card, the old one is worn out, tattered, and expired.

Now I expect to hear about how you passed 12 gassers sitting beside the road in the mountains. More rhetoric, when facts are scarce.

I never pay much attention to "passing gassers (pissing match)" type stuff as far as I'm concerned as I'm way past grade school age. What I do know is where I usually camp means an upwards change in elevation +5,000ft from home about 70 miles away and I'm not exaggerating one bit. Now if I was a flat lander and lived in say Texas and camped at the lake with minimal elevation change in the hundreds I could totally see a gasser. I see lots of the folks arguing real hard in favor of the gassers aren't from the west. On a similar note I pretty much NEVER see a gas truck towing a big 5er around here and on the rare occasion I do they aren't NM plates on the back. The hard facts are yes diesels are more expensive across the board and yes they do hold their value pretty well and yes they will outlast a gasser in the long run although most folks replace trucks at around 15 years and 200k miles regardless.

I paid $36,000 for my 12 2500 CTD 4x4 CC LB ST July of 2012. That was after a $10,000 discount. I think $36,000 for a new diesel truck is a pretty good deal. I agree that the prices are way too high. But if one shops around, good deals are out there. The wife and I just bought a new 2015 Camry. After the discount they had on it we actually paid less for it than we did for the 2003 Accord it replaced. Both were/are similar trim levels. Plus the Camry has more neat features than the Accord did.

The price of trucks these days is ridiculous , but the level of technology and engineering in them is way beyond what it used to be . Having said that I'm still not convinced that they are worth the kind of money they are asking, I think that its more of "everyone wants one" type of thing and that's what drives up the price. There are more and more "Queens" on the road than ever now..

Bamaman1 wrote:
A couple of years ago, I did a detailed cost analysis of purchasing, maintaining and selling a F250 Lariat crewcab with the 6.2 gas vs. 6.7 diesel engines. I researched dealer cost/retail prices on front end and depreciated the trucks according to NADA and KBB used truck prices. Maintenance was also estimated.

If I sold a 6.2 truck at 10 years and 120k miles, the total cost to ownership would be just over $3,000 cheaper than buying, maintaining and liquidating a diesel truck.

The prices of "heavy duty" light trucks is up dramatically since that time,however. If I was buying a SuperDuty today, I'd be ordering a F350 dual rear wheel diesel, but with the XLT cab and the $795 appearance package. By not going Lariat's leather seating, you can pickup most of the cost difference in the diesel option. It's still a nice truck, but it's also not in "The $60's."

That's exactly what I did. They didn't have the 6.4 Hemi when I was looking so I passed on a nicer 5.7 gasser and went to the ST with the Cummins. Mines pretty much the same inside, sans some trim and power seat stuff. I still have carpet, chrome appearance. Funny thing is my truck after discounts was close to what an XL trimmed F150 with the Heavy Duty payload package was before any discounts. Hard to get big discounts when ordering a truck. Plus the XL doesn't trim out as well as the ST Ram does. Point is if you really don't need the bling you can get into a diesel pretty cheap. Not faulting anyone for wanting bling. I'd love to have a Lariat/Laramie trimmed truck. But I'd rather have the CTD instead. It's all about budget for most and what fits your needs.

I'm not really sure my CTD cost $300.00 more a year to own though.

A couple of years ago, I did a detailed cost analysis of purchasing, maintaining and selling a F250 Lariat crewcab with the 6.2 gas vs. 6.7 diesel engines. I researched dealer cost/retail prices on front end and depreciated the trucks according to NADA and KBB used truck prices. Maintenance was also estimated.

If I sold a 6.2 truck at 10 years and 120k miles, the total cost to ownership would be just over $3,000 cheaper than buying, maintaining and liquidating a diesel truck.

The prices of "heavy duty" light trucks is up dramatically since that time,however. If I was buying a SuperDuty today, I'd be ordering a F350 dual rear wheel diesel, but with the XLT cab and the $795 appearance package. By not going Lariat's leather seating, you can pickup most of the cost difference in the diesel option. It's still a nice truck, but it's also not in "The $60's."

Seems a lot of talk about the gasser's "redline" needed to go up some steep grades. The 6.2's redline in 6000. Way above HP and torque. Absolutely no reason to go that high.

In another thread there is picture posted by a strong diesel proponent of his dash showing pulling a grade at 60mph. What the picture also shows MPG at about 4 AND 3000 rpms which is 500 rpms below his redline. So, a diesel roaring up a hill just below his redline is OK and isn't as loud as a gasser?

krazymatt wrote:

zedd wrote:
Anyone tow with a gasser in the mountains in the West? The hills back east really pale compared to a lot of the stuff out here. A gasser trying to haul up a 7% grade at 8000 or 9000 ft altitude is really straining. Quite a different environment. I've passed lots of gassers laboring up mountain grades at 25mph screaming at near red line.

X10!!! Zedd is absolutely right! The hills out here are savage and in my opinion most gassers are past the verge of abuse engine and transmission wise. #REDLINE

That statement is so overblown as to be REDLINE VERBAL ABUSE. Lots of hyperbole - no substance. Just to stick with the basics, today's vehicle computers won't let you abuse the engine. If it's not in limp mode it's good to go. Nice try but you need to get yourself a new dance card, the old one is worn out, tattered, and expired.

Now I expect to hear about how you passed 12 gassers sitting beside the road in the mountains. More rhetoric, when facts are scarce.

shepstone wrote:

Dave H M wrote:

diver110 wrote:
I have looked into this issue a lot. Here is the bottom line: If you have the coin, buy diesel. Most likely you will be happier. I would focus more on whether you can afford it comfortably in absolute terms. It is true under some circumstances gas is cheaper. But in some ways that is the wrong question. The right question is in which will you be happier. A Toyota Matrix gets me from A to B, but I'd rather drive a BMW.

Different logic here. I could be driving a diesel in my F250, but chose a 6.2 for my liking. it fits my needs, is what I wanted, and I haven't looked back in 3 years. I think with today's engines it is a lot of whatever blows your skirt up, or as they say turns your crank. you can't convince me that I need a diesel and I cannot convince a diesel owner that he needs a gasser. It will never change.

Agreed. I've done the diesel dance and now that I switched to the new gas engine I don't miss the drama and expense that the diesel comes with & i have plenty of power for what I need along with simple low cost reliability and maintenance, plus matching up the truck with lightweight fiver i've saved over $22,000.00 .Now if you have the time and money & a burnin' desire or need for diesel or maybe just for a status symbol then fill yer boots (or rather the dealers boots) Perhaps when I retire in 10 yrs I will look at diesels again maybe sooner who knows but I am a happy camper right now. So get out there and enjoy whatever ya brung and makes you happy cause life's too short.

Mostly agree. I was speaking on average. But some are happier with gas. In my case, I plan to be driving some at altitude in the CO rockies, where the argument for diesel is especially strong. I'd rather have more than I need rather than risk having too little.