Diesel vs gas......................
OK folks, there have been a few to many diesel vs gas threads that have shall we say gone to "Hell and a hand basket"! So if all of you would put in you BEST, no flaming reasons for going gas vs diese...
Forum Discussion
Thanks, OneWatt. You have a very good point about the desirability of minimizing worry about a underpowered tow vehicle on vacation. Plus I really do like air conditioning, having grown up on the California coast where temperatures rarely go over 80F or under 50F. Moving to San Joaquin Valley heat took a lot of adjustment. The prospect of broiling in a gas engine F-250 in a hot mountain pass in July, due to the air-conditioning being turned off to keep the engine from blowing up, absolutely got my attention.
The alternatives I have mind are the F-250 with a gas V-10 and a Dodge diesel 2500, both of which good trucks. A friend who is a DOD quality assurance specialist, and worked on Army trucks for the past five years, advises me to go with the V-10 F-250 because, he says, the stop-go commute will be too hard on the Dodge diesel. I knew it would be a problem, which is why I started in this thread.
His opinion about a V-10 F-250 towing a 12,000 pound load up Donner Pass is that each hour hauling it up the grade would shorten the V-10's life by at least ten hours. He advises me to use only synthetic oil because it resists heat breakdown better than regular oil, change it at least every 3000 miles, and and to give the F-250 an oil change before starting each vacation towing the RV regardless of the milage since the most recent oil change.
He didn't say anything about having to turn the a/c off, though. I realize you were talking about a 5.4 liter gasoline V-8, as opposed to the 6.8 liter V-10, but would the latter's cooling be better enough that I could use my a/c hauling the RV up Donner Pass (5000' + elevation) in July?
My wife and I had planned, when we retire, to get a larger RV than a Crossroads Cruiser, tow it with a Dodge 3500 diesel dually, and take them on trips of 3-4 months at a time. I've recently been told that I must take at least seven weeks of vacation a year instead of the three weeks I had been taking, and that got us to decide to go RV'ing before retirement. Initially I thought that would be next summer, but my wife's mother just agreed to go on vacation cruises with us next summer, and she has priority. Our RV'ing will start in 2012.
The only reason for us to not get a Dodge diesel 3500 dually now, use it only for seven weeks vacation a year, and store it for the 45 weeks when we're not on vacation, is my concern that such extended storage might be too hard on the 3500 dually. What are the drawbacks of storing a diesel dually for that period of time? Besides security for it, I mean, as RV's can be stored in my town for $50 a month. Taking the dually out on the freeway for an hour every week or two is not a problem.
The alternatives I have mind are the F-250 with a gas V-10 and a Dodge diesel 2500, both of which good trucks. A friend who is a DOD quality assurance specialist, and worked on Army trucks for the past five years, advises me to go with the V-10 F-250 because, he says, the stop-go commute will be too hard on the Dodge diesel. I knew it would be a problem, which is why I started in this thread.
His opinion about a V-10 F-250 towing a 12,000 pound load up Donner Pass is that each hour hauling it up the grade would shorten the V-10's life by at least ten hours. He advises me to use only synthetic oil because it resists heat breakdown better than regular oil, change it at least every 3000 miles, and and to give the F-250 an oil change before starting each vacation towing the RV regardless of the milage since the most recent oil change.
He didn't say anything about having to turn the a/c off, though. I realize you were talking about a 5.4 liter gasoline V-8, as opposed to the 6.8 liter V-10, but would the latter's cooling be better enough that I could use my a/c hauling the RV up Donner Pass (5000' + elevation) in July?
My wife and I had planned, when we retire, to get a larger RV than a Crossroads Cruiser, tow it with a Dodge 3500 diesel dually, and take them on trips of 3-4 months at a time. I've recently been told that I must take at least seven weeks of vacation a year instead of the three weeks I had been taking, and that got us to decide to go RV'ing before retirement. Initially I thought that would be next summer, but my wife's mother just agreed to go on vacation cruises with us next summer, and she has priority. Our RV'ing will start in 2012.
The only reason for us to not get a Dodge diesel 3500 dually now, use it only for seven weeks vacation a year, and store it for the 45 weeks when we're not on vacation, is my concern that such extended storage might be too hard on the 3500 dually. What are the drawbacks of storing a diesel dually for that period of time? Besides security for it, I mean, as RV's can be stored in my town for $50 a month. Taking the dually out on the freeway for an hour every week or two is not a problem.
RFOneWatt wrote:
I like using my air conditioning and having an automatic transmission when I'm in 90-100+ degree weather trying to negotiate mountain passes and switchbacks with semis & inexperienced RV'ers barelling down behind and around me. I also like (need) my 4WD which you'd also likely have to give up in order to try and make a 5.4 tow that much legally. I like keeping my wife (and eventual children) as comfortable and safe as possible. It pays off in the end.
Sorry, but I like my wiggle room and I don't like pushing my vehicle to its limits (and worrying about it) continuously. When I go on a trip I go on it to RELAX.. Getting there is 1/2 the fun and to spend that time struggling and worrying ISN'T. I like to eliminate as much worry from my life as possible, especially on vacation.
