Dually life? What about Ford 6.2L

zenasboy wrote:
We pull our GD 303RLS with a 2019 F350 6.2L. Weighed the trailer at work and its just under 12k pounds.

What rear axle do you have ?

OP, the Ford 6.2L gas is definitely a good engine, we have several of them at my work and they have been quite trouble free.

As stated in other posts, I too drive my dually all over the city and don't think anything of it. Some of the newer really small parking lots can be a PITA, but they also are in my F-150 work truck.

I think you would be a bit disappointed going to gas after having a diesel, but ultimately it's your decision. I believe you said your 2012 had 170k miles so the savings on fuel in that mileage with a diesel will likely be considerable.

Are you looking for new? You mentioned 2017 diesels but on the gas did not say.
If you are not joined at the hip to the blue oval, and would prefer used, look for a Ram 2500 or 3500 with the 6.4 2018 or newer.

There are almost NO new trucks on the lots. The chipped shortage has dried up supply. I did see a new F450 for $115K today tho. It was an advert so maybe that was something you had to order.

First choice is a diesel SRW Ford or RAM HD truck, crewcab a must but looking at trucks the last few days there are almost no single cab trucks around. Years 2016 or newer but realistically that means a 16 to 18. 16 is when a lot of changes were made in Fords. 4WD a big plus.
If not that then a gasser HD truck of the same era.
Thinking about our driving style we spend a lot of time on back roads and boondocking and the DRW lack of traction is probably a killer. Thanks to all those folks who helped firm up my thinking on this.


The upper end set point is $50K out the door. (already had a bad GM truck sales experience on this issue which did not improve my opinion of GM) We do not want $600+ truck payments again and we spoke to our CU today and that level seemed to be doable. We are selling my wife's Corolla which is mainly sitting in the yard for months at a time now. That will cut that payment out.

Cummins12V98 wrote:

jdc1 wrote:
All I can say about a dually is a friend took one for a test drive. A few blocks away at a Home Depot, he attempted to park. Three minutes later he parked...right back at the dealer lot. He bought a single wheel 3500 instead. If you don't need the extra payload capacity, why get the extra two wheels? That's just more money to shell out when you need tires. Just to let you know, once you own a diesel truck, you'll never go back to gas.

Well I guess he didn't think to park out and take two stalls. Walking is good. Or park one wheel up on the curb.

Two tires over 60k sure doesn't break the bank! especially when those tires are less $ than the 18's and 20's that come on the trucks these days.

Ron, BS on parking issues, the guy in the first post was convinced he couldn’t park it before he tried! It is as simple as that. I park our 2016 Ram Laramie CC LB DRW where I want! I will park front row or further out. If parking spots are perpendicular to roadway I back in way easier.
A DRWis not a smart car, but I can park in any spot a SRW can.
I watch people in compact cars, hug the center line or even cross over slightly because they are passing a parked car(s) even though the have 10’ from the center line to the parked car.

Grit dog wrote:

goducks10 wrote:

Ivylog wrote:
Recently bought a new F350 4X4 single tire with 6.2 for $43K. No it doesn’t have the power of a diesel but also not $80K. Use it mainly to pull a heavy trailer(15,000+ lbs) locally so only getting 5-6 mpg and the 10 speed takes a little getting used to but it does the job.
Gets down to how many miles/year you’ll be towing and you do not need a dually.

And if you got a diesel F350 DRW in the same trim level as your gas DRW it would only be $10K more not $37K more.
Geesh.

C'mon, everyone loves a little Monday morning embellishment!

With Ram depends on SO or HO Cummins, about $10k or $12k.
Difference to add DRW about $1,200.

Pulling 9k lbs, the gas engine is more than enough. Climbing hills, it will wind up the RPM more but it won't cause harm just make a bit of noise.

Unless you are constantly running at high altitude or putting on 40-50k miles per year, it will be tough to justify the diesel beyond the ego aspects (and that's fine if it's important to you).

You certainly don't need a dually but it isn't going hurt to tow with it. We usually park the SRW truck out at the end of the lot anyway, so it wouldn't be a big deal. I've driven duallys occasionally and it's not that difficult.

There are 2 reasons I back into a spot with my dually. It's easier to center with the mirrors and it's nicer to those parked next to me. They can get into their vehicle without damage to the hips as well.
My truck is only used as a tow vehicle other than an occasional lumber run so it really isn't an issue.

theoldwizard1 wrote:

zenasboy wrote:
We pull our GD 303RLS with a 2019 F350 6.2L. Weighed the trailer at work and its just under 12k pounds.

What rear axle do you have ?

4.30

If its any help, there are a few 4wd crew cabs here. kernersville nc but prices seem to start around $51k.

bucky wrote:
There are 2 reasons I back into a spot with my dually. It's easier to center with the mirrors and it's nicer to those parked next to me. They can get into their vehicle without damage to the hips as well.
My truck is only used as a tow vehicle other than an occasional lumber run so it really isn't an issue.

Well we full time and our Ram DRW is our only vehicle, it gets smaller every day!