Gas or diesel
I posted this on another site as well. I have decided that the F150 I have is just not going to cut it with the trailer I have. Have an opportunity to get a pretty good deal on some 2015 350 Super Du...
Forum Discussion
rjstractor wrote:rhagfo wrote:
To think that the Vantage grade is just over a 5% grade overall! We may just need to go to eastern Washington to see how the climb is!
It's actually not even that steep, it's posted at just 4%. What can make that climb a killer is during prevailing weather patterns it's common to push a 20+ mph headwind going up that hill. 100 degree temps in the summer make it worse. When it's cool and calm it's not a bad hill to climb, just long.
It also starts with crossing the bridge over the Columbia river where you usually have to deal with nasty crosswinds, sometimes preventing a running start up the hill. Even though the new trucks are much better insulated/sound proofed, and the engines more refined I still love hearing it rev up the hills. Doesn't bother me, or the engine a bit.
Now here's one of the biggest "problems", or complaints if you will with the gas rigs. We've all been in the situation where you're towing up a steep grade in the right lane just fine, then you come up on a slow moving semi. The left lane is crowded with cars, faster trucks (Diesels?), etc and you can't get over. At that point you can either cut off the faster traffic to get around him (Not the courteous thing to do), or you can just set a comfortable distance behind the semi and follow him to the top, getting there a few minutes later. If you do get a break in the left lane, it better be a good one cause that gasser won't exactly speed around the semi on a 7% grade. So if that kind of scenario bothers you, get the diesel. Any of today's diesels pulling my 7500 lb trailer would pass me on that hill like I'm sitting still, but that's OK with me, I know I'll get there (See user name ;) )
