Gas/Diesel Payload trade off

Two places where the the Diesel really shines.
Now this is my experience yours may differ

Carrying a TC while towing a heavy trailer in hill country
it can take the load with ease

Low speeds in high temperatures. A diesel generates very little heat when running slow so you are not going to overheat the engine with the ac on full blast even going up a mountain road

Last fall it was 107* on I5 going up the grapevine towing my horse trailer with two 1200 pound warmbloods, full tack, 25 gallons of water while carrying my lance 1055 with 3 adults on board and we stayed cool and the truck stayed cool all the way over the pass

orlandimal wrote:
so what you are saying is that a trucks GVWR does not matter?

No but that that is a discussion of whole other flavor. What is being discussed here is whether or not a diesel engine would cause the OP to have to getter a lighter TC in the real world.

Ask yourself a very simple question. Does it make any sense that 2 indentical trucks with the exception one has a heavy duty engine with more power and torque coupled to a heavier duty transmission that the one with the more capable equipment is a less capable truck?

My F350 weighs a wopping 200 lb's more on the front axle with my 3600 lb camper on it. What good would 650 lighter front end do me?

so what you are saying is that a trucks GVWR does not matter?

Ivylog wrote:
I'm a diesel fan so here goes... How much of that 650 lbs do you loose on the rear axle where you need it with a truck camper? I do not know the answer, but I'll go out on a limb and say "not much".

X2. That diesel engine is over the front axle and has basically no effect on the rear axle. Your true payload with everything else being the same is no different in any practical terms in the real world.

In a Ford crew cab DRW configuration you lose 995 lbs of payload capacity. Diesels have lots of advantageous including the ability to pull 30,000+ lb trailers up mountain passes. However, they are heavy and if you are hauling instead of towing they do impact what you can carry (if you care about GVWR).

Given that the gas engines can are rated to pull 15,000 lb trailers it shouldn't be surprising that they have plenty of power reserve to easily haul and engine brake a 5,000+ lbs truck campers.

I wrote a brief review of my experience after our first long trip.

Brief review of F350 6.2L and Af1150 combination

We have added miles since then and been over a number of mountain passes in Washington, Idaho, and Montana since then. My experience hasn't changed except the gas mileage is getting better as it breaks

If you want a diesel go for it. Just do so with your eyes open.

Payload on rear axle? Not enough to worry about IMHO. If you stay within the axle rating which essentially is based on the capacity of the wheels and tires, you can easily have up to 10,000lbs rear axle capacity. I did with Rickson wheels and Load Range H tires.

Do they make a HD pickup with a gas engine? Seriously?

I'm a diesel fan so here goes... How much of that 650 lbs do you loose on the rear axle where you need it with a truck camper? I do not know the answer, but I'll go out on a limb and say "not much".

Yes, you get more payload with gas.