Need help choosing new tow vehicle

All the downsized GTDI engines come with they’re own set of possible problems just as the new emissions controlled diesels. I don’t think the advantage of one over the other is all that great anymore. I personally would pick a naturally aspirated port injected gas engine over a GTDI one as long as it can get the job done. FYI , I don’t drag race while towing.

Read every article and review you can find and above all ask others here and
on the next camping trip. I have been doin the same. I saw one article by
a well known automotive magazine which said some new pickups are not optimized
for towing but others are. What the H does that mean. I talked to a insurance executive on the last camping trip and he liked GM pickups because they did not have all the turbo this and that critical computer components. HU? He said in a accident the cost to repair those highly technical components is very costly. Getting every horse out of a standard light weight engine is getting to be tricky and highly technical. He said it causes more trucks to be "totaled" after an accident, just to costly to put all that stuff back and get it running again That's because they talk us into taking the money when it seems hopeless. Amazing what you can learn by passing the time of day. This has just confused me more but it makes some sense. I don't like plastic bumpers on pickups and won't buy one that has them. The paint breaks off scratches and bugs are hard to remove without damaging the paint. They fade and just look stupid on a pickup. That attitude cuts my choices down. I have a old burbon with the 5.3 and it pulls 7,000lbs good enough but I don't race anyone in Branson and I have to really control my descent in mountains with emergency run away ramps. Pickups seem better in breaking situations. Engine braking helps but at a point you have to drop the rpms and push the trany back in drive. At this point it gets down to your truck and RV brakes. I followed some semi's once who were burning brakes resulting in smoke like a engine fire. It took all the skills I had to stay in control down that hill. They had signs all over the place for Semi's to pull over and check their brakes and equipment. Also to watch for emergency run away ramps. This was just N. of Sedona. Imagine if it was raining. Unless you
are very rich buying a tow vehicle can put your kids on hot dogs
and beans so do your research.

LIKE2BUILD wrote:
I don't buy the maintenance cost argument in the gas vs diesel debate. I do my own maintenance so my only costs are supplies. Every 15,000 miles my RAM 6.7L Cummins requires 3 gallons of oil ($22/gallon), a $10 oil filter, and 2 fuel filters ($60 total). So basically once a year I put $136 into routine maintenance. My old Chevy with 6.0L required 6qts of oil (about $35) and a $5 oil filter every 5,000 miles. At $40/oil change about 3 times per year I spent roughly $120 on supplies for routine maintenance. Both are using full synthetic oil and quality filters.

So the diesel costs $136/year for oil and filters and the gas cost me $120. Are you really going to get worked up about a difference of $16/year? I'm not. I'll take the power and capability of my diesel every single day. I'm not about to bash my old truck.....no way. It was reliable as can be and served me well for 10 years, we simply jumped up into 5th wheels at a weight that just wouldn't work with the old gas engine.

In your case you have legitimate choices of gas vs diesel. I just think you need to decide which truck you like best (F150 3.5L or Ram 1500 3.0L) and go with it. Either one will serve you perfectly well. The maintenance cost argument just isn't the big deal some folks make it out to be.
KJ

Excellent assessment in my opinion. In my experience with a different breed of truck the filter costs were higher and I also invested in some additives for cetane improvement and diesel fuel gelling. Some people might not buy additives but you will be buying DEF and dealing with those maintenance issues. But the biggest difference I see is in repair costs if they arise. The Labor and Parts costs, by comparison, will rip the wallet right out of your pants, especially if you need something like a high pressure oil pump or some fuel injector work. Don’t forget to add In the cost of that Diesel engine option. Also, mpg stats are usually better with a diesel but cost per gallon is usually higher and (I have found) fuel quality may not be as good.

Don’t get me wrong- diesels are great if you feel you need them, but you also need to work them fairly hard to keep them running well. Hope that helps.

babock wrote:

Walkdog wrote:
Don’t forget to at least test drive a Nissan Titan XD. I bet you would be sold on it

Until you look at it's payload spec.

And don't forget a Hemi, Silverado, Sierra and Tundra while you're at it.....

If you really are certain about your maximum towing GVWR then you may even consider the F150 with the base 3.3L V6 engine. With the trailer tow option, it can handle 7,500 trailer.

Walkdog wrote:
Don’t forget to at least test drive a Nissan Titan XD. I bet you would be sold on it

Until you look at it's payload spec.

DutchmenSport wrote:
Personally? Go for over-kill (3.5L EcoBoost). You never know what else you may end up towing in the future.

Concur !

Some people complain about EcoBoost fuel economy when NOT towing. That is because they can not keep their foot out of the throttle ! Also remember the new F150 has a 10 speed automatic, which should work well for towing.

Whatever you buy, make sure to get the heavy duty trailer tow option. It typically includes a HD radiator and auxiliary transmission cooler and probably a built in electric brake controller.

Personally, the extra purchase cost and OPERATING cost of a diesel would stop me dead in my tracks.

I am almost going nuts looking at all the information on the Ford 3.5 eco boost and the Ram eco diesel. Early next week my wife and I will go to dealers that have the trucks we are interested in and give them a try. My wife will have to be comfortable with whichever truck we choose as we both share the driving. I really like the economy of the diesel towing and not towing but the ford is not that far behind.

I am close friends with guys that own Ecodiesel, Ecoboost, and I have the Hemi, don't know about the V6, we have said we could traid back and forth and all be happy with what we had.


the ecodiesel gets unreal MPG empty, an avrg in the high 20's and has gotten 31 on one 475 mile trip with a tail wind.

the ecoboost gets fair unloaded mpg at 23.

my hemi gets 22.

all these are highway miles and staying close to the speed limit.


towing power...they seem to be really to close to say any one is better than the other.


the ecodiesel will get 3-4 mpg better than the others towing a 6,500lb TT.

hommer638 wrote:
1. 2017 Ford F150 XLT with the 3.5L eco boost 2. 2017 Ram 1500 Bighorn with the 3.0L eco diesel. 3. 2017 Ram 1500 with that 3.6L pentastar v6 engine. I will be towing a travel trailer with a GVWR of just under 4000 lbs.

The EcoBoost and EcoDiesel will be a total toss up. I wouldn't suggest the Pentastar because you can quickly get over-matched if you upgrade TT's.

I have one friend with an Ecoboost. He loves it and unloaded MPG is great. Towing it drops under 15MPG quick. He barks about the towing mileage but in terms of power it has plenty. I'd go with the 3.5L as the 2.7L could run out of grunt....again if you upgrade TT's.

I don't know the towing fuel mileage on the EcoDiesel but I think they are rated at something like 27MPG highway unloaded. That's awful nice :B

I don't buy the maintenance cost argument in the gas vs diesel debate. I do my own maintenance so my only costs are supplies. Every 15,000 miles my RAM 6.7L Cummins requires 3 gallons of oil ($22/gallon), a $10 oil filter, and 2 fuel filters ($60 total). So basically once a year I put $136 into routine maintenance. My old Chevy with 6.0L required 6qts of oil (about $35) and a $5 oil filter every 5,000 miles. At $40/oil change about 3 times per year I spent roughly $120 on supplies for routine maintenance. Both are using full synthetic oil and quality filters.

So the diesel costs $136/year for oil and filters and the gas cost me $120. Are you really going to get worked up about a difference of $16/year? I'm not. I'll take the power and capability of my diesel every single day. I'm not about to bash my old truck.....no way. It was reliable as can be and served me well for 10 years, we simply jumped up into 5th wheels at a weight that just wouldn't work with the old gas engine.

In your case you have legitimate choices of gas vs diesel. I just think you need to decide which truck you like best (F150 3.5L or Ram 1500 3.0L) and go with it. Either one will serve you perfectly well. The maintenance cost argument just isn't the big deal some folks make it out to be.

KJ