Deisel vs. Gasoline
We bought a new 41 ft Redwood last fall (16,400 GVWR) and plan to start FTing next winter, after retirement. I'm planning to buy a Ram 3500 (or perhaps 4500) crew cab dually chassis, and put a hauler-...
Forum Discussion
ol Bombero-JC wrote:valhalla360 wrote:
It comes down to what are you towing.
A few thoughts on some of the comments:
- Longevity is really a non-issue these days unless you are a big rig putting 100k+ miles per year on the engine. Properly maintained, either engine will hold up long term.
- Diesel engines have more torque but gas engines are happy at higher RPM. You simply use a lower gear ratio to get similar torque at the rear wheels. It sounds like the engine is screaming but assuming it is in good repair and within the tow ratings, it's fine.
What you are towing = true.
Towed TTs with gassers for years.
Longevity - from the previously posted link.
A ten year old LDT with 200K miles on it may be near the end of it's life.
Even if it's had LOTS of "TLC" (or claims of same) - would you buy it?... or be looking for one of the used trucks with low miles - like previous posters have found?
If it's a ten year old HDT (or an MDT) with 200K miles on it, it's barely broken in..:W
A buyer can usually access maint records on an HDT - can you do that on a used pickup?
No dog in the fight - my ten year old CTD only has 75K on it.
BTW - the owner of the local diesel shop was a diesel mechanic at a Ford dealership.
His "bread & butter" when he first opened the shop was Ford 6.0 diesels that were (then) out of warranty.
And there were LOTS of 'em.
Sure there were owners who never had any problems - then there's owners who were on their second buy-backs..:(
You could find their tales of woe on the Ford diesel forums.
Which is a good idea for the OP......if you must have a pickup,
visit the forums for whichever pickup *brand* -new or used- you might be considering.
See what problems *owners* are having - how often/long at the dealership?..;)
~
A 10yr old truck with 200k miles is fairly heavy use averaging around 20k/yr. Assuming more than 50% towing would be very heavy use.
National average is around 12k/yr and I suspect your average tow vehicle gets less than that.
Just picked up a 10yr old truck with a gas engine and 100k miles last summer. I expect to easily get another 100k miles and 6-7 years.
MDT and HDT trucks are kind of a seperate subject from the diesel/gas debate as they are built to completely different specs.
