What truck to buy next for towing Travel Trailer

[Poohper]

Hi Everyone,

We are in the processing of looking for another truck to tow our 35' Travel trailer. Our truck (2007 Ford F250 Diesel)is on it's last leg at 145,000 miles and it hasn't been such a great truck maintenance wise.
We are now looking at the Chevy, Dodge and GMC. We have seen more Rams towing compared to the others. What do you tow your Travel Trailers with and should we stick with the diesel? Should we also get the 4X4 and what engine size should we look for. We have had the EGR valve replaced 3 times on this truck and it's time to move on. We decided no more Ford Trucks. Thanks!

[larry_barnhart]

We owned a ram for 14000 miles and back to a GM dually. Really for a better trannie to tow the 35 ft alpenlite. Ram was in the shop a lot for 14K miles but it was a nice truck.

chevman

[FishOnOne]

Walaby wrote:
Interesting how many converted Ford owners there are.

I owned a Ram.. then a GM for less than a year and went back to Ram.

Mike

I've been a long time GM guy and my last 3 trucks have been Fords with the last two being diesels. With a combined 450k miles, all these engines had original water pumps, alternators, etc.

My 98 was a 5.4 gas that had a T fitting leak radiator fluid and a spark plug coil replaced (as a result of T fitting leak) at around 140k miles.

My 05 6.0 PSD had 170k miles when I sold it. A couple of oil leak issues that were fixed during warranty, U joints on drive shaft replaced, replaced EGR valve at 80k miles and removed and cleaned the EGR valve at 160k miles. Noteworthy: The 6.7 cummins requires EGR valve, EGR cooler, and turbo cleaning every 67k miles on the non def units. Valve lash adjustment at 150k miles so this truck would have required more maintenance items at the shop.

My current '12 6.7 PSD has 141k miles and the engine hasn't been touched. No oil leaks on engine, transmission, axles, etc. It's my best truck to date and the truck is as solid as the day it rolled off the lot.

I never recommend which truck for someone to purchase, but based on my last 3 trucks record my next truck purchase will be a no brainer.

[BB_TX]

Try all three and buy the one you like best. Little difference in the performance, reliability, and features between any of them now. New Fords are not the same as your old 2007.

[blofgren]

nodepositnoreturn wrote:
I know this is not what your asking but you have barley broken in your truck. For a few $$ as mentioned you can have a reliable bullet proof monster of a truck. It’s a proven fact.
I will address one more thing. If you are going to use this new truck as a local grocery getter and idle much your going to clog your EGR on the new truck.new diesels with anti pollution equipment need to be worked and driven hot and hard. Not getting them up to temp running around town is detrimental to their proformance.. With all this in mind unless you travel all over very often I would say go gasser. Many lumber yards and tow companies and school buses are going back to gas because of the mentioned issues. Your not giving up that much pulling with the new gassers they ar3 very stout.

The 6.0L has some design flaws that prevent it from truly being bulletproofed such as not enough head bolts per cylinder. The high pressure oil system that fires the injectors is also prone to problems, and the injectors themselves can be very problematic as well. The mileage that the OP has is certainly not much for many of the diesel engines out there but the 6.0L is a completely different scenario. Having a truck that is a constant worry while travelling is not fun.

I had an EGR delete done on my 6.0L which solved some issues, but I still had failing injectors, an oil cooler that was plugging up, and a bedplate oil leak that requires the engine to be pulled to repair. By this time I had sunk enough money into the sinking ship and got out of it while I could. I also had quite the time getting out of it; I couldn't sell it privately and most dealers would not take it on trade. After I successfully traded it on my current truck, it sat on the lot for the better part of a year before it finally sold.

[busterbrown73]

nodepositnoreturn wrote:
With all this in mind unless you travel all over very often I would say go gasser. Many lumber yards and tow companies and school buses are going back to gas because of the mentioned issues. Your not giving up that much pulling with the new gassers they ar3 very stout.

I concur. This is probably the OP's best option. They'll save in upfront costs on the truck purchase and in maintenance costs over the the life of the vehicle. Not everyone needs a diesel. YMMV though.

[nodepositnoretu]

I know this is not what your asking but you have barley broken in your truck. For a few $$ as mentioned you can have a reliable bullet proof monster of a truck. It’s a proven fact.
I will address one more thing. If you are going to use this new truck as a local grocery getter and idle much your going to clog your EGR on the new truck.new diesels with anti pollution equipment need to be worked and driven hot and hard. Not getting them up to temp running around town is detrimental to their proformance.. With all this in mind unless you travel all over very often I would say go gasser. Many lumber yards and tow companies and school buses are going back to gas because of the mentioned issues. Your not giving up that much pulling with the new gassers they ar3 very stout.

[ppine]

I bought a new 2002 Ford 7.3 and it is still running better than new with 166k miles. I had some front end work done recently and the mechanic asked how many miles. When I told him he said "Cool, still fresh."
I would consider a Dodge Ram diesel if your Ford did not work out.

[Walaby]

Interesting how many converted Ford owners there are.

I owned a Ram.. then a GM for less than a year and went back to Ram.

Mike

[Kavoom]

Good luck. I am a RAM owner and they dominate up here in Montana where I live primarily due to the local dealership being big enough to undercut everyone else. I think RAM as a brand is a little hungrier than the others also and making better deals. This is my second and is an excellent product and extremely comfortable as a driver. You could do worse and they are dealing like crazy now with the overall drop off in sales. They are all good trucks now days as long as all the electronic bells and whistles still work in 5 to 7 years.

I probably hear about more problems with Fords than the others although those problems are more about the aluminum and ecoboosts and you will be going big diesel it looks like.

[blofgren]

I was a die hard Ford guy and owned 3 of them over 20 years including a 7.3L diesel (great truck) and a 6.0L diesel (not a great truck as you've experienced). I bought the truck in my signature new 4 years ago and am a very happy camper. I think you should definitely check out the Ram with a Cummins diesel; I'm sure you'll be impressed!

Good luck and please let us know what you decide!

[LIKE2BUILD]

Poohper wrote:
Hi Everyone,

We are in the processing of looking for another truck to tow our 35' Travel trailer. Our truck (2007 Ford F250 Diesel)is on it's last leg
We are now looking at the Chevy, Dodge and GMC.
What do you tow your Travel Trailers with and should we stick with the diesel? Should we also get the 4X4 and what engine size should we look for.!

Unfortunately you currently own one of the more problematic engines produced in recent memory. There are ways to bullet proof the 6.0L Powerstroke engine and correct the inherent problems. If you want to spend $$thousands$$ on your current truck you would likely have a good tow machine.

I towed for 10 years with a Chevy 6.0L gas engine in a 2004 200HD. The truck was rock solid reliable and towed my 34’ TT just fine. It screamed in the hills of East Tennessee but it made it fine.

When I got my fifth wheel I bought the Ram Cummins in my signature. This was a night and day towing difference. We towed through Wyoming last year and the power combined with the exhaust brake made the mountain passes very easy to handle.

The Chevy was 2wd and I spent several occasions stuck on wet grass, wet boat ramps, and muddy conditions. The Ram is 4x4 and I have yet to be stuck.

The Chevy served me well and I was happy with it. The Ram is just a different and much better towing experience. If I were to buy again, I’d get the same Ram in a heart beat. Also the 4x4 is so convenient I don’t think I’ll ever own a 2WD truck again.

KJ

[busterbrown73]

If your travel trailer is less than 10K lbs GVWR, any late model 3/4 ton gasser from the big three would be a good match. Yes, a diesel truck will get you up a mountain quicker; but really, who's racing?

I own a Ram 2500 6.4L Megacab. It does the job well, even in the mountains, with my 35' travel trailer. I don't have to worry about def fluid, expensive oil changes, fuel filter changes, or any of the emission system failures. I put 87 octane regular fuel in it and go. No worries about shutting down a hot turbo or starting up a frozen engine block. The Hemi platform has been around forever and has proven it's reliability. I'd say the same about the GM 6.0 Vortec too. The 6.2 Ford would be my 3rd option as I have no experience with their trucks.

Remember, a diesel is not necessarily a requirement for a travel trailer. If you do have plans to go heavier with a 5th wheel (over 10K GVWR), a diesel would be the right option, but you'd want to look at 1 ton trucks to begin with.

Good luck.

[Poohper]

We will definitely be looking at the Dodge Rams. Thank you everyone!

[jmtandem]

I would stay with a diesel since you are in California and there are major mountains to enjoy with the trailer. A 35 foot trailer climbing mountain grades can be a workout for a gasser. Add me to the Ram/Cummins side of the ledger. 160,000 miles; still smiling. You might make sure that the emissions stuff is under a warranty at least to 100,000 miles as some components can be pricy.

[Campteacher]

Hi Poohper,

First of all, your name and signature just kills me!

I'm on my third Dodge/Ram truck, the first was a 2001 1500, the second a 2008 2500 CTD, and now this 2017 3500 CTD. I've been very happy with each one, and didn't look at the other two main brands when I picked up this one. I got it about six weeks ago, and saved some money by buying last year's model with only a few miles on it.

It depends on where you tow, but 35 feet is probably a heavy trailer, so I'd give strong consideration to diesel. Personally, I prefer to tow with a diesel.

thanks!

Kevin