PARADOX

duunoit.. I rather have a gas truck, but n all honesty, I'm not familiar with the diesels. IT seems that they are just noisy, smelly, harder ti find gas. But I also know they last for ever, and the torque is just great. I still prefer gas. I guess, I'm just used to gas power. I already have fourfootitis.
FF2... pretty much what I'm thinking, but, just like with the boat search, I like to know as much as I can before I make a selection.
Chris... I had GMs for a while. No complaines. Had Chrysler products before as well. Fords back in the days. (decades ago) IT seems that Fords are pretty rugged now days and the trany is pretty good, That's why it's not just an easy "best deal" issue. GM's seem to have more creature comforts. I just don't know much about these trucks HP and towing capability. THe specs are specs, I rather have some personal input from people who have them.

Full Force

iTrader: (5)

some like gas, some like diesel, I have had gassers in the past, the last 3 have been diesel, my brother has a 5.4 gas F-250 and it does ok, it does not compare to the stock diesel even, mine is hot rodded some with a chip, 4" exhaust and just last week a modded trans, the trans made a big difference for me. One thing with diesel is a little 400.00 chip gets you 100 horse and up to 250 ft lbs torque, no gasser can do that.
If you keep up on a diesel it will run forever, oil changes are important on them.

what are you towing? how heavy? how far? and how often?

I tow a 32 Baja I never weighed it but would assume 11,000-11,500 on trailer with fuel. I have a 99 PSD 3/4 ton, tows great!

Full Force

iTrader: (5)

No doubt the Cummins is better, only problem is what is wrapped around them... I have alot of friends with all year dodge diesels, all of them like the style and comfort of the Ford but they wanted the Cummins, Ford needs to use the Cummins, then we would have a perfect truck.

Full Force

iTrader: (5)

Here is tow ratings..

http://www.trailerlife.com/towratings/07towratings.pdf

haulinvols

If you are looking for a gas truck 2006-2007 then in my opinion the best option would be to find a V-10 Ford.

The reason is mainly the engine as the three trucks are gong to have relatively similar tow ratings.

Let's examine the options. First is the Dodge. Your only option for a Dodge gasser is the Hemi. That in itself is not a bad option but this engine is unfortunately connected to the same 5 speed auto out of the 1/2 ton trucks and in my opinion it is a horrible towing transmission. It constantly hunts gears and since the torque band of the Hemi is high up in the RPM band, it does not lend itself well to heavy towing. I owned a 2004 Hemi 2500 for about 5 months and hated it.

Now the GM. If you can find a 8.1 V8 truck with the Alison you will have found a real nice towing vehicle with a gas engine. The problem is that they are few and far between since most of the gas trucks are the 6.0. I am not a fan of towing with small blocks but the 6.0 seems like a nice motor. I have heard about some valve ticking in these engines with miles that sounds horrible.

Now Ford. I don't think you could go wrong with a V-10 ford with the 5 speed auto. It is probably the best option for towing in a gas platform of the big three with the demise of the 8.1 in the GM trucks. The interior is nice and the fuel economy is not much worse while towing than the 5.4 since it is not having to work as hard but let's face it, if you are looking at a gas truck for towing, you can forget good fuel economy.

Just my thoughts as far as gassers.



That said, I would much rather have an older diesel to tow with than a new gas truck. I have owned a Ford 6.0 and although I liked the truck, I hated the 6.0 diesel. I have owned several Dodges and currently drive a 3500 Cummins and it is by far my favorite. I would look for a 2001-2002 Ford with the 7.3 or a 2003-2005 Cummins.

jeff32

I have a customer pulling 3 17000 lbs trailer. he has a 3 2007 trucks (Ford, Dodge and GMC), all of them are always travelling together with same loads. he keeps telling me to tell anyone who ask wich one is better to call him, and he would tell all of them, GM is better... Apparently way better! specifically on fuel mileage, but also on tork going up hill, and the driver of the GM is apparently less tired at the end of the day... and the 3 drivers all agree on that cause they are switching trucks each day... But they are diesel engine so that does not help you about your fuel or gas question... But it does answer on wich one to choose!

PARADOX

Thanks.. now we talking guys.

245 your boat is not 11,000 LB. Most 8000 loaded, plus trailer. I am familiar with the Force line. Almost bought one years ago when they first came out.

Joe92GT

Modern diesels are not noisy.. sure, they are louder than gas, but not near as noisy as even a few years ago. Go have a dealer start up a new Chevy duramax, and tell me its noisy. Hell, I think a gas motor is just as loud. Same with all the common rail engines (duramax, mainly 04.5-up, the older ones were a lil louder, dodge 03 and up, ford 08).

I have no trouble finding diesel stations, however it may require just a little more planning. If you are going to run the numbers right now, a gas truck is probably cheaper. The problem is you have no where near the power of the modern diesels, no matter what the marketing tells you about the gas engines hp ratings.

The smell isn't as bad on the newer diesels, my friend's duramax didn't even smell like a diesel before he put an exhaust on it. I personally love the smell and can't stand the smell of gas exhaust. Ever smell rotten eggs going up a big hill on the highway, yeah gas cars stink!!!!

Yes, the diesel option is a lot more money, however a lot of it is recovered in resale, and in some instances more is recovered, so your just floating the extra money more or less.

If you tow heavy, and a lot, there really is not choice.. its diesel all the way.

Full Force

iTrader: (5)

I meant 11,000 WITH trailer, fuel, and gear.

jafo

Paradox- I caught your 'gas' ref in the original post to this thread, so I'll try not to wander too far into the diesel stuff.....

The V-10 is an excellent gas engine. I've owned two, a '99 F250 and a 2000 F350 dually. Both were smooth runners. It won't pass any gas stations, but neither will the 8.1 Chevy. The Chevy probably has the better transmission of the two. I have no experience with the Dodges other than it would take their V-10 to compare to the above- the hemi isn't going to get close in torque numbers.
I switched to diesel for the better fuel economy and higher torque ratings, plus known longetivity when pulling loads over the life of the truck.

There is an EXCELLENT article in this month's Popular Mechanics that compares the big three's offerings in heavy duty trucks. Although it used diesels for the article, there are some good comparisons as to suspension and interior differences. It's worth the read.
Jim