Best State to buy a used pick up in IMHO is Texas
Plenty to choose from and well optioned with mostly hwy miles.
Gas/diesels plus annual State inspection...:coolcowboy:

Irony defined. People usually buy a new diesel because they're supposed to be reliable for a long time.

I don`t miss the school bus sound of my 7.3l but I do miss the gas mileage unloaded and the bigger gas tank.

The 8.1l is quiet, trans shifts great but horrible gas mileage makes me almost not wanna own it, maybe 4.5 mpg around town towing and 6-7mpg highway and why Chevy only put a 26 gallon tank in a 3500 Dually I`ll never know. One trip to my favorite launch and back and I`m running on fumes getting home..
Sure lacks the Diesel TQ too , my 7.3l hardly ever downshifted, the 8.1L downshifts often..

I am pulling a pretty heavy old school resin bucket thou...

your not soppose to stomp on it at every stop sign or light and towing at 90 mph is no better :party-smiley-004:

when it comes time for tires put 235 85 16's or do you have 17's? any thats good for like 3-4 mpg..those 225 75's eat up a;ot of fuel..

We bought a TX truck before we picked up the 35'. '03 Crew Cab Dually Duramax. Other than the injector risk, this has been a pretty good purchase at $12.5. Had some hail damage at time of purchase, but only had 120k on the clock and was used to pull a horse trailer. It was extremely clean underneath (only dust). It is a Western Hauler ediition, so it is well equipped inside and out. Get's good fuel mileage while towing.

It's current purpose in life is only to pull the boat, so the hail damage to hood and roof doesn't bother me - maybe I'll fix it one day ...maybe I won't.

My last thought is that I wouldn't have one of these for a daily driver - the ride is very stiff when unloaded. The newer models may have improved in that area?

I love my 03 F250 7.3. 212k miles runs like a champ. 7.3s are good, 6.4s not so much, and 6.0s RUN.

I picked this 06 2500hd GMC 6.0 Gas with 79k on it for bout 18K. Truck pulls great and handles my 32 Fountain with ease. The only draw back is mpg when pulling long distance. Took the rig to Lake Cumberland PR and sucked some fuel down going thru the hills of KY. But this is not a daily driver and primarily pulls the boat or the sleds in the winter. I personally think that the GM trucks have a little nicer feel inside when on a long haul.

http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/a...98102768_n.jpg

What kind of REAL miles per gallon are you diesel guys getting towing ? Im not talking what the BS meter shows, but actually hand calculated? My 2004 6.0L Ford with a tuner, turbo back exhaust, 3.73 gears, got 8.5-9 pulling my 40 Formula. Empty on the hwy it got 16-17. My current gasser with 4.10's gets 13 hwy empty, and 7-8 towing my boat.

Around here at the moment, 87 octane is 3.09 a gallon. Diesel is 3.79. Strictly towing, on a 300 mile trip, the my gas truck would cost 4 dollars less in fuel over my old 6.0L. Empty, the 6.0L would be cheaper to run fuel wise.

joe,,coming back from florida with my formula i got 12 mpg going down i got 14 mpg..no fuel in boat approx 11.000 lbs..2004 dodge 2500 swr auto trans cummins,,banks programmer and exhaust..truck had 150 k on it

Sounds about right. My buddy has an 04 5.9 dodge and gets about that towing his 30FT