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Looking at tow rigs... what would you buy?

fund razor said:
anybody strongly recommending diesel over gas?
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you have to do the math yourself. there is NOTHING like diesel though. I usually tow with a Lincoln Navigator (5.4). it gets horrible gas mileage towing my Donzi 28ZX (10 is the highest I see). The duramax is far superior in both power and mileage.
 
VetteLT193 said:
you have to do the math yourself. there is NOTHING like diesel though. I usually tow with a Lincoln Navigator (5.4). it gets horrible gas mileage towing my Donzi 28ZX (10 is the highest I see). The duramax is far superior in both power and mileage.
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I am seeing some F250SDs with 7.3 diesels in my price range. Comparably priced to slightly lower mileage gassers.
 
If u only use it a couple of times in the year,,,DIESEL is not worth it.

My old Suburban with a 350 gets 12-15 MPG either way,,,towing or not.
A diesel would have a little more pep,,,and maybe geting 16 MPH.
Thats what i found .
Also Diesel is more at the pump,,,,at least here !
 
fund razor said:
I am seeing some F250SDs with 7.3 diesels in my price range. Comparably priced to slightly lower mileage gassers.
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From looking at your pic of your boat. I would go with a diesel. With that much weight the ride and the wear and tear is much easier on a diesel. I pull with all kinds of trucks and the diesel is by far the best. By the way I still have my 2001 excursion w/7.3 that I will sell.
 
fund razor said:
I am seeing some F250SDs with 7.3 diesels in my price range. Comparably priced to slightly lower mileage gassers.
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When you do the math, also look 5 years older with 5 years of the miles you will put on the truck to compare 'future resale' Diesels have a pretty high low value.

As to daredevil's MPG it is way better than I ever see. My MPG calculations are very accurate though, not rough estimates, so that might be part of the difference.. could also be the torque of the 350 VS the Ford 5.4 3V. I see an honest 11.7-13.1 MPG in town. 14.8 Hwy cruising around 80. Towing... fogeddaboudit. in the high 9's, can be lower. occasionally higher if I am doing a long run at 45-50 MPH. I'm not hard on it either, by any stretch, so it could be lower... it is mated to a 6 speed auto. I usually get better than EPA estimates based on how I drive. not in this thing.

In the duramax I don't think I have seen less than 15 ever and there is more power. (I'd buy a powerstroke over Dmax though.) I know I can pretty solidly add 5 MPG to any of my numbers above and be close.

Based on prices I see, you can buy an early 2000's powerstroke for 15k or less in excellent condition. But, I never see them for under $7500 in good shape with really high miles. never seen one less than 5-6k period. So, it costs a grand a year to own it? Gas though, the bottom value is pretty much the floor.
 
indywhsle said:
From looking at your pic of your boat. I would go with a diesel. With that much weight the ride and the wear and tear is much easier on a diesel. I pull with all kinds of trucks and the diesel is by far the best. By the way I still have my 2001 excursion w/7.3 that I will sell.
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how much? I've been looking but can't find one reasonable.
 
Fund,

If you are going to do alot of towing you can't go wrong with a diesel. Things to remember is in most places diesel is about the same price as premium fuel. The maitenance on a diesel is more expensive, oil changes, fuel filters etc. Lastly working on a diesel can get expensive. All that said I love my Ford diesel and will not own a gasser as long as I am trailering my boat. I don't care what anybody tells you won't find any brand of gasser that will tow as well as any brand of diesel. Its up to you in the long run!
 
Hey Mike,

Forgive me if you already mentioned this... but are there any other handy upgrades to your Excursion like rear air bags or beefier suspension or brakes? I have a buddy that towed mine with a 7.3 diesel excursion for a long ride and we did use a little air to level things out. He had added bags aftermarket.

Thanks.
 
The early 6.0 L Power Strokes had serious problems. Navistar and Ford were trading lawsuits over them. The 7.3 is suppose to be the best Diesel ever made, but you are pushing 10 yo if you lok for one of them. I have an 08 DRW 6.4 with 16K miles. I tow a Formula 38. The whole thing inc full tanks on truck and boat weighs 25K. I have not had a problem towing yet. Who knows what the future will bring.
 
I have a 1999 f350 4x4 auto diesel 4door single rear axle short bet, white with gray interior. gauges, headrest monitors, intake kit, 5"exhaust, 6 position flip chip. truck odo has 202000 miles. The motor has right at 80miles on along with transfercase and trans. Will take 11,000.00 for it. I use it for work and drive over 300miles pullen 12k trailer full of tools every 7 days on a one way trip. not afraid to drive cross country in(got a job in Oregon this Jan) and is what crew will take if not sold.
 
fund razor said:
anybody strongly recommending diesel over gas?
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I do. In the price range you are looking in, you'll most likely be seeing vehicles that already have in excess of 100,000 miles. Most diesels are just getting broke in good at 100,000. I know of a 7.3 Ford that my cousin has been driving for years that has 400,000 on it and hasn't been overhauled yet. I've had several duramax's since 2001, that I put over 100,000 on each with zero problems and the current 2005 duramax I am driving has 165,000 and doesn't use a drop of oil. I have a tri axle dump truck that has a duramax in it that we haul 22 tons on every load, all day every day and its got 250,000 on it and no problems yet.
 
Im feeling old..that last ford deisel I had was the 6.9... That truck was rode hard and put away wet with never a whimper.
 
ive got a early 99 7.3 powerstroke crew cab long box srw, truck has around 180k hard miles on it, 4 inch lift, 35's, the front and rear leafs are aftermarket from the lift, they have 11 springs total each corner, it rides hard, however it does not have that sag that most diesel's have in the front, you can take your hands off the wheel and it tracks straight. however because of the wide tires it pulls if its in the truck ruts. the eninge is far from stock. my dad has a 04 crew cab long box, srw, but with the v-10, he uses his truck to tow a mile down to the gas station and put in and take out at the ramp, all within a mile, he choose the v-10 over diesel, for intial cost, not using the truck often enough to justify the fuel costs and more so, the maintance. the maintance is huge on my diesel compared to the gas, not lets talk other things on the diesel, the cost of a water pump, very expensive, injectors, the HPOP, 2 batteries, 99-04 ford diesels are hard on balljoints, wheel bearings. my dad went from a diesel to gas, his experience with his first 7.3 was great, but the overall costs for not using the truck hauling everyday was not worth it. i think if all your doing is 2 or 3 trips, and a mile or two to the ramp, i would get the gassser knowing what i know now. cant really beat the v-10 excursion or the gmc with 8.1.
 
showtime83 said:
ive got a early 99 7.3 powerstroke crew cab long box srw, truck has around 180k hard miles on it, 4 inch lift, 35's, the front and rear leafs are aftermarket from the lift, they have 11 springs total each corner, it rides hard, however it does not have that sag that most diesel's have in the front, you can take your hands off the wheel and it tracks straight. however because of the wide tires it pulls if its in the truck ruts. the eninge is far from stock. my dad has a 04 crew cab long box, srw, but with the v-10, he uses his truck to tow a mile down to the gas station and put in and take out at the ramp, all within a mile, he choose the v-10 over diesel, for intial cost, not using the truck often enough to justify the fuel costs and more so, the maintance. the maintance is huge on my diesel compared to the gas, not lets talk other things on the diesel, the cost of a water pump, very expensive, injectors, the HPOP, 2 batteries, 99-04 ford diesels are hard on balljoints, wheel bearings. my dad went from a diesel to gas, his experience with his first 7.3 was great, but the overall costs for not using the truck hauling everyday was not worth it. i think if all your doing is 2 or 3 trips, and a mile or two to the ramp, i would get the gassser knowing what i know now. cant really beat the v-10 excursion or the gmc with 8.1.
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Thanks. Interesting perspective. Thinking about my work schedule and everything... I'll bet that I end up doing two 500-1000 mile trips a year and the rest will be 25 miles to a good ramp. 50 miles round trip to/from ramp. Even if I do that 20 times... that would only be a thousand... so we are talking 2000-3000 boat hauling miles absolute maximum possible on a big boating year with plenty of time off of work. If I skip a poker run or do any rack storage those miles would drop fast. Maybe the gasser would be better in terms of maintenance.
 
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