Looking at Two trucks the difference is the engine

I am looking to step up from a F150 to a 3/4ton truck to pull a fiver that I'll be buying later in the year.

This month seems to be the deal month across most of the makes of trucks at least in Texas anyways. I've driven each of the 2016 year model of the F250, HD2500 and Ram 2500. I also drove a new '17 F250 but it was a PowerStroke, and easily out of my price range (all were Lariats and above)

One of my local Ram dealers has two '16 Ram 2500s that are exactly the same except for the engines (and powertrain differences associated with them). Both are short bed crew cab 4x4s with the blackout package. One has the 6.4Hemi the other the 6.7Cummins.

I know it's not quite an apples to apples comparison, but if you were presented with that option which would you go with? The fiver we are looking to get weighs in at around 9,500lbs with water, propane etc. We would add maybe 500lbs of gear/food etc.

Areas of importance to me:
1) Daily driver - thankfully I work about 2miles from where I live so short yardage mileage isnt too worrisome. But I do go visit family from time to time which is a 600mile drive. Around town which would have the better mpg? Since these are HD class trucks they dont have to publish fuel economy, so I am looking for real world results.
2) Currently have a 6,000lb bumper pull 28' TT and will replace it with a fiver in the next year or so. Clearly the 6.7 has the torque to pull it but so does the 6.4. My 2.7 F150 pulls it, but anything over 60mph and my mileage tanks, and hill climbs are move over into the slow lane (we do alot of camping in the Rockies)

I don't do alot of off-roading (on purpose anyways), but I will be retiring to areas where there will be snow during the winter so that capability is req'd. I doubt an engine difference will really matter there, but longevity will be important. Do the diesels still typically outlast the gas engines?

So to sum it all up I am looking to buy a truck in the next few weeks. They are exactly the same aside from powerplants, and about $7,000.

Thanks for yall's ideas, and that being said I really do like the Ram '16 HD2500 and can't wait to park it ouside my house for the next 8-10 years.

I just bought a 16 2500 a couple of months ago. I went with the 6.4 hemi. I'm getting around 14 mpg. I live in a hilly area and not much highway driving. I don't do a lot of towing and the towing I do. The 6.4 is more then enough. I don't have personal experience with the diesel but with the amount of towing you plan on doing. I would go with the cummins. Diesel isn't as expensive as it use to be. The only not is on the new diesels. The emission systems are giving everyone a headache. Find out if your dealer is cool with deleting the emissions crap. Either one is going to be a very solid truck. Good luck bro

You have a TT and are upgrading to a 5er. What are the odds of you getting a larger 5er than you mentioned or upgrading to a larger one on the third go around. YOu will gain more payload capacity with the 6.4 but a bit more tow capacity with the diesel. Towing with the diesel will be better in all respects. However, your short commute may not be the best for the diesel.

Skrap said:

You have a TT and are upgrading to a 5er. What are the odds of you getting a larger 5er than you mentioned or upgrading to a larger one on the third go around.

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That would happen if I were to win the lotto. But you gotta play to win, and I don't..

There is leeway in regards to the 5th wheels we've looked at. But the biggest factor is the price.. The more expensive it is, the heavier it is. Plus it's just me and the wife so it's more for us having a more room (ok alot with slides), and we like to do lots of long duration camping.. 2 weeks here a month there. We need the space to be comfortable. We already had the F150 when we got the trailer so we where limited then. We don't want to be limited next time (there are some HUGE 5th wheels that the 2500 can pull and still be safely in the towing specs.)

A 6.4 will haul 10000 pounds just fine. But if you are planning on traveling in the mountains I'd go diesel. I've towed 12000 with my 6.4 and it does fine but it don't just hum along like the big C does.

Real world mileage will be 11-16mpg hemi daily driving and 13-18mpg cummins.

If you're hauling 10k up and down grades, go diesel. Although your short commute to work is a little worrisome with the diesel.

Skrap said:

However, your short commute may not be the best for the diesel.

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Repeated & constant short trips could wreak havoc on the batteries due to not being able to fully recharge after the heavy loads of grid heater & starter.

Is it possible to keep the f150 for commuting to work and get the Cummins 2500 for towing and long trips?

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Given that estimated load, and the potential for a bit larger trailer, I'd go diesel.

I calculated what my 6.4L 2500 will tow safely and once you add up all the numbers with passengers, fuel, gear in the truck, pin weight of the 5'vr, gear in the trailer, etc... at 10K dry weight for the trailer I was within 25 pounds of the GCVWR of the truck. Too damn close for me. I backed off on the trailer weight and am glad I did.

So if you wanna tow that 5'vr, or get a larger one (more slides = more weight), get the diesel. You won't be sorry.

As others have stated, that short commute may hurt you in a diesel with emissions if you don't go take it for a highway drive every now and then. The DPF regens about every 60-80 miles depending on use, and it takes about 10-15 minutes to complete a regen. You can probably go back and forth to work all week without even needing to regen, but I would take a on a joy ride on the weekends.

Although you will notice the truck going into regen at stops due to the higher idle, you will not notice it on the highway. This is why I recommend people to get an Edge Insight to monitor regens and other important temps. It won't void your warranty since it doesn't "tune" anything and only gives you information from your ECM via your OBD. The Insight will tell you when you are in regen so you will know when to take a "joy ride" for about 15 minutes.

One thing to note though. Short commutes are bad for any engine due to the oil not getting hot enough to burn off an moisture that condensates as the engine cools. The other factor is wear. Since it generally takes 10-15 minutes for your oil to get to operating temp, your oil is too thick to properly coat the engine. This is why most of your wear in the life of your engine will come from those first 10-15 minutes from a cold start. Regardless of engine, if you have short trips like this then I would recommend a multi-grade synthetic oil with the lowest cold temp grade as possible. Maybe like a 5W40. A grade 5 has a thinner viscosity at cold temps starts than a grade 15.

Since several have addressed the short commute issue, I would also look at a 3500 SRW with a Cummins. When you put the diesel in a 2500, your payload gets down closer to 1500 territory than you realize. Then dropping the pin weight of a 5er on it will probably put you very close or over your limit.
If you can keep the F150 for work commutes until you retire, and just tow with the new cummins that would be ideal.


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MADDOG said:

Given that estimated load, and the potential for a bit larger trailer, I'd go diesel.

I calculated what my 6.4L 2500 will tow safely and once you add up all the numbers with passengers, fuel, gear in the truck, pin weight of the 5'vr, gear in the trailer, etc... at 10K dry weight for the trailer I was within 25 pounds of the GCVWR of the truck. Too damn close for me. I backed off on the trailer weight and am glad I did.

So if you wanna tow that 5'vr, or get a larger one (more slides = more weight), get the diesel. You won't be sorry.

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If you're close with a 6.4 2500, you would be way over with a cummins 2500.


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That is if you actually go by the purposely reduced paylaod numbers the 2500 has so it will fit into the Class 2B 10,000 lb max GVWR that was created decades ago. I would bet anyone here that if the Class 2B max GVWR went up to 11,000 lbs today, all the manufacturers would rate their now 10,000 GVWR trucks to 11,000 GVWR over night without changing one thing on the truck. Thus increasing the payload by 1,000 lbs.

^^^absolutely right (most likely haha).

Anytime you are talking 5th wheel my opinion and preference would be diesel.

My wife and I had been expecting our first kid a year and half ago and traded an 06 cummins in for a 6.4 hemi to get the bigger back seat for the car seat and such... We had a 37' bumper pull camper at that time. The hemi did great with our bumper pull. But we ended up buying a 5th wheel and I wasn't happy with how it pulled it. Again my personal preference but I was not happy with it. Especially after owning a diesel prior.

We shortly traded the hemi off after buying the 5th wheel for my current truck.

I drive right a mile to work every day with it. I also am on our fire dept and make many trips to and from the dept (also roughly a mile). I have now had my truck for over a year with no ill affects from the short trips.

I can attest it would go into regen more frequently during the winter months due to the lack of working but I would occasionally hook up to a trailer to help burn off the soot...

I also plan to delete the truck at the first signs of any of the emissions costing me a penny...



Long story short, either will do great for you. I do however have a bias towards the diesel market and feel it is the better option if it is affordable. Just my opinion...

I tow a 11k 38' 5th with my 6.4 3500 SRW. I would have been very close to max payload with a 2500.

While a 2500 will handle more weight than the stickers say, it can become a legal issue in some states if you weigh more than the manufacturer's max weight capacities.

Are you planning on towing the 5'er more than a handful of times per year? If so, I would go diesel. Just my opinion though. If you are leaning towards the Hemi, get the 4.10's.

MN-Ram said:

While a 2500 will handle more weight than the stickers say, it can become a legal issue in some states if you weigh more than the manufacturer's max weight capacities.

Are you planning on towing the 5'er more than a handful of times per year? If so, I would go diesel. Just my opinion though. If you are leaning towards the Hemi, get the 4.10's.

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Which states enforce the manufacturers certification sticker for non commercial vehicles? Do they enforce those capacities for the hundreds of thousands of vehicles without stickers before the manufacturers had to certify them in 2000?

All it is is a certification sticker imposed by the NHTSA on manufacturers who make vehicles saying it meets the certification requirements and the recommended capacities. Those capacities are not binding by law to the non-commercial consumer. The weight you register your vehicle for is what is binding by law. In many states, axle weight ratings is also binding my law.

A little fact about that sticker is that it was imposed after the Firestone/Explorer fiasco in the late 90's and was enacted by the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act of 2000 to hold the manufacturers liable for their products and so consumer would have the info readily available. It is not a legal number that is enforced on non-commercial consumers especially since just changing tires to a lower weight rated tire or decreasing your tire pressure can make that sticker completely useless.

Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act of 2000

Easy buy the diesel & drive a beater to work. You can't have it all . This is what I do and although I've only owned a Cummings for 2 mo & 6000 mi . I don't like to run a $60,000 truck a very short distance . You will love towing with a diesel & you'll be so relaxed doing it
Best of luck