Towing/Hauling gas or diesel

[Walkdog]

This is a simple quick thread about towing and hauling.

Simply your sticker inside the drivers side of your truck tells you all the limits you can pull. However those limits are top limits to me. NEXT

GAS engine trucks. Trucks with gas engines tend to have less torque therefore downgrade and upgrade gear levels LIKE crazy while trying to pull up any slight hill making the drive less fun, hence white knuckle experience and really sucks.

DIESEL trucks tend to have tons more torque and you rather have any changing of gears while going uphill unless in big mountains, and of course in big mountains how do you think gas will do.

The rear gear of your truck being mine is a 3.73 is towards the low end and numbers lower than that would be a higher gear. A lower gear being mine or of 3.9? or 4.? is better for towing but could be worse for fuel mileage. I find my 3.73 pulls my 15k 5th wheel with very ease. All to each own and what your pulling.

You see tons of posts of "mine can pull it". Forget about those post. Look at your inside sticker of your driver side door to see limits and stick with that and for future reference diesel vs gas might be better. I upgraded to a single cab one ton dually with 6200 payload and i havent looked back. Love the fell towing it, but you will always know they trailer is back behind you no matter what.

More than welcome to expand on this, but you talk about adding this and that to your truck to make you think its better ARE wrong and no place in this thread.

 

[RVGuy]

GAS engine trucks. Trucks with gas engines tend to have less torque therefore downgrade and upgrade gear levels LIKE crazy while trying to pull up any slight hill making the drive less fun, hence white knuckle experience and really sucks.

I'm going to disagree with that. White knuckle is a lack of control, experiencing sway due to an improperly setup hitch or having weight improperly balanced in the trailer causes this. Having too much trailer for your truck can cause this. However, having a gas engine vs a diesel does not cause white knuckle driving.
Gas engines make power high in the RPM band and will therefor rev high in order to pull loads and will shift gears accordingly. Diesels make power down low thanks to the turbos and won't rev as high to provide adequate torque. This will make the ride more comfortable but not any safer.
As far as towing goes the engine, to me, is the least important part of the equation. The hitch, brakes, suspension, tires, etc are all more important.
I actually prefer towing with my 1500 5.7 over my 3500 6.7 diesel at work if I'm within safe limits for my truck. I find it a much more comfortable tow with the 1500 suspension and a properly setup hitch, I don't mind listening to my hemi sing because I know it's designed to do it.

 

[gofishn]

Make it simpler:
If you are going to be hauling do you want the 98lkb Weakling or the muscle bound Goliath doing you lifting?
If it is going to be a daily driver, which one do you think will live longer, after doing the work you need it to do?

Just like you NEVER want to use 100% of your money, so too do you never want to use 100% of your trucks capacity.
The smaller the percentage of both, that you MUST use, the better off you will be.

Ain;t rocket science

 

[Bldrinker]

Man the guys with diesels love ******* contests.
News flash! The guys with gas engine trucks already know diesels are the way to go if you want to make a blanket statement.

Buy whet you need to remember is everyone has different needs and uses. Sometimes like in my case a gas 3/4ton makes sense.
My truck is my 3rd vehicle. It is only used to pull our RV. RV is max 13,000lbs. Truck is more than capable to handle the load, it will be slow up hills. But for how often that problem occurs I was not willing to pay the extra for the Cummins. You see an extra 6-8k so I can say I got up the hill first is just stupid. Especially since I only tow less than 3,000miles per year. And drive the truck 6,000miles total. That makes the fuel mileage argument non existent in my case.

If you bought a diesel good for you. Enjoy.
If you didn’t need a diesel and didn’t buy one good for you.

 

[ripping r]

I had a diesel. now i have a gas i will not go back. drive what you want. leave me alone.

 

[csuder99]

Simply your sticker inside the drivers side of your truck tells you all the limits you can pull. However those limits are top limits to me. NEXT

What sticker ? None of my trucks have this information.

In fact, GM just started for the 2019 model year to add a trailering information label, and even that one doesn't spell out trailer weight directly.

 

[Tmcb2020]

I had a diesel. now i have a gas i will not go back. drive what you want. leave me alone.

May I inquire as to why? I am asking as I just traded my diesel in for a gas and have yet to tow my 8k lbs camper. Diesel towed it as if nothing was behind me. I am thinking the gas will be similar

 

[ripping r]

May I inquire as to why? I am asking as I just traded my diesel in for a gas and have yet to tow my 8k lbs camper. Diesel towed it as if nothing was behind me. I am thinking the gas will be similar

Ill try. my reasons are mostly mine. first no way im saying a gas can pull as well as a diesel. but i dont need to go 80 towing. like alot of people.
It will need to rev on hills. my last diesel was an 2006 cummins manual. great truck had close to 75,000 miles towing 9,000.
but the reason i got rid of it.
takes to long to get heat when its cooled out side. and i mean cold 10f and down. i do a lot of short trips and it hated it. repair cost are more for the diesel. i keep mine long after warranty so there on me.
and the newer diesels are way worse. not reasons most will agree with but its what right for me. last i feel my hemi is right there with the 5.9 i had. there are more i reasons but little ones and they just all add up.

 

[dexter]

This is a simple quick thread about towing and hauling.

Simply your sticker inside the drivers side of your truck tells you all the limits you can pull. However those limits are top limits to me. NEXT

GAS engine trucks. Trucks with gas engines tend to have less torque therefore downgrade and upgrade gear levels LIKE crazy while trying to pull up any slight hill making the drive less fun, hence white knuckle experience and really sucks.

DIESEL trucks tend to have tons more torque and you rather have any changing of gears while going uphill unless in big mountains, and of course in big mountains how do you think gas will do.

The rear gear of your truck being mine is a 3.73 is towards the low end and numbers lower than that would be a higher gear. A lower gear being mine or of 3.9? or 4.? is better for towing but could be worse for fuel mileage. I find my 3.73 pulls my 15k 5th wheel with very ease. All to each own and what your pulling.

You see tons of posts of "mine can pull it". Forget about those post. Look at your inside sticker of your driver side door to see limits and stick with that and for future reference diesel vs gas might be better. I upgraded to a single cab one ton dually with 6200 payload and i havent looked back. Love the fell towing it, but you will always know they trailer is back behind you no matter what.

More than welcome to expand on this, but you talk about adding this and that to your truck to make you think its better ARE wrong and no place in this thread.

The key number is payload and knowing how to compute it for your truck.

https://www.ramtrucks.com/assets/towing_guide/pdf/2017_ram_3500_towing_charts.pdf

 

[sandawilliams]

Ill try. my reasons are mostly mine. first no way im saying a gas can pull as well as a diesel. but i dont need to go 80 towing. like alot of people.
It will need to rev on hills. my last diesel was an 2006 cummins manual. great truck had close to 75,000 miles towing 9,000.
but the reason i got rid of it.
takes to long to get heat when its cooled out side. and i mean cold 10f and down. i do a lot of short trips and it hated it. repair cost are more for the diesel. i keep mine long after warranty so there on me.
and the newer diesels are way worse. not reasons most will agree with but its what right for me. last i feel my hemi is right there with the 5.9 i had. there are more i reasons but little ones and they just all add up.

I tow 8800 lbs. with another 1500 in the bed. Bought the 6.4 because putting a pencil to what I do it made no economic sense to buy the diesel. I tow 20K+ a year through all different terrain- a lot in the mountains of Colorado. If I were towing much heavier I would have bought the diesel. Everyones situation and wants are different.

 

[ripping r]

I tow 8800 lbs. with another 1500 in the bed. Bought the 6.4 because putting a pencil to what I do it made no economic sense to buy the diesel. I tow 20K+ a year through all different terrain- a lot in the mountains of Colorado. If I were towing much heavier I would have bought the diesel. Everyones situation and wants are different.

yes they are. i am planing on going full time rving again in the next year. my trailer will be around 9 to 10k loaded. yes the extra 10k up front for the diesel up front put me off as well.

 

[2018 Hemi]

I traded in a 6.7 for the 6.4 Hemi. Does well but sure do miss the power and much easier to fuel up with a RV behind you than it is with a gasser. If I could do it over I would go back to Cummins

 

[mtofell]

This is a simple quick thread about towing and hauling.

GAS engine trucks

DIESEL trucks

LOL.... you must be new to message boards.

 

[Ratket]

It is simple- Personal preference and goals/expectations lol

 

[RVGuy]

The diesel guys who tow at 80mph just because they can are some of my best customers. Trailer tires are usually rated for 65-70mph. I've seen a tire blow out so violently it ripped through the floor of an RV and wrecked the ceiling.
$$$ in my bank account

 

[ToTheDarkSide]

I went from 6.7 to 6.4 recently. The only thing I miss is the exhaust brake. Other than that, owning this truck has been easy, knock on wood haha

 

[kurek]

Comparing the ecodiesel 1500 vs hemi 1500 the hemi will tow the same weight up the same hill a lot faster. 260 horsepower vs 395 horsepower is no contest. You can can any "but the torques!" argument because horsepower is torque over time and the hemi makes more of it period.

But the diesel will consume less fuel while loaded, that is where the diesel has a real advantage. Under constant load a diesel will almost always return an efficiency advantage compared to a gas engine being asked to do the same work and over time that may pay for the difference in up front cost. If you don't tow much or cruise on the highway as a major part of your truck's lifetime the diesel may not have an opportunity to pay for itself.

 

[Lucy Girl]

I had a diesel. now i have a gas i will not go back. drive what you want. leave me alone.

you said it brother. I’m with you. lol

 

[Mega-Hemi]

I traded in a 6.7 for the 6.4 Hemi. Does well but sure do miss the power and much easier to fuel up with a RV behind you than it is with a gasser. If I could do it over I would go back to Cummins

What year is the 6.4? I’m waiting on a 2020 I ordered with the 6.4. Will be coming from a ‘13 6.7. I’m hoping the new 8 speed paired with a set of 4.10’s won’t feel like too much of a loss over the 6.7 6 speed w/ 3.42’s.

 

[ripping r]

I went from 6.7 to 6.4 recently. The only thing I miss is the exhaust brake. Other than that, owning this truck has been easy, knock on wood haha

ya i do miss that. i had a pac brake that thing worked great.