I'm downsizing my rig and getting a new trailer; I'm debating on what to pull it with.

For the last 15 years I've been hauling a 40' gooseneck with a variety of trucks, most recently an 08 Ford F-450 diesel. Thanks to some reorganization and rethinking of storing cargo (and a trailer wearing out with over 250,000 miles) I'm buying a 24' tag trailer to replace it. That's going to get the total trailer weight down to 10k or a bit less making the Ford 450 overkill, and at 9 MPG without the trailer too expensive to feed.

I'm debating 2500 vs 3500 and considering gas vs diesel. What would you guys suggest on that question? I'll be driving cross country and fuel costs are certainly a consideration, is the gas 2500 going to keep decent mileage with 10k of trailer or should I stick to diesel?

 

You should stick to diesel. The 2500 will do you good. 10k on a gas truck would probably put you right back to that 9mpg you're getting with your 450.

 

I initially would have said the same go with a 2500 diesel as the 2012 2500 is basically the same as a 2012 3500 but I don't know if that applies to the 2013/14. The rear hitches on the 4th gen trucks are quite flimsy, you may want to check that out as I wouldn't think you want to use a weight distribution hitch and I would think if you are towing across country you will get stopped quite a lot. There are class 5 hitches for the 4th gen trucks we have a couple of Reese Titan that can carry a hitch weight of 2000lbs NON weight distribution but I have found that when looking for hitches for the 2013 truck there doesn't seem to be any available yet. I talked with B&W and they said to watch their web site as that will be the very latest news. After the trucks have been on the market for awhile there should be hitches available but right now we are sort of in transition.

 

That was my original thought; I just didn't know how I'd end up MPG wise with the gas.

That 450 actually gets 9 MPG with just the truck on the highway; with the old 40' gooseneck it's around 6 MPG. It's one expensive beast to feed and you really plan your fuel stops, particularly driving through TX, NM, and AZ where truck stops don't exactly grow on trees.

It's likely I'll be looking at a 2012 on a dealer lot over a 2013; I'm ordering the new trailer this week and will probably be getting it in a month or so depending on build times; I don't see the 13 model year available yet in the 2500/3500. Load EQ hitches aren't a real issue, I've always had one on any tag trailer I've pulled, even with the 450 they pull better.

 

Interesting...
I have yet to see anyone using one commercially around here, it seems the only people that use them are RVers.

 

They take an extra minute or two to hook but they definitely do pull better... much more like a gooseneck. It drastically reduces trailer sway.

If I were hooking, towing it a few miles and unhooking all the time it probably wouldn't be worth it, but pulling cross country it handles lots better with the EQ bars attached and tight. Having done it both ways with the same rig (450 truck/20' tandem axle trailer) I can feel a considerable difference.

 

You might want to think about the gas opion actually. The 6.7 will get around 10-11 towing what your talking about and 13 when empty. At least that is what I am finding with my new 2012. Sure it is powerful but diesel is more per gallon than the gas is also. Not to mention that gas is much easier to find in the middle of no where than diesel. I bet you will find that the added expense of the diesel and more expensive fuel will be pretty hard to off set the savings cost of 1-3 mpgs over the gas.

 

Hmm, interesting. I'd been hearing from other sites that the diesel 2500 was getting ~15-18 empty once broken in; and figuring from my experience with various Ford diesels towing would be in the 10-12 range.

If the truck's running ~13 empty that probably puts it in the 9-11 range like you're saying. Hmm, anyone have any experience with the gas engine's mileage empty and with ~10k hitched? Also, how does the gas pull? There's a couple of really nasty areas with 6% uphill for about 10 miles straight I drive through, it drops my 450 with about 22k of gooseneck to 40mph.

Finding diesel is admittedly sometimes a challenge, but I'd gotten used to having to find truck stops anyway with that 40' trailer... your typical gas station's a bit hard to get in and out of. The shorter trailer would make a difference there.

 

On further consideration I think a 3500 SRW would be better you could at least carry a slip tank in the bed and buy your fuel at decent prices I don't think the 2500 has enough pay load to do that. While a gas truck is cheaper to buy and probably better as a DD short distances you will be on the hiway running all day long so regens will be few and far between and also better going with the 68rfe rather than than the G56 which has proven to not be as tough as expected. Because you only have 10.000lbs on the back you could get the 3.42 gears to improve mileage, I have 3.73's in my auto and never have a problem towing 13700lbs but I think it would be better with a higher gear the 3.42's, you can always change to 5th to climb the mountain if needed.

 

I won't be putting an external tank in the truck so that doesn't apply. I do carry a 5 gallon can of diesel in case of trouble and I've only twice had to use it, both times in the middle of nowhere in the southwest.

I'm thinking that I may need to just see if I can get the dealer let me test drive a gas and diesel pulling the loaded trailer. I know the diesel has the grunt for the job, but for ~8k in purchase price and lower fuel prices I'm willing to let the gas prove it's up to the task.

I've pulled our ~7k 20' trailer with our Ford Expedition... it isn't the best pulling but it handles the trailer without appreciable difficulty. Granted the new trailer's bigger and will probably be heavier loaded but the 2500's a bigger, stronger tow vehicle.

 

Regarding gas mileage, it goes without saying that a lot of it depends on how you drive. My truck as rigged out below gets about 13 mpg for my every day driving, which is what I'd call "suburban". If I'm cruising empty at 65 mph it will get about 18 mpg. Based on a little experiment I did on a long toll road, my mileage seems to go down about 2 mpg with every 5 mph above that. Cruising at 80 mph I get 12 mpg. Add a 10k trailer to it and I suspect it drops significantly.

Hope that helps.

 

My BIL has a Chevy diesel personally but drives a Chevy gas truck for work in the oil patch. He does a tremendous amount of miles and the company changes trucks every two years, his company has only ever used gas trucks and always Chevy's, that's their whole fleet. He doesn't tow much with his but some of the other trucks do tow but only tag trailers. The airline I worked for only used gas trucks too and the only time they were shut off was when they were being worked on. The benefits of using a gas truck speak for themselves nowadays especially if you operate in an area where you can readily get gas. I would definitely consider them especially as you are using a tag trailer you will have not extra set up for towing and could change trucks as often as you want.

 

Ya a 2500 gasser will pull 10k no problem. Heck I pull 14k time to time w my F150!
But you're using the truck for cross country hauling. I think you'd be insane not to get another diesel. Pick your flavor but make it diesel.
What's the talk about a load dist hitch for a 10klb trailer behind a hd pickup?
No need for that either.

 

While the 2013 truck does come with a class 5 hitch and it clearly gives the specs on the bodybuilder web site the 2011 and I suspect the 2012 didn't.. well it's kind of hazy and hard to find but it states in link. http://www.media.chrysler.com/dcxms/..._HD_Towing.pdf


"3. The recommended tongue weight is between 10 percent and 15 percent of the gross trailer weight. However, the maximum tongue weight on Class III (the bumper ball) is limited to 500 pounds, and Class IV (the receiver hitch) to 1,200 pounds. Additionally, the GAWRs and GVWRs should never be exceeded.
4. The maximum trailer weight is 5,000 pounds for a weight - carrying hitch. A weight distributing system is recommended for trailers over 5,000 pounds. A fifth wheel or gooseneck hitch is required for trailers
over 12,000 pounds.

The hitches are junk, it's just a piece of flimsy round tube with a few welds, there are many instances of failure. It was almost a crime for them to have installed these hitches and not clearly stated the rating both on the hitch and in the owners manual.

 

I'm leaning somewhat to diesel but I'm weighing the pros and cons of both. 8k price difference isn't anything to sneeze at. If the 2500 gas can handle the weight on a 6% uphill grade without dropping below 50mph then I'd need to keep the truck a long time to make the diesel pay for itself.

A load distribution hitch may not be needed but I've pulled the same trailer with the same truck both with and without the bars and it pulls better with. Without the bars there's some trailer sway, with them it feels like a gooseneck.