Lots of highway miles but not a daily driver.
Most of that towing is highway speeds 65-75.
The 5.4 handles what I do now, so maybe I should stick with a 1/2 ton.
That's the story for my diesel. Highway drives to go hunting/shooting, pulling a boat @ highway speeds in the summer, pulling a 14' snowmobile/ATV trailer loaded w/icefishing stuff in the winter. Other than that, it sits. When I bought it, I was towing my boat (4K#) ~500Mi/weekend pretty much every weekend from mid-Apr until mid-Sept. I now have a spot I can leave my boat @ the lake so my towing is decreased by probably 80%.
The biggest thing with any DPF equipped diesel is to get it up to full operating temp and let it complete DPF regeneration cycles regularly. This is independent of which manufacturer you prefer, they all have DPF, the DPF needs to be run through regen cycles, and the motor has to be @ full temp for some time to do it. It can take 10min+ for the engine to get up to temp during the winter, idling will not bring it up to full temp, idling will get it "Luke-warm" @ best.
You're sure not going to save any $$ by going with a diesel, but, they are very enjoyable to drive with a load. For the small things you're towing a diesel certainly wouldn't be required. It's not required for the relatively small things I tow either, but I like it.
