Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Thoughts on towing.........

Didn't want to muddy the other thread about the 6.4Hemi, so I thought I would start a new one. When I see the questions about gas vs diesel for towing, and see the responses, sometimes I smile a little.

I'm on my second 3/4 ton diesel truck, this one has 160k miles on it. the previous one had almost 300k when I sold to it a fellow Campfire member in Houston Tx. As far as I know, it's still doing fine with probably 400k or more on it. I think what a lot of people don't take into consideration when comparing the 2, is the ease of pulling a load with a diesel, compared with a gasser. I had 3 gas powered half ton trucks before the diesels, and since "moving up", I would find it really difficult to back to gas. Fuel efficiency under load is far superior, and has been stated in other threads, if you tow heavy and often, the diesel wins hands down. For the occasional tower, diesel over gas is not really convincing, unless you tow over steep terrain. I had always felt that I was punishing my gas powered trucks when pulling, even moderate (5-8k lb) loads. With the diesel, it's no big deal. That alone, makes it worth it to me. The potential deal breaker, IMO, is the emission control systems on the modern diesels. They are problematic and expensive to repair, and will strand you if you're on a road trip. If you are lucky enough to live in a state with emission controls, there are ways to make your truck more dependable, but I'm not advocating that. Overall maintenance is a little higher with a diesel, which is more than offset by the better fuel efficiency, and of course resale value.

As with all opinions, your mileage may vary.

I have an '08 Dodge diesel 3/4 ton. I have 130k on it now. It has a 6 spd manual. I've had a few problems but not with the engine. I had to replace the clutch at about 90k and the front hubs and brakes at 120k. This spring the clutch started making some strange noises. It turned out to be the pilot bearing had come apart and it ground down the tip of the input shaft on the tranny. That was an expensive fix as they had to tear down the tranny to replace the input shaft. All of this could have happened just as well with a gas engine so it's not a comparison between gas and diesel.
I don't tow real heavy loads. My camp trailer weighs 5k and I put a stock rack and 3 or 4 llamas in the bed which will weight 1600 to 1800. In the mountains, the diesel is a pulling fool. I seldom have to shift down unless the corners are tight enough to slow down to 45 or lower. What really helps is the exhaust brake. Coming down a 5% hill, I drop 1 gear and set the exhaust brake and I never have to touch the brakes.

When I do tow, it's 16-17K total load (truck,horse trailer,slide in camper), but I also use my 2019 a Duramax as an everyday driver. I am on my2nd diesel. First was a 98 Dodge 2500. I drove it 20 years and put about $15K in repairs. 3 injector pumps, clutch, clutch hydraulic actuator assy, and much more. Last repair was $6K. Blew a head gasket clogged up the entire cooling system which require a new radiator water pump, hoses, heater core. Head had to be shaved,complete valve job. Then had to have the turbo rebuilt and after market compression brake reworked. It had 155,000 miles on it.I sold it to a fellow on here .Only trouble he has had so far is losing 5th gear.That common problem when the nut works loose.

The total GVRW on the Doge was 16,500 IIRC, the Chevy is 23K. It pulls 10 k passes in 4-5 th gear without a hiccup ( 6 sp Allison)

I bought the Chey as it still had a true 6.5 bed (camper fit then). Dodge cut theirs to 6'-3". I bought the full extended warranty for $3K since injector pump alone cost almost that much including labor to replace.

Figure I will be dead or not need large truck before the warranty runs out.

I own a 2016 GMC Sierra HD 2500 Duramax, bought new to tow several of my toys, including my boat and travel trailer. This fall, I sold both the travel trailer and boat, and all I have left to tow is the utility trailer I haul my Polaris General around in- power and tow capacity of the GMC hardly needed.
However, I really like driving my Duramax diesel, fuel economy is great, and repairs and maintenance have been minimal. It is just a great truck, IMO, but now way more than I need. I no longer put a lot of miles on a vehicle, and mine has only 36K miles on it, still on its original tires and batteries.
Been thinking of selling it, and buying something smaller, like a GMC Canyon, etc., but it would be hard to give up the comfort, power, and everything else that goes along with driving a diesel!

Might compare what you would pay for a new Canyon vs what you would sell the 2006 for. There might not be much of a difference (maybe not)and you lose all the benefits you like about the diesel.

The diesel is the better tool for the job. There is no question about that. The issue, particularly in this Era of Acronyms (DPF, SCR, DEF), is the advantage of the diesel worth the cost?

My sense is that with the new Ford 7.3 gasser, the pivot point of “% of the time towing” before diesel wins has moved up significantly higher.

You might consider the 1/2 ton GM Duramax. I just purchased one (formerly always gas) and I am very impressed so far

saddlesore, I did a check of the value of my truck on Edmunds- results are kind of amazing. My truck's resale value on the third-party market is likely within $10K of what I paid for it, almost 5 years ago! Well-kept diesels hold their value very well. Without being used to tow, my only complaint about owning a larger vehicle is simply maneuverability, parking, etc. around where I live, but the upside trade-off is also its size and weight in a traffic accident- it, and its occupants, will certainly fare better than a small rice-burner sedan.

For sure. My very thoughts

catastrophic repair bills (if your CP4 fuel pump goes out) are the reason alot of us are looking at switching back to gas


if you run your pickup for many years , like some of us , I have also heard bad things about the cost of replacing dpf s and other emission parts

badger, I agree with everything in your OP. I'll add that once you have towed with an exhaust brake, you just don't want to go back and do it without.